Bugles With the widespread use of the 1892 Army field
trumpet, which was actually a "straight" (valveless)
bugle in the key of G, American drum & bugle corps evolved in that key. However, some members in some corps wished to add more notes to their brass repertoire. Some corps in the 1920s added D crooks on some horns in order to play more complicated songs in two lines, similar to a
handbell ensemble. Ludwig added the first valve to a bugle to make the G-D horn-in-one, wisely making the valve horizontal rather than vertical in order to preserve the look and handling of the straight bugle (and to make it more difficult to spot by unobservant judges in circuits which had not yet legalized the valve). The single horizontal valve allowed the
diatonic scale to be played by each bugle. While those of the Army sported tabards of their reporting units or commands, only several civil corps carried the tabards of their affiliated organization on their bugles. The acceptance of the single-valved bugle took some time. Originally, the American Legion required that valved bugles have screws to allow the valve to be locked onto either the G or D open scale during certain competitions. Some smaller corps had straight bugles even into the 1960s, and there are still some corps, bands and other groups who continue to use straight bugles or G-D piston bugles to this day, as entire horn lines or as bugle sections. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, inventive buglers across the country took to sanding one of the tuning slides so it could be used like a
trombone slide. By the late 1950s and early 1960s, the slide was sometimes replaced with a half-tone rotary valve to F#, which allowed for nearly a full chromatic scale to be played. Some bass-baritones were equipped with full-tone rotary valves to F in order for some of the hornline to be able to achieve the desired Bugle Low A, and in the mid-1960s a bass-baritone rotor to E was briefly offered. By 1967, the
American Legion Uniformed Groups Rules Congress approved a mutual request by a number of instructors and managers to permit G-F-F# piston-rotor bugles in competition. This lighter bugle is able to achieve better intonation and a more complete chromatic scale than the G-D-F# bugles. Slide-piston and/or rotor-piston bugles were common into the mid-1970s, and many non-competitive parade corps still existed that used straight bugles and single-valved models. Manufacture of horizontal-piston bugles ceased in the 1990s, as most bugles were being sold to DCI drum corps, which legalized two-valved vertical piston instruments in 1977 and three-valved instruments in 1987. The main advantages of horizontal-valved one-piston-with-slide and/or piston-rotor bugles include: • Ease of learning. The basic simplicity of the instrument allows for the possibility of rapid mastery by beginners • Substantially lower cost • Lightness • Ease of repair Additions to drum and bugle corps voicings occurred in the mid-1930s with the popularity of the
baritone bugle, pitched one octave below the
soprano. The
tenor bugle also came into use at about this time, and although it was pitched in the soprano range, its slightly larger bore offered a darker, almost cornet-like and more robust tone. The tenor bugle fell from general favor by 1960 though they remained in bugle catalogs.
French horn bugles became popular by mid-century, serving as bridges between sopranos and baritones. By 1950 a few
bass-baritone bugles began to be seen. These larger euphonium-like instruments, pitched like the baritone one octave below the soprano and tenor, added a deep foundation. By 1960, the bass-baritones had largely supplanted the baritones in most corps. One widely applauded and popular 1962 addition was the
contrabass, the biggest horn and lowest voice, two octaves below the soprano, which partially rests on the shoulder. The
mellophone or mellophonium was introduced soon after, and was quickly popular for its capability of soaring above the rest of the bugle section. However it did not supplant the
French horn, which remained the dominant middle voice. Other less-popular bugle types introduced in the 1960 included
herald trumpet bugles,
euphoniums, pistonless slide sopranos and
piccolo bugles or "angel bugles" pitched an octave above the sopranos. The valve-rotor bugle remained popular until the late 1970s, when rules changes moved toward two-valve upright bugles.
Drum lines Classic corps drum lines of the 1950s and 1960s used fewer exotic percussion instruments and relied instead on the stadium-filling power of a traditional line (or "
battery") consisting of six or eight by
double-tension maple
snare and
tenor drum shells and two or occasionally three by
bass drums with an ornamental shell covering of hard plastic in a glossy sparkle or
pearlescent finish. Until 1965, usually only one
cymbalist was used in the field corps although two or even three cymbalists were not uncommon, especially on parade. Until 1963, bass drummers used one stick or mallet and provided the foundation note in the battery. But in that year, drum instructors nationwide added two-stick rudimental bass-drumming to their drumlines, a historic style adopted from fife and drum corps. While rudimental bass drummers now had more to do, the one-stick bass drummers were often kept on as "foundation bass" or "straight bass" (also as standard bass) drummers. (In the 1930s and 1940s, those corps bass drummers using two mallets were termed as scotch bass drummers.) Until 1965 single
tenor drums were commonplace in some corps, the single tenor drum, beaten by 2 soft or hard mallets in the tradition of British corps of drums, served in the same role as the snare drums but without the snares below. The action of beating the mallets was following the British, Dutch or US Marine Corps practice, in which the tenor drummers played their drums as either flourishing tenors following British precedence or rhythm tenors similar to snares. The first multiple tenor drums appeared in 1966 and would be adopted by many corps in later years. A few corps even mounted
glockenspiel in the vertical bell lyre form as part of their percussion unit. The older-type, less-expensive and lighter
single-tension drums, such as most corps used through the 1940s, were most often ordered for novice and feeder "cadet" corps. Until 1956, drum heads were of stretched
unborn calfskin, but beginning in 1957 the Ludwig Drum Company introduced
mylar drum heads that gave a crisper sound and were impervious to damp weather. The movement in classic corps is to drums which retain the Golden Age's unique sound. == Color guard and Honor guard/drill team ==