Interview: Otti Wick, 1976
Transcription
No transcription exists
Timestamps
| Topic | Start |
|---|---|
| Introduction. Creation of the Swiss Mariners. | 00:00 |
| What is attractive about the American drumming style. Playing in different tempi. | 02:15 |
| Roy Watrous enters. Recounting of the origin of the Swiss Mariners. | 04:21 |
| Drums by Freddie Werber. Dimensions and plastic vs skin heads. | 09:33 |
| Fifes by John McDonagh. Instruction by Hans Schneider (sp?) & Urs Ganz. Urs Ganz's dedication to fifing. | 12:00 |
| Positive reception of the American style in Switzerland | 13:40 |
| Swiss perception of American style as more "traditional" | 14:44 |
| French influence on Swiss drumming. Swiss mercenaries in France 1400s-1600s. Similar tunes between Provence and Basel. | 15:32 |
| Dr. Berger and evidence of drumming in Basel from the 1200s | 19:33 |
| Change of venue to Madison, CT the following day | 20:25 |
| Drums at the Battle of Laupen (1339). State Piper was possibly a fifer. Fifing guilds. Fifers as 'town criers'. | 20:53 |
| Drum origins from Crusades as signalling instrument | 23:46 |
| Fifer's Day (Phyfferdaag) in Ribeauville, Alsace (France) | 25:18 |
| Napoleonic repertoire in firemen's F&D corps in France. Plans to meet Robert Goute the following year. | 29:01 |
| Similarities between French, Swiss, and American drumming styles. Influence of Napoleonic wars on militaries throughout Europe & US (uniforms, organization, etc). | 31:53 |
| Basel Regimental Corps taught by Dr. Berger. Only drummers in the military regiments, fifers only in the bands. | 33:31 |
| Canton Wallis styles of fifing and drumming. Style being discarded in favor of Basel style. Influence of Vatican Swiss Guards. | 34:55 |
| Discussion of Moodus and importance of maintaining traditional playing styles | 38:34 |
| Battle of Marignano (1515). Using fifes of different lengths (see Urs Ganz interview for more detail). | 40:00 |
| Use of chrome-plated drums in Basel from the 1930s | 41:21 |
| Drum makers in Basel | 42:32 |
| Using "Berezina style" drums in the Swiss military (named after the Battle of Berezina, 1812) | 43:36 |
| Influence of Dr. Berger on drumming style in Basel; Pre-Berger code notation. Fidelity to author's notation vs folk process. | 45:58 |
| Competing against Mäni Vogt in the 1960s. Vogt and Alfons Grieder instructing VKB. | 51:28 |
| The Alti Garde tradition in Basel | 53:12 |
| Friction between Basel corps and the STV. Use of the term 'Jollification'. | 54:55 |
| Swiss in the French Foreign Legion | 57:28 |
| German fife & drum corps | 59:05 |
Archival Notes
Interviewer: Ed Olsen with Bill Pace and Roy Watrous
Date: July, 1976
Tape #26
File Length 61 min.