So- I was wondering what everyone thinks about what form Taps takes in the future?
Right now, with so many service people dying every day, it is difficult to get a full honor guard at every funeral, and there is a drastic shortage of real buglers to play a traditional Taps- so the military has designed an "electronic" piece that fits into the bell end of a traditional bugle, and plays a version of Taps recorded at Arlington National Cemetary. Many people take offense at this, since it is done by someone who has no bugle playing experience, and they just push the button and put the bugle to their lips and "lip synch".
There is a group called Bugles Across America that includes many service and non-service buglers who volunteer to play Taps at military funerals- the commissions are even called "missions".
Now, when you watch Star Trek they usually send somebody off to a recorded set of bagpipes.
What form do you think Taps takes in this world? Are there musical specialists who still play the bugle? Are there DJ-style musicians with shoulder-mounted speakers a la Warhammer 40K? Do we go with a digitally recorded bagpipe?
I would love to have a bugler patch on my uniform. I think a bagpipe patch would be mistaken for a spleen. Or would there be a patch that simply says "MP3"?
gomi_

Well... I would sincerely doubt that there would no longer be any military musicians in the future... this would make no damn sense. Marching music and formation marching go hand-in-hand.

So I think you're scratching your head a little too hard.

Scotty played the bagpipes at Spock's funeral.

Now about your query - the Aliens universe is pretty cold and unforgiving. The Company (that seems to control just about everything) is just as heartless and ruthless as the Xenomorphs.

It is most likely that none of our heros received a formal military funeral. In fact the whole incident was probably buried as deeply as possible by WY.

Since it is such a dystopian future (one of the major themes of the series)- I can envision any funeral of military types being small, private, and quiet. If anything at all.

So I don't believe there would be traditional buglers (or any musicians as Dom said) in the USCM.

_________________
I told you I'd shoot, but you didn't believe me! WHY DIDN'T YOU BELIEVE ME!?!

i think youre right burton. reading the anchorpoint essays, it seems to me that the whole incident in the movie was covered up. but... the sound track of the moviee. the whole drum music thing tells me there are probably still musicians of somekind?

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Actually, I was trying to say the opposite. ...but I sincerely think that the LV-426 mission was some kind of "off-the-books" op... why else would there be so few sent there?

Oops!

I skipped over a "no" in your post.

I am in total disagreement with Dom.

_________________
I told you I'd shoot, but you didn't believe me! WHY DIDN'T YOU BELIEVE ME!?!

The CMC would have a band. Most military forces do, it's a matter of tradition, after all Military forces still have colour parties.

It's not unheard of, In the SST book there is a mention of the troops marching to a band.

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STEVENSON F.
A11/TQ0.0.82148E1

"You are not your Drop Count."

Now don't you go mixing universes.

The Earth of SST is very traditional, military based, and pretty fascist actually. Warfare is glorified and encouraged. There is propoganda everywhere.

The military in the Alien universe is pretty much a pawn of the Company. Earth is rundown. Civillians hate their jobs (and are treated like cattle) and the military (what little we saw of it) is nearly the same. I can't see there being much "pomp and circumstance" on that Earth.

To be honest we here in our own version of the USCM have created a much more positive society/group than what was depicted in the film. And because some of us are creating Dress Blues uniforms- we still hold fast to military traditions again not depicted in the Alien series.

So in saying that- if gomi_otaku wants to be a bugler and wear a bugler/band patch he is more than welcome to!

_________________
I told you I'd shoot, but you didn't believe me! WHY DIDN'T YOU BELIEVE ME!?!

I see where you're coming from Kevin... you pointed out that Scotty played the pipes, but this is not the same future, is it?

I'm sorry for disagreeing with you on this one... but I really can't believe that no matter how dark and miserable any future might be that people have abandoned music. Even the Deckard's soggy streets of 2019 L.A. had music playing on radios...

Wanted to share this one... very appropriate.

Once you've played a brass instrument, you can play notes on anything tubular (I almost said, hard and shaped like a tube...god, this just keeps getting worse...)
gomi_

I have to agree that no matter how hard and dark the future gets,
people will still make music in the traditional methods.

Sure, you may not have a drum and bugle squad like you did on
the fields of battle (ala Sharpe's Rifles, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108108/ ), but people will still make music.

Russ

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"A writer needs a pen, a painter a brush, and a filmmaker an army." - Orson Wells.

http://www.rookscastle.com
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I agree.....'Taps' or as I know it 'Last Post' will always be in my vision of the future of military.

To me at funerals 'Last Post' envisions respect, honor and sorrow to those we have loved and lost.
I was at a recent funeral where 'Last Post' was played......it was at that point I could not hold back my tears.

Sorry, but Last Post must remain.

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Im with Tony, My Grandad had a Piper playing the Skye boat song as his coffin was brought into the church at his funeral and a bugler played last post.

Music will always hold a place in services.

_________________
STEVENSON F.
A11/TQ0.0.82148E1

"You are not your Drop Count."

When Sheila's Dad passed last year, for whatever reason the VFW didn't do Taps, but we played a piper version of Amazing Grace. It was quite nice.

Russ

_________________
"A writer needs a pen, a painter a brush, and a filmmaker an army." - Orson Wells.

http://www.rookscastle.com
http://www.alchemyarms.com