i definitley get why old heads like their bugles so much but one of the main reasons they moved to Bb instruments is that they are much easier to keep in tune on top of being lighter and have more range really its just a trade off from projection to ease of use also with the use of amplification it just takes even more strain off the players i personally think it would be cool to see a crossover of modern horns and bugles to make the legendary drum corp brass instrumemt have the projection of a bugle with the ease of a horn along with less amplification i personally think to much amplification takes away brass power and makes it sound computerized i think the perfect blend of brass power and amplification is the 2010's
The struggles with the shortcomings of the G bugles is what made DCI so unique and appealing. Now, sadly, I'd rather hear a concert indoors or go to a football game.
I remember all of these and was there in person for many of them. People who never heard G bugles can never understand what they are missing, the pure, ear-filling sound of a g bugle line is like nothing else in this world. That being said, I have come to terms with modern-day drumcorps and this year (2024) was the best year for drumcorps in a looonng time for me.
Agreed, though I thought last year was better overall. If you want the 18 yr olds to support DCI it has to be modern and get them to pay to do this every summer. Just glad we get to hear great horn lines still and that the activity is alive and well.
Something about how they mic’d or produced ‘92 made the lines sound so much dirtier than they really were on the video…such a shame. Also, definitely thought ‘91 Crossmem should have made the cut…Thurston knew how to write tasty grooves.
Just read through every comment on this video. The older I get, the more convinced I am that every, single opinion on the artistic aspects of drum corps are valid. Opinions on the *technical* aspects aren't equally valid, because understanding the technical aspects of an activity as specialized as drum corps takes years and years of involvement, leaving a small collection of judges and educators most qualified to adjudicate. But anybody who experiences drum corps has a valid *artistic* opinion about it. Really self-destructive of DCI to ignore all of those opinions in judging. Fans can (and do) base their opinions on technical execution. They can (and do) base their opinions on sheer emotion. They can base them on bias toward or against a specific group. They can base them on the flavor of ice cream they're eating. The majority of fans base their opinions on a healthy mix of artistic impressions and respect for technique. In the end, it really doesn't matter why an individual feels the way they feel about a particular work of art. Every opinion is valid. DCI has done a great deal to remove outside opinions from the judging system, but the opinions have just gone "underground." In fact, social media have become DCI's unofficial artistic judging system. Practically every post you see in Facebook drum corps groups is advocating for some artistic opinion. It happens because fans intuitively know that their opinions are valid. I think that restricting scoring to a tiny collection of band teachers with clipboards has shot competitive drum and bugle corps in the foot. The culture follows the scores, and if the scores are only issued by Joe Band-Director, then you get an entire activity being shaped by a small group of insiders whose artistic opinions are no more valid that anyone else's. Are their *technical* opinions more valid? 1,000% yes. But even a DCI judge's *artistic* opinions can be no more valid than yours or mine. For me, the restricting of scores to judges only separates drum corps from larger society. And this restriction makes drum corps appear to outsiders like just another niche hobby for nerds. But if the actual product that gets put on the field every year was responsive to the people consuming it, drum corps might evolve in to something relatable. And relatable is good, when your goal is to get more people involved. Trained adjudicators are necessary for quality control, but ultimately, when it comes to art, everybody is qualified to have their opinion heard. Personally, I think it's time to involve fans in the scoring process. It's time to hand the GE caption over to the audience.
of course we start off with the reason that made me want to play quads there and then I did ♥.. that line that inspired me wasn't playing the most technical stuff but the swag was on 11
triggered! the blue knights clip made me remember an allen town show where I was watching them while flirting with a horn player from colts, then got left behind when my bus pulled out (yes we always did roll call). I hopped on a bus with them who were headed to the same show in the next city but they legally had to call my parents and tell them I was probably dead. *missing but they definitely assumed I was dead
No need for amplification.. ever.. I have related the story before, but, because I am an old guy who shakes his fist at the passing clouds, here goes. DCI Finals, 1979. We were inactive that year, so many Bluecoats families cancelled their trips to Birmingham. A bunch of my buddies and I piled into a car with a tent and headed to Finals with a few of those tickets in hand. Top deck center back rows. Great seats. Outdoor finals in the heat of the Alabama summer. Couldn't really see or hear the Bottle dance Santa Clara had thrown in for finals because of the absolute lunatic fanatic fan screaming his lungs out that this is what they were doing.. thanks captain obvious.. we wanted to see and hear it for ourselves. Anyway. Madison had high hopes after their finals show having been sitting in fifth place. Retreat. Scores announced. A precipitous drop from fifth to eighth place. Shock ran through the crowd as well as through their ranks, I am quite sure. Devils (no surprise, really?? I mean, even with Lee gaining the upper hand over Grant in finals, Bridgemen were really only there for entertainment.. right? and that upstart Spirit group.. can't let them climb too high too fast) were crowned champions and it was time for corps to exit by marching in review passing the newly crowned DCI champions. Madison's turn. They start towards the sideline and .... turn the other way. They plant themselves square on the fifty, lift their horns.. and that hornline UNLEASHES their closer. I'm top dead center as high up as you can get. The wall of sound absolutely pins my ears back. I've never heard anything like that before or since. But I kept showing up hoping to either hear that again or be a part of it once my Bluecoats got back on their feet the following season. Only thing that comes close now is the Military corps still marching with G bugles. No need for mics there. Long live G bugles.. even if it's just in memories and video that doesn't come anywhere close to conveying what that was like in the open air, great acoustic environments, no amplification necessary.
I feel likebabout 93 to 2001 was the most epic dci ever! When it was the most amazing old school meeting new age but before speakers and sound systems were used and it became more like broadway shows.
I marched back right when G was changing to Bb, and I recall going for an audition at the Seattle Cascades (good corps, by the way, good people) and I got there and they handed me this baritone part that was in treble clef. And I was like, "um," because I'd never played treble. And this tech walked over and was like, "Oh, are you used to Bb?" and I said yes, and he said, oh that's fine, just--corps is in G (I had already marched a G baritone at this point, Trooper no less, so VERY old-school) and, he said, baritones read treble clef if they're serious about corps. And. I've auditioned in a lot of places, and there are a few moments I can think of when I was like, "Nope, not marching here. Let's see if their vizh techs are good, and, let's endure the weekend." (Also had a thing like that in Rockford except WAY worse and WAY more expensive.)
That Madison 97 show was one of the first I ever saw live, and I can still feel the energy from the crowd. Personally 1995 is one of my favorite years for DCI ❤
97 BD is one of my favorites. The drum book was amazing and there's nobody else that could have made that brass book so fun. I would have to make 15 of these videos to include all the greats lol
No. Bb is easier to play then G, but when you practiced hard on a G bugle you could not just play louder but had more control of tone. It took years to become a masterful player on a G bugle.
G-bugle mellophone (the piston-rotor variety), Southwind '81 and '82... I never will forget the first time I picked one up and began to play it and was AMAZED at the level of sound and projection it produced (I actually played a mellophonium in high school marching band, the one with the rounded body and flared bell,) and from that moment, I was hooked! God rest the soul of the sound of the G-bugles (and shame on the brass manufacturers that stopped making them!)... their sound won't be easily forgotten by those of us who had the privilege to play them! P.S. THANK YOU for including the '98 Crossmen's rendition of Pat Metheny's "The First Circle"; their "Metheny Stuie" has always been one of my personal all-time favorite DCI shows!
I marched 1996-2000, the end of the G bugle era, without knowing it was the end. It's difficult to explain to people who didn't grow up hearing G bugles what they sounded like, because us old-timers sound like "old men yelling at clouds" when we say that the recordings don't accurately capture it, but as a PhD in Music Composition, I can tell you that there's a timbral dimension that's missing from the Bb/F/C instruments. Part of it is that they were designed *only* for outdoor performance, so they were built like tanks. Another part was that they were in G, which meant they were bigger and thus heavier on the whole, contributing to the loudness and fullness of the sound -- a soprano bugle has a lot more in common with a cornet than a trumpet, for instance, from a wrap perspective. Pedagogically, we were all fighting to keep these monsters in tune, but also aiming for a very specific type of highly-focused sound that only works for outdoor performance. I don't know if that's still taught amongst modern corps, as the need to project isn't such a priority anymore now that they're supported by synth pads et al.
@@jmgerraughty Man I remember one time in 2001, we were in Philadelphia and a couple of us in BAC were in the stands with one of our brass staff after performing. I remember the Cavies were on, and…. polite? was their volume level. Even in big hits. This was their first year on Bb. And then the Crossmen came on, and it was a slap in the face the sound they had in comparison - our brass staff member literally said “Well hello! That’s the difference between Bb and G in volume”. It was like cranking a receiver to 10 from having it at 6, and the audience around us noted it too.
Because of the eventual merge of Drum Corps and Marching Bands. All that’s left is bringing woodwinds. All the changes made were leading to the eventual demise of Drum Corps. Once known as Drum & Bugle Corps. There is no denying this. All you have to do is follow the progression of the activity. The reason I joined Drum Corps is because of the distinction between the Corps and the Marching Band. I could enjoy both though I preferred Drum Corps. I’m on the fence through the final steps of this metamorphosis. I will no doubt mourn the end of Drum Corps. I wonder what DCI will change its title to…MMI
I don’t understand the compulsive need for old dci vets to put down modern drum corps in order to make themselves feel good about old drum corps. It’s all good. ALL of it. Every moment of drum corps is special. Please stop trying to diminish the experience of the young just because drum corps has changed. Kids nowadays are sweating , bleeding, and crying for every second of their show just like you did. You look at those kids faces at the end of their final run and tell me it isn’t the same as yours was.
I have an idea, why don’t you stop whining on every video where someone mentions that they love the old school unplugged sound of drum corps rather than the new aged homogenized generic speaker driven “sound” of today? The coolest thing about pre-amplified DCI is that every single sound you hear coming from that field was from the kids. Nowadays half the sound is programmed, recorded and triggered by adults for their own edification. You are the one who needs to “ThinkHarder”. Drum corps has ceased to be its own unique sound thanks to all of this “modernization”. We also would most assuredly NOT be bored by now if rules weren’t so drastically changed. There’s physics behind this G Bugle sound that makes the point true. Orchestration and overtones are different on these horns and it indeed gave the activity a truly one of a kind sound. Do I miss teaching members how to play on a G Bugle? hell no. Do I miss that O.G. power of drum corps with drum lines that actually played clean and that one of a kind ability for nearly every competent brass player to reach a double C on those bugles, leading to some sick arrangements? Hell yes. Just because people here are saying they prefer something doesn’t mean we are detracting from something else. Drum Corps used to be drum corps. Now it’s just one of three seasons of highly produced and adult-intervened vegan field/floor band product. Just a fact. Don’t cry when it gets pointed out.
G-Bugle Contrabass here....76-84. Those days will never be matched. Look at the number of Bb marching tubas they use today. What we could do in my days and days of old with 6 or 8 contrabasses in G....
@@davidwarner3326 I played BBb tuba (marching and symphony) from 76-87 and I could never get the throaty power of my g-contrabass (76-84). That minor 3rd meant something.
@@grg-mpgmusic7247, I've MARCHED 2 and 3 valve G and 3 valve Bb. Yeah, it takes some extra umph, but it can be done. My point, though, is that Star's 16 G horns made little to no sound. It ain't the horn.
@@davidwarner3326 I hear you. My last DCI show the 1985 Finals. I did not see anything DCI again until the Finals in 2023. So there is a big gap for me and I will not fill that gap. I like my era.
It’s actually physics as much as musicianship Todays Bb brass are mostly cylindrical bore and small Vs G bugles conical bore and larger More air…more of those blessed OVERTONES!!!!
I'm honestly not much of a horn player but you could really hear the baris, euph and contras had a more raw and open blaring sound. Madison and Phantom were the groups where I always noticed this from the stands.
If you do the 80’s please show the 86 Blue Devils percussion feature! Especially focus on the snareline doing the Spyder across 10 snares….it’s EPIC😎😎😎👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻🥁🥁🥁
I marched 1975 and 76 with Guardsmen. We did not make finals in 75, so saw your fantastic finals show in the stands! Many fine Midwest corps then. Too many (like my Guardsmen) are gone now. I'm glad Scouts, Phantom, and Cavaliers still around.
Something we don't see anymore is drumming in the groove. Now it's like they're having a contest to see who can play more notes whether they fit musically or not.
100%, like the 2024 BD snare feature with a double shot roll lol. It's not even logical to do this on a drum and has no purpose and sounds awful. Some writers still try to musically fit the shows though so respect to those who are doing it right.
I appreciate what DCI has done to stay relevant and engaging for the youth - unfortunately “we” (old guys) haven’t been the target market for a long time. Despite the demise of some big corps, it’s amazing that the show is still going on. All that said, this shit rocks. Let’s get LOUD
I’m an old time snare player from the 60’s. For my money,Blue Knights was the most musical. The technical prowess of Cavies,Garfield(Holy Name from my time) or Blue Devils is incredible. Regardless of when you marched,it was probably the best time of your life!!!!!
I get why g bugles were phased out. But I would give almost anything to hear BD, SCV, Atlanta, Phantom etc play again! I wish my 5 sons could have heard it. I wish my students could stand in front of those bugles!
