Shortly before N.A.R.D. was formed, The Charles T. Kirk Fife, Drum and Bugle Corps (1899-1960) of Brooklyn, New York, ended code drumming, surfacing as a beacon of perfection, the 'class act' drummers traveled to see.  Named after a Spanish-American War soldier, Kirk used successful long themed medleys before the Second World War, a decade or more ahead of VFW and AL M&M drummers more worried about appearance than ability. While bugle corps were playing war generated fare or one of Ludwig’s tunes, Kirk was performing Irish music and a popular Civil War’s north and south theme at 120 bpm, later made famous by the 1971 Yankee Rebels Senior Drum and Bugle Corps. Kirk usually dominated the three major competitions: Hudson Valley, New York State and Connecticut State but still attracted the ire of Ancient tradition.  They were using dynamics. In a time when the number of rudiments you played in each number was compared, Kirk would have more in one piece than others entire repertoire.  To play in the line, you had to pass a strict audition on the corners of the much maligned Ripperger kitchen table. The 1920’s “low and close to the body” military style of instructor J. Frank Martin was replaced by the high Connecticut brand through two upstarts – brothers George and Harold Ripperger - who influenced Eric Perrilloux.  Their father was “Pop” Ripperger, the director responsible for the 18-inch high stack of fife music they saved on 16” x 20” art boards in a trunk. Pop wanted an original corps, hunting music in the New York City Main Public Library on 5th Avenue.  The Kirk’s attracted the best talent.  People attending ran to make sure they didn’t miss them.

 

Jay Tuomey (Sons of Liberty): "The best drumming of that time was done by the Charles T. Kirk Corps which was superior to the M&M corps of that time.  They were prominent New York champions post World War II era.  They marched 120 beats per minute and had rudimental bass drumming even back then!  Their instructor, George Ripperger, was the best around and won New York State individuals many times.   Earl Sturtze was also involved there with the individuals in Kirk's snare line, a former champion from the 1920's."    

      

Al Linquity (Charles T. Kirk): “I played with Ginger Ploeger, Eric Perrilloux. Harold and George Ripperger at Kirk’s.  The tunes were arranged by Pop Rippenger, many progression type pieces and themes – such as the north and south, Scotch and Irish music.  We had 8 snares max but usually 4 to 6, 2 bass, 20 or so fifes and 8 or 10 bugles.  I was 15 when I joined.  It was a senior corps  - 18 was the limit – but if you were good they let you march.       

“Kirks never went for clicking or twirling sticks.  That’s the M&M guys.  They used rod drums.  We kept the rope drums.  It was easier to roll on those rod drums, not like the rope drum where you have to pick the sticks off the head.  We always looked down on the M&M corps.  We played more.  Judges counted how many rudiments you played in a piece.”

 

Ed Olsen (Charles T. Kirk, Company of Fifers & Drummers): " The New York drummers were more or less self-taught.  Connecticut had the famous names; Sturtze, J. Burns Moore and others.  New York had Moeller and J. Frank Martin who was taught by two students of Gardner Strube.  Martin didn’t like the Connecticut Ancient style.  He was an old army drummer and played with his elbows at his sides. At the time, M&M corps did not have that many great players. Fife and drum had the better drummers.  It formed there. The 1930’s were more important than the 1940’s. New York drummers played with their arms close to their sides. They drummed close to the head. Charles T. Kirk corps picked up the high arm swing motion because it looked fancier coming down the street from a distance.  New York Drummers were becoming enthusiastic about the Connecticut style.  It affected them.  I know cause I saw it.  They would come from all over the city by subway, go to Owl’s Head Park, and play till the police came.  New York drummers practiced like hell to play the Connecticut style.  Eddy Fitzgerald and Jimmy Woods traveled from New York to Connecticut and walked 10 miles to Sturtze’s house to take lessons.  The New York players then grew up into the Connecticut style. The Connecticut ancient corps already had a style and previous rules.  The New York state contests go back to 1908 or so.  They were not as good as Connecticut at first.  The 1930’s and 1940’s were a bit better.  It wasn’t long after that they were up to the Connecticut level.  There wasn’t much difference then.  New York drummers were now growing up into the high style.”     

 

Fife and drum strength is proven by the 50th meeting of the Connecticut Fifers and Drummers Association in Ansonia Ct. April 14, 1935, where 120 people packed a standing room only meeting, all dressed in suits and ties to discuss their future.  The few women in attendance owes to the military nature of competitions.  Units were dutifully concerned with rules and fairness using them. Everyone wanted to know and handle their responsibility.

Drummers everywhere were now asking why they couldn’t use Paradiddles in music.  When one did it, they all started to do it, complaining that the next guy was not going to outplay them. Then they started counting how many rudiments that other guy could do - more interesting and adding more skill. The Kirks already had all 26 rudiments in one piece and led the way.

 

            Marching in the drum sergeants position when Perrilloux marched (on the right as you stand in the line) was George Ripperger, flanked by Charles (Ginger) Ploeger, Audi Thompson and Charles Earnst.  Fifes marched three front ranks of four, followed by bugles and then drums.  Eric Perrilloux would be in the second row, far right, flanked by John Stock far left.

 

Eric Perrilloux (Charles T. Kirk, NY Skyliners):  "Charles T. Kirk was the first to truly use rudiments in competition. The Ripperger’s really broke ground there. In 1937 there were a lot of poor drum lines around.   Music was zippo.  They couldn't really play.  Ancient corps did 110 [beat per minute] but Kirk played 120 [beats per minute] at 16 to 18 inches off the head. By the mid 1930's they were really far more accomplished than others. Pop Ripperger handled the fifes.  They had simple reels and marches, both ancient and modern. George and Harold were the drummers.  I used to go up to Connecticut to see them perform.  Pop Ripperger wanted no funny sounds.  No cymbals.  No band sound.  It was direct powerful rudimental drumming.   

“Rudiments were not common in 1937.  You might have two drummers and 10 or 12 horns.  You might march a squad right and have a straight [military] bugle piece.  March after march…..No one else played like the Kirk’s. Connecticut halftime and the Burn’s Moore 6/8 were common then – fife and drum pieces.   Drum and bugle corps were not even the quality of the New York units yet.  Contests at that time were judged on T,T and E:  time, intonation and execution. There was no separate drum sheet. You didn’t get a drum mark. It was the Kirk corps that introduced separate sheets for individual sections in 1938.  It was voted on by all the units and it passed.      

“Standstill corps were small compared to M&M.  Back then 24 horns and 8 snares with 4 bass drums looked big.  Kirk’s had 12 fifers – that was big for a fife line – and 12 horns.  At most Kirk’s had 6 or 8 snares and 2 or 3 rudimental bass.

            "We had a number of good drummers over the years.  The Kirk corps set the standards.  Ripperger saw what the Connecticut drummers were doing and brought the big ancient sound back.  We played at 120 [beats per minute] where ancients were at 110.  Frank J. Martin was involved with Kirk before the Rippenger’s were there but it was a low style. Before that, the Ripperger's played much lower to the drum; six to eight inches. By 1932, the corps was doing real rudimental drumming.  In 1937, I was 16 at the time and youngest in the line.  George was about twenty.  I stayed with them 17 years.

“The Kirks were top instrumentalists.  We tried to play the same way.  Our tap was 2 inches and we would go to 6 or 7 inches.  You are only as good as your roll is. We could cresendo without losing quality.  The Kirk’s were first to do that.” 

“In 1937 Pop Ripperger wrote a piece involving the Civil War with a north and south theme. We were not playing straight marches out of a book. The south was first with a bugle piece in the middle and finished with a northern theme.  The last song was “Old Aung Sine” as the two sides come together. No one had ever done this before.  Pop modernized the Kirk’s.  We were using terrace dynamics to accompany the music.”          

 

EXAMPLE   (F F F 7  F F F 7 )    and  ending    7S t r r 7S t r r  rat rat 7S.

 

Ken Greene:  “Even back then there was disagreement over “ancient” and “modern”.  Charles T. Kirk was hip, playing traditional stuff.  They were the Blue Devils and Cavies of their day.”

 

Al Linquity: “We had some good twirlers back then. We didn’t have one for Kirks.  Rosemary Tiernan was twirling for old St. Anslem’s.  She was very good - a class act.   There was a twirling instructor that you went to – kind of like a Sturtze for twirling.  She took lessons from him… Married bass drummer Joey Irwin.”       

 

Walter Sprance:  “The Kirk’s were very family oriented.  They would rent a dance hall and sponsor a grand ball; a full dress ball.  Ladies were given a dance card and all the dances were listed.  It was a formal dance where you picked what was available on the card. Corps members were in full uniform and ladies were in gowns.  Full dinner too.”            

  

Eric Perrilloux:  “The annual Kirk contest was held at the Arcadia Ballroom in Brooklyn.  It had a stage and they hired an orchestra for the entire evening.  It was a fun time.  The juniors would compete in the afternoon.  At night the seniors would compete in blocks of 5 or 6, then the dance band would play.”           

 

The Ripperger brothers ran the Kirk’s line in 1935 and would compete against the high physical Sturtze style of the Connecticut River Valley, which they quickly brought back to New York.  It sounded and looked powerful coming down the street. Their great grandfather played a fife in the Civil War, part of the “dirty dozen” or 12th Regiment New York Guard.  His father, “Pop’ Rippenger, was also a fifer.  George Ripperger’s first corps was the 1933 Brooklyn Technical High School Corps. He was with the “boys in blue” Kirks line from 1934 until they folded.  Between 1934 and 1947, George was in 21 individual contests winning ten, with five 2nd and four 3rd places.  He won the New York State Association Championship eight times. George was never timid with his opinions. His strength was his tenacity and determination, proved by long trips to Connecticut by train to Sturtze's house to learn a new style he thought improved his skill. 

The Kirk drum instructor up till 1934 was former national champion J. Frank Martin. He was trained by his uncle at the age of four, a drummer from the Civil War at Governor’s Island by the name of Payson and “Spud” Murphy from the 14th New York Infantry who served under Strube, explaining his insistence on Strube method.  Martin was an “Army World War I drummer” with a crusty demeanor using the New York low style of 6 to 8 inches and no arm motion.  A rudimental drummer for more than 20 years in 1931, Martin was second to Dan English in 1930 for the national rudimental championship held in Brooklyn.  As young New York snares were defeated by Connecticut’s brand, the Kirk’s could continue Martin’s static outdated style or use what Connecticut offered.  George and Harold made their decision. After writing a stinging letter of resignation, J. Frank Martin quit, though his son is listed as a Kirk individual competitor in 1934.  If you could play well and pass a test on the kitchen tabletop in front of Drum Sergeant George, you were in.

 

Ed Olsen: “I have a letter from Bill Boerner written by J. Frank Martin.  He states that a ‘couple of kids” went up to Connecticut and “came back with a new style.”  Those kids were Harold and George Ripperger.   Army drummers played very close to the drum.  They used to put sticks under their arms to stop any arm motion.  If a stick dropped out their instructor would yell at them.”              

 

Al Linquity:  “The Kirks did not try to match styles.  It was [Les] Parks that insisted on that later at the Sons of Liberty.  They worked on that a lot.  The Son’s would practice and match their sound and work their uniformity.  Their drummers were more precise than ours as a line; a very crack drum line.  The Kirk’s had more original writing, songs they still play today like Paddy-on-the-Handcar, a George Ripperger piece.  George Rip wrote great parts.  The Kirks were good prior to the war and through ‘46, ‘47 and ‘48.  Eric [Perrilloux] left to teach the Skyliners [in 1953} and it began to slide.

 

The reason Jay Toumey stated Earl Sturtze used to "scalp" them at Sone of Liberty? (And why the corps refuesd to compete at a field day with 5000 people in the stands?)

 

Al Linquity: “Sturtze would mark you higher if you played his style.  Their playing overshadowed the rest of the unit.  Eric wasn’t as high, but was musical and dynamics oriented.  Sturtze students could blast you and overpower the fifes.  He didn’t dwell on playing soft.  Eric put musicianship into a piece. Eric’s arms would curve around the drum.  He could be very tempermental."               

 

John Dowlan (Air Force Quartet, Liberty Bell):  “Martin was not a very personable guy.  He was very strict.  He used to have a drum shop a mile from my house.  I used to hang out there as a kid.  I ran a drum corps newspaper in 1948; The Bugle and Drum Corps Times; 20 cents a copy.  I called him “James” in the paper one time.  He sent me a letter – ‘Don’t you ever use that again ever!‘ I had to take it back to the printer and cross it out.”                   

 

State Champion New York drummer J. Frank Martin taught a Civil War “around-the-tree” style.  In a 1932 article called  “TIME  - Its Importance to the Men of the Corps”, which probably influenced the first N.A.R.D. discussions in 1933, Martin makes comments that prove speeds were increasing. He points out the use of Thirteen Stroke Rolls for Bruce and Emmett vs. Nine Stroke Rolls by Strube and the use of a Strube quick step at 110 bpm, a point of contention in individual contests. Civil War drumming was about slower cadence producing clarity for troops in battle. Martin is almost 70 years removed from the Civil War when he penned an article about military authenticity, not speed for The Association Drum Major Page 2 and 3, 1932

 

(Need another copy of this piece without my marks)   2 pages  from The Assoc. D M

 

Martin states rudimental drumming is hand-to-hand superior coordination.  Martin states only odd number rolls to should be played hand to hand. He thought circus drumming weak and timid, quitting after two weeks in a circus act. Everything was to be broken down, “49 and 96 stroke rolls can’t be counted or finished hand to hand.”  Cymbal crashes and non-published solos were frowned upon, explaining why some judges stated you were "not playing rudiments" (something Bill Reamer would get in trouble for introducing "Troublemakers" or the Tap 6 Stroke Roll. Purists said it was not a rudiment. It had to be legit or it was penalized).  Most drum set players were not rudimental in the 1930’s; Martin makes fun of “jazz system books.”. “Don’t get the latest books showing all the latest breaks and cymbal crashes. Get a book using the rudimental style.  Don’t use jazz system books in your corps unless you expect later on to add a “Spanish guitar” section.”  

 

They were worried about execution and separated each rudiment in a breakdown.  Martin distains a “sing-song” run-on, continuous sound without accenting.  Sturtze’s pupils were playing “super-speed” at 132 to 140  beats per minute.  Martin believed that rudimental playing at 128 bpm would not mix, that “Double Drags and Paradiddle – Diddles at 128 bpm in 6/8 time are not possible”.  This uncovers his military code “around-the-tree” Civil War stick and arm movement.  Martin, a civilian, worries about soldiers: “Let us have the cadence restored to a sane basis of speed, in order that a regiment of soldiers can march, without feet and legs in every direction.  Observe the next parade you see closely, and you will see what I mean.”  Martin is in the past with Moeller and Ludwig's Civil War tradition, without the technique to handle increased speed. He doesn't believe drummers can play rudiments at 132bpm cleanly or with as much power.

 

J Frank Martin: “The reason that 110 beats per minute is used in individual contest work is strictly in keeping with the only book (Strube) that our government recognizes and which therefore was adopted by both the New York and Connecticut Associations., for the guidance of the corps and the judges of these two Associations.  

“There is not a real rudimental drummer alive today that cannot lay down a beat at 110 much cleaner and distinctly than he can at 120 or 128.  The whole question… is simply one of two choices, we are either going to turn our State championship into a speed contest or we are going to award this honor to the drummer who plays his selections in the neatest, cleanest and most distinct manner.  Should not a drummer be able to play at various speeds, keeping in mind, of course, the fact that the more he increases his time the less able he is to bother about execution?

            “I have said very little about the cadence of 128 in its relation to rudiments of the drum.  It is my contention that the two will not mix.  To bear down on this point it might be well that those who think it easy, play any 6/8 beat incorporating double drags, drag ratamacues, or paradiddle diddles using the proper accents.

            “In conclusion, let me say, be versatile, do not confine yourself to one set speed…  Practice slowly, keep your beats wide open, then by degrees you may close them to a degree that will enable you to find the flaws in your execution, but above all never try to reach a tempo at which your strokes and rolls settle into a sing-song style.  Watch those accents, they give you your rhythm.  Rhythm is time, time is cadence on the march.  Marching depends on time, and the time depends on you.”  

 

Martin is calling for separation of notes in a breakdown – no slurred phrases - limiting the run-on combined sound of faster rudiment combinations soon to come from the Reilly Raiders and Osmond Cadets.  He wants accents, not “sing-song” trap drummers displays lacking power, losing accents with speed. 

 

            Charles Ploeger of the Kirk’s line - nicknamed "Ginger" - began drumming in Brooklyn Public School No. 94 where he picked up his nickname. “His grandfather was a lieutenant in the 5th New York Regiment during the Civil War.  Ben Macke was his first drum instructor in the Captain Small's Naval Reserve corps, a well-known National Guard drummer and performer in the 71st Regiment Band overseas.  He returned from the war to teach numerous drum corps.  By 1936, Ploeger made the Kirk snare line, winning his first three medals in individuals by 1939.  While instructing other corps, Ginger maintained his duties with the Kirk’s until its demise in the late 1950's.  He was famous for a solo called the "Ginger Snap" which was picked up by the New York competitive drumming community.” (Ed Olsen  Ancient Times, Vol.26, No.1, p. 23, 1999)

 

Al Linquity: “Charles Ploeger was an excellent drummer!  He would go into Connecticut individuals all the time. The Sturtze students really respected him. He was a very quiet guy.  Ginger would practice rudiment run downs before practice all the time.  He used to call Frank Arsenault “rubber arms”.  That’s where Frank got his speed.  After the war he didn’t follow drum corps any more.  He was a machinist at a tool and die company he partly owned.  There was some problem with his partner so he became a tug boat operator between Staten Island and New York.  Then he bought his own boat.  He gave it up.”            

 

Eric Perrilloux: “I marched next to Ginger for 10 years.  He was from Brooklyn and taught the 4th Degree K of C corps.  He wrote a Double Drag solo called the Ginger Snap that was tough to play at 120. You never marched to something like that.  I know cause I used to compete against him in individuals.”