September 16, 2003 The Jonathan Clause Issue #6

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen,

Imagine attending a military funeral and being moved to tears by a bugler's performance of Taps. After the funeral, you approach the bugler to tell them what a wonderful job they did, only you find out that the bugler never played at all and taps was actually performed by a digital device housed inside the bell of the bugle. Would you be upset? Would the event still hold the same meaning for you?

In today's edition of The New York Times, I read a story written by James Dao that surprised me. I was always under the assumption that all military funerals would have taps performed by a bugler (this assumption after watching numerous military funerals in movies). Unfortunately, this is not the case. In fact, many military funerals use CD players and boom boxes playing a recorded version of taps due to a dwindling amount of buglers. The Pentagon in cooperation with S & D Consulting International is producing a digital device that can fit inside the bell of a bugle and play a recorded version of taps. The "bugler" may not even be a bugler, all they have to do is stand with the bugle up to their lips and press the "on" button to start the device. No experienced buglers are necessary for this job. Dao's story states that funerals for veterans are rising, and that number cannot be met by the smaller number of buglers who are left in the United States. Hence the production of the bugle digital device. Many veterans are happier with the new technology of putting the device inside the bugle, rather than having a boom box or CD player fail due to inclement weather.

Purists and musicians aren't quite pleased, because there is nothing like having someone actually perform taps instead of a digital device. I happen to agree with the purists. I played the clarinet for eight years and I can't fathom "faking" a performance while a electronic device actually did the work. To me, this is the equivalent of lip-syncing for vocalists. The whole idea of having taps played by an electronic device takes away from the emotional aspect of the event.

Dao also reports that steps have been made to form a bugle group across the United States and to encourage brass instrument makers to produce high-quality bugles. A retired marine stated, "The machine (bugle device) is like wearing vinyl instead of leather. When I die, I want someone who can play with soul."

What do YOU think? Should the Pentagon try and find more buglers or should they continue "watering down" funerals for veterans by producing this device?

Jonathan