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This conversation is funny because no one ever complained when you had to wait until the June issue of Drum Corps World, that you had to buy at a June drum corps show to find out what a corps' show is for that year. We complain a lot about today's kids being instant gratification but sometimes we're just as bad. Haha. The funny thing is that I have several former student's that auditioned or made junior corps this year and they didn't care one bit about what the show is. I'm just as excited to hear the shows too but anymore I don't even know half of the pieces a corps is playing and have certainly learned that now-a-days that "How" a corps did it far outweighs the "What" a corps is doing. As far as the rights "issue" I see both sides clearly, we as corps are not really trying to make money off the pieces. But in a lot of ways we are.... recruitment, interest, clinics, merchandise, so on the legal side of things there's always that argument. Additionally, if a composer doesn't want anyone to ruin their intent of the music they should have the right to say that. It happpens all the time, authors don't want books made into movies, directors don't want a sequel, etc. If I spend hours on end to create a piece of art that I'm attached to then why should someone have the right to make it better. So it's tough to say that we should be the exception in this argument. Until you've dealt with the copyright issues first hand you don't know how cumbersome they can be and I don't blame corps holding off on show announcements until all the ducks are in row. Sometimes when I arrange band shows the price I charge for the arrangement is outweighed in the cost of the license by almost 3 times as much, who even knows how much the syncing rights could cost. Also there is rarely a database to find out how much a tune would cost. So if we are doing a show about the sun, it's not like we can choose a song about the sun from a list based upon how much the rights would cost. There's at least one company that makes you submit a request without knowing how much the cost to arrange could be, then after they bill you that's when you find out how much the rights costs and then you can proceed or cancel the request. After that you start to pursue the syncing rights, if those are astronomical it's back to the drawing board. So it make it tough to choose when you can't see the prices for similar songs or styles of songs. Anymore when I sit down with a group to talk design, we find out about the rights before we pick a show theme or other pieces to compliment the one we have our heart set on. It's a weird process that could take months. Keeping in mind that the time from September to November is a short time to complete a band season, hire designers and captions head, slap together a ground breaking show concept and then host your first camp, I applaud corps for taking their time to get it right.

I don't think it was "ahead of it's time"...I think it was right on time. The perfect show for the perfect time, to usher in visually what Devils started musically in 1980. Now, if you really want a show "ahead of it's time", look no further than something like 1988 Suncoast.

Just a quick and general shout out to all the DCA members and staff that will be participating at all levels at the WGI World Championships in Dayton this weekend. We all would love to have you at corps rehearsals but your commitment to excellence throughout the year is one of the things that make you all so fantastic. Good hair and good shows to one and all! See ya at corps camp soon! Dan

Bring back the cream

I heard a very heavily altered version of the black. Sounds terrific for the program

Yeah...but you have to remember that I was a small town boy, from a small town rural school band. This was a whole new level of music for me (other than some stuff from our All-County and Area groups...of which I have no idea how I made the cut. I guess miracles DO happen..). I had grown up under a steady diet of things like Erickson's "Chaconne." Heck...for us, Richard Fote's "Niagara Overture" and Giovannini's "Overture In Bb" were major deals.

1. is a matter of much contention in the commercial world, not limited to tooting horns. 2. one of the worst record of civil rights violations, low wages, and disrespect for human workers. Check with the UN and World Court commissions. On this you are too much a homer rather than being objective. I'd continue but then the mods would close the thread for being too political although realistic.

As far as I'm concerned, look no further than '96 Phantom Regiment. That program had passion built in from the get go and the performers kept digging deep the entire season. I believe because it wasn't a "showy" show there was an extra burden on the performers to wring out every bit of emotion they could. As an aside I still get chills thinking of the deconstructed chevron against the stark black uniform and what I feel it represents.

The old stuff was, the new System Blue instruments are not. The brass are made in China, percussion in Milton Keynes, England. But honestly, who cares where it's made? System Blue is an American company, and it's products are designed by Americans. It's manufactured in China, a country known the world over for precision machining and manufacturing. If the instruments play well (and they really do), what difference does it make?

Or maybe even "drum corps are educational so they don't need to pay rights: it's non-profit and no one is making money on the activity"

While some associate the Coachmen with the alumni from Northern Ohio corps and others with those from the Carolinas, today Couchmen applauded this photo of what happens when it's time for "Butts in Seats' but the bus isn't there. The Coachmen officially commented that they felt at home (double pun) that this was a shot of their rehearsals. [notice how folks are entering from the front of the bus. You should see them practice fire drills.]

Just found out that the Old Guard is in the lineup at Saturday's show. That is great news. Those guys are fantastic!!!

We used to call it "Concert Band".

Cadets 72 opener was Clifton Williams' "The Sinfonians" concert band piece. The drumline did "Song of the Blacksmith" as the drum solo in 72, from the Holst Suite in F. We also played the "Chaconne" from the Holst Eb Suite in 1971.

This past weekend, April 2nd and 3rd, the Cabs brass line went outside to start learning drill for the 2016 production. Despite some interesting weather, the brass line took some major strides. Right now, there are only a couple brass spots available. Please contact Mike Ryan (m [dot] ryan [at] cabs [dot] org) for more information on joining the brass line. […] ... Read the rest of the article here - http://www.drumcorpsplanet.com/2016/04/hawthorne-caballeros-brass-line-heads-outside/

I plug the laptop into the tv

Today s "arrangements" are really orchestrations. It's a valid skill, but very different from figuring out how to voice tunes for instruments that were not chromatic. Some of the real geniuses of old were Emil Pavlik (Kilties), Rip Bernert (Audubon), Jim Donnelly (Sky), Joe Genero (Cabs), Hy Dreitzer (Sky, St. Rita's...etc), Truman Crawford (Royal Aires...etc.) Whether they know it or not, all of today's arrangers owe them a significant debt. Words are insufficient. Listen to the recordings. Fleetwood Sounds has re-issued many of them.

Nice.