bluesop08

If cavs expect to win, they still have to beat Bluecoats. After two nights of barely missing second, Bloo is going to come out with nothing to lose and everything to gain. I would say they should be more worried about keeping their second place position than trying to take 1st. Never count out the Bloo team. SCV made that mistake finals night in 2008, everyone else (minus bloo fans) made that mistake at the beginning of this season, now look at where we are. 6 words.

Bluecoats uses Hammond Mouthpieces for all their brass players. 5MLH For Leads (3c equivalent) 4MLH For 2nds (1 1/2 C Equivalent) 3MLH For 3rds (1 1/4 C equivalent) All are heavy-weight mouthpieces with extra weight around the cup and a heavy-weight backbore. Hope this helps!

I know of at least three, drum major, low brass captain (baritone soloist), and another lead bari. Some four year vets in there as well who deserve this from the 2007 season. In fact, I think that every Bloo alumni deserves this. Haven't exactly ever been the favorites to medal, people always saying that bloos gonna get 6th again, or worse. It just feels like the entire history of the corps has been this one big uphill battle against everyone's [else's] expectations. Even now there are still skeptics, when last year it seemed everyone thought Crown was pissing excellence and would win it all when that corps was in the same situation as the Bluecoats are now. Now I'm just ranting... Really proud to be a Bluecoats alum right now, SIX WORDS LETS GO BLOOOOOOO!!!

I really dislike it when I hear of people cutting the arts, or pulling their kids out of band programs stating that they need to focus on school. Every time I hear that I am reminded of a seminar I went to that featured a man named Scott Lang. By far the best speaker I have ever heard, and he sat there and really put in perspective what music education, specifically band/marching band education does for young kids. Its not about the music, or the marching, or the flag work, those things are easily forgotten (I couldn't play you a continuous phrase from any show I have ever marched). What band is about is teaching three things that NO other class or activity can teach. 1. "The more you give the more you get, and the more you get, the more you gotta give." Imagine this, in band starting in 6th grade, its the first time that a kid is really something that is wholly theirs to either succeed or not. Playing instrument teaches you that unless you spend the time practicing and getting better, you will NOT be successful. Your parents can't fight the principal, there is no "special remedial class" for band. You are only as successful as you put in the work. Which is one of the most important lessons kids seem to be missing these days, the value of working hard towards an end goal in which you will not be immediately successful. But, it gets better. Because what happens when those kids do get good? Become our first chairs, our section leaders, our drum majors? We stick them next to the last chair kid and say "teach them". We show that when you have something, when you are good at something, it is your responsibility to help others achieve the same. Because, in a band(music program/corps), we teach kids that the world is win/win. 2. "The world is win/win" Band/Corps is a win/win, lose/lose world. Because, it doesn't matter how good the individuals in a music group are, if they are playing with people who aren't, they still sound awful. Think about it, our worst performers still have to go out on those fields and in those music halls and perform well because the people around them depend on them to sound good. Where else does that happen? Sports you only see the top players actually playing, in academics its every man for himself, but in band, our best students learn that if they want to be better, they have to help those who are worse than them become better. Because if the last chair trumpet player isn't winning, nobody in that band is winning. 3. "Do it again, and again, and again, and again until its Perfect." This is the biggie. Think about it, every time you redid a set, every time your band director or visual caption head said "it wasn't right, do it again", every time you spent hours on a lick repeating it over and over until it was right, what were you learning? You were learning that scraping by with minimal effort wasn't good enough. You learned that you had to do it until it was right, and that accepting anything less than your personal best was a failure. Its for these reasons why the best kids in a school are band kids. Why your AP classes are filled with musicians and singers, why its going to be a band kid that cures cancer, solves world hunger, everything we dream for. Because its only in band where we teach the values that its going to take to accomplish these goals. I am a music educator not just because I love music, but because I know that there is a chance that I will instill these values of hard work, of charity, and of never giving up to a student that will one day cure the cancer that killed my grandma; that will learn and grow to become the president of the united states and fix these things; that will grow into a decent human being that helps others and makes this world a better place to live in. Every time I hear of someone wandering if we can afford to keep music programs in the schools, I ask them "Can we really afford not to?". I want to thank you, and everyone of you who read this who support music education by putting up money and time for your kids to participate, you are making this world a better place because of it. (sorry went on a rant, very passionate about this, I know this was kind of off topic, but hopefully you have some ammo to defend your decision to let your son participate)

On a second thought, I can understand your position though and I agree on certain levels, stuff like electric guitar, electric piano (which sounds awful), holding down the bass note key are distracting and seem more tacky than anything else. Electronics in and of themselves could (and in your opinion and a lot of others does) detract from the activity more than contribute, but I feel that Bloo is definitely achieving the highest level of integration. If the future of bloo or corps in general is a tactful use of electronics rather than an abrasive one, I am not as opposed as I would normally be.

Agree with most of this review, except you do realize that the mic'd solos in Bloo's show are not for volume but for effect? Both solos were altered in a way that couldn't be done with just the horn and fit better into what was going on at that moment than the player by himself. I know both of those guys and I guarantee you even without staging, they could blow your face off, but that is not what they were going for at that moment.

This, music is what drives the emotion in a show. Back in the earlier days a fantastic hornline could win you the championship almost by itself, but now visual is such an important part of the score, almost disproportionately so, that corps that want to win have to design the music to fit the visual, instead of the other way around. Its what it takes to win, but unfortunately great visuals will never garner a standing ovation like an intense musical moment. For example, if the mid-show standing ovation for cavvies happened in the same spot it did in San Antonio, it was a pure musical moment that brought out that emotional, visceral response from the crowd. (Same thing with bloo 08 boxer shout, phantom 08, scv 09). Music has that power, especially to a "musically educated" crowd like at a drum corps show. There is something about it that can't be put in words. Think about any intense emotional moment you've ever had, I bet you most of the time music was there in some form. I think its less the electronics or micing, and more this focus on the visual side rather than the music side. In short, we see visuals, but feel music.

Man I really do hope that the corps with the most points wins. In all seriousness though, after last night it seems that everything isn't as set as everyone wants it to be. Scores seem to be all over the place. Things that I am interested in seeing is the spread between BD and everyone else, it wouldn't be the first time that they jumped a few points and then stagnated for a while. Next, seeing who fights their way to the top of the cadets/cavie/crown/bloo pile. Right now it looks like coats, but man its coming down to dropping a place if you drop a rifle, so its really up in the air. I think its really exciting, because there is less "CI" than there could be, so judges who may or may not have normally slotted a corp, really can't this time because there is no clear winner right now. I enjoy seeing captions all over the place, because its more believable of a score than when a corps gets straight 1s or 2s or 6s. I'll guess I'll play too: Blue Devils : 94.5 Bloo: 93.1 Cavies : 93.0 Crown : 92.5 Cadets : 91.3

Six words! LETS GO BLOOOO!!! (all the way to 1st) I could not be more proud as an alumni than I am right now.

I think that certain corps (bloo especially) are getting better at it. I particularly noticed in their show that it added a lot to their production through the use of pre-recorded sound bites (especially the opening) and distortions of the traditional brass instruments. Cavies introduction using the actual words "Mad World" from the recorded song instead of the announcer saying it was also a cool touch that set-up the opening of their show very nicely. That being said, sometimes it is a distraction from whats going on, either by being too loud or generating sudden sounds that take the listener out of the immersion of watching the show.

Bluecoats are using mic'd solos, but both are being sent through a sounds system with added effects. The mellow solo is made to sound like an older recording to blend with the erhu recording being played. The baritone solo is made to sound very technical and very cool, it fits the theme of the show perfectly with its distorted tech sound. It is very neat to see how bloo has managed to marry the new and the old so well, using mics not for volume, but for effect. Btw, anyone else notice the bass 5 standing on leg for 30 or so seconds during the first half of their show on the 50 yardline before the push? I was impressed.

Just back from the show, I wouldn't want to be the judges for tonight. It was so close between all four corps, the little things mattered ( 2 drops in bloo CG cost them that caption) so much. I think the only weird part of the sub-captions was the brass scores. Win music ensemble and music GE but get 4th in brass? Seems unlikely to me. The biggest gripe I have is that though BD is good, they are not 2 points ahead of everyone else. Yeah right now according to the judges its a dogfight for 2-5, I think we'll see BD dragged into that by finals week. Outside the scores, the favorites of the evening were definitely bloo and cavaliers. Cavvies got two standing ovations, and bloo had people on their feet before they were done. Couldn't believe the energy in those shows, especially bloo, very impressed by the chills I got watching them. PS: Congrats to boston's percussion

Sitting here watching the coats rehearse. There is so much energy in this show and its so clean. Brassline is blowing me away after watching devs last night, this has the potential to pass them up. In fact, I think people calling devs winning this early will be in for a suprise , cadets/bloo/cavies/crown ain't out yet.

I know Bloo is winning tonight. New ending since houston/dallas, brassline back to doing what it knows best (dark minor dense music), I can't believe how clean they are visually, and the drumline is smoking. They also have a knack for doing well no matter where they perform (2008 finals anyone???) , and the energy in their show is on a different level than anyone around them. Bloo wins it, cadets crown, can't decide here, I think crown's show is over-hyped, but still good, but you can never deny cadets cavies, bloo has beaten them by a point or more every showing and have never lost a caption to them, I just think once they go back head to head, the scores are gonna go back to where they were.

Honestly, the brass instrument you are best suited to play is determined by your facial make-up. Size of aperture (smaller aperture = mello/trumpet, larger aperture = baritone/euph/tuba) Size of lips (really does not matter as much as aperture size, but can affect your playing) Amount of over/under bite is also important (too much overbite and you will not be as successful on trumpet/mello as you would like, at least not very quickly) For tuba, how much room do you have between your top lip and your nose? Yes you can be successful on almost any instrument, but you may be faster on the up-take with certain instruments based on those factors. The easiest way really to find out which instrument is best suited for you would to be to find a highly successful middle school band director (who has to place people on instruments every year) or a college professor that teaches brass methods and have them take a look at you.