drumer boy

[Dennis]

A friend of mine son wants to join my unit as a drumer boy. Where can I find info on how he a learn to the commands and how to play them? thank you Dennis Brinker

[Pvt_Jack_Bauer]

does he know how to play drums?

[Dennis]

i'am not for sure

Dennis, you agreed to sign all posts with your full name when you signed up. Please do so in the future - Mike Chapman

[Pvt_Jack_Bauer]

Well I am guessing to A. Know how to play the drums would be step one. Now to be functional on the unit level it would be best to talk to a principal musician and they can give you a wealth of information on where to start. A drummers participation varies from organization to organization. Also check these guys out

http://www.campchasefifesanddrums.com/

some of the best in the business...they could probably point you in the right direction.

[John Legg]

ehh camp chase does modern stuff, (sticking) my pard john white saw them at greenfeild village one year,
and got up and left. it looked like the movie "Drumline"

even though they are from georgia id contact the 125th OVI Tiger band.

Tell him he needs to get a copy of Bruce and Emmetts fife and Drum guide. even though there is some mid-late war stuff in there its a good place to start.

after a while. have a look at Caseys. there is some calls in the book.

and dennis, please sign your full name after every post, it helps all of us here!

Thanks and Cheers :)

John

[Horton]

My best advice is to find someone who already knows how to play to help him out. The main thing is to practice. I have seen at too many events where kids are just given drums with minimal instruction and being told to just play "somethin" until they are old enough to hold a weapon. I am glad to here of another kid who is interested in playing and wish him the best of luck. get him some nice heavy sticks to build those wrist muscles and a good teacher and he will be on his way.

[pjdrums96]

ehh camp chase does modern stuff, (sticking) my pard john white saw them at greenfeild village one year,
and got up and left. it looked like the movie "Drumline"


Hey John,

I am very interested to know if you have ever seen Camp Chase live for yourself? Before you start talking trash on a group that has been in existance for more than a decade, you may want to get your facts staight. I play with Camp Chase and I can tell you that more than 90% of music we perform is taken right from the drum manuals of the period.

We have had drum solos written by our lead drummer, merely for crowd appeal. When you are playing for large crowds of your "average civilians," they do not want to hear army 2/4 ten times in a row. We are a professional music group that is there to educate, as well as entertain.

Now, if we were at a reenactment we surely would be playing the camp duty. And let me assure you that there are many individuals in our group who can play the entire days duties, not just Reveille. There are also many of us who consider ourselves living historians and not just performers.

I would use caution when comparing us to the movie "Drumline." Maybe your pard got that movie confused with Glory. (sarcasm)

Sincerely,

Patrick Jones
Camp Chase Fife and Drums

[Knapsack Matt]

If he wants to learn the calls right use Bruce and Emmets.


Matt

[John Legg]

taken right from an IM from my pard.

"modern drum corps movements in a civil war drum corps is off the charts horrid, in MY book"

im just saying. i did get invited into the group but i declined because of this...


and i am sorry of how i worded the previous post. i know there is some good guys in the group, you guys are good and all, but some times as my friend said.

Dennis, i do have many pages from caseys of drum calls. if you shoot me a PM or email message to Johnlegg11@yahoo.com

i will be very happy to send them to you.
:)
John

[FranklinGuardsNYSM]

taken right from an IM from my pard.

"modern drum corps movements in a civil war drum corps is off the charts horrid, in MY book"

im just saying. i did get invited into the group but i declined because of this...


I'm puzzled...on another forum, you discuss playing an admittedly non-period song while "jamming" at events.

Where does the tolerance line for period vs. non-period in field music lie? Moreover, why should there even BE a tolerance line in the case of field music at events?

[John Legg]

OK guys i have made mistakes and i am trying to learn from them.

yes i do play some non-period songs at mainstream events, and yes i am learning more period songs as i type.

thanks

John

[Ross L. Lamoreaux]

John, just to let you know, there is a long-standing tradition of drummers utilizing this "sticking" you refer to as part of the rudiments when learning the instrument, as far back as at least the War of 1812. After mastering the basics , instructors at the School of Music would instruct distinctive patterns of tapping the sticks on the sides and rims of the drums as a method of bringing together all that was learned, as well as for the showmanship. A great example of this is presented by the field music of the 7th US Infantry regiment under Maj0r Steve Abolt for 1812 events like Ft McHenry and Chalmette. Since field music has, since the founding of the National army , been long on tradition, I present to you that this has a place in Civil War field music as well, depending upon the specific portrayal, etc.

[John Legg]

yes.

see what they did at this event, was after the drums played some kind of quickstep. they stoped and flipped there sticks to their shoulders and turned their heads and blew the end of their sticks. acting like there was dust on it or somthing ? :confused:



Cheers :)

john

[pjdrums96]

John,

Are you implying that YOU have been invited into the Camp Chase Fife and Drum Corps??? If you are I have never met you before and neither have my pards who have been in the group for over ten years, along with the founding members.

In regards to your friends IM about "modern drum corps beats" in our group: I have marched in the Golden Lancers Drum and Bugle Corps, Bluecoats Drum and Bugle Corps, and Santa Clara Vanguard Drum and Bugle Corps. Rest assured that we play nothing in the fashion of those groups in Camp Chase. I played snare in all of them, up until 2003 when I aged-out.

I feel you would benefit from a little more studying before posting anymore inaccurate drum information. You never know who will be reading it.

Mr. Lamoreaux, thank you for your wonderful insight into the "sticking" issues. Well said!!

Sincerely,

Patrick Jones
Camp Chase Fife and Drums

[John Legg]

I did get invited back in august. At the cascades event.

I was just saying what i was told.

Im sorry for all of the confusion but we need to get back on the original dicussion.

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Paul, everything has been fixed!


- John :)

[Justin Runyon]

and yes i am learning more period songs as i type.


That might be why your typing is so horrible.

[Bagman]

Gents....

I'm reminded that, given the opportunity, Field Music (Fifes, Drums & Bugles) should try to work with, train and educate the non-musicians in the ranks. I know this is done in some organizations (The Stonewall Brigade and others). Through exposure at training events, Officers, NCO's and rank and file, come to see how field music was used at the time and appreciate the rich texture this adds to an event. Understand that this isn't possible for many, as organized field music units are few and widely scattered. Over time, more will come to understand and appreciate that there is more to being a "straw blower" and "sheepskin fiddler" than perhaps meets the eye

And too, learning and mastering fife-drum or bugle requires a fair degree of commitment. Our group meets weekly, for (3) hours of practice and rehearsal, all through the year. That is a level of commitment that is pretty typical for most bands of any type, and it exceeds that of most living history organizations. If you have the opportunity to affiliate with a group that can provide lessons / instruction, especially if you have no background in music and are starting cold, that is the best way to get going.

If that is not possible, consider enrolling / participating in the Don Hubbard School of Field Music. This "school" has been up and running for a number of years. In 2007 it will be held over the weekend 1-3 June. It is held at Fort Delaware, just south of Wilmington DE. Essentially a school of instruction for musicians (fife-drum-bugle), novice, intermediate and advanced instruction is offered. The instructors are first rate and all is presented in an atmosphere that compliments our role as living historians. Check out their website for more information.

Hope this posting helps ....

Jeff Christman
Liberty Hall Fifes & Drums
The Old Dominion

[ElizabethClark]

In addition to the emphasis on education (thank you to the fine gentlemen who have expanded on that topic), I find it important to point out that field musicians *shoud be* old enough to be in the military, in the vast majority of cases. Small boys (14 and under, at least) need to be primarily in civilian roles. That doesn't stop them from having a "groupie-like" interest in military music--they can even practice military music in citizen settings in many cases--but consistency with history would eliminate all but a very, very, very, very few young boys in musician roles for the history-heavy style events.

[33rdaladrummer]

"More than 90% of music we perform is taken right from the drum manuals of the period."

Patrick,

First of all I would like to say that Camp Chase is one of the best drum corps around. Because of this, many young reenactor drummers and fifers strive to attain your level of performance and learn many tunes and beats from your recordings. The problem is that if there is a post-war tune (e.g. Paddy) or a modern beating (e.g. Adam Bell's, Drums and Guns) on a cd, everyone assumes that it is period. Go to any reenactment and the most commonly heard tunes and beatings you will hear being played are the same ones on your recordings, which weren't necessarily the most commonly played tunes during the war(some had not even been composed yet).


"they do not want to hear army 2/4 ten times in a row"

One of my proudest moments in reenacting was when our Colonel (who has since injured his knee and is unable to march) told me that he could march to h-ll to the cadence I was playing. It was the Army 2-4, which you can hear the Civil War veteran drummers playing for Road to Boston, Ole Zip Coon, and the Girl I Left Behind Me(NOT the stick beat) in Echoes of the Blue and Grey. Howe's 1861, which sold many more copies than Bruce-Emmett during the war, gives the Army 2-4 as the beat for the Girl I Left Behind Me. For the other beats I use when drumming with the 33rd Alabama, 100% come directly or are "cut and pasted" from period manuals and are played on an UNMUFFLED drum with calfskin heads using heavy rosewood replica sticks.

"We are a professional music group that is there to educate, as well as entertain."

I assure you that it is possible for field music to entertain the public and at the same time play (as much as research allows us) 100% period tunes and beatings, even though in some musicians' opinions the authentic beatings are not as fun or interesting.

If you read Bayard's March to the Fife, Dance to a Fiddle, you will find a story about an old fifer in the early 1900's who would just swing his fife "to show them his contempt" while his corps was playing a relatively modern tune. I'm not quite that bad(I hope), but I am still not satisfied with the authenticity level of field music in our hobby. If we know better, than why can't we try and do the best we can?

Respectfully,

Will Chappell

[Horton]

Wow, I find it very interesting how this thread went from how to help a young aspiring musician to "the beats I play are more authentic than yours". The reason Dennis started this thread was to help a kid out. Maybe a new thread should be started on period drum calls and beatings and which book is better. Dennis, if you haven't been scared away by the previous post it is important to under stand that there is no substitution for good practice. Wailing away on a practice pad is not good practice. In the beggining practices should be supervised by someone who knows how to play. My best of luck to this young boy and I hope he has as much fun as I am becoming a musician.

[33rdaladrummer]

I would say the best advice for a young drummer (which is the same advice that has been given for almost 200 years) would be to learn the long roll and then procede to learning the other rudiments of drumming. The best instruction book for rudimental drumming in general is the Moeller book, available from www.sheetmusicplus.com for $8.95. Moeller travelled across the country, interviewing and observing the Civil War veteran drummers in the 1920's and wrote a book based on these techniques. In this book, the rudiments are described in better detail than the CW era publications. However, the camp duty included is slightly different from that played during the Civil War. I believe the period sources and their differences have been discussed in another thread.

I didn't intend to "scare away" anyone. I was just trying to contribute to a discussion of authenticity that others in this thread had started. Maybe the real issue was best stated by a gentleman in another thread:

"I may be casting a bit more than just .02 on the subject here, but here goes. I think this is an interesting topic. In authentic reenacting we have the highest uniform and gear standards, but when it gets to music, we settle for modern compromises, it seems. I think we need to ask ourselves, what is more important, being a musician or being a reenactor?"

Regards,

Will Chappell

[FederalDrummerBoy]

To whom it may conern:

The best way to learn is to take lessons. Find a snare drum instructor in your area and tell them exactly what you are trying to do and what you need to know. Tell them that you want to learn the 26 basic rudiments and after you have mastered the rudiments, you can move on to playing music from the manuals of the period. After learning music from the manuals you can learn new rudiments and music such as swiss rudiments.

As for the debate over playing correct music, Camp Chase plays SOME music that is more modern, it's no secret. We are a professional music organization and we encorporate music from the Revolutionary War through the Civil War and even beyond. Camp Chase uses modern music to educate our audiences about the evolution of drumming since then. Whenever we use modern music in our performances, we inform the audince so there is no confusion as to the authenticity of the pieces. If you see Camp Chase perform, do not get up and "walk away" just because we are playing a modern solo utilizing the 26 basic rudiments. As Patrick stated before, audiences do not want to hear the same half dozen beats used over and over again. When we are at more authentic events, we only play authentic pieces, but at events that have Model T's driving down paved streets, like at Greenfield Village, or events with corn dog and ice cream stands, what would be lost by educating and entertaining the public by showing what can and has been done with drumming? If you have a problem with this approach maybe living history and interacting with people in an entertaining way just isn't for you. Also, instead of being lazy and taking music off of our CDs, why don't people open up a manual from the period and take a gander at whats's in there for themselves. If you read the tune information on our CDs, you will find where the music comes from and it's historical background.

As to the argument over NO MUFFLERS, congradulations, but was the drum on which you play constructed correctly ? More than likely, it is not accurately made. You made the argument over having 100% authentic gear but using modern music. Why don't you make sure that you hold your drum or gun to the same standard. Does your drum have the same weight as the originals, was it constructed the same way and with the same materials? You have correct rosewood sticks, but have you ever considered investing in a pair cocobolo sticks, which were about prevelent as rosewood? Is your drum steambent one ply made of birch, ash, maple, etc. and glued or nailed with two or three stranded linen or hemp ropes? Many authentic living historians, reenactors, or whatever you want to call yourself don't take the time to make sure that their intruments and weapons are of the same quality as their other uniform parts.

____________________
Alex Kuhn
Camp Chase Fifes and Drums

[Shantyman]

Getting the basic rudiment is most defenitly a must. but as far as music manuals go i would recommend The drummers and Fifers guild by Bruce and Emmit and The Army Fife and Drum Book by Oliver Ditson and co. in the spring there is also a music school at fort delaware. However ( i feel ) that the most valued and critical instruction of all can only come eye to eye from another more experianced musciean. im almost positive we got a LHF&D member from up thataways. where dose the boy live in ohio?



Steven Flibote
Liberty Hall Fifes and Drums