Editing Drum and bugle corps (modern) (section)

==== Brass ====
{{Main|Marching brass}}
[[File:2007-Brigadiers-Contra-Line.jpg|thumb|Members of a [[Drum Corps Associates|DCA]] corps from [[Upstate New York]] shown performing in a parade. The lowest-pitched of the horns used in drum corps is the [[contrabass bugle]], or contra.]]

The exclusive use of bell-front [[brass instrument]]ation is a defining musical element of drum corps. Throughout the years, the horns used in drum corps have been changed from true, single-valved [[Bugle (instrument)|bugle]]s to B{{music|b}} brass instruments. While brass bugles in these competitive drum corps began as military signaling devices, successive modifications made them capable of greater ranges of music. These traditionally valveless, key-of-G bugles evolved to include pistons and rotors, gaining notes beyond a single harmonic series.<ref>Dostal, Jack. "A history of brass bugles in American drum and bugle corps." ''The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America'' 142, 2511 (2017). [https://asa-scitation-org.ezproxy2.library.colostate.edu/doi/abs/10.1121/1.5014171 https://asa-scitation-org.ezproxy2.library.colostate.edu/doi/abs/10.1121/1.5014171.]</ref> Until 1999, drum and bugle corps horn lines within DCI were required to be pitched in the key of G. That year, the DCI rules congress passed a rule change to allow "brass bell-front valve instruments in any key with the exception of sousaphones and trombones."<ref>Gibbs, Dave (1999-01-07). A few years later, trombones and concert French Horns were allowed completing the transition from Drum Corps to band.[http://bluedevils.org/news/index.php?newsID=14 "Multi-key Instrument Rule Change"]. Retrieved 2010-08-06.</ref> In World Class, the rule did not go into effect until the 2000 season, while Open Class opted for a two-year [[Moratorium (law)|moratorium]] prior to implementation in 2002; [[Drum Corps Associates|DCA]] followed suit in 2004. Hornlines are now most commonly pitched in B{{music|b}}, with mellophones pitched in F. In 2014, the DCI Board of Directors passed a rule change that changed their definition of a bugle to allow the entire brass family, including trombones and concert French horns.

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:0 auto;"
|+ Instrument names
|-
! scope="col" | Key of G
! scope="col" | Key of B{{music|b}}
! scope="col" | Key of F
|-
| Soprano/Flugelhorn
| [[Trumpet]]/[[Flugelhorn]]
|
|-
| [[Mellophone]] in G
| Marching [[French Horn]]
| Mellophone in F/French Horn
|-
| Baritone/Euphonium in G
| [[Baritone horn#Marching baritone horn|Baritone]]/[[Euphonium#Marching|Euphonium]] (written in C)
|
|-
| [[Contrabass bugle|Contrabass Bugle]]
| Contrabass (written in C)
|
|}