Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1880-09-08
The American Brass Band.


The chief reason Of the fatal charac-
ter Of our brass bands is the tact that
they are, with very rare exceptions,
constructed upon the model Of the bands !
in use among the African native Kings. |
which consist entirely Of drums and tin |
horns. Our band.masters appear to be
as ignorant Of reed. as is the Kings Of
Uganda. Instead Of employing claro- |
nets TO carry the melody and depending
upon brass instruments for harmonic
effects, they use comets exclusively,
and then try 10 drown the shrieks and
blaze Of those execrable instruments
with big bass drum. To The Ameri-
can, as TO the native African mind.
band consists Of drum and misera-
BILE apology for a horn. The other
brass instruments seems TO be added
merely to incre ase the volume of sound,
and are rarely permitted to form any,
thing but the simplest cords with tie
cornets.
The drnm is, Of the two, moro lmpor-
tant 10 an American brass band than
is the cornet. The drummer conceives
that his business is 10 conduct the band,
aud ho bangs away With apparently no
other object than that Of marking time.
He does this go steady and conscien-
tiously that he renders the conductor
with his baton entirely superhuous, and
compels the other instruments to sink
by comparison into lnsignifcance.
There are times when the occasional
nete of the bass drum is tolerable, and
in certain passages syncopated notes
may be struck by the drummer with
really fine effect. In the American
brass band, however, the drum recalls
the sweet music Of a lumber wagon
humping oyer rough road, and i'm
parts 10 the entire baud the musical
character ofa machine shop in busy
operation.
The effect of the brass band upon the
health and spirits Of a community
where it prevails can be ascertained
with very little investigation, and even
DR.. Tracy could probably find out
something about it in the course of ten
or fifteen years of careful observation.
1t is ofgreat use TO unprincipled hotel"
keepers in con fusing the mind Of the
travelling public and paralyziDg Its will.
For example, there IS a hotel at the
head Of Lake George where the steam-
boat from the lower end of the lake and
the stages from the railway station stop
before proceeding to the other hotel.
Whenever q stage or steamboat is
sighted the astute hotel.keeper orders
his band to play. 1t is probably one of
most deadly bands in the country, and
the traveller who hears 1t straighhtway
becomes wholly unable to perform the
simplest process Of thinking. He may
have previously determined to go TO
~asihor hotel hnt with the awfui
strains Of the brass band ringing in his
ears, he falls an immediate and help.
less prey to horde OF colored walters,
and is led INTO the hotel, busted, as
signed to a room, and taken to dine with
the other prisoners In the great hall be-
fore he realizes his condition. This
power of the America brass band to
produce mental lmbecili : and total loss
of will power is an evil which cannot be
over-estimated, and which can be COM
bated only by the complete suppression
Of the band.
Many people imagine that the dis
order which frequently disgraces excnr-
sion parties is due to intemperance.
On the contrary it is due TO the in eYlta-
bic brass band. Men may embark on
board an excursion steamboat where
not drop Of ardent spirits can be OBJ
tanned, and after hearing the brass.band
play the Mulligan Guards" and
Whoa! Emma" fifteen times each,
they fall upon one another 10 frenzy
and fight like tigers. Can any one
point TO fight which has taken place
| on an excursion steamboat where there
was no brass-band 10 active operation
Ofcourse, no one can. It is, then, the
, fatal influence OF the band which leads
the mild tailor to rise up and harm The
J unofending shoemaker, and transforms
the peaceable baker into blood thirs'
ty maniac. It Is in vain that the police
authorities try 10 keep the peace where
brass-bands exist. II cannot be done.
for the bass drum and the cornet will
induce even women to tear each others
hair and to throw camp-stoOls at men
who have not even been formally ln'
troduced to them.