Klarinet Archive - Posting 000224.txt from 2007/09
From: Barton Cummings <cbc_21@-----.com> Subj: Re: [kl] Military Bands Date: Tue, 25 Sep 2007 21:25:34 -0400
Not being a clarinetist, I still have some thoughts on
this subject.
As a tuba player, I was accepted in the US Army Field
Band as a junior in college, but elected to finish out
my degree and then take another look at the situation.
When I decided to enlist, I discovered that the year
and a half I waited had made a tremendous difference
and there were no openings in the major congressional
bands. So I enlisted for the band at Ft Devens,
Massachusetts.
To make a long story short, I spent a year there and
then was levied to Vietnam where I remained until the
last few months of my enlistment when I was assigned
to the 1st Cavalry Band at Ft Hood, Texas. I was
fortunate enough to audition and find a place in the
USARV Band which turned out to be a good assignment
both musically and army wise.
In fact, I served with some of the finest musicians I
ever worked with in all of my assignments. Many of
those I served with went on to careers in the
Hollywood studios, major symphonies, college teaching
positions and some remained in the army and rose to
very high rank and positions in the band program.
My feeling is that if you wish to have a full time job
being paid to play your instrument the military offers
that opportunity. I have never regretted my time in
the army band program.
If you have questions most every US military band has
a website and in many cases you can write directly to
individual members of that band. It is always best to
get the word from those in the business.
Hope this helps.
Barton Cummings
--- Lars Kirmser <syrinx@-----.com> wrote:
> True enough, but you were lucky to be in the
> military with a great president
> like Clinton; he might not be so lucky (perhaps some
> serious looser like
> George W.) I'm not at all surprised of his
> apprehension. - Lars
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Bill Hausmann" <bhausmann1@-----.net>
> To: <klarinet@-----.org>
> Sent: Monday, September 24, 2007 8:52 PM
> Subject: Re: [kl] Military Bands
>
>
> > At 04:30 PM 9/23/2007, Crystal Proper wrote:
> >>I found your response a bit harsh. Obviously
> musicians
> >>join the military for VERY different reasons than
> >>regular folks. And if the military wants to
> continue
> >>to recruit high quality musicians, the whole
> >>deployment thing needs to go away. I can already
> see
> >>the effects in my band of great musicians
> separating
> >>because of it, and in their places mediocre ones
> are
> >>being hired because we're desparate for certain
> >>instruments.
> >>His questions were completely valid, and are not
> >>unlike the concerns I had seven years ago before I
> >>joined.
> >
> > Maybe a LITTLE harsh, but I could not stomach his
> proposition that his
> > service would be based upon his personal approval
> of the results of the
> > presidential election. In the military, you have
> to serve WHOEVER is the
> > president, whether you personally approve of him
> or not. I had to serve
> > under Clinton without complaint, so he can just
> suck it up and take
> > whoever is in office, or find another venue to ply
> his craft. The other
> > questions were a bit on the order of "What's in it
> for ME?" It is not bad
> > in and of itself to ask such questions, but in the
> absence of any
> > balancing questions the post looked overly
> self-serving to me.
> >
> > A positive thing for the young man to keep in
> mind: Clarinetists seem to
> > be hard to come by in military bands. Such a
> shortage WILL work to his
> > advantage if his attitude adjusts properly.
> >
> >
> >
> > Bill Hausmann
> >
> > If you have to mic a saxophone, the rest of the
> band is TOO LOUD!
> >
> >
> >
>
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