I've been a rifleman/color guard at about 25 military funerals. With two exceptions we had a live bugler.
One of the exceptions was a funeral that was held indoors, and the bugler was not needed as the family opted to have amazing grace played on the bagpipes followed by "I'm proud to be an American" played over the church speaker system.
The only other time, I was the "Bugler" and had the mouthpiece. What it is for those who don't know, is a little speaker system that gets hidden in a bugle. When the bugle is being brought up to the mouth, a button is hit, and a recording of taps is played. As long as nobody looks directly into the bugle, it usually can not be seen. If the volume isn't turned up too loud it sounds realistic. However, if you don't watch the volume, it has a tendancy to have the notes break.
Every time I've seen or heard about the mouthpiece being used, is when all the buglers/trumpet players are currently doing other ceremonies. |
