percussion judges in drill

[CrownBariDad]

And then you have the age old question, " if you can't hear or see a mistake from the stands, is it a mistake"? I've never been a fan of judges on the field. Could you imagine that in ice skating or gymnastics?

In the "old days" of figure skating when they actually skated figures, judges would actually get down on their hands and knees to inspect the results. Of course, the skater had finished the figure and wasn't barreling down upon the hapless judge.

[Jeff Ream]

With 70+ brass plus a plugged in pit, the higher you go you hear rim shots and unisons. Not worth having a judge for. Plus the closer to the roof, the more echo

[mfrontz]

How about a compromise? Judge on the field but stay on the periphery, not inserting himself in the drill?

[corpsband]

How about a compromise? Judge on the field but stay on the periphery, not inserting himself in the drill?

agree. on the field but OUT of the drill

[garfield]

And then you have the age old question, " if you can't hear or see a mistake from the stands, is it a mistake"? I've never been a fan of judges on the field. Could you imagine that in ice skating or gymnastics?

Or a hockey game? God forbid!

[oldbandguy]

Any bets on who will be the first percussion field judge to go up on the slide for a close up evaluation of Coats snare line?

My money is on the guy who can keep his calm as axes are flying at him :-)

[garfield]

Boy, here we go again.

Up close to the horn line can't judge well the entire ensemble except when it's all packed together - like a drum line.

The drum line is an entire musical ensemble except when they're spread - a relative rarity even in modern drill design.

The sole performance of the drum line is not as accompaniment to the hornline. To fairly judge the drum line and give them the best read, the judge has to be able to get close, plain and simple.

Putting the judge on the sidelines or in the box will only dumb-down the percussion caption. Is THAT fair to the performers?

[garfield]

agree. on the field but OUT of the drill

That's not always close enough to get a good read. Plain and simple.

Good lines will send the drums down close to get points for technical execution. Weak lines will hide them beyond the hash to stay out of trouble.

Is THAT fair and equitable to all performers in the activity? Does it impact scores?

[wolfgang]

Direct quote from Joe Allison on marching roundtable podcast in discussion about judging percussion from the pressbox: "I may not be able to hear everything, but I can hear what I need to hear."

The days of field percussion judging are numbered. The only question is whether DCI will step in before or after a serious injury and resulting expensive lawsuit.

Its a matter of safety and it will only take one serious incident to potentially bankrupt or at least seriously disrupt the organization.

Edited July 25, 2016 by wolfgang

[DAvery]

Or a hockey game? God forbid!

But the difference is the ref is not assigning numbers, just monitoring for rule infractions. But yes, I see your point. I guess it's just how precise you want to judge. If you can't see or hear it from the stands I don't really think it is a mistake worth noting. Sometimes I think our quest for precision inhibits the creation of real music.