ironlips

Old Guard and Hellcats (OK, the Old Guard has fifes too, but no amps.)

Working with Pete and that staff was a "coming of age" process for me, no queston. Their collective creativity, and Pete's in particular, was infectious. I was hanging on by my fingernails.

It's the veterans who gave us Drum Corps as we know it. Here's one team that acknowledged that by posting this today. (It's from '24.)

I don't disagree, and the creatives can do whatever they wish. We did (pretty much). My point is that acoustic instruments have a characteristic sound all their own, sans amplification, and that's worth hearing, too. The mic has no conscience or brain. Just because it's in the pit to give presence to the wind chimes (which actually have little need for it, but that's another story...) doesn't mean it's not "hearing" and amplifying the trumpet section 5 yards away. Personal preference here: Amplifying a brass soloist to be heard over the ensemble seems like swatting a fly with a hand grenade. Why not simply adjust everyone else's dynamics (and/or scoring) accordingly and allow your audience to hear the skill, tone and texture of the player, without drowning those things in reverb, EQ, over-modulated levels, and other EFX ? That's the kind of thing that makes for "sameness" of sound among the corps. If I had Wynton or Allyson Balsom in my line, you can be reasonably sure I'd make every effort for an audience to hear their authentic sound when they solo.

If there are acoustic instruments on the field (usually over 100 of them) should they not be heard? Let us differentiate "electronics" from "sound reinforcement", the former being instruments that produce their sound the way a Tesla produces horsepower: unplugged, they have no sonic presence. Sound reinforcement, on the other hand, is meant to enhance the presence and clarity of instruments who produce sound acoustically, i.e., by virtue of a physical vibration. Neither can claim to be superior to the other, but logic demands they should produce a blend wherein both are heard. Allowing the electronic instruments to mask the others is not creating art. Regardless, I wholeheartedly agree with the above stated sentiment, "There is too much sameness in the music,.." It's sad to see so much navel-gazing among so many of our young, gifted (and potentially creative) musical writers and sound designers. It's a kind of drum corps arrested development. Today's Robert W. Smiths and Ken Normans are ubiquitous. May they find the courage to raise their voices.

Indeed. The "Season" essentially ran from Memorial Day through Labor Day. The summer seemed endless...in a good way.

Agreed. He preys on the ignorance of others.

These are just further examples of the staggering amount of ignorance that exists around "the arts", visual,literary and performative. A colleague of mine once ran a major music industry program at a prominent university in CA. We spoke by phone often. When I would ask what he was doing, his reply was always the same, becoming a kind of mantra: "Just pushing back against the frontiers of ignorance", he'd reply. Like it or not, we are all educators, and that's the essence of our role. Find a way to start pushing.

Rumors will fly for a bit, then facts will emerge. But that's not really the important part. The real question is how this leadership change will effect the "right around the corner" 2026 season, and beyond. Regardless of what happened or why, I suggest we focus on how we all might contribute to the stability of the activity during what could be a period of uncertainty.

One word: Synth A few words: The pit has devoured the acoustic instruments. I would say this is easily remedied by better mixing technique, but I'm afraid it's too late. The imbalance has become a universal style, and now feeds itself as corps copy each other's excess. This is one of the dirty little secrets of which we do not speak. The genie will not be coerced back into the lamp. You want good balance and blend from 100+ musicians? You will not find those on the field. Try the NY Phil or the CSO.

Tim Salzman is a master. The Guardsmen line was consistently superior. He took us all to school.

"...the best sound (tone quality, blend, intonation) of the G-bugle era?" Tough call, but overall I'll go with the 1980 Blue Devils as captured on the State of the Art recording. The DCI recording from that season was a victim of rather naive mic placement, to the disadvantage of all the corps. Unfortunately, the only SOTA example online at present is a scratchy, worn dub of the vinyl. I will post a clean version and link soon. F

".For 1982 they must have been so unique that judges didn't know how to judge them..lol" Well, yes. The other issue was that Drum Corps were transitioning away from the tick and some shows were being judged on the new "build-up" Evaluation System. This should have helped the Raiders and did so on occasions when the panel contained judges familiar with the Latin genres. At other shows, it was the opposite. One quite prominent adjudicator commented, "All those Latin rhythms sound the same". Of course, that was more a criticism of his lack of knowledge than their ability to deliver the goods. That matters little at this point, 44 years down the line. It's enough to know the San Jose Raiders propelled the activity forward.

Three of the productions in the 1982 San Jose Raiders' show were Brazilian in either composition or rhythmic treatment : "Samba de Orfeo", "Brazil", and Brazilian Super-Star Tania Maria's cover of "Imagine". The rest of the show consisted of "Little Sunflower", Chano Pozo's "Manteca", Malo's "Momotombo/Oye Mama" and the iconic Salsa tune, "Siboney". The closing signature was the Samba theme from "I Love Lucy". The percussion section included 16 Congas, 4 Brazillian Surdos, timbales, pandieros, tamborims, various claves, 8 Samba whistles and (wait for it) 1 marching snare. They were beloved of audiences and other corps (Ralph Hardimon's SCV line mobbed them in parking lot warm-ups). The percussion judges were mostly non-plussed, except for the very few with exposure to ethnic (particularly Brazilian and Afro-Cuban) drumming standards. The Raiders played authentic Latin and African rhythms, including Samba, Bolero, Batchucaje, Mambo...etc. Their fate mirrored others (like the Precisionnaires) who were simply too hip for the room. Still, they knew they were ahead of the curve and the audience reactions were most satisfying.

So far...