DRUM CORPS HIGHLIGHTS

By Jim Gallagher and John Tully
DCN Sept. 12, 1962 issue

Some people think the PENNSY STATES were unfair, some sort of obvious discrepancies in the score sheets. Well, I saw the saw the score sheets involved and I didn't notice any discrepancies. Maybe the writer involved forgot completely about execution in the drum line of Archer-Epler, which put them way ahead of the Rockets. Plus the fact that the Epler corps and Pittsburgh tied for first in horns, and Epler also had a large lead in M&M. As far as the contest being fixed because of it being in Philadelphia, it seems to me that this is the same judging group that judged at Hershey, where Archie took third. Another fact that has sort of been misinterpreted is the fact that VASELLA had already beaten BRACKEN before the latter was disqualified.

And the rumors are that BRACKEN has disbanded shortly after the states. But the Bristol boys are thinking of putting out 39 horns next year. They've already learned two new numbers... VASELLA is also figuring on a larger corps next year and they use 36 horns already.... ARCHIE plans on using a six-man snare line again next year, and why not with the execution scores they have been getting..... While on the subject of drumming, congratulations to John Dowlan for sticking his neck out and writing his column "Drummers Service". You're in for a lot of criticism, John, but keep up the great work.

What can be said about this year's DREAM? The Dream is a dream again. The crowd was larger than ever,-seems as if it gets bigger every year. Every corps was greeted with a thunder of applause, and when the crowd saw something they liked, they showed their approval with wild enthusiasm. By far, the most exciting contest we've seen this year. GARFIELD looked great and it was swell seeing them back in the Dream again.... AUDUBON GIRLS gave the appearance of the Audubon corps of old, as they did the best job we've seen them do this year, and the crowd roared at the end of their performance..... ST. KEVINS had the crowd standing on their heads with their GE show, and BLESSED SACRAMENT was great. They are by far the top execution corps around. They were smooth, smooth and smoother.

CONN. HURRICANES proved that they are a corps to be reckoned with, and ARCHIE knocked the stands over with their large, powerful horn line. And what a drum line! Six snares - and their clean, clean, clean.... HAMILTON YANKEE REBELS, marching at the Dream for the first time in quite a few years, brought the house down with their concert of "The Stripper". SKYLINERS wild music was greeted with wild enthusiasm. And REILLY RAIDERS, accompanied by ABE LINCOLN, put on a fine performance. The scores are in another section of the paper, so we won't go into detail. The SKYLINERS were wild about the results, which put them eight tenths behind HAWTHORNE, but there were quite a few who didn't share their enthusiasm.

HAMILTON used four snares and four tenors, which brings up a subject in John Dowlan's column last issue, "Are Bigger Drum Sections Really Worth The Effort?" ARCHIE was credited as the first corps to come out with the big horn line way back when, and other corps followed suit. And now they're out with six snares and getting top execution scores. Could be other corps will follow suit. The funny part of it is, Archie uses six snares, three tenors, two bass and one cymbal. There is no overbalance in the sound of their line, they are playing difficult parts, and they receive good execution scores. Well, with all this, how come the low GE scores? They were low at the Dream, low at Lewisburg in GE drums, but high in execution drums. EXPLAIN THAT ONE.

The judge at Lewisburg swore up and down that he gave them top GE drum score, only to discover that he had put them in third position in this category. At the Dream, one horn judge, who gave them top horn mark, put the comment, "Concert could be more difficult", on their score sheet. Afterwards, Lee Wolf, (who writes their music)asked him why he thought the concert of "Camelot" was not difficult. His reply was, "It's the most difficult number played on that field today, but I know that they could play more difficult stuff." You tell me which is more difficult? Four bongos playing four different parts, as with Hawthorne; three bass and three cymbals playing uniform parts, as with Reading Buccaneers; or six snares, playing difficult uniform parts, as with Epler. And now more difficult music in the horn line. Both Hawthorne and Reading were over Archie in GE drums at Lewisburg. Why the low GE scores when the execution scores are so high, the repertoire is good, and the uniformity of the drum line is good? Well, the answer Archie gave to the judge who asked them why they didn't make the concert more difficult when he admitted it was the hardest number played on the field that day was, "WE'LL MAKE THEM MORE DIFFICULT WHEN WE GET CREDIT FOR THE DIFFICULT STUFF THAT'S BEING DONE NOW." I'm glad to hear that they will keep that six-man snare line, without credit in the GE score, because to me it's the tops.
See you next issue.