Wikipedia:Monologues/M1

Hello, and welcome to the first issue of WP:Monologues. Today, I'll be talking about military music and why I find it fun.

Firstly, about the different kinds. I find that every country has a different style, for example, Germany has very stern, and imperialistic sounding marches, while Austria typically has lighter music that sounds almost like a waltz. Take Carl Michael Ziehrer's music, for example. Both countries make use of the glockenspiel, often giving their music a bit of a ring. Britain falls somewhere in between, sounding both melodic and patriotic. There are also many speeds, for example, the British use the slow march, quick march, and double march. Their light infantry's quick march is faster, and they use the double march, which is a jog. The music they play while doing this represents the movement. For the RIFLES, the piece typically played during the double march is a combination of The Keel Row and The Road to the Isles.

Another group that I've found to be interesting are the Italian Fanfara Bersaglieri. They run while playing at around 180 bpm. Though the music sometimes sounds a bit out of tune, it is still a fairly impressive feat, and they must have very good lung capacity to be able to have such good endurance while playing instruments. There is a recorded performance on YouTube of the Royal 22e Regiment playing with them and running around, which I find quite humourous.

There are also string groups, such as The Duchess of Wessex's String Orchestra, or the US Army Strings, though they don't typically play as often. While I don't believe any of those groups play while marching (though that would be fun) they sometimes play together with the bands (like the Royal Marines at the Mountbatten Festival of Music).

The other fun part of military music are the displays made possible using marching and moving around. Things like drum statics are always impressive, and sometimes reenactors perform while a band plays music. Pipe bands are also a lot of fun, and some pieces, like Killaloe, involve the audience too, having hollering or clapping.