ITG 2005

There has been a misconception of what the Drum and Bugle Corps activity does to your trumpet playing, which usually leads to some apprehension towards the activity and its overall place as a performance ensemble. This clinic will focus on the various exercises used in today’s Drum and Bugle Corps as it applies to brass performance as well as a Question and Answer period regarding the activity or exercises presented herein. There will be some hands on performance as well as explanations of the exercises and techniques used within the activity. These exercises can be used in daily conditioning for any genre of performance from solo trumpet to orchestral to jazz. These exercises can also be attributed to the improvement of range, breathing, articulation, finger technique, sound, volume and endurance. This clinic is presented Ramon Vasquez. Ramon is a trumpet clinician for the Edwards Instrument Company of Elkhorn Wisconsin.

Scott Brown, reporter

“Higher, Faster, Louder,” this the common perception of drum corps. Ray Vasquez, newly appointed to the faculty of Auburn University, says, “It’s time to not be afraid of Drum Corp any more.” Vasquez marched for the Phantom Regiment from 1991-93, and currently works with the Minnesota Brass, a senior corps.

Drum corps is divided into three divisions. Division 1 is the largest division having somewhere near 135 total on the field including horn line, drum line, pit percussion, and color guard. Division 1 corps will travel nationally competing and will do a little bit of international travel. Division 2 corps will be very similar in size to division 1, but will compete on more of a local level with a lot less traveling. Division 3 corps will total about 60 members on the field and will compete on a very small circuit. Persons age 14-22 are eligible to audition for most corps, however, some corps require a minimum age of 18.

Until 1990, when a bylaw was passed, the trumpets used were bugles with two valves in the key of G. In 1990, an instrument with three valves, still in the key of G, was introduced and accepted with open arms. The addition of a third valve allowed for a lot more chromatic playing to be done with the soprano voices. In the current scheme of things there has been even more of a shift and now many corps employ B-flat trumpets.

The main thing that Vasquez wanted to get across in his presentation was that with the correct approach and technique, drum corps can not only be fun, but beneficial to young trumpet players. During the summer months many high school and college players just put the horn in the closet for three months. By playing in a corps, they are playing 6-10 hours a day. It is hard playing, but a great way to keep kids in shape over the summer while making memories and friends that will last forever.