1812 from the cannons perspective...

[tofu]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKf9cpuA ... r_embedded" target="_blank" target="_blank

In the old days the cannons faced the crowd and were about 25 yards away. The smoke would just roll over the crowd. Nothing like the smell of gun powder in the middle of a concert.

The first year we did it some 25+ years ago, we had both the Revolutionary War re-enactors and the Civil War re-enactors.

Afterwards both groups were invited on stage to take a bow AND a huge fight broke out between the two groups.

Turned out the two groups didn't like each other. We never made that mistake again.

[peter birch]

do the cannons come in EEb, CC, BBb etc,

[David Richoux]

Back in the 1970s the UC Berkeley marching band did a performance of 1812 with cannons provided by the ROTC (not a very popular group back then, BTW) - the triggers were controlled by a box on the conductor's platform. When it came time for the first blast the conductor pushed a button and all of the battery went off at once! The force of the combined blast blew out the bass drum head and knocked some musicians over, but I later heard there were no serious injuries.

I was there, but quite far away...

[eupher61]

David, you think that was an accident? Somehow, i don't!

[Alex C]

That's nothin'. I played 1812 outdoors with a battery of 175mm Howitzers stationed about 100' behind the percussion and pointed over the orchestra so the audience could hear them better.

When the first cannon fired, the concussion was so great that the orchestra jumped and quit playing in unison, then picked back up where they left off. We played, until the smoke obscured the music, except that the brass players who had already quit due to inhaling cordite smoke. The battery kept up the firing until after what-was-left-of-the-music-was-over. The conductor was not seen until sometime well after the concert.

The concussion of a 175mm Howitzer is something I will never forget.

[Roger Lewis]

A friend of mine was in the Marine Band in DC many years ago and the band was asked to play at the opening of a new shopping mall. They were asked to do 1812 with cannon. The first blast shattered every piece of glass in the new mall - every piece.

I recently performed it at Culver Military Academy with the carillon in the chapel, cannon (105mm), rifle fire, sword fighting in front of the orchestra, men on horse back galloping through on the sides. It was quite spectacular. Here's a shot of the cannon section.






All the best.

Roger

[David Richoux]

David, you think that was an accident? Somehow, i don't!

I have many friends who were in the LSJUMB at the time - while there were some accusations flung around, there was never any proof that band had anything to do with it... There were some (read: many) protests against the Cal ROTC in those years, but I don't know if it was anything except faulty wiring.

[Michael Bush]

Ten or so years ago I heard the Detroit Symphony do this with a little cannon that was almost like a toy. The opposite of some of the experiences you all have had. It seemed to lack seriousness. But it's better than breaking glass and drum heads!

My own experience with the piece goes back to high school. The all-state orchestra had it on their program, but hadn't auditioned a tuba. So they borrowed one from the band. A percussionist from my school was given two bass drums. He stood between them and backhanded them for the cannon shots. It was at least as effective as the little toy cannon in Detroit, and my friend had a good laugh about the refined technique of backhanding two bass drums.

[PMeuph]

You can't see the cannons in this one but you can certainly hear the artillery, starting at 5:37 up until the end. The guns are some kind of larger howitzer (155mm). If my memory is correct there were 5 or 6 guns firing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqTnBfR02T8" target="_blank" target="_blank


There are also a couple recordings were the sound is completely blocked because of the noise of the cannons.

[Ace]

Fifty or so years ago, wasn't there an orchestra concert indoors (Cleveland Orchestra?) in which a duck or goose and feathers floated down from the ceiling when the cannons went off? My memory is very vague, but I think I read about this in Time magazine at that time.

Ace

[Mark]

Even if the concert organizers don't have any common sense, you should. A few years ago, I played the 1812 at an outdoor concert where they were going to use a shotgun fired into a 55-gallon drum. They got all of the appropriate permissions (except mine). The drum was set up on stage, two feet behind me. I told them they either had to move the drum or play the concert without a tuba. They moved the drum off stage and about 25 feet from me. The noise was still very loud; but both my ear drums remained intact.

[kingconn]

A local community band here uses diet cokes and mentos.

[GC]

A few years back at district contest one of the local bands did 1812 (very well, by the way). They surrounded the audience with 20 or so bass drums and single chimes along the walls, and they turned loose with the cannon drums and chimes at the appropriate time. I was sitting near the judges, and the band was almost totally drowned out until the last section before the end. Through all the noise one judge looked furious, one was laughing his rear off, and the other was calmly writing on the score sheets without turning a hair.

[Highpitch]

As a high school band junior back in '69, we played the 1812. We had good luck with one of those little carbide cannons from Johnson-Smith in the band room.

During the first rehearsal on stage, it was let to sit too long, and when fired it just spit out a long, greasy flame due to a too rich mixture of acetelyene. This ignited one of the velour curtains alongside the stage.

It was dealt with OK, but we ditched the cannon and went with a flame-proof bass drum.

Dennis

[eupher61]

I played it with a pro/community orchestra, indoors. Except the cannon was outside. And almost inaudible.

[Bob Kolada]

I played it with a pro/community orchestra, indoors. Except the cannon was outside. And almost inaudible.

One of the better solutions!