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Here is the standstill recording done late in the season, I think.

Whatever; that same study was done MUCH better in the 80's (or insert older era of obvious superior quality here)

Westshore Alumni's doing 'Love for Sale' and 'One more Time'- everyone's pretty much welcome on brass. I think we're sounding pretty decent this year so far.

Huh! Why am I not in that one? Oh yeah, The Rebs kept firing me over and over... OK, forget I asked that...

It's @#$*ing snowing like a mother@#$*er up here! Picked the wrong week for @#$*ing Puerto Rico. I'm a dumb @#$*!

Latest progress on the corps. Brass staff is set. Joe Murphy is the Arranger and Brass Caption Head. Vinnie Ciesielski is Asst. Caption Head/ Hi Brass Ben Posey ......................... Hi Brass Matt "Gameboy" Owen ...... Low Brass Rich Culp.............................Low Brass Next up...Percussion staff

The Rocketeers in Huntsville guarding the Northern boarders with an arsenal full of missile and rocket systems, Southwind at Mobile Bay with Fort Morgan, USS Alabama and USS Drum, and the Southern Knights in the middle at Birmingham with the Vulcan and his sword. I'd say we have Alabama covered. #GrowDrumCorpsSouth

Motorized scooter-things and dang-fangled E-lectronics!

Practice went very well, I'd say. The new folks from Biglerville and Susq Township on mainly mello with some salted through the rest of the brass were very, very good, and I hope they had a great time playing and that the charts were challenging. Steve Hartman's playing Trumpet/sop as well, a surprise to see him. When we get the rest of the bari section in, we'll be looking solid there- need Sop/trumpets, though. Mello numbers are the best they've been, maybe ever with the young folks, and they can indeed, PLAY.

Or where you can actually use an emoticon provided by the board like this one: instead of the 1990's version of :P. And what do you mean by "everything"? Are you saying that everything said by everyone (or EVERYONE) here is over-analyzed? I've seen lots of posts where comments are both over-analyzed AND taken the wrong way, so I'm certain that you're just here to insult people who love to talk about drum corps. In fact, I saw a study once here that suggested...

1.) It's early but normally Governaires strike a balance with crowd friendly shows. White Sabers have been making some moves the last few years musically. Check the announcements. 3.) I know Cincinnati Tradition still uses G. There are a few corps in DCI SoundSport including Cincinnati Tradition, Mon Valley Express, and Columbus Saints. that are also on G. 4.) Westshoremen seemed pretty rocking back in the day. I'd also would have loved to do Renegades. I just loved their look and attitude back in the day. Other than that Bushwackers or White Sabers and of course my former corps Cincinnati Tradition :)

Only thing we're missing are some jet packs, Segways, ESPN, Saxophones and Capital Regiment

And here I thought all the rules for performing the USMC "Sunset Parade" ceremony were picky.

That better have been some good soup !!!

Waffles will be the mandatory breakfast on all food trucks.

If it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing.

Another sign that I'm getting old. I was in a local cafe the other day, when a beautiful younger woman came up to me and whispered in my ear: "I can give you super sex..." I replied, "OK... I'll have the soup!!!"

Welcome to DCP :P Where everything you say will either be over-analyzed or taken the wrong way

LOL one of the high points of "Atomic Café" is the "Duck and Cover" film with the song about how smart the turtle was. But one part has a boy in the middle of the street on his bike when he sees "the flash". So if you are out in the open kids, jump off the bike before it stops and do a face plant in the street with your shoulder mashed into the curb. And you'll be OK....

LOL!!! I wish!!!! I'm emceeing the Maryland Drum Corps Hall of Fame banquet that day.

Well, I asked my son whether he likes SunSurfing so far, and he said "yeah"; and whether he thought it would be fun, and he said "yeah". So there you have it.

Last season C1 and C2 held a combined contest of DCA and DCI corps at soccer stadium in Chester, PA. Most loved the sight lines and seating of the stadium. This season no DCA show there in Chester, although C1 will return there for a midweek DCI show replacing the Westchester, PA show on 7/30. Probably C2 in exhibit. C1 is also not doing the West Chester, Ohio DCI show on 6/22 which is at Fairfield H.S. Thank God, there's no Eastchester (in Westchester Cty, NY) to confuse it further. Cue Chester Overture played by several corps over the years.

So ... again ... for my education ... we're playing Elenor Rigby and at some point in the chart, I point to the Synth Player and he/she presses the correct button and the piccolo soprano solo from a recording plays (because we have the proper performance rights) in perfect rythm, pitch, inflection, tone, quality and whatever musical evaluation terms you want to apply - because I may not have a player in line that can pull off that solo? I think I just peeeed ...

There are any number of things DCI could do to stir the pot. They could upgrade the quality of the finals video currently available. They could add high-cam vs. multi-cam in some years. In the 80s, 90s and a few other years, they have many more corps video-recorded that could be made available instead of just the top 12. There are different ways to add this material. Dump it all online at once in a massive subscription drive. Add a year at a time, to drive traffic to the site over and over. Make material available on-demand for a limited time only, to keep the attention of legacy fans who do not want to miss out on a specific corps. Or instead of on-demand, stream some otherwise unavailable archival videos periodically to keep driving traffic to the site at times of their choosing. And that is just video. We have not even mentioned audio.

I still have these ones for sale and the price is quite low. http://www.drumcorpsplanet.com/forums/index.php/topic/161506-30-indoor-drumline-uniforms-for-sale-tops-and-bottoms-1200-shipped/ Email me at olivestreetstudios@gmail.com if you are interested.

I think, unfortunately, this is a topic that people look at a small sampling of corps, from a small sampling of years, and forget that there is a whole world out there. For god's sake, there are people that conduct full patterns in jazz music, even Stan Kenton in many performances and depending upon the work, and others that simply cue and gesture.

We will have in Alabama a mini corps in the Rocketeers out of Huntsville, for those who choose not to march on the field. Must be 18 years and older to perform with them. The Southern Knights will be all-age and will field a competetive corps next year. This year will be exhibition and parade. We are also looking into doing a mini corps for DCA this year. Next year may also introduce a feeder corps for kids 10-15 years old to perform locally and get their feet wet to drum corps. Down on the Gulf in Mobile is Southwind, a Jr. corps making a comeback. They recruit mostly from the pan handle of Florida to Louisianna. There are many drum corps vets that are within an hour or so drive of Birmingham, who would love to hit the field again. The opportunity is now here. This year we will lay a foundation for many years to come. The 3 corps directors are in contact, and will work to make each corps succeed to represent a State that has been absent from the drum corps scene for too long.... It's a passion!!!!

Saw the movie at the Austin, TX Idie Film Festival. Very well done. It was selected as the best movie shown at this festival. I would LOVE to see it on a large screen.

We have a show scheduled for February 18 or 19 in Nashville.

Any reviews from last night in Anaheim or from last week in Edmonton? We have another 2 1/2 weeks before the showing in Madison.

Have to say that it is a pretty bad azz movie. Mac and Tom have really put there heart into this project.

We had our viewing of the documentary at a cinema in Edmonton tonight. A huge thank you to all those involved!

I'd better get started, and in my typical fashion, I'll start with something I forgot to add from last week. I'll apologize to the Cabs Alumni for forgetting to mention their performance at Scranton in my rush to get it all done. They were their usual excellent selves, and tighter than Wayne, particularly in the lower brass. I do want to know what the Baris and Tubas are supplementing their diets with to get them to play as strong as they did at that performance. They shook the place and really gave some serious added push to the brass. They had a great full sound, a good tight sound, not over-played and spread, and it really added a good dimension to the ensemble. I picked up my friend and hit the road to Reading. I figured if the Simeone museum in Philly was able to get their priceless likely worth seven figures Ferrari 250 interim Berlinetta out for a live demo earlier in the day as well as one of their original Mercedes Gull-wing coupes, Big Sounds was on barring a get-the ark out flood. The parking crew did a great job in the rain, and that couldn't have been easy for them. As for caps, I lent my friend my CV cap, took my umbrella and my Carolina Crown military cap, and they kept us dry enough when we needed to stay relatively dry. I figured the corps had been working hard all day in the wet, I could hang tough out of respect. If my comments aren't as detailed, I also apologize. There was no way I could take notes without them being ruined, so I have to go by memory, and the contest was indeed memorable. I'd seen all of the competitors at least once this season, for some of them as many as 3-4 times, so I won't be as detailed. Leading off the contest, Carolina Gold. They were much, much improved over Chester, with a more confident brass and percussion performance. At times, one of the baris and Tubas have to remember that they've got other people playing and they don't have to do it all by themselves- that is... unless the others were backing out in certain sections. They know the truth, and they need to make adjustments and make sure of those things for next week. Every person, every note, the entire program. It's the only way to make it happen. They've pulled themselves into a solid 8th seed but they'll need to get those details squared away for Prelims so they have a good, consistent, professional run. The White Sabres came off as strong, solid, and professional. My friend was impressed with the quality of performance from such a small ensemble, and I told him he should be with the fine job they do. I mentioned that they needed some more spice and flair at Scranton, and I think they delivered on that issue, and the number and seeding proved that they had what it took and that they wanted to put on a quality, inspired performance regardless of the rain. I mentioned that Fusion felt they had a better run in them from percussion and brass at Scranton. They did. Better enough to propel them into a 3rd seed at prelims better. They know they're in amongst giants now, and I know from experience, there's no better thing to be, regardless where they end up. The feeling that one has when you know you're competitive with the very best draws something out of you, makes you more sharp. they even nicked Reading in Effect visual, which leads me to wonder how much of that was weighted by the Guard, who took top honors. I believe I've discussed how I've been noticing how much more the guards are figuring into the end results of late, and I think this is a positive. I think in the more distant past, they were underrated and way under-weighted in the total score. Again, I can't say enough about the turnaround their Guard's had this season, and it's something they should take deep pride in. Right now, they look like they're ready to make a nice run at Finals weekend and make a strong statement to everyone that they'd better be reckoned with in the future.

I'm sorry, but no you couldn't. Looking at recaps it doesn't look like ANY Open Class percussion section beat Carolina Crown ever last year. I know you're a homer, and homers are likely to speak crazy rhetoric, but in this case I have to call you out on your gross error. It doesn't look like ANY Open Class percussion section placed in the Top 15, let alone close to Crown. In fact, the highest placing Open Class corps (BDB) was nearly 3 POINTS behind Crown placing 18th. Again, I get the homerism, and cheering on the home team but lets be real, here: Crown was not really in the same league as BD, SCV, Bluecoats, Cadets and Cavaliers in percussion but they were still pretty solid in the grand scheme of the activity. And Blue Devils B (and every other Open Class corps) were no where near Crown either.

Boy, flammaster. That is a little exaggerated and if I said it, there are certain users that would have my head on a silver platter.

Well I thought the mello parts in Spirit's '05 show were pretty good But seriosuly, Star '91 tops my list forever and always... I also liked PR '06, BD '04 (dunno why... I thought the train thing was cool )...

Go back and listen to Star 1990. IMHO, that mello line was cleaner and the music ever so slightly more demanding than 1991. Although, playing the melody from the back hash is pretty awesome!

every mello line since the passing of Star '91 (save Star '93) has been a vain attempt at outdoing Star '91 (save Star '93).

oh duh, this too. They had some great parts in Blue Shades. ~>conner

not one person here has mentioned the 88 scouts mellos? sacrilege!! although, as a close second, i'd put a college band of the same era, the 1989 jsu marching southerners. they did a selection from verdi's requiem as their opener that year, with a fugue-ish section led off by a mello soli. if you can find a copy of that show anywhere, the mellos were absolutely amazing. clean, powerful, in tune, just cut right through the stadium. alltime great line.

just thought i'd provide some references for my favorite...anecdotal evidence adds up. i remember the first time i watched them in '89 at the closing of crown imperial and just fell in love with 'em. PR had a great line last year and in 93 imo and JD Shaw is a beast!

star 91 the whole show was a feature.

Star of Indiana hands down. 1990 1991 - The mello line made the show. 1993 - The accellerando passage after the percussion feature. WOW! The orchestral original (Music for Strings, Percussion and Celeste - Mvt IV) passage was on piano and these guys pulled it off Cadets had some sick lines as well.

intonation was kind of a problem, but Cadets 92 had a pretty bad ### mello line. Also, I definitely agree with Cavaliers 05, during the ballad on the ladders... one of, if not the most beautifully played horn parts of all time. And then you have every Star line. ~>conner

MARSHA HANSON - Phantom, '84/'85 STUART SHULMAN - SCV, 2002-2005 My two personal favorites...