DITD
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Posts posted by DITD
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3 hours ago, xandandl said:
DCP is mentioned and in a complimentary, engaging way.
I think it's crazy cool and unique to have a corps director that interactive with dcp fans. Thanks Hop, for being that guy.
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4 hours ago, Jurassic Lancer said:
Huh. Go figure. Do I get a door prize? I am so seldom right.
It's okay, neither are most of us on here. haha
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15 minutes ago, Jurassic Lancer said:
Because Z worked out so well in 2015? Z needs to be retired ... sorry ... I loved Z in 1983 ... I was underwhelmed with the Z in the Power of 10.
Hard to compete with the 83 Z Pull- I think for that moment in time even interstellar gravity was frozen!
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3 minutes ago, 2000Cadet said:
Z?
I'm pretty sure this is it.
Honestly, this year seems to be a vintage Cadets come home type of season. If we can keep up the momentum, and then strike a Z, I think the crowd would have their back.
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6 minutes ago, auldschool said:
Something I'm not sure has been discussed enough so far this year (correct me if I'm wrong) but the choir for The Cadets is excellent!! Those folks can perform and are perfect for that show. To me The Cadets are using the vocals the best of any corps this year to enhance their show and not become a distraction.
When news broke in the winter that they were using a vocal ensemble, I wasn't sure how to feel since Dci and vocals have had a storied past, especially with the Cadets! Not only to I agree with you, but I'm reminded of what innovation is in that programming them was a HUGE risk. Now the reward!
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45 minutes ago, jwillis35 said:
But Cadets percussion, guard, total visual, and GE could help them get hot, especially if they can close this show the right way.
Hop said the other day that the team was happy with the direction of 90% of the program, and they had to make sure the closer addition they're adding in finished this show- not finish a different show. Intriguing! Of course he wasn't going to let on what they're actually going to do. Just implied that the stained glass prop staging in the back has something to do with it. Hoping they hit a homerun this tag. It will come at just the right time in addition to cleaning, small tweaks, etc.
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5 minutes ago, Fan of the Arts said:
I agree! Each show Cadets gain a few more believers. Being a contender means you have to be strong in certain captions and right now I'd say the Cadets are strong in the captions that are most important. I can't say enough about the Cadet guard--simply fabulous!!! August should be lots of fun.
Fan of the Arts
This. I don't know about you guys, but before the season and up to the premier, I had friends who were already counting them out. Some of them were pleasantly surprised as they've been able to see the show, and the rest are wrestling with the growing reality that this is a different corps than they thought it would be. It's simply inspiring.
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30 minutes ago, ZachDrumCorps said:
Member friend said they're learning the new ending starting tomorrow. Any brave souls want to go to rehearsal and find out?
Hop had a live FB post today saying they're teaching the new ending now and it's going in around 7/15. He referenced how they would teach new material and sit on it for weeks back when Zingali was there, which I always enjoy hearing those references. Reminds me of when he would speak to us at night!
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3 tickets available to Dci Atlanta Regional (Southeastern Championship)
Location is Section 115- right off of the 50 yardline, side 2.
Seats 2,3,4 (1 seat off of the aisle).
Buyer must be willing to buy all 3. I am arriving in Atlanta tomorrow evening. I will be in the Centennial Park area tomorrow evening, and then at the Dome on Saturday afternoon.
$300 for all 3!
Please call or text: (727) 224-8421
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Their encore at Franklin Field in 2002 (basically all the stuff in this video) was the best encore I've ever seen, and probably the most entertaining Cadets performance I've ever seen. Hop had them play BWBB twice because the crowd was throwing so many babies.
Thanks for posting.
I can tell you, when we were directed to play again instead of leave. . .it was what every member of the corps wanted. As a crowd, you all willed that to happen. It was one of those moments that a performer could not turn down. A true connection!
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Eh, there have always been a few tunes "in orbit," and not necessarily from championship years...
The corps played Almighty Father from Bernstein's Mass in 1999 (from 1983 show), and a tune called Cadillac of the Skies for quite a few years until 06ish(?). I think they still do Moondance.
Interesting thing is that the arrangements change sometimes. 2000 was the first year that the Rocky Point tag was played. In 2001, the arrangement was much different (this is very similar to the one they play now.)
Just for fun, check out this encore from 2002. That line was seriously loud.
Exhilarating. If I'm a fan, that's the beefy encore I'd want to see. FHNSAB
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Something got lost here... the problem isn't getting more members to sign (we've been repeatedly told that "hundreds" are turned away each year), the problem is getting the audience to stay put (y'know, the people paying to see the performance).
I actually thought the premise was that even if our current audience "stays put," financially the landscape of Dci is not sustainable. That's how I took it. And looking at the cost of stadium rental, gas prices, and rising tour fees, I could see how that could be accurate. It stinks because there are great fans! But I don't know that even the greatest of fans every year contribution can equate to the rising cost of keeping the activity going season after season.
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How odd it was when I saw this in Orlando... the soloists are playing to a microphone instead of the crowd... :(
I have heard that the corps do this for the acoustics of a dome... along with other reasons. Orlando had no dome. I noticed several other people in the crowd looking at each other during these moments wondering WTF.
Ugh.
I was also at the Orlando show and actually thought the use of mics was very well received. It might've been the younger generation, but there was audible screaming and clapping on the high sustains. I made a mental note it because I was expecting the consensus to be an awkward reception.
While I have not heard a formal explanation, musically it would make sense to mic up a soloist to open up arranging possibilities. At triple forte, there's not much one or two soloists can do (in a contrapuntal sense) to balance unless the form of the piece facilitated in such a way. Not to mention this would not be practical for the player's chops on a day to day basis. I'm not saying that this is 'better' than the acoustic days! Just that if I'm a brass arranger, I'd appreciate the possibility of having one more trick to employ.
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I've said this before: If we didn't have George, we'd have to invent him.
Seriously; what would we do without him? He fills a need within so many souls.
Michael, between your insight on this and NakedEye's Orlando show review, these might be the two most profound things I've ever read on Dcp.
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Drum corps decline is due to a greater variety of activities for young people not to mention most people consider pageantry arts as nerdy for lack of a better term.
Marching band programs have become the stepping stone to world class drum corps and sometimes a viable alternative.
Though we all know differently, a lot of folks don't give community or open class corps the same deserved consideration as the G7/8.
The cost of tour is prohibitive.
Thankfully, Michael Cesario has heard the common folk and is moving the repertoires to accessibility. Otherwise, some shows have been shall we say esoteric at times and honestly, styled to the tastes of the judge rather than the paying public.
Some of the electronic and voice work has been a bit hackneyed. Some has been brilliant--SCV 2004 comes to mind.
Thank God Crown proved you can play at Jim Ott power on Bb because while the key change greatly helped tuning, volume suffered, and please admit that volume is one of the things that makes drum corps cool. To a newbie, that first GE hit is what hooks them not electronic samples or clarinet trios.
And regrettably, the high level of musicianship and athleticism necessary to compete can be an impediment towards recruitment. Is the average musician or guard artist able to perform at this level? Cadets2 is proof that Hop thinks YEA needs an incubator to recruit candidates that have performance skills that are on the bubble.
Do I think WW would be the end of drum corps? As we know it now, yes. It would continue, but it would be decidedly different for better or worse. Do I think WW could be used effectively? Sure, as an amplified instrument playing the first solo in Rhapsody in Blue or perhaps a sax quintet in a Cadets swing number, but I can't see sacrificing brass for flutes on the field.
Very insightful. As a present day instructor in the high school marching band trenches, I can tell you that kids are different than even when I was in school in the 90's. Asking them to commit to 2 rehearsal days a week, plus a Friday football game, and a Saturday competition- what my peers and I used to call "life"- is a stretch. Many would rather "have a life," or get a job (which equates to a car and pocket change), or "enjoy their senior year" than commit to one activity that offers fun via life metaphors.
Granted, show design is trending differently than the "golden years." But I believe the above post contributes profoundly and heavily to the drop from 45,000 at finals in the early 80's to the 17ish thousand that were at Indy last year.
I also appreciate how Wallace, and others here, admit that WW would change the activity forever, but that is only intended to be 'a possible' solution to this conundrum that we face.
When listening to the OP's link on MRT, it's not that a flute or clarinet would replace the stenciled 72 member brass hornline, but would function to supplement (by adding another bus +55).
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As a dino, way back in the mesozoic era of 2001, I paid $975 to march PR. Cadets at that time were $2,800. I know now, when it is all said and done you are out almost $4,000 to march there.
Registration Fee $175
Audition Camp Fee $115
Second Camp Fee $100
Third Camp Fee $100
Uniform Fee $100
Spring Training Fee $599
Summer Tuition Fee $2699
As a first year member in 2001 at the Cadets, I did not pay $2,800. I paid $1,700. That was an "early bird" set as a deadline in the winter. Normal was $1,900.
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What a cool topic, Boo!
I thought most of the corps had accessible programming this year. That said, my answer is BD- "Say a little Prayer". . .the baritone solo, trumpet solo. . .I've been whistling it daily.
Ironically, I was in Atlanta and thought Cadets should've won, then got back to my hotel room and was whistling those solos from BD's show and laughed to myself. In Indy, I was glad Cadets were in front, but was still whistling those phrases in my hotel room! Great stuff. . .
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GE Music looks a little funny
For Cadets-BD, I thought the same thing. Especially with Al Chez (former Cadet, Crossmen brass staff)wearing the hat. Interestingly, CBC-BD had the same .5 spread at Allentown with Cadets on top. That was with John Bell and Richard Saucedo (former Cavies horn book writer).
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Cool topic someone had mentioned in another thread. Said it "could be the greatest top 4 battle in Dci history."
And of course you'd have to accept certain components of the assertion:
Mainly that Cavies, CC, CBC, and BD are truly in contention with each other.
What are some other years in Dci history where there have been more than 2 corps clustered at the top? I remembered being at the Atlanta regional in 2007 and thinking that several corps were close, but not necessarily for just 1st place either.
This season's adjudication trend of "any given team on any given night" is at least giving us good conversational fodder!
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The top 4 corps all have great shows and it will be an all out war until Finals night. It is the time of the year when everything is "nit-picky" and one mistake could be a disaster in the points. I am a Cadets fan and am happy to see them on top, but there is still too time left in the season to announce a winner yet. This might be one of the greatest top 4 show downs in the history of DCI.
.. .in recent times at least!
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This is a really great post!
It seems a shame to snip most of it but the sentence I quoted above contains the salient issue in my point of view - specifically, where you say "computer music (ack!)"
From this I take it you don't buy computer music records, go to computer music concerts, but you are clearly a lover of music. This is just something that has no great value for you. Not all evolutionary branches are good, just ask Australopithicus....
Well - I love music too, and I'm a lover of drum corps, but electronics are a bridge too far for me. I've hung in there with many, many changes since I became involved back in the late 1960s, but I can't swallow this one. I'll see if I still feel the same way when I get home from Allentown.
I don't know anyone who is a fan of computer music, and if the changes keep going on their current track, the same may soon be true for DCI.
Fair enough.
The journey of fine arts shows that when the boundaries of creating get pushed to the threshold, they trend back to what is comfortable. My professor used to relate this to the double helix of a DNA strand. It will be intriguing to see how the activity accommodates and reacts to the assimilation of electronics. In time, I think it will either be balanced tastefully or phased out as the double helix once again reboots itself.My take on it is that in understanding the grand scheme of why they are making these choices (though I don't necessarily agree), it helps me to appreciate. I'm making the 8 hour drive from Tampa, FL to ATL and psyched. Hopefully you'll find enjoyment in the performances. Some of these teams are just incredible!
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Absolutely. Quite honestly I think the Cadet's show this year is superior to Cavies. From what I saw at Rockford Cavies were simply cleaner. Cadets get it cleaned up (cause it's a TOUGH show) and they are good to go.
It is Cadets challenge for the remainder of the season- to be clean enough to look like a champion. In 2009, I thought Crown and Cadets had fabulous shows. I was there at Finals. . .and even though they performed with great energy and the program was loved by the fans (an accomplished in and of itself!). . .they just didn't look the part of a champion like Devils. Field Marching. . .Music performance. . .solid spinning and drumming. . .
This is what I enjoy about the concept of competition. How good can you get in the limited time you have? Oh to be a member in a corps today must be a thrill!
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Probably not since Cavies beat Cadets in GE visual and Cavies took Visual performance. I think Cadets just got a little better tonight. That could be it also.
I understand what you mean though. I expect positions will keep changing up until finals.
Nice observation, Tekk!
And yes, I'm anticipating the same. I know these two teams have at least one more meeting going into ATL. Love it!
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I appreciate what you are saying Mondo and agree the kids work their hearts out as they have every year from time immemorial, but please ask yourself, is there a point in the future where one last change would be the spark that might drive you away from the activity? Would woodwinds do it? Laser light shows?
Perhaps you're up for anything, but most people have a line they are not willing to cross. Mine was electronics and I saw my last DCI show 6 years ago because of it (I have still gone to local open class shows to support those corps, and a few DCA shows in that time). Judging from the comments I've seen on DCP and the conversations I've had with drum corps folks from a few generations, I'm not alone. "Stupid" is the adjective I seem to hear most when electronics are discussed.
I'm giving it one more chance but I have to be honest, I'm a little skeptical. I'm trying to go in with an open mind.
I understand your sentiment. I started watching drum corps in high school in the mid 90's, and to me, the style of design and corps identity that was going on at that time will always be "it" in my heart! But like so many art forms in the humanities (if you'll humor me to classify drum corps as such), it will not stay the same.
From medieval times to baroque, baroque to classical, classical to romantic, romantic to neoclassical, neoclassical to contemporary, contemporary to dodecaphony, 12 tone to computer music (ack!), and finally arriving at our current genre of wind band composition (summarized), music has come a long way! And it hasn't been with out its growing pains. Think Stravinsky riots - "Rite of Spring." Listeners weren't on board. If only there were discussion forums around then and what would be posted!
The reason I include drum corps with that of music's journey, painting, sculpture, and theater is because it is still created. The best minds of our activity a viewing the canvass of a drum corps show in an aesthetic capacity. They are looking to push the boundaries of what is acceptable in the chances that something beautiful can be realized! Now along the way, they will certainly upset those who don't want to see change.
But this is why new ideas are getting passed, and it's bigger than just George Hopkins. It's not that they want to ruin an already great thing, but have the opportunity to discover and create. Synthesizers are still being figured out. How to achieve balance and tasteful blend is not quite there yet. But arrangers like the added color palate! Notice how some show designers tried out voice over for a few years. . .just to try it! It is all but gone from the activity now. Things will be introduced----improved----if they don't pass the trial----phased out. UNTIL yet another corps or designer has what "they think" is a fresh take on voice over, and will try again.
I know you don't want it to move this way. I love my 1995 Dci Finals VHS tapes.
But as artists = drill designers, music arrangers, & program coordinators. . .it will not stay the same as En Fuego, The Planets, an American Quintet, Birdland, etc. This is drum corps civil revolt to "Stravinsky's Rite of Spring!"
Cadets 2017
in DCI World Class Corps Discussions
Posted
Insightful takes from you, as always.
When Mass premiered, it was highly anticipated from the guy who gave us West Side Story. Some critics slammed the work, not only for the blasphemous destruction of the chalice and remarking how easily things get broken, but also accusing Bernstein of grotesque narcissism in the composition of the entire work, which could be argued on both sides.
I found that interesting.