A fife and drum corps is a musical ensemble consisting of fifes and drums. In the United States of America, fife and drum corps specializing in colonial period impressions using fifes, rope tension snare drums and rope tension bass drums are known as Ancient Fife and Drum Corps.[1] Many of these ensembles originated from a type of military field music.
Fifes are an ancient wind instrument that have evolved over the centuries. The original form was small and bore six finger-holes, but later versions may have various sizes and numbers of holes. While ancient fifes were one-piece and therefor not easily tuned, modern fifes are two pieces connected by a joint made from either metal or cork. Modern 10-hole and 11-hole fifes are chromatic, thus able to play any note as opposed to the more limited ancient fifes, which could only be played in a few keys.
The fife originated in Europe and has spread widely beyond. It is a similar instrument to the German Schweizerpfeife, which translates to "Swiss fife", the Irish flute, baroque flute and the piccolo.[citation needed]
Fifes have been in use by military organizations since the 16th century. Fifes originally accompanied companies of soldiers, providing music while on the march and in camp. Drums have had a role in militaries going back farther in history.[citation needed]
The rise of the modern army began in the late 16th century and evolved throughout the 18th century. Drilling to precise and increasingly complicated geometric movements in close order formation, armies adapted and trained fifers and drummers to signal preparatory alerts and execution signals as well as times of day for the troops. It became customary for each company of 100 or so men to be assigned 2 fifers and 2 drummers to sound signals, hours and alarms, as well as play popular music on the march. This pattern was also practised in the U.S. services from the Revolutionary War up until the late 19th Century. When the companies of a Regiment or Battalion were gathered together, it was customary to assemble the fifes and drums from all the companies into a 'band' to march at the head of the column on parade. When a regimental military band (woodwinds and brass) were also present, the fifes and drums marched at the head, followed by the military band. This is still the custom with British Regimental bands. To this day, the drum major's preparatory command to move a British Army band is, "Band and Drums...". This is referring back to the segregation of the fifes and drums as a separate entity from a military band.
Fifes have always been an infantry musical instrument.[citation needed] Assigned at the company level with 1-2 fifes and 1-2 drums per company (or formed as a band at the regimental level), fifes and drums were used to regulate the daily activities of the troops. They signaled when the troops should rise in the morning and retire at night, when to eat, when to assemble, and to sound an alarm. The infantry used side drums (snare/field, long drum/tenor drum and the bass drum). When detached to the companies, the drummers used only the side drums. Cavalry and Dragoon (mounted infantry) units did not use them, instead utilizing bugles to signal commands. The only remaining Fife and Drum Corps in the American Military is the Fife and Drum Corps of the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard), a ceremonial Army unit based out of Ft. Myer, Virginia, raised in 1960.
The Colonial Williamsburg Fifes and Drums,[2] founded in 1958[3] by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation,[4] is a professional corps made up of young musicians between the ages of 10 and 18. They are a fine representation of what a fife and drum corps would have looked and sounded like during the mid-eighteenth century when company fifers and drummers came together as a single unit for marches, trooping of the colors, and parades. The Colonial Williamsburg Fifes and Drums depict the Virginia State Garrison Regiment,[5] which served in the Tidewater area of Virginia shortly after the American Revolution.
Modern non-military Fife and Drum Corps are organizations with volunteer or paid performers.[citation needed] Revenue is obtained through fundraising and by performing in town and city parades. Corps performance pieces often reflect the expectations of the audience for these venues (e.g., patriotic and Irish medleys for Memorial Day and St. Patrick's Day, respectively). Sometimes a Fire Department may have their own associated Fife and Drum Corps to march ahead of their fire trucks. Other corps may obtain revenue from reenactment performances. Several times per year various Fife and Drum Corps meet to compete, parade, socialize, and muster at a camp ground or meeting hall (in the winter).
The Marine Corps of the Royal Netherlands Navy employs a Fife and Drum Corps tracing back its roots to 1665 and possibly earlier. In Dutch, the Tamboers en Pijpers are made up of fully trained professional Dutch Marines who play the drums (Tamboer) or fife (Pijper, derived from Pfeife, cognate of Fife). Both categories are fully accomplished as Buglers for Dutch military ceremonial tasks.[6]
Instrumentation
A fife is a woodwind instrument in the transverse flute family, which sounds an octave above the written music and has 6 tone holes (some have 10 or 11 tone holes for added chromatics).[citation needed] Most fifes are wood - blackwood, grenadilla, rosewood, mopane, pink-ivory and other dense woods are superior; maple and persimmon are inferior, but often used, particularly as entry-level instruments. Some corps have used metal fifes. In Civil War corps, bugles are sometimes part of the instrumentation.[citation needed]
Rope-tension snare and bass drums are tightened using tugs or ears that apply pressure to the rope, which is transferred to the heads when the rope compresses the counter hoops, causing them to move slightly closer together.[citation needed] The drum heads used are usually made of lamb or calf skin, or plastic drum heads made by many drum manufacturers. Unlike in the British corps, the single tenor drum is not customarily used in American fife and drum ensembles, althrough only a few ensembles that play the fife and bugle have them and these were paired in the 1880s in the US Armed Forces with fifes and bugles when these were introduced before the fifes were abandoned.
The drums are beaten using two sticks. Visual effects may be created by flourishes of the drum sticks; for example, bass drummers may swing the beaters in a flourish while the snare drummers roll (or when the beating leaves sufficient time to flourish).
Songs are chosen based on a number of criteria, and can include both historically significant music and new pieces specifically composed or arranged to be played on fife and drum.
Most fife and drum corps march in parades, perform at concerts, in festivals and state fairs, and expositions.[citation needed] Some fife and drum corps focus on interpreting a specific time period and portray field musicians of the era at living history events and reenactments. Many corps perform together at musters, particularly in the North-East, but also nationally throughout the United States.
The typical[citation needed]uniform of the Ancient Fife and Drum Corps is a representation of some military uniform from the American Revolutionary War. Uniforms often consist of tricorns or cocked hats, waistcoats, knickers (knee breeches) or gaitered trousers, ruffled cuffs, neck stocks, and buckled shoes similar those by the Continental Army or Marines. Only a few wear uniforms of the War of 1812, including shakos. More recently, American Civil War uniforms have risen in prominence, with uniforms and instrumentation based on Civil War units of either the Union or Confederate armies. Headdress worn by these is either the kepi or Forage cap.
↑ "Fifes & Drums". Colonial Williamsburg. Williamsburg, VA: The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
↑ Casterline, Jr., William H. (2008). From the Road to Boston To The World Turned Upside Down - 50 Years of the Colonial Williamsburg Fifes and Drums 1958-2008. Fairfax, VA: National Quality Products. The Colonial Williamsburg Fifes and Drums made its first performance by two fifers and two drummers on July 4, 1958.
↑ White, William E. (1990). The Virginia State Garrison Regiment, 1778-1782. John D. Rockefeller Jr. Library.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
The snare drum is a percussion instrument that produces a sharp staccato sound when the head is struck with a drum stick, due to the use of a series of stiff wires held under tension against the lower skin. Snare drums are often used in orchestras, concert bands, marching bands, parades, drumlines, drum corps, and more. It is one of the central pieces in a drum set, a collection of percussion instruments designed to be played by a seated drummer and used in many genres of music. Because basic rhythms are very easy to learn to play on a snare drum even for children, the instrument is also suitable for the music education for young children and a rhythm band.
A marching band is a group of instrumental musicians who play while marching. Historically they were used in armed forces and many marching bands remain military bands. Others are still associated with military units or emulate a military style, with elements such as uniforms, flags and batons and occasionally rifles or sabers. Instrumentation typically includes brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments.
A pipe band is a musical ensemble consisting of pipers and drummers. The term pipes and drums, used by military pipe bands is also common.
Classic drum and bugle corps are musical ensembles that descended from military bugle and drum units returning from World War I and succeeding wars. Traditionally, drum and bugle corps served as signaling units as early as before the American Civil War, with these signaling units having descended in some fashion from ancient drum and fife corps. With the advent of the radio, bugle signaling units became obsolete and surplus equipment was sold to veteran organizations. These organizations formed drum and bugle corps of civilians and veterans, and the corps performed in community events and local celebrations. Over time, rivalries between corps emerged and the competitive drum and bugle corps circuit evolved.
A fife is a small, high-pitched, transverse aerophone, that is similar to the piccolo. The fife originated in medieval Europe and is often used in fife and drum corps, military units, and marching bands. Someone who plays the fife is called a fifer. The word fife comes from the German Pfeife, meaning pipe, which comes from the Latin word pipare.
Marching percussion instruments are percussion instruments specially designed to be played while moving. This is achieved by attaching the drum(s) to a special harness worn by the drummer, although not all marching bands use such harnesses and instead use traditional baldrics to sling their drums.
In rudimental drumming, a form of percussion music, a drum rudiment is one of a number of relatively small patterns which form the foundation for more extended and complex drumming patterns. The term "drum rudiment" is most closely associated with various forms of field drumming, where the snare drum plays a prominent role. In this context "rudiment" means not only "basic", but also fundamental. This tradition of drumming originates in military drumming and it is a central component of martial music.
United States military bands include musical ensembles maintained by the United States Army, United States Marine Corps, United States Navy, United States Air Force, and United States Coast Guard. More broadly, they can also include musical ensembles of other federal and state uniformed services, including the Public Health Service and NOAA Corps, the state defense forces, and the senior military colleges.
The Royal Marines Band Service is the musical wing of the Royal Navy and an independent element of the Royal Marines. It currently consists of five bands plus a training wing – the Royal Marines School of Music at HMS Nelson – and its headquarters is at HMS Excellent, Whale Island, Portsmouth.
The United States Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps is one of four premier musical organizations of the United States Army. Members perform using musical instruments and wearing uniforms similar to those used by military musicians of the Continental Army during the American Revolution.
A corps of drums, sometimes known as a fife and drum corps or simply field music, is a traditional European military music formation. Historically, a Corps of Drums' primary role was communication. Today, the primary role of a Corps of Drums is ceremonial, performing in parades and military ceremonies. Besides drums, this formation may contain a variety of instruments, including trumpets, bugles, and fifes.
The Middlesex County 4-H Fife & Drum Corps is fife and drum corps, which was formed in 1972 as a 4-H club in Concord, Massachusetts, in anticipation of that town’s celebration of the United States Bicentennial. Its members come from different towns in eastern Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Members range in age from eight to eighteen.
A drum major in the military is the individual leading a military band or a field unit. It is an appointment, not a military rank. Military drum majors utilize a ceremonial mace for giving commands while marching. Many drum majors, particularly American- or British-influenced ones, wear a sash that can carry embroidered badges of their home unit and battle honors; a pair of ceremonial drum sticks are often attached.
Lancraft Fife and Drum Corps is an Ancient Fife and Drum Corps based in North Haven, Connecticut, and is a member of the Connecticut Fifers and Drummers Association. Lancraft was founded in 1888 by conservative Freemasons, but over the years has become the pride of Irish Americans.
The Scottish tenor drum is a musical instrument used within Scottish pipe bands. It is a double-headed membranophone that is held vertically with one head up, one head down, and played with soft mallets on the top head only. Common sizes of drums are 15, 16, 18, or 20 inch in diameter, with 12, 14, or 16 inch depth. The playing style of the Scottish tenor drum has varied throughout the years, but there is typically a variation of the combination of swings and rhythmic accompaniment to the Scottish snare drum and the Great Highland Bagpipes. It is similar to the more common marching band style tenor drum.
Drum tuning is the process of adjusting the frequency or pitch of a drum. Although most drums are unpitched instruments, they still have a fundamental pitch and overtones. Drums require tuning for a variety of reasons: to sound good together as a kit, to sound pleasing as an individual drum, to achieve the desired amount of ringing and resonance, and to produce the sound that fits the music. Some drums such as timpani and rototoms are tuned to a definite pitch. Drums are tuned by tightening or loosening the tension rods or ropes, which control the tension on the drumhead. Additional techniques such as muffling may also be used to affect resonance.
Norwood Colonial Boys FDC is an Irish-American fife and drum corps based in Norwood, MA. It was founded in 1953 after the dissolution of the Saint Catherine of Siena fife and drum corps in Norwood, MA. The corps has marched in parades around the world playing from a repertoire of traditional Irish songs and historical American tunes, often from the Revolutionary and Civil War eras. The current head of the Board of Directors is John Faherty.
The Brazilian Marine Pipes, Drum and Bugle Corps is the only field music formation in service in the Brazilian Marine Corps and within the wider Brazilian Navy, and one of a few active formations today in service in the Brazilian Armed Forces. Formed in 1822 on the basis of the field music formations of the present day Portuguese Marine Corps stationed in Brazil, it is also the oldest in South America.
The Rotterdam Marine Band of the Royal Netherlands Navy, also referred to as the Band of the Korps Mariniers or simply the Dutch Marine Band is the Royal Netherlands Navy's official musical unit. Like Britain's Royal Marines Band Service it is the representative band of the entire navy despite being a reporting unit of the Korps Mariners, as sub-branch in the Dutch Armed Forces. Based in the port city of Rotterdam, the band was founded on 1 August 1945 as a continuation of the pre-war Regimental Band of the Royal Netherlands Navy.
The military bands of the United Kingdom are musical units that serve for protocol and ceremonial duties as part of the British Armed Forces. They have been the basis and inspiration for many military bands in the former British Empire and the larger Commonwealth of Nations as well as musical organizations in other countries. Military musical units with British influence include United States military bands, the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force Music Corps and the Military Band of Athens. British military bands are controlled by the military music departments of the three services that compose the armed forces. These include the Royal Marines Band Service, the Royal Corps of Army Music, and the Royal Air Force Music Services. British style brass bands and carnival bands were then and are currently inspired by the British Armed Forces and its brass bands, especially of the Army's regular and reserve formations, as they follow a similar format as it relates to brass and percussion instruments.
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