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Origins: Etymology of Taps?
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Subject: RE: Origins: Etymology of Taps? From: Thompson Date: 11 Nov 21 - 08:31 AM Seems to be dernière sonnerie in French. Monique? |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Etymology of Taps? From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch Date: 10 Nov 21 - 06:35 PM Slight thread drift RE: Tattoo was the call for the tavern owners to turn off the taps, and the troops to return to their post. So taps would literly means the beer taps. It was witten based on tattoo. Except, on the civilian side, the last call or shout generally preceeds closing time by as much as thirty minutes. From the celeustique angle, the universally accepted signal for returning to base is "Retreat." This must preceed tattoo by a sufficient interval to allow the returnees time to get inside the piquet lines. Returning to camp during Tattoo is tardy. After taps it's Absent With Out Leave (AWOL) because one will, most likely, have missed the first evening head count or bed check. IIRC the actual "tap" was that muted, cross-handed "clicking" sound drummers still make as a stepping cadence in close formation. Three 'taps' closes the piquet formation's ranks after inspection. Sentries are posted in silence so it should be the last signal one hears until dawn (hopefully.) |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Etymology of Taps? From: GUEST,.gargoyle Date: 09 Nov 21 - 07:49 PM Fire. Retreat. To the Colors. Call to Quarters, and. Taps. Explain the use of each of the calls you performed. Explain how to care for, clean, and maintain a bugle. Sincerely, Gargoyle BSA "Bugle Merit Badge" |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Etymology of Taps? From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch Date: 08 Nov 21 - 06:15 PM “Taps” originally began as a signal to extinguish lights. Up until the Civil War, the infantry call for “Extinguish Lights” was the one set down in the Infantry manuals which had been borrowed from the French. No, irony for a folkie website, the French original was the signal to man the piquet lines. Tattoo is the beginning of inspection of the Quarter(s) Guard. Taps is the end of inspection and the beginning of the night watch; head counts &c*. Here's that word again: céleustique - “(Militaire) Qui a un rapport avec l’art de transmettre des ordres par des signaux sonores.” *It's also the start of light discipline and so was subject to “Daylight Savings Time,” typ. 10:00PM summer; 9:00PM winter. |
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Subject: Origins: Taps From: Joe Offer Date: 08 Nov 21 - 04:02 PM This article from the Veterans Administration is worth a look. >https://www.va.gov/opa/publications/celebrate/taps.pdf 24 NOTES THAT TAP DEEP EMOTIONS THE STORY OF TAPS by Jari Villanueva, Taps Historian Of all the military bugle calls, none is so easily recognized or more apt to evoke emotion than “Taps.” The melody is both eloquent and haunting and the history of its origin is interesting and somewhat clouded in controversy and myth. The use of “Taps” is unique to the United States military, as the call is sounded at funerals, wreath-laying ceremonies and memorial services. “Taps” originally began as a signal to extinguish lights. Up until the Civil War, the infantry call for “Extinguish Lights” was the one set down in the Infantry manuals which had been borrowed from the French. The music for “Taps” was changed by Major General Daniel Adams Butterfield for his brigade in July, 1862. Butterfield was not pleased with the call for “Extinguish Lights” feeling that it was too formal to signal the day’s end. With the help of the brigade bugler, Oliver Willcox Norton, he created “Taps” to honor his men while in camp at Harrison’s Landing, Virginia following the Seven Days’ battles during the Peninsular Campaign. Butterfield did not compose “Taps” but actually revised an earlier bugle call. The call we know today as “Taps” existed in an early version of the call “Tattoo” which had gone out of use by the Civil War. Butterfield knew this early call from his days before the war as a colonel in the 12th New York Militia. As a signal at the end of the day, armies have used “Tattoo” to alert troops to prepare for the evening roll call. Butterfield took the last 5 and a half measures of the “Tattoo” and revised them into the 24 notes we know today. The new call soon spread to other units of the Union Army. Oliver Willcox Norton wrote about the experience later in his life: “During the early part of the Civil War I was bugler at the Headquarters of Butterfield’s Brigade,... One day, soon after the seven days’ battles on the Peninsular, when the Army of the Potomac was lying in camp at Harrison’s Landing, General Daniel Butterfield sent for me, and showing me some notes on a staff written in pencil on the back of an envelope, asked me to sound them on my bugle. I did this several times, playing the music as written. He changed it somewhat, lengthening some notes and shortening others, but retaining the melody as he first gave it to me. After getting it to his satisfaction, he directed me to sound that call for “Taps” thereafter in place of the regulation call. The music was beautiful on that still summer night, and was heard far beyond the limits of our Brigade. The next day I was visited by several buglers from neighboring brigades, asking for copies of the music which I gladly furnished. I think no general order was issued from army headquarters authorizing the substitution of this for the regulation call, but as each brigade commander exercised his own discretion in such minor matters, the call was gradually taken up through the Army of the Potomac.” The earliest official reference to the mandatory use of “Taps” at military funeral ceremonies is found in the U.S. Army Infantry Drill Regulations for 1891, although it had doubtless been used unofficially long before that time, under its former designation, “Extinguish Lights.” The first use of “Taps” at a funeral was during the Peninsular Campaign in Virginia. Captain John C. Tidball of Battery A, 2nd Artillery ordered it played for the burial of a cannoneer killed in action. Because the enemy was close, he worried that the traditional three volleys would renew fighting. The origin of the word “Taps” is thought to have come from the Dutch word for “Tattoo”-“Taptoe.” More than likely, “Taps” comes from the three drum taps that were beat as a signal for “Extinguish Lights” when a bugle was not used. Other stories of the origin of “Taps” exist. A popular myth is that of a Northern boy who was killed fighting for the South. His father, a Captain in the Union Army, came upon his son’s body on the battlefield and found the notes to “Taps” in a pocket of the dead boy’s Confederate uniform. There is no evidence to back up the story or the existence of the Captain or his son. As with many other customs, the twenty-four notes that comprise this solemn tradition began long ago and continue to this day. Although General Butterfield merely revised an earlier bugle call, his role in producing those twenty-four notes gave him a place in the history of both music and of war. Today, “Taps” is sounded as the final call every evening on military installations and at military funerals. In 2012 Congress recognized “Taps” as the “National Song of Remembrance.” More information on Taps and bugling in the United States can be found at www.TapsBugler.com “There is something singularly beautiful and appropriate in the music of this wonderful call. Its strains are melancholy, yet full of rest and peace. Its echoes linger in the heart long after its tones have ceased to vibrate in the air.” -Oliver Willcox Norton |
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Subject: RE: Etymology of Taps? From: An Pluiméir Ceolmhar Date: 27 May 02 - 12:37 PM Regarding the etymology, I read a number of years ago that "Tattoo" (which in British usage is a military display or performance - cf. the Edinburgh tattoo) comes from the Dutch "Tap toe", i.e. close the taps on the canteen beer barrels. It would seem reasonable to assume that the American name "taps" refers to the same function. Regarding bugles and trumpets, in the British Army the bugle was used for signalling in the infantry, whereas trumpets were used in the cavalry (both are still in use for ceremonial purposes by the appropriate regiments). I believe that drums also had a signalling function, though I don't know if this predated or complemented the use of wind instruments. Regarding use in funeral or memorial services, the practice in Ireland (and I imagine at least some other countries of a predominantly Christian tradition) is to play the last post followed by reveille, representing death and resurrection. |
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Subject: RE: Etymology of Taps? From: GUEST,ozmacca Date: 26 May 02 - 10:42 PM Damn! So it was.... Now I'm going to have to try to forget it again.... And to fit in the theme, I've just heard a repeat of that deathless line in an old Goon Show, with major Bloodnok saying, "Bugler, sound the sound of the buge" (pronounced b-yoo-g) |
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Subject: RE: Etymology of Taps? From: Nigel Parsons Date: 26 May 02 - 03:49 PM Ozmacca: Good to see someone else recalls F-Troop, but, IIRC "Boots and Saddles" was a completely different show, and preceded it by at least a decade! Nigel |
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Subject: RE: Etymology of Taps? From: GUEST,.gargoyle Date: 26 May 02 - 01:32 PM While there are many more stanzas available the most commonly sung, for campfire closings, are the simple, lyrical ones of:
Day is done,
Sincerely,
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Subject: RE: Etymology of Taps? From: Dicho (Frank Staplin) Date: 26 May 02 - 01:11 PM The book "Sound Off! Soldier Songs" by Dolph has three sets of words to Taps, which I never heard when I was in the Army. Fading light Dims the sight And a star Gems the sky gleaming bright, From afar, drawing nigh, Falls the night. Love, sweet dreams! Lo, the beams Of the light Fairy moon kiss the streams. Love, good night! Ah, so soon! Peaceful dreams! Dear one, rest! In the west Sable night Lulls the day on her breast. Sweet, good night! Now away To thy rest. Can't you imagine the retiring soldiers murmuring these timeless lines? These were composed for the women at home. The book repeats the old story that Taps came from tap-too used during the Thirty Years War as the signal to turn the tap "to" and cease the night's beer-drinking. |
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Subject: RE: Etymology of Taps? From: DonD Date: 24 May 02 - 09:42 PM Twice, I've composed a long post only to hit some wrong key and have the whole thing disappear. Third and last try, and if I screw this one up, tou'll never know. The most ubiquitous bugle call -- at leasr in the US, at every baseball stadium that boasts a sound system --derives from all thos eWesterns we were raised on in which the cavalry rides to the rescue and at the crucial moment (the wagon train is just about to give up hope) the troop commander utters the immortal line, "Bugler, sound the CHARGE!" Now when the team need a rally, the organist/tape plays the stirring notes and the loyal fans scream, "CHARGE!" I'm sure this hasn't spread to cricket, and I've never herard it at American football games, but is there such a practice at Rugby, FA or Australian Rules games? Yet? I'm surprised that some enterprising promotion man hasn't figured out how to co-opt "Taps" as well, maybe to mark the end of a lost game or season, or to mock the visiting team if it's been shellacked. |
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Subject: RE: Etymology of Taps? From: Irish sergeant Date: 24 May 02 - 08:25 PM I joined the navy so didn't hear bugles except for reville and taps in boot camp. Keep in mind that we may never know the origen of the music although I believe it was Butterfield's bugler who came up with the call not "Old Dan". The infantry certainly used a bugle even in the Mexican war which accounts for mounted rifle regiments (The Mexican war and antebellum period equivilent of mechanized infantry) wearing a bugle device on their hats. Infantry units wore a hunter's horn on theirs So bugle call were part and parcel of infantry life during the Civil War reville has it's own words whic are rather rude but then think about what the call is used.. Something along the lines of "He can't get it up/he can' t get it up..." Ad nauseum and yeas there are other words but I can't remember them just yet, Sorry neil |
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Subject: RE: Etymology of Taps? From: GUEST,Keith A at work Date: 24 May 02 - 06:42 AM Always better than Rin Tin Tin I thought.I t always started with the Boots And Saddles call, but what were the series of calls sounded at the end? |
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Subject: RE: Etymology of Taps? From: ozmacca Date: 24 May 02 - 06:01 AM OH, no Nigel .... How could you? I've been trying to forget F Troop. It was memories of F troop that made me join the artillery........ |
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Subject: RE: Etymology of Taps? From: Nigel Parsons Date: 24 May 02 - 05:10 AM Talking of bugle calls, and remembering a recent thread on old tv shows, anyone remember the show which shared its name with a cavalry call ? "Boots And Saddles" |
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Subject: RE: Etymology of Taps? From: Hrothgar Date: 24 May 02 - 04:20 AM Alice, it might have been typed by somebody with Butterfingers. |
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Subject: RE: Etimology of Taps? From: Dicho (Frank Staplin) Date: 24 May 02 - 01:08 AM The website cited by Catspaw and richardw early in this thread has Villanueva's story (Twenty-four Notes That Tap Deep Emotions) as well. M. Webster's Collegiate suggests that taps may be an alteration of the earlier taptoo (note spelling). Many years ago I attended a military school (cavalry-oriented). Tattoo and Taps were played on the trumpet every night by a young man who was a master. Every one listened silently as he played the 24 notes of Taps. There was always a space before the usual after-lights-out low chatter resumed. One of those memories that keep coming back. |
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Subject: RE: Etimology of Taps? From: GUEST Date: 24 May 02 - 12:14 AM If I remember aright, which may be open to question to start with.... the bugle was primarily an instrument for mounted regiments. Infantry would parade with bands, but in battle, bandsmen acted as medical orderlies, stretcher parties etc. Infantry drilled and moved in column and/or line on the battlefield to orders relayed as signals by the tap of drum and/or possibly a fife. The highland regiments were different - of course some would say the pipes are a weapon of war in their own right and should be banned under the Geneva Convention.... Anyway, some officers or sergeants would also carry a whistle. Cavalry units obviously could not carry a drum (or bagpipes) for this sort of thing, and so a trooper with a bugle remained by the commander's side ready to sound the ordered command. Initially, this may have been a very simple sequence of notes ascending/descending. Simple things do tend to get fancier with use, as many folkies may have found, so buglers would tend to add flourishes etc.. When the rifle appeared on the scene around 1800, the 95th were trained to act independently, and so were equipped with horns or bugles instead of the drum to relay signals, and this appears on their badges. This could be the origin of the use of the bugle rather than more conventional band instruments to sound certain calls in British infantry units. Seems logical, comments ? |
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Subject: RE: Etimology of Taps? From: Louie Roy Date: 23 May 02 - 11:49 PM Check this web site out for the true story on Taps www.arlingtoncemetery.com/tapsproj.htm This give a documented version by a Master Sergeant Jari Villanueva.Louie Roy |
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Subject: RE: Etimology of Taps? From: Alice Date: 08 Nov 00 - 10:40 AM The source I just posted says it is "Buttefield", not "Butterfield". ??????? more confusion |
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Subject: RE: Etimology of Taps? From: Alice Date: 08 Nov 00 - 10:33 AM Here's what is written at a website for Richmond, VA.
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The Unceremonious Origin of Taps
The eerie melody of Taps is recognizable to most Americans and to all of our soldiers as the traditional song of endings. It marks the end of the day as well as the end of lives. Written in 1862 by Dan Buttefield, a Union General, the song quickly became the nation's requiem.
Camped at the Berkley Plantation shortly after the battles of Gaines' Mill and Malvern Hill, Buttefield and his men were spending an uncomfortable July night in the Virginia heat. When it came time for lights out, the bugler played the traditional French Extinguish Lights melody, a song Buttefield had always disliked.
Inspired by his aversion to the song he'd just heard, Buttefield set out to write something more soothing to end the day. O.W. Norton, Buttefield's 22 year old bugler, recounts what happened next: "Buttefield, showing me some notes on staff written in pencil on the back envelope, asked me to sound them on my bugle. I did this several times, playing the music as written. He changed it somewhat, lengthening some notes and shortening others, but retaining the melody as he first gave it to me. After getting it to his satisfaction, he directed me to sound the call thereafter, in place of the regular call. The music was beautiful on the still summer nights and was heard far beyond the limits of our brigade. The next day I was visited by several other buglers from neighboring brigades asking for a copy of the music, which I gladly furnished."
The song drifted over the battlefield, and it is said that Confederate buglers began playing it as well. To avoid instigating unexpected attacks during the war, Taps was substituted for the customary rifle volleys played at military funerals. When Buttefield died in 1901, Taps was played at his burial at West Point where his white marble monument still stands. |
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Subject: RE: Etimology of Taps? From: GUEST,GUEST CHARLES Date: 07 Nov 00 - 02:01 PM Tattoo was the call for the tavern owners to turn off the taps, and the troops to return to their post. So taps would literly means the beer taps. It was witten based on tattoo. |
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Subject: RE: Etimology of Taps? From: dick greenhaus Date: 07 Nov 00 - 10:16 AM Getting back to etymology, does anyone know where the word Taps (as used here) came from? |
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Subject: RE: Etimology of Taps? From: Uncle_DaveO Date: 07 Nov 00 - 09:56 AM US Army mess call, when I was in that estimable organization, had popular words as follows: Soupy, soupy, soupy, without a single bean Bacon, bacon, bacon, without a streak of lean. Coffee, coffee, coffee, the weakest ever seen! Dave Oesterreich |
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Subject: RE: Etimology of Taps? From: hrodelbert Date: 06 Nov 00 - 11:27 PM One of the only things that the cavalry had in common with the infantry was 'Taps' All the other calls Last Post etc. were quite different. Cavalry Calls were made on a trumpet as opposed to a bugle which was simply longer and larger and in a different key. As far as I know there was a sort of mouth music which one learnt to remember the calls. Playing the calls is called 'Sounding' by the way and the mouth music thing imitated the way the call was tongued. e.g. da dum digidigi dum da dum da digidigi dum. Each of the calls also had words some of which were quite rude and others quaint. Mess Call for instance was "I wentto the cookhouse and what did I see fuckall for supper and fuckall for tea. Last Post started "If he wants to die let him die" Ta! Hrodelbert |
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Subject: RE: Etimology of Taps? From: Alice Date: 06 Nov 00 - 09:54 PM The story that started this thread is still traveling around as email. I found this page, http://www.angelfire.com/pa2/Stump45/taps.html carrying on the myth. |
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Subject: RE: Etimology of Taps? From: Penny S. Date: 09 Mar 00 - 05:07 PM Going back a bit, I learned those words in the Guides, and called the song Taps. And when we lived at Dover, we heard the Duke of York's Military School playing Last Post every night. It had a chill eerieness as it came over the valley. Penny |
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Subject: RE: Etimology of Taps? From: M. Ted (inactive) Date: 09 Mar 00 - 02:22 PM Thanks for the tip Bert--it shows that you do your homework--and a Santur-like instrument is a definite possibility-Harry Partch actually used an instrument based on the Kanu'un(which is a similar instument, but plucked instead of hammered) for his 39 pitch scale-- The only thing is that the Santur is intended for playing melodic music, the bridge really functions as a way of altering the pitch of any given note--since my intent is to work with harmonies, I need to have all the pitches available all the time-- It would be very possible to just tune a Santur or Kanu'un to each of the fractional pitches that I derive--and it would work for demonstrating intervals, but I am not sure how easy to play this instrument would be-- On an extremely wonkish note--Neither Persian, Arabic, nor Turkish music use actual "Quarter-tones"-- The intervals between pitches are allocated in a completely different way than in what we call "Western" music--and there are additional steps that are possible--some of which are considerably smaller than the smallest half step that we use-- I have been told that in Turkish classical music, there are about 180 different scales that are used--The scales typically have seven steps, and each scale has a name, which describes the pattern of intervals in the scale, the lengths of the intervals themselves are tradtionally set by the players themselves-- This alteration of pitch by player is in concept and function to the "blue" note that occurs in blues and jazz--It is easy to jump to conclusions here, and, considering the considerable interrelationship of Arabic and African cultures, it would be hard for anyone to refute you-- Anyway, S'Paw, if you are still there, what are the cost/time components of a project like this?
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Subject: RE: Etimology of Taps? From: M. Ted (inactive) Date: 09 Mar 00 - 02:20 PM Thanks for the tip Bert--it shows that you do your homework--and a Santur-like instrument is a definite possibility-Harry Partch actually used an instrument based on the Kanu'un(which is a similar instument, but plucked instead of hammered) for his 39 pitch scale-- The only thing is that the Santur is intended for playing melodic music, the bridge really functions as a way of altering the pitch of any given note--since my intent is to work with harmonies, I need to have all the pitches available all the time-- It would be very possible to just tune a Santur or Kanu'un to each of the fractional pitches that I derive--and it would work for demonstrating intervals, but I am not sure how easy to play this instrument would be-- On an extremely wonkish note--Neither Persian, Arabic, nor Turkish music use actual "Quarter-tones"-- The intervals between pitches are allocated in a completely different way than in what we call "Western" music--and there are additional steps that are possible--some of which are considerably smaller than the smallest half step that we use-- I have been told that in Turkish classical music, there are about 180 different scales that are used--The scales typically have seven steps, and each scale has a name, which describes the pattern of intervals in the scale, the lengths of the intervals themselves are tradtionally set by the players themselves-- This alteration of pitch by player is in concept and function to the "blue" note that occurs in blues and jazz--It is easy to jump to conclusions here, and, considering the considerable interrelationship of Arabic and African cultures, it would be hard for anyone to refute you-- Anyway, S'Paw, if you are still there, what are the cost/time components of a project like this?
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Subject: RE: Etimology of Taps? From: Scotsbard Date: 09 Mar 00 - 01:25 PM That contemplator site is an execellent resource ... Thanks, Barry T ~S~ |
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Subject: RE: Etimology of Taps? From: Bert Date: 08 Mar 00 - 01:13 PM M. Ted, Try a Santur for your instrument. It's a hammered dulcimer but each course of strings has it's own movable bridge, which looks somewhat like a pawn in chess with a flat top. They user quarter tones in Iran and move the bridges individually when playing different tunes. So you'd have a lot of freedom tuning to any special scale. Bert. P.S. Get ol' Spaw to make you one. |
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Subject: RE: Etimology of Taps? From: M. Ted (inactive) Date: 08 Mar 00 - 12:37 PM Yes--with a string, you are actually able to produce those higher range harmonics--not necessarily a good thing, because many of the the higher harmonics don't correspond to pitches in the tempered scale that we use-- I have just spend an ungodly amount of time studying Hindemith's system for deriving the chromatic scale from the harmonic overtone series, so all of these issues are fresh in my mind, and, music wonk that I am, I pore over the calculations until they actually mean something to me-- I have been thinking about devising a quarter-tone type scale based on the harmonics in the fifth octave, and fooling around with it to explore the possibilities for harmonies. The critical problem is that one needs an instrument of some sort to play the scale on-- |
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Subject: RE: Etimology of Taps? From: Barry T Date: 07 Mar 00 - 08:51 PM Three verses of lyrics along with my midi are here |
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Subject: RE: Etimology of Taps? From: richardw Date: 07 Mar 00 - 08:09 PM http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/last_post.htm Just managed to download from this site. It is indeed Last Post not Taps -- and a lovely version. richard |
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Subject: RE: Etimology of Taps? From: Lin in Kansas Date: 07 Mar 00 - 06:56 PM Thanks, you guys, this has been very interesting! (And 'Spaw, thanks for linking that site--cool!) Lin |
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Subject: RE: Etimology of Taps? From: catspaw49 Date: 07 Mar 00 - 06:36 PM Ted..think about the length and wave form of a string and how it's wavelength and frequency changes as it is shortened. Its a similar thing to your question on the bugle. More is possible as the wavelegth shortens. Spaw |
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Subject: RE: Etimology of Taps? From: M. Ted (inactive) Date: 07 Mar 00 - 06:26 PM Just to amplify a little on what Bob Bolton was saying- The bugle is one of a number of horns that are called natural horns,because they only play the pitches in the harmonic overtone series of the fundamental--(Bb, for instance) the harmonics work pretty much like they do on the guitar, except (for some reason that I have never quite understood) the lowest pitch that you can play is actually the octave of the fundamental-- The notes that it plays, in the key of C (for all transposing instruments, the fundamental called C, even though it isn't) are (C)C-G-c-e-g-c-and so on, the first C being the note it doesn't really play-- The funny thing is, though, in the harmonic overtone series, the number of notes you can play doubles in each succeeding octave, One note in the lowest--Two notes in the second octave, Four in the third (which is where the bugle calls mostly are) eight in the fourth, and Sixteen in the fifth(if you could play there, which you can't)-- There is a particular style of Trumpet, used in Bach's time, called Klarinblasen, which used the notes in the fourth octave, which, through advanced lip-technique, the players could bend so that they corresponded to scale notes- The third octave is the easiest to play in, though it doesn't have as many notes as the one above-- Military music is based on drum cadences-each military unit has it's own unique cadence, used for marching drills and parades. and, as the pipers among us know, for dancing--and bugle calls tend to simply use bounce through the octaves and major triad using one cadence or another(after a while, they tend to sound more alike than different) Since brass music up until 1813 (when the valve was invented) was written within the limitations described above--and since they were widely used and written for from the sixteenth century, I am inclined to believe that most good music for bugles and other natural horns must have been pretty much written well before the Civil War--I mean, how many melodic possiblilities are there for the four or five notes in a two octave major chord?
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Subject: RE: Etimology of Taps? From: richardw Date: 07 Mar 00 - 05:05 PM Here is another site with an Aussie version of the origin.There is a Quicktime audio file here but I cannot get it to play. I was wrong--Taps is not on the Bobbie Horton CD but on Songs of the Civil War.It is the 24 note version. http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/last_post.htm richard |
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Subject: RE: Etimology of Taps? From: Liz the Squeak Date: 07 Mar 00 - 02:12 PM Yes those are the words to Last Post, but there is a whole bunch of B music that doesn't always get played, that also has words, but I've never found the whole lot yet. LTS |
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Subject: RE: Etimology of Taps? From: richardw Date: 07 Mar 00 - 12:19 PM A more direct route is: http://www.west-point.org/taps/Taps.html This says taps is 24 notes. This fits the words day is done. Last Post is much longer. Once upon a time I could play it--no longer with echoes of other calls such as revellie hinted at in the tune. Maybe there is a midi out there somewhere. Richard |
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Subject: RE: Etimology of Taps? From: catspaw49 Date: 07 Mar 00 - 08:28 AM Try this site....Its really excellent and if you click on the songs section you will find a "History of Taps" which is quite good. Kat ran across this site awhile back and I cannot recommend it enough!!! Very well done. Read the section on reenactors and authentic music and instruments also. POETRY and MUSIC of the WAR BETWEEN THE STATES Spaw |
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Subject: RE: Etimology of Taps? From: Bob Bolton Date: 07 Mar 00 - 07:56 AM G'day again, Liz T S: I thought those words were belonged to Taps, rather than the Last Post. Last Post has very few notes and Taps seems to have added enough repetitions to fit the words.
As I remember the words, they are (~): BTW: Subsequent to my last post (... no! ... leave it alone!) I looked up some bugle calls and they all seem to use only 4 notes of the major chord (thus a Bb bugle would sound from F to f), so it seems that only the dominant note can be reliably overblown to a higher octave. Writing bugle calls is like devising clock chimes: the important thing is clear signalling, not high art. Regards, Bob Bolton |
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Subject: RE: Etimology of Taps? From: Liz the Squeak Date: 07 Mar 00 - 04:03 AM There are words to the Last Post, are there words to TAPS? I can't find all the words, but they include something on the lines of day is done, all is well. They were only played during peacetime, when all were safe in their barracks. Playing Tattoo is the call back to barracks, if you aren't in by the beginning of Last Post, you are AWOL. For Armistice and Rememberance services the Last Post is played usually after the silence, and was meant to be followed by Revelle - literally 'revive' or get up, the two were put together to encourage the belief that those who had died were waking up to heaven's glory. I used to ignore this part of the service. Since I worked in a military museum, saw the war diaries that give daily casualty lists of thousands, some still stained with the mud and blood of Flanders, I pay a bit more attention. Even thinking about it now, gets me choked up. LTS |
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Subject: RE: Etimology of Taps? From: Metchosin Date: 07 Mar 00 - 04:01 AM There is another interesting thread? on this here |
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Subject: RE: Etimology of Taps? From: fox4zero Date: 07 Mar 00 - 01:52 AM Dear Winter Wages Guest Language has been corrupted over the years: It was really BUTTER-FINGERED BURGLAR OLLIE NORTH (who was dyslexic) who originated SPAT, a military order used in connection with chewing tobacco. Hope that this has been helpful to all. PARISH |
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Subject: RE: Etimology of Taps? From: Bob Bolton Date: 07 Mar 00 - 01:05 AM G'day (he says, skipping jokes about the last post[ing], It's worth remembering that all the bugle calls are based on a major chord, all that you can play on a simple trumpet with no valves or holes. (OK ... I know that this is not true ... for some talented players, but we are talking about the Army!) All the bugle calls are written in this harmonic series: 3 notes, maybe 2 octaves - a total of 7 separate notes. Bugle calls are first and foremaost signals for a noisy battlefield. They are meant to be simple and memorable - and recognisable over a confused din. "Taps" is (as I hear it) an elaboration of the "Last Post" - a little up beat, a little busier ... a natural Americanisation of the older call? Regards, Bob Bolton |
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Subject: RE: Etimology of Taps? From: Mark Cohen Date: 06 Mar 00 - 11:02 PM This is fascinating. My only recognition of "The Last Post" is from Eric Bogle's song "No Man's Land" -- "Did the bugles play The Last Post in chorus, did the pipes play the Flowers of the Forest?" I would like to know the melody, and if the melody of Taps is related. Having been fortunate enough to have missed the military life (high number at the right time), my knowledge of bugle calls is limited to a couple of summers at camp, and the odd movie or cartoon. I wonder if there are stories behind the other calls, like Reveille, Call to Colors, Retreat, etc. Are there variations in different locations, as with fiddle tunes? Do any of them derive from folk tunes? (I suppose in a sense they are folk tunes...) When were they written down and codified? Somebody must have done a dissertation on this at some point. Aloha, Mark |
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Subject: RE: Etimology of Taps? From: richardw Date: 06 Mar 00 - 08:30 PM Bobby Horton in his collection of 10 Civil War CDs says it was written by Butterfield' bugler However, my recollection from my father, who was a Canadian military bandmaster, is that there is the Taps lights out bugle call, and the longer lament The Last Post which, naturally and appropriately includes Taps. (We played it at his graveside service) The last post is played at Nov 11 services here in Canada. Taps I remember from Scout camp. To leaders it meant lights out--tous it meant just minuets until just minuetes until we could raid the other tents. richard |
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Subject: RE: Etimology of Taps? From: Lin in Kansas Date: 06 Mar 00 - 08:06 PM Dave (HP) Oesterreich: As a so-called professional editor/proofer, I bow my head in shame--thank you for the correction (ye gods, both spelling and word use incorrect...can I claim a brain yip?) You can bet I'll remember both in the future! And long may hopeless pedants live--we need more of you trying to keep our language clean! Lin |
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Subject: RE: Etimology of Taps? From: GUEST,Bill in Alabama (at work) Date: 06 Mar 00 - 06:34 PM Right, Murray-- The British call equivalent to -Taps- is known as -Last Post-- and is played following -Tattoo,- which is a call to quarters. The OED gives the use of -taps- as a term used in the American army. I suspect that most armies have a -last call,- or -lights out- or whatever; in the American military that last call became known as -taps-. What, I wonder, is the term used for the last call in the French army (so many American millitary terms were borrowed from the French)? |
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