Glassmen 2012

[hornandsoccer]

Jupiter brass, while not necessarily my preferred choice, is a positive step for the organization. Congrats to both groups, looking forward to a productive relationship! \^/

[rudi man]

Glassmen will be rehearsing at the Glass bowl this weekend , not sure when ensemble will be happening probably

between 8:00pm and 10:00 pm ? Just a guess .

[IntheMood]

Hello all, I have not posted on here in a long time... And after reading every post in this thread I am reminded why I have not not posted in a long time...If one is not violating any DCP guidelines one can say what they want in this open forum...Enough of the Glassmen Police who just because one disagrees with you,one try's and shout them up..How dare you...Kickbrass you claim you can get 100 alumni to agree with you...Really, I wish you could then we could have an alumni association..Wait a minute we do not have one because we can not get that many alumni involved ask yourself kickbrass why is that? And then you go on and say, well you only marched one year so your voice is not as loud as one marching more then one year. REALLY, so all the rook outs voice mean nothing....How about those who marched in 75 and could not march the next year because the Glassmen went to sleep for a handful of years? One has to be kidding themselves if our 50th year show was a tribute to the ones who made the Glassmen who they are today...I will speak for the vast majority of the Alumni when I say placement means nothing....But our 50th year show,proved my point in how the Glassmen org, views the alumni...Ask yourself why is there not more alumni involvement? And I do indeed hope my words p%^s some alumni off so they will get involved...All I am saying is find the root cause in why the Alumni is not more involved and then fix it....I do however know the root cause......

[euphman89]

Glassmen finished up the show yesterday with a full run in the evening. The members are super excited about this show (and so am I!). I'm not able to get out to volunteer this week (sliced my foot open pretty badly about a week ago and was ordered to not be on my feet as much as possible).

I'm planning on hitting up the family day show next Sunday. I'll give a detailed report then. Again, really excited for the potential this show has...also excited it's on the field already!

[rudi man]

The new drums and uniform changes look great , not new uni's just a little tweek but nice , family day is tomorrow and it will be a hot one ! I hope that we have a good turn out we usually do ! Smitty I almost forgot family day is at Wauseon High School .

Edited June 16, 2012 by rudi man

[gbass598]

The new drums and uniform changes look great , not new uni's just a little tweek but nice , family day is tomorrow and it will be a hot one ! I hope that we have a good turn out we usually do ! Smitty I almost forgot family day is at Wauseon High School .

I'll be there!

[euphman89]

Updated uniform from Family Day:

New shakos confirmed but not in for today. Will be posting my thoughts and a review later. My one word/emoticon review right now: WOW

[euphman89]

Alright, now that I've had time to collect my thoughts (and after I'd written about 5 paragraphs when my cat walked across my laptop and hit the "back" button) it's time for my review.

First, the drive to Wauseon High School from Akron was pretty terrible. Ran into three heavy rain storms that forced me off the road. I was a little worried I wouldn't make it in time.

It was all worth it once I got there though. I arrived and caught up with some people I marched with and some volunteers, bought some raffle tickets and other things, and found my seat up near the top of the bleachers on the 50. I liked the venue at Wauseon much better than the set-up at Morenci that we've been using the past few years. The stands fit many more people, and were mostly filled by the time the corps came on. While most in attendance were associated with the Glassmen (FMM, parent, volunteer, etc) there were a good number of people there from the community, which was encouraging to see!

The corps took the field and the hornline played an arrangement of "Simple Gifts." Brian did the usual "introduce the corps, introduce the staff, introduce the sections" talk, along with Rob "eyes up, Glassmen" Ferguson who introduced and talked about the drumline and front ensemble. The pit played their standard two pieces from "American Beauty," both of which were done well. The corps and drumline then played through the cadence and parade tune. The parade tune was new for this year and was called "The Men of Ohio." A nice touch for the corps out of Toledo. We also got some corps numbers (this is from memory, forgive me if I'm mistaken): 76 brass, 15 pit (largest pit Glassmen have fielded in some time), 5 bass/8 snare/5 quads, 35 guard (by my count) and 2 drum majors. Then we got to the part everyone was waiting for: the show.

Brian did something new with the presentation this year in that he would describe a movement of the show followed by the corps playing said movement at a standstill. After all of the movements were played, the corps got water and set up for a full run of the show. Brian also gave the details out about the show, so I will presume it's okay to post about them. If someone from the Glassmen staff wants this removed until the official announcement, please let me know through a PM. The show is called Glassworks and is in five movements. Brian joked that this idea has been talked about since around 1997 and everyone who wanted a glass show should finally rejoice. There's not much of a story here, it's more like musical snapshots of different kinds/stages of glass. The first movement is called Sand and is based on Philip Glass' "Mishima." The second movement (I forgot its title...someone who was there care to remind me?) and third movement (Shattered Glass) are based on original Key Poulan/Rob Ferguson works. Shattered Glass is a minute-long/minute-and-a-half long drum break and is COOKING in terms of tempo. The fourth movement (Painted Glass) is based on music by James Horner from the film "Beyond Borders" entitled "etheopia iii." We actually played this as an encore piece in 2010, though this is a different treatment of the work. The last movement is called Stained Glass and is based on the Saint-Saens Symphony No. 3 mvt. IV. The hornline plays (and I mean PLAYS) the organ part of this famous work.

Musically, this is one of the best brass books I've heard since the late 90s/early 2000s from the Glassmen. Very enjoyable and accessible with big hits. Key Poulan is doing a fantastic job bringing his style to this corps while allowing the Glassmen to establish their own image. There are great musical moments and impacts going on and even though it isn't a "story" or programmatic show the overall design cohesion is strong from movement to movement. I can also tell a huge difference in terms of quality of sound from the Jupiter horns versus the Dynasty horns. Can't tell which contributes more, the new horns or the new arranger, but this hornline is on fire. I was blown away by how good they sounded even on the move. The "organ" in the closer is really, really impressive. It is definitely still a "June" hornline, but there are many moments of mature brass playing going on already. I can't comment on guard or percussion as much, but they seemed just as strong from my amateur observations. There are some electronic effects going on from the pit during the show. Mostly sound effects or brief electronic effects in-between movements as they've done in the past. The ballad (4th movement) ends with a pit feature that uses synthesized strings and voice effects, but it is tasteful and not overbearing. The visual book is also pretty strong. There's more movement going on at faster speeds in this show (especially during the drum break) and I feel like some sections will see a bump in tempo as the season progresses. Many visuals have been added in already and the show ends in a...familiar set. Brian talked about some props happening as the season goes on. Mostly I think we are talking about mirrors (fewer and smaller than BD 2010) and other glass-related concepts. The new triangles on the uniforms (posted above) are a really nice touch and give the uniform some extra "oomph" on the field. It's subtle but effective. The effect is especially cool during horns-up when the triangles lead directly into the horn itself. I was also told that there would be new shakos, but not until the Battle Creek show. Guard didn't have uniforms or flags but also will have these in time for their first show at Battle Creek.

I am really excited for the Glassmen this year. The program design is very strong top-to-bottom. The music is familiar and there are some long melodic phrases. Oh yeah...and it's ENTERTAINING AS HECK! The members really are buying into the show and the emotion is palpable from the stands. I can't wait for the crowds to see this show. The Glassmen are making a statement this year...and it ends with an exclamation point!

Good luck this summer, G \^/

EDIT: Hey Glassmen alum - if you want some audio recordings from this, pm me your email!

Edited June 18, 2012 by euphman89

[mr.mello]

2nd MVT: Clear Glass

[MotorCityMusician]

Alright, now that I've had time to collect my thoughts (and after I'd written about 5 paragraphs when my cat walked across my laptop and hit the "back" button) it's time for my review.

First, the drive to Wauseon High School from Akron was pretty terrible. Ran into three heavy rain storms that forced me off the road. I was a little worried I wouldn't make it in time.

It was all worth it once I got there though. I arrived and caught up with some people I marched with and some volunteers, bought some raffle tickets and other things, and found my seat up near the top of the bleachers on the 50. I liked the venue at Wauseon much better than the set-up at Morenci that we've been using the past few years. The stands fit many more people, and were mostly filled by the time the corps came on. While most in attendance were associated with the Glassmen (FMM, parent, volunteer, etc) there were a good number of people there from the community, which was encouraging to see!

The corps took the field and the hornline played an arrangement of "Simple Gifts." Brian did the usual "introduce the corps, introduce the staff, introduce the sections" talk, along with Rob "eyes up, Glassmen" Ferguson who introduced and talked about the drumline and front ensemble. The pit played their standard two pieces from "American Beauty," both of which were done well. The corps and drumline then played through the cadence and parade tune. The parade tune was new for this year and was called "The Men of Ohio." A nice touch for the corps out of Toledo. We also got some corps numbers (this is from memory, forgive me if I'm mistaken): 76 brass, 15 pit (largest pit Glassmen have fielded in some time), 5 bass/8 snare/5 quads, 35 guard (by my count) and 2 drum majors. Then we got to the part everyone was waiting for: the show.

Brian did something new with the presentation this year in that he would describe a movement of the show followed by the corps playing said movement at a standstill. After all of the movements were played, the corps got water and set up for a full run of the show. Brian also gave the details out about the show, so I will presume it's okay to post about them. If someone from the Glassmen staff wants this removed until the official announcement, please let me know through a PM. The show is called Glassworks and is in five movements. Brian joked that this idea has been talked about since around 1997 and everyone who wanted a glass show should finally rejoice. There's not much of a story here, it's more like musical snapshots of different kinds/stages of glass. The first movement is called Sand and is based on Philip Glass' "Mishima." The second movement (I forgot its title...someone who was there care to remind me?) and third movement (Shattered Glass) are based on original Key Poulan/Rob Ferguson works. Shattered Glass is a minute-long/minute-and-a-half long drum break and is COOKING in terms of tempo. The fourth movement (Painted Glass) is based on music by James Horner from the film "Beyond Borders" entitled "etheopia iii." We actually played this as an encore piece in 2010, though this is a different treatment of the work. The last movement is called Stained Glass and is based on the Saint-Saens Symphony No. 3 mvt. IV. The hornline plays (and I mean PLAYS) the organ part of this famous work.

Musically, this is one of the best brass books I've heard since the late 90s/early 2000s from the Glassmen. Very enjoyable and accessible with big hits. Key Poulan is doing a fantastic job bringing his style to this corps while allowing the Glassmen to establish their own image. There are great musical moments and impacts going on and even though it isn't a "story" or programmatic show the overall design cohesion is strong from movement to movement. I can also tell a huge difference in terms of quality of sound from the Jupiter horns versus the Dynasty horns. Can't tell which contributes more, the new horns or the new arranger, but this hornline is on fire. I was blown away by how good they sounded even on the move. The "organ" in the closer is really, really impressive. It is definitely still a "June" hornline, but there are many moments of mature brass playing going on already. I can't comment on guard or percussion as much, but they seemed just as strong from my amateur observations. There are some electronic effects going on from the pit during the show. Mostly sound effects or brief electronic effects in-between movements as they've done in the past. The ballad (4th movement) ends with a pit feature that uses synthesized strings and voice effects, but it is tasteful and not overbearing. The visual book is also pretty strong. There's more movement going on at faster speeds in this show (especially during the drum break) and I feel like some sections will see a bump in tempo as the season progresses. Many visuals have been added in already and the show ends in a...familiar set. Brian talked about some props happening as the season goes on. Mostly I think we are talking about mirrors (fewer and smaller than BD 2010) and other glass-related concepts. The new triangles on the uniforms (posted above) are a really nice touch and give the uniform some extra "oomph" on the field. It's subtle but effective. The effect is especially cool during horns-up when the triangles lead directly into the horn itself. I was also told that there would be new shakos, but not until the Battle Creek show. Guard didn't have uniforms or flags but also will have these in time for their first show at Battle Creek.

I am really excited for the Glassmen this year. The program design is very strong top-to-bottom. The music is familiar and there are some long melodic phrases. Oh yeah...and it's ENTERTAINING AS HECK! The members really are buying into the show and the emotion is palpable from the stands. I can't wait for the crowds to see this show. The Glassmen are making a statement this year...and it ends with an exclamation point!

Good luck this summer, G \^/

EDIT: Hey Glassmen alum - if you want some audio recordings from this, pm me your email!

Played in 08