(Dan) Emmett's Standard Drummer Manuscript - In the Gilderoy

[33rdaladrummer]

Here's Dan Emmett's unpublished drum manuscript. I'm working on putting these beats in a more readable format. I've done that with "In the Gilderoy" here. Off the top of my head I don't think this is the same tune as Gilderoy/Guilderoy. I've got Emmett's manuscript of fife music somewhere. I think it contains a different tune called In the Gilderoy.

inthegilderoy.pdf

Emmett's_Standard_Drummer.pdf

[Sue]

Re: (Dan) Emmett's Standard Drummer Manuscript - In the Gilderoy

Nice. I'd like to know how this compares to what's in D&FG, notation-wise and style-wise. (I'm not a drummer, so am depending on you!). ;-)

Sue Cifaldi

[J.H.Berger]

Re: (Dan) Emmett's Standard Drummer Manuscript - In the Gilderoy

Is there anybody out there who can not only write this down but play the calls on a CD including explanations which call is which and what it means? I couldn't find any drum calls as well explained as the bugle calls like the CD from George Rabbai. That si something we really need for all thsoe non musicians. Audio recording includung!! oral explanation what the call is and what it is for. The same is true for the fife calls, of course!
So is there anybody out there who can do this?

[pjdrums96]

Re: (Dan) Emmett's Standard Drummer Manuscript - In the Gilderoy

I have a good friend in Ohio who has a recording studio in his house. We have been talking about putting together a CD exactly as you described. I feel that many people would benefit from hearing the calls by themselves, so when they are played at an event, people know what they are suppose to do. There are a few calls on various recordings from Camp Chase, Liberty Hall, and other groups, but they are mixed in with medleys and other tunes. I will see what I can do about recording some duty calls by themselves. I could even make various CD's for different music manuals. I'm just not sure how many people would be interested in getting a copy? If there is a lot of interest, then it would really be worth doing.

Patrick Jones
Camp Chase Fifes and Drums

[J.H.Berger]

Re: (Dan) Emmett's Standard Drummer Manuscript - In the Gilderoy

Patrick that is exactely what we need!
I know how it is to educate the men to recognize the bugle calls and how I had to learn them by listening because I cannot read notes. But drumm and fife calls are even less known and as long as no fifer and drummer is bringing this to the men through CD so they can learn the calls it is unlikely that the field music will be what it was back than.
I would highly appreciate it if you coudl put together siuch a CD , not only for the musicians to learn but especially for the men!

[33rdaladrummer]

Re: (Dan) Emmett's Standard Drummer Manuscript - In the Gilderoy

Is there anybody out there who can not only write this down but play the calls on a CD including explanations which call is which and what it means? I couldn't find any drum calls as well explained as the bugle calls like the CD from George Rabbai. That si something we really need for all thsoe non musicians. Audio recording includung!! oral explanation what the call is and what it is for. The same is true for the fife calls, of course!
So is there anybody out there who can do this?

Unfortunately for drummers and fifers things aren't as cut and dry as the bugle calls.

The 2nd half of our CD is the camp duty and includes most of all the calls that would be played by the drum corps through the course of the day.

Here are the track numbers:

17. 3 Camps (Reveille)
18. Slow Scotch (Reveille)
19. Austrian (Reveille)
20. Dutch (Reveille)
21. Hessian (Reveille)
22. Quick Scotch, End of Reveille
23. Fatigue Call
24. Surgeon's Call
25. Breakfast Call
26. Drummer's Call
27. Assembly
28. Adjutant's Call
29. To the Color
30. Dog and Gun (a Troop)
31. Dinner Call
32. Three Cheers/Rory O'More (Tattoo)
33. Gov. King's March/Doublings (Tattoo)
34. Kinloch/Doublings (Tattoo)
35. Downfall of Paris/Doublings (Tattoo)
36. Moneymusk/Three Cheers (Tattoo)

Retreat is not on our CD, which would be the 2nd roll call of the day (reveille is 1st and tattoo is 3rd). We also did not include taps, which got its name because it is simply a few taps on the drum as a signal to extinguish lights.

Most of the tunes are self-explanatory...Breakfast call, Dinner call (Supper call is same tune/beat as breakfast)...Surgeon's aka Doctor's call...

The ones I've always found confusing are Adjutant's and To the Color. The various tactics manuals (Scott's, etc.) and the drum tutors give conflicting information about these two calls or omit one of the two.

Assembly is signal to form by company. The use of Drummer's Call is clear from Scott's Tactics. It is beat 10 minutes prior to the main calls as a "1st call".

But some drum tutors have a specific First Call for Guard Mount for example. Others say Drummer's Call is First Call. Some drum tutors have Drill call and another call called Assembly. Others say they are one in the same.

Probably your best bet for explanations of the calls is Scott's Tactics and Elias Howe's United States Regulation Drum and Fife Instructor. Both are available online for free.

These old posts might help:

http://www.authentic-campaigner.com/forum/showthread.php?29075-130th-N.Y.-Drum-Corps&highlight=surgeon%27s+call

http://www.authentic-campaigner.com/forum/showthread.php?25316-First-Call-Fall-In&highlight=surgeon%27s+call

[33rdaladrummer]

Re: (Dan) Emmett's Standard Drummer Manuscript - In the Gilderoy

Nice. I'd like to know how this compares to what's in D&FG, notation-wise and style-wise. (I'm not a drummer, so am depending on you!). ;-)

Sue Cifaldi

After I finish converting the notation, I'd like to do some youtubes. That's probably the best way to explain the differences.

[joewhitney]

Re: (Dan) Emmett's Standard Drummer Manuscript - In the Gilderoy

First Call was generally Drummer's Call, to assemble the musicians to play a major call, such as a batallion/regimental roll call. It also served as the first warning to the color escort to prepare to bring the color(s), and to the new guards, should Guard Mount (a.k.a. changing of the Guard) be the purpose.

Assembly would be beat if it was desired for a company or all companies to assemble, which would occur in the company street.

When the army was to march, the General would be played prior to the Assembly, as a warning to all to pack up. In other words, it would be a "General Assembly".

To the Color(s) (originally called "Troop For the Colour") was the signal for each company to march to the regimental parade ground and form in line on the colors of the regiment.

"When the whole of the troops, in the same camp or garrison, are to depart, the general, the assembly, and to the colour, will be beaten or sounded, at the proper intervals, in the order here mentioned. At the first, the troops will prepare for the movement; at the second, they will form by company, and at the third, unite by battalion. If some of the regiments only are to depart, those beats or sounds will be preceded in each of these regiments, by the particular march of the regiment."

Exactly when To the Color was played is explained below:

"Should the Adjutant be accompanied by the colors, as is sometimes the case, as they approach the center of the parade ground, TO THE COLOR(S) will be played by the Drum and Fife of the band, if it is present; if not, the drum corps (or bugler). Where the colors are reserved for formal escort, the signal to form line ("quick/double-time...MARCH") will immediately follow Adjutant's Call".

To the Color(s) was also played when the colors were escorted to and from the colonel's tent/quarters, and also, should the colors be run up a flagpole, as a salute when hoisting in the morning and lowering in the evening.

As for Adjutant's Call, the Adjutant's job was to make sure each company was correctly formed on the regimental color line on the parade ground, and also to oversee guard mounts. It was sounded by order of Adjutant as the signal for the commencement of the regimental formation or the guard mount (i.e. all the companies or guards better be on line right now and ready to go, because the show is about to begin). The Adjutant would then immediately establish the guides on a line with the music, sometimes constituting the right general guide.

Joe Whitney
2nd SC String Band
Liberty Hall Drum & Fife Corps

[joewhitney]

Re: (Dan) Emmett's Standard Drummer Manuscript - In the Gilderoy

Jan, making a CD with all the "official" drum beats and fife calls is problematic, because as Will pointed out, unlike bugle music which was pretty standardized in Hardee's, drummers and fifers are faced with multpile versions of the music to choose from.

The only "official" drum and fife music was in Scott's/Gilham's/Casey's tactics manuals (Hardee's didn't have it because it was designed for light infantry, which only used buglers). But these contain only snippets of the beginning of each signal, and to make matters worse, the drum music is confusing when trid to play exactly as written, and doesn't agree with the versions in the privately published manuals, which also didn't agree with each other (even though each one promised it was the "official" system being used by regular US Army field musicians).

Early on in reenacting, Bruce & Emmett's guide became universally used, partly because A. it had the most advanced and many thought best versions of the music, B. because it became very popular among New England fifers and drummers when reprinted in the 1880's and that carried on into today's parade groups, C. because early on instructors teaching reenacting musicians favored it from the beginning (and many still do), and D. because instructors at field music schools teaching fifers and drummers used it when they gathered to reenact the duties during the school, because that was what everyone had been taught and knew, and learning and playing a different version of a piece of music you've known for many years isn't easy.

However, it now looks like few copies of B&E were actually printed and distributed during the war itself, whereas other manuals, especially those published by mass music publisher Elias Howe, were probably much more common. It is also unlikely the very advanced versions of the music like that found in B&E were commonly played by the hundreds of thousands of novice drummers and fifers who rushed to join the armies in 1861. Nevertheless, when I am at a reenactment, the only camp duty I typically hear floating over the breeze is B&E (can you tell how much it annoys me?)

So you have five conflicting manuals published during the war that also conflict with several printed just before the war and just after, and no one knows which one may have been most commonly used, if even any of them were. You could make a CD with each version of each piece of music, but you might have to make it a four CD set! We will probably have to wait until we might get a clearer picture from new evidence as to what was actually played.
For now we can only make an educated guess.

Consequently, we in Liberty Hall put a lot of thought into what versions to put on our CD, and feel that based on what we know so far, they should represent the typical camp duty music one would have commonly heard field musicians playing during the war.

Joe Whitney
2nd SC String Band
Liberty Hall Drum & Fife Corps

[J.H.Berger]

Re: (Dan) Emmett's Standard Drummer Manuscript - In the Gilderoy

You drummers and fifers have still not hit one spot: the average man in the ranks has no clue which tune is what! That was my main request, to have a CD with the calls and each call named before played! You have them all in a row and nobody really knows which is which and even if the tracks are numbered and the tracks are for each call then you must look up the CD etc. I have learned the bugle calls by listening to them on cassette while driving my car. That is the easiest way for the simple reenactor to learn them. Having a CD that tells you each call in advance and maybe tells you what it means would be best.
We have to keep in mind that the average reenactor is pretty much ignorant of the calls and their meaning and this will not change if we musicians do not educate them and if there is no audio recording helping the men to learn the calls. They simply will not sit down and learn notes just to be able to know what we are playing!
I was not aware of all those differences as I am yet pretty ignorant of fife and drum calls as well.
But if you pick out some of the manuals and bring them on CD that would be a great step forward for the simple reenactor enlisted, NCO and CO to learn the calls!
I hope I have explained it correctely now.:)

[joewhitney]

Re: (Dan) Emmett's Standard Drummer Manuscript - In the Gilderoy

Good point, Jan. You want a voice at the beginning of each track telling you the name of the music before it is played, so you don't have to count each time to figure it out, and better yet also explaining the purpose of each call.

What would actually be best, and we have talked about in the past, is an instructional video DVD (a picture is worth a thousand words, as they say) with musicians and soldiers demonstrating what each call is for, preferably in an entertaining narrative story that would stick in people's minds. The best thing about this would be the audio tracks could then simply be extracted from the DVD as well.

For example, the sounding/playing of Surgeon's Call could be followed by a humorous vignette of soldiers lining up before the Regimental Surgeon trying to dodge duty or weasel out of him rations of whiskey.

The problems logistically are drawing, organizing and coordinating that many musicians and infantry, along with expensive video equipment and the filming talent to do it right.

A major problem would be simply training the reenactors first to perform the several ceremonies that occurred during a typical day in camp. How many officers, let alone NCO's and privates really know how to do guard mount, dress parade or a review correctly?

Joe Whitney
2nd SC String Band
Liberty Hall Drum & Fife Corps

[J.H.Berger]

Re: (Dan) Emmett's Standard Drummer Manuscript - In the Gilderoy

That's it Joe,
However I would be really happy with just an audio CD because that would make it easier to learn th calls!! The Vidoe would be a great Youtube thing but not so much necessay but the CD with the calls being named before played and perhaps a little explained like the bugle CD from George Rabbai that would really bring us forward!!!

[33rdaladrummer]

Re: (Dan) Emmett's Standard Drummer Manuscript - In the Gilderoy

Ok. I think I understand now what you would like, Jan.

It would be very easy to do.

On a PC for example,

Click Start->Programs->Accesories->Sound Recorder

Say "Reveille". That is track #1 for your new CD.

Tracks 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 would be these tracks from the Liberty Hall Drum and Fife Corps CD:

17. 3 Camps (Reveille)
18. Slow Scotch (Reveille)
19. Austrian (Reveille)
20. Dutch (Reveille)
21. Hessian (Reveille)
22. Quick Scotch, End of Reveille

Now record yourself saying "Fatigue call. Signal to call out fatigue parties, and is beat after idle women who are to be drummed out of camp."

Then alternate the rest of the tracks between the tracks from our CD listed below and tracks where you say the name of the call and what it means :

23. Fatigue Call
24. Surgeon's Call
25. Breakfast Call
26. Drummer's Call
27. Assembly
28. Adjutant's Call
29. To the Color
30. Dog and Gun (a Troop)
31. Dinner Call
32. Three Cheers/Rory O'More (Tattoo)
33. Gov. King's March/Doublings (Tattoo)
34. Kinloch/Doublings (Tattoo)
35. Downfall of Paris/Doublings (Tattoo)
36. Moneymusk/Three Cheers (Tattoo)

Burn it all down to a CD and there you go.

Howe's U.S. Reg. Drum and Fife Instructor has a description, in plain english, of what each call means. That's where I got the above descrip. of Fatigue Call

http://www.nationalcivilwarbrassmusic.org/NCWFMS_Forms/Resources/Howes_Fife_and_Drum_Instructor.pdf

[J.H.Berger]

Re: (Dan) Emmett's Standard Drummer Manuscript - In the Gilderoy

Thank you!

[RJSamp]

Re: (Dan) Emmett's Standard Drummer Manuscript - In the Gilderoy

I had a drummer record all of the Casey's beats for me about 10 years ago, put them on a cassette tape, and sold......hold on now.....3 tapes. Still have the tape. There is NO ONE in the hobby that knows Change of Direction to the Left vs Double Quick vs the Charge as a drum beat. That is NO ONE.

We (the field musicians) work with the infantry and teach them several duty calls....however
1. the drum beats follow the bugle signals, since they are time of day and orders given the night before situational it doesn't take long to figure out what Breakfast Call is....
2. Casey's states that if a bugler is available the drum beats will not be played for the movement beats (Skirmisher's).
3. Many unit's stopped using drummer's on the battlefield EARLY in the war....

Not to say that if you're doing an Iron Brigade impression you shouldn't give up on drummers\fifers (no buglers in the Iron Brigade Infantry regiments!)....but start finding references to movements by the drum beats during the ACW (and please do I'd love to have the pointers to uses of the drum besides cease fire, form up, a cadence, and General Jackson grabbing a little drummer boy and screaming at him to Beat the Rally, Beat the Rally!)

BTW, I get a lot of requests to create CD's that 'Tip Off the listener' by naming the call in advance, then sounding the call....I sent out five different teaching styles of bugle call tapes in 1997 and found out if the listener could sing they had a better chance of learning the calls than a reenactor that couldn't sing.....and NOT tipping off the call was better than doing so in terms of teaching effectiveness. The least effective way was having a long winded speech before hand followed by two perfectly played bugle calls (and I am a huge George Rabbai fan).

IMHO our time would be better spent bringing the troops up to ACW standards for the sounding and use\recognition of bugle signals....especially since bugling on the battlefield is more PEC....and NOT spending time learning battlefield drum beats or drum beats without fifers.....