[Dixielandjazz] Drum Corps from hell

[Don Ingle]

Jim et al:
I get shivers when I hear the words -- "Drum and Bugle".
When I was a senior at Michigan State, I played with the Lansing, Michigan
VFW band (a lot of us non-post-members did as they had to fill out with
ringers to make it full,) just to help keep chops up between gigs and to
practice sight reading of things other than jazz charts.)
That year the post had decided to go to Philadelphia for the national VFW
concert band and bugle corps competitions, and so five of us crammed our
suitcases, horns, and collegial bodies into a Chevy Coupe and headed for
Phili. We had been booked into a hotel taken over by all the bands and bugle
corps from around the country. The bands had assigned rehearsal times in the
large hotel auditorium. The bugle folks didn't bother, they just rehearsed
in the halls, the walkways, the inner and outer niches of the hotel at any
time of day of night they felt like it. For three days we were audibly
assaulted by tinny drums and one-valved bugles, playing God only knows what
was originally planned to be heard.
We took a third place among 33 national VFW bands competing. But we paid the
price. I mark that time as the beginning of my fondness for adult beverages,
and a tendency to cringe whenever I am at a festival and hear a drum and
bugle unit come down the street in a parade. Sorry, but my distaste for what
one listee called the "bugles from hell" runs deep and memory runs even
longer for things "that go blat in the night!"
Don Ingle


----- Original Message -----
From: <JimDBB@aol.com>
To: <dixielandjazz@ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Monday, January 06, 2003 11:39 PM
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Drum Corps from hell


> In a message dated 1/6/03 10:02:46 PM Central Standard Time, JimDBB
writes:
>
>
> > In a message dated 1/6/03 1:52:16 PM Central Standard Time,
> > paul.edgerton@eds.com writes:
> >
> >
> > >> There are DCI corps all over North America, and I presume elsewhere.
They
> >> consist of teenagers playing assorted sizes of "bugles" and drums.
These
> >> bugles are nearly always two-valve instruments capable of playing a
> >> chromatic scale over the majority of the range of standard three-valve
> >> brasses. The drums can include nearly any conceivable percussion
> >> instrument.
> >> Back in MY day, they were mostly actual marching drums, with an
occasional
> >> xylophone. Nowadays, they include many semi-mobile contrivances, but I
> >> digress...
> >>
> >> The first thing to note is that these kids dedicate a portion of their
> >> lives
> >> to the pursuit of excellence. They live on road, train relentlessly and
> >> compete with other corps. The event I attended (let's call it DAR from
now
> >> on) happens late in the season and brings the top 20 corps together in
one
> >> big competition. These kids are ambitious and highly focused on what
they
> >> are doing.
> >>
> >> Now, each corps has a different theme and style. Most are derived from
> >> military music. Even the ones that rebel against the military model
still
> >> value precise execution. Getting dozens of teenagers to work together
is
> >> an
> >> enormous challenge, but it can produce astonishing results. Many of the
> >> kids
> >> who "age-out" of DCI never go on to any other musical endeavor. For
some
> >> of
> >> them this is the biggest thing they will ever do.
> >>
> >> And it is a big thing. I had just graduated from a five years of
college
> >> as
> >> a music major. I was pretty sure I knew what a marching band was all
> >> about.
> >> Marching, right? Yep, lot's of it -- like I had never seen before, but
> >> that's not what I came away with.
> >>
> >> I was blown away by the MUSIC. I'm talking goosebumpy, hairs on the
back
> >> of
> >> your neck standing up emotional IMPACT. The dynamic range was
ferocious,
> >> ranging from a single, soft horn to dozens of strong youth putting out
> >> everything they had. There was an broad range of emotion expressed in
many
> >> tempi, textures and styles. I've never seen so impressive a show, and
by
> >> kids at that... most of them on their summer break.
> >>
> >> All I can say is, If you ever get a chance to attend one of these
shows,
> >> do
> >> it! It matters not if you like marching band music, go and see -- and
hear
> >> -- what can be done with a few dozen kids and a hell of lot of work and
> >> discipline.
> >>
> >> Paul Edgerton, who is still smiling after that "Concert on the Run"
> >
> >   Paul, I respect you and so I dislike throwing barbs at your fondness
for
> > these 'Drum Corps.'   There is no question that it can be a positive
outlet
> > and worhwhile endeavor for kids.  What I have trouble with is that these
> > outfits are run by the same crowd that runs the jazz band programs in
high
> > schools and 99 percent of them come out of the Maynard Ferguson school
of
> > musical excess.  Every overblown musical excess that you find in these
HS
> > jazz groups you will find in these Drum Corps.
> >
> > The bugles are not bugles but some deadful brass concoctions put
together
> > by music companies to sell to these outfits.  They even have these
> > ludicrous 'tuba' bugles.  The drums are a weird compilation right out of
> > the Baja marimba band.  They are all tuned too tight and sound like
toys.
> > Their arrangements are...well, think of America the Beautiful arranged
by
> > Maynard Ferguson
> >
> > Everything with these outfits is geared around competitions.  Typical
over
> > the top american competitiveness pervades this scene and they are always
> > having to win a competition.  This can get very grim.  I was a judge at
a
> > high school jazz band contest and the competitive grimness was surreal.
I
> > finally said to each group...'for gods sake sit back and relax...your
are
> > suppossed to be enjoying this.  Music is to be enjoyed whether your are
> > playing it or listening to it.'
> >
> > This competitive desparation to me almost overrides anything positive
> > gained from these groups by young people.
> >
> > but I have said enough on this and I end off on it.
> >
> > musical content   "Has anybody seen my kitty?"  Buglin' Sam with
> >
> >                Sharkey Bonano
> >
> > Jim Beebe
>
>