Jump to content

Staff merrigoround


Recommended Posts

All of this is based on checking out some recaps and what I saw during the season. I am in no way suggesting that any staff SHOULD be let go. I'm simply pointing out where there could be things to react to from an administrative standpoint.

Obviously I know nothing of the inner workings of these corps, so whether or not staff members are at fault for results is not my call to make.

I wouldn't be surprised to see a change in percussion staff at Crown, although I said the exact same thing last year. That's a strange beast, as the shows are clearly designed to showcase a fantastic brass section with percussion generally being an afterthought. I don't know what motivates those choices, as I'm not on staff. Perhaps they are writing to the members they think they can recruit. Who knows. But after several years in a row with percussion numbers well below the rest of the corps, I wouldn't be surprised to see a change in reaction. This is not said to be a slight against that staff. I have no idea what goes on in their rehearsals, so I can't tell you if its their fault that the percussion numbers haven't kept up. I can tell you that it has to affect their recruitment. A program that's consistently in the middle of the pack in percussion is going to draw different talent than a program that is in the top 3 or 4 every year, regardless of how good the rest of the corps is. If they do make a staff move, it will be interesting to see who that will be and if it is a name that can draw.

The Colts just missed finals, and their music numbers seem to be the culprit based on the recap. Could see there being some potential changes there. I know that percussion staff is in their first year and was working with some pretty green members.

Definitely seems like there could be some design changes at Spirit and Madison. Both shows seemed to have potential when they came out of the gate in the beginning of the season, and seemed to have some fairly serious pacing and continuity issues.

Academy's guard finished 20th in semis (corps in 15th), and Boston's guard finished 13th in semis.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Colts just missed finals, and their music numbers seem to be the culprit based on the recap. Could see there being some potential changes there. I know that percussion staff is in their first year and was working with some pretty green members.

Definitely seems like there could be some design changes at Spirit and Madison.

Colts' brass team was brand new this year, and did a very nice job, The problem with the music numbers was in design of the overall program...a lot of the music was obscured by the voice-over, which can impact your music analysis numbers in a bad way. The actual performance was really quite good.

Spirit's entire staff and administration was almost completely new this year. I don't see any reason to man the lifeboats...lets see where they go next season.

Edited by Kamarag
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I hope they lube up the merry go round in Madison...or is it Bloomington? Lets get that thing spinning!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wouldn't be surprised to see a change in percussion staff at Crown, although I said the exact same thing last year. That's a strange beast, as the shows are clearly designed to showcase a fantastic brass section with percussion generally being an afterthought. I don't know what motivates those choices, as I'm not on staff. Perhaps they are writing to the members they think they can recruit. Who knows. But after several years in a row with percussion numbers well below the rest of the corps, I wouldn't be surprised to see a change in reaction.

Re: your bolded quote above. With 3 distinct percussion features already taking place before the BALLAD in this year's show, this was clearly not the case. Design choices were off the mark this year, I don't think many people would dispute that. No corps, at least in my memory, has ever featured their weakest section as much as Crown did this year. That cost them a lot of points not just in percussion, but GE and for much of the season, Music Analysis, which eventually caught up a little at the end. But likely a bit too late at that point.

Yes, a change needs to be made not just in percussion, but perhaps on the creative end of things as a whole. While last year was superb, it could have easily ended up differently. Their inability to maximize their creativity to produce an effective ending (2010 was a total failure, for example) has really been their second Achilles heel for so many years. You can only make so many Crown sets during your closer before it becomes overdone. And we're already there. If they would use it earlier on in the show one of these years and devise some sort of a creative closing segment that didn't include a morphing crown segment, I think they'd not only push themselves further ahead, but they'd win over a lot more of the fans that have seemed to grow tired of the shtick by now.

Obviously, they shouldn't change a thing in their brass department. Harloff, Klesch, and co. are absolute masters at what they do. They're simply being held back by creative choices and other performance weaknesses that aren't their responsibility.

Edited by IMcomguy
  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow, IMcomguy. I couldn't have said it better myself. I am a Crown alumni from way back 90-92 and when I say something like this, I have a few that really give me the "what for." But, this is truth come from you. Thank you.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

kdaddy,

The percussion scored higher in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, but in all of these years, they have never been a champion contender for percussion. They are behind the curve and recent history demonstrates this. How long do they need?

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Note: Crown did not build a brass program overnight. Should the same be expected of a percussion staff?

Absolutely not. But it needs to be addressed. When you have a double digit subcaption in that department from very reputable guy like Jeff Prosperie during Finals week, that is a huge clue that something is awry. They've been 6th or lower for FOUR consecutive years now... 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014. This does not equate to a championship program. They were still only just 5th in 2010....

5 years is enough in my book to make better choices.

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...