[Dixielandjazz] (no subject)

Wed Sep 19 15:11:58 PDT 2007

There are several bands that use civil war era instruments and play music of 
the time.  The recordings that I have heard are quite mellow sounding 
compared to today's bands or brass groups.

Several years ago I purchased a civil war era flute at an auction for $25. 
I sold it for $250 through an antique store even though it had a rather 
large but repairable crack down the length of the instrument.  As I recall 
it had 11 keys.  I probably could have gotten much more for it if I had put 
it on line.

While reading the article on sax horns I came to the drum section.   It 
reminded me that back in 57 when I first joined the AF we played a parade 
and had some of those old field drums with skin heads and rope tension tabs. 
And of course it rained.  They made a truly unique sound.  The other event 
that happened at that parade is that we had to pack up immediately after and 
get on a plane.  The instruments followed by truck.  When we opened the 
cases two weeks later almost all were green with mildew and almost every rod 
had rusted.  What a stinking mess.

I think they threw away those old field drums but I'm sure they were from 
the WW1 era and I'll bet they would now be valuable too.  They were blue 
with an American Eagle in gold on the side.  Also they were somewhat deeper 
than modern field drums.

In any case not even on a great day did they have a snappy sound.
Larry
St. Louis
----- Original Message ----- 
From: <dwlit at cpcug.org>
To: "Larry Walton" <larrys.bands at charter.net>
Cc: <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Monday, September 17, 2007 9:03 PM
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] (no subject)

> We played a gig once where one of the bands was a 17-piece Civil War brass
> band. Wonderfully mellow. They played from books of arrangements done for
> regimental bands that included pop tunes of the day for dances. I helped
> Elrod carry his horn collection to his truck, and was surprised at how
> light and fragile the horns were...
>
> --Sheik
>
>> AFAIK the theory for the design was to have the band in front so the
>> music could be heard by the marching troops in the parade. There were
>> a whole family of horns from trumpet/cornet size to Eb tuba invented
>> by Allen Dodworth in the 1830s and later made by Adolphe Sax. More
>> info at http://www.dodworth.org/ ( the generic term became Saxhorn.)
>>
>> The other major reason for the design was to have instruments that
>> could be carried on the shoulder while playing and marching. It was
>> not until many years later that the "Helicon" design (recalled from
>> the ancient Romans) was developed for both marching and horse mounted
>> bands. The Sousaphone and a few rare production Helicon Tubas are the
>> only survivors of that idea today.
>>
>>   I don't think "road apples" were much of a issue - nothing in the
>> brass/military band books I have mentions anything about this - but
>> maybe the authors were being polite. "Stuff" in the roads was quite
>> common in those days - I doubt it was enough of a problem to base an
>> entire class of instruments and marching band on!
>>
>> BTW, musicians in most of the world's armies did not normally march
>> directly into a heated battle (Pipers, Fifers, Buglers and Drummers
>> were the exceptions) so having the band at the front of a parade or
>> column was not considered a hazard for the musicians. I have read
>> about some being hit by snipers, but the musicians were (and still
>> are) often called to duty as stretcher bearers during and after
>> battle (and that is much more dangerous.)
>>
>> Dave Richoux
>>
>> On Sep 17, 2007, at 2:47 PM, philwilking wrote:
>>
>>>> From what I can see in old pictures, those instruments were not
>>>> built with
>>> some idea of musical virtue, but rather as a practical solution to
>>> a problem.
>>> If you want a band to play marches for the troops, and you have a
>>> lot of horses and mules in the parade (officers, wagons, and
>>> artillery), then you need to put the band in front to let them
>>> concentrate on the music instead of the footing. But if the
>>> instruments project forward, the men will not hear them, therefore
>>> the "over-the-shoulder" horns. I know this is plausible, but is it
>>> the truth?
>>>
>>> PHIL WILKING
>>>
>>> Those who would exchange freedom for
>>> security deserve neither freedom nor security.
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "David Richoux"
>>> <tubaman at tubatoast.com>
>>>>
>>>> Having owned and played some of those "over-the-shoulder" style
>>>> horns, I know why they were obsolete and out of general use long
>>>> before the pre-jazz era.
>>>>
>>>
>>
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>
>
>
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