BigW Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 I think what he meant was that DCI and DCA corps use the same music/themes, like Empire and Spirit this year, Cabs and BD both having done Spanish Heart. Hell, for a while there Syracuse was basically BD east........ It's not what he meant. He meant what he said. Not what you're trying to say for him. By the way, he reads responses to his posts, contrary to what he claims and then acts hurt when someone tags him on a baseless comment. He claimed all the DCA corps sound the same. I don't know about you-- but MBI, Reading, Cabs, and Kidsgrove, Empire, and C2 all have very distinct-sounding hornline footprints and character. I was told, heaven forbid, that I'm a real meaniehead lib for saying, 'au contraire' and backing it up. Meaniehead, I guess, but not a lib. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 You're right... 2010, when MBI used Middle Eastern music to set the tone for their "Caravan" show. And like Tom said... Statesmen have been doing all sorts of "moving warmup" stuff... including a live announcer for their Rat Pack show in 2001. (Heck, the Statesmen used an electric guitar for their entire show all the way back in 1985... and took a two-point penalty each DCA show as a result. As did DCA's Les Cascadeurs for amping their pit in 1984.) And the Bushwackers in 2003 did a brilliant job of using various audio quotes about the U.S. space program over top of the corps' brass warmup. I might add that DCA corps have been doing this sort of stuff long before DCI corps caught on. Just sayin.' the live announcer was great in 01. But you had to be there for the final run through when Ron Abate took the mic. It's amazing the corps could keep a straight face Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 One of the coolest parts of the entire weekend, I thought, grew out of... ironically... the rain delays on Saturday. Not the delays themselves, but how the audience handled it. The fans gathered on the concourse, and it felt like one giant drum corps reunion going on. I know I had a chance to catch up with several people... some family members, and Sunrisers alums, and folks like Steve Vickers from Drum Corps World and Doug Madar from the Carolina Crown organization... and Donald Whitworth, Westshoremen alum... who I had not seen in a while. It was a great time!!! Talk about turning lemons into lemonade. it was truly a party atmosphere, and most had fun with it. Now if only they had sold beer and not Bud or Bud Lime Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 following both DCI and DCA, I'd have to say hands down, DCA offered the most variety in musical programming. Yes there was classical and wind literature. there was also jazz, broadway, pop, rock, disco, soundtrack, video game stuff, and I'm sure i'm missing something. Hell you had the theme from Austin Powers bay-bee. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottgordon Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 To be completely fair to dcpincollector, DCA isn't perfect. He IS right in that there could at times be more imagination put into the repetoire. I probably heard 4 or 5 corps play "Summertime". Every year a few corps play "Luck be a Lady". This isn't a complaint I limit to DCA -- the drumcorps activity across the board is by its very nature a bit inbred and when a piece seems to work, various corps use it over and over. The amount of untapped music out there even prompted me to build a website of great, timeless music that surprisingly has never been done by any corps: http://www.hardbat.com/NeverDone.html (at least according to CorpsReps - let me know if you spot any that have). But having said that, it has also been my opinion that the DCA corps manage to sound considerably more unique from corps to corps, even when they are playing the same tunes. Whereas DCI corps' arrangements tend to make them sound the same, even when playing music from entirely different genres. The same arranging devices used over and over for impacts, turnarounds, builds, transitions, etc... one DCI corps can be playing jazz, another rock, another classical, and yet because of the "modern" arranging style, they all sound pretty similar, and rarely true to the style (or even the tunes) they are ostensibly playing. This is one of the main reasons I have started attending DCA finals instead of DCI finals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcpincollector Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 I will respond since certain people can't read! I never said they all were the same. Read the post. I said that the music selections were basically the same. Does that make you feel better? I do read my posts, but I do not want to get in an argument over semantics (which this is). I posted my opinions. In today's world people do not seem to be entitled to them. You should learn to respond intelligently instead of just attacking when someone's opinion is different than yours. Well.......enough said. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigW Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 (edited) I will respond since certain people can't read! I never said they all were the same. Read the post. I said that the music selections were basically the same. Does that make you feel better? I do read my posts, but I do not want to get in an argument over semantics (which this is). I posted my opinions. In today's world people do not seem to be entitled to them. You should learn to respond intelligently instead of just attacking when someone's opinion is different than yours. Well.......enough said. I don't normally attack when someone's opinions are different, it's when they're really not well founded. The music selections are not basically the same. Your comment is totally and utterly unfounded and without a leg to stand on in any way. I should learn to respond 'intelligently'? You should learn to **post** intelligently, pal. This isn't about 'semantics'. Let's use YOUR words. Words mean things. I don't think I'm taking things out of context here. YOUR quote: "....the music selections were basically the same..." Really? Let's see. In Class A alone, I heard Progressive Jazz from Cincinnati Tradition, Romantic Opera from the Sunrisers, Symphonic Wind Band selections from Windsor Regiment, Santana, Van Morrison, and Mozart from White Sabres, Alternative Rock and Edvard Grieg from Carolina Gold, and disco, pop, and jazz from the Govies. I guess I make too much sense or am too logical in this case. How can all of that be "basically the same", huh? It certainly wasn't. "Basically the same" is when you go to a HS Band contest and hear 3-4 bands play the Jenson "Beauty and the Beast" or "Little Mermaid" show. Granted, Excelsior, Shenendoah Sound and Windsor Regiment used Symphonic Wind Band music, but they used the compositions of rather different composers with distinct and different styles. Thcelli, Smith, and Gillingham have distcinct musical techniques and styles, and the arrangements presented by all three corps had the different characters in their arrangements. Those shows were all very different, the character of each brass section was clear and distinct, and there was quite a bit of variety persented from the competitors. Heaven forbid that I call you on a vapid statement and present cold, hard facts as a rebuttal. I truthfully don't think you were really at the contest and that you just say this weak-minded and shallow stuff to troll people. For eight years of marching with SCV, as your profile claims you have done-- and with a corps that has historically pushed the envelope and tried to push serious and radical innovations at times to boot- you sure have poor listening skills and musical knowledge when you make those kinds of statements without really backing them up thoughtfully. Edited September 6, 2012 by BigW 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcpincollector Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 I never said I marched with SCV. I said they were my favorite. Like I said.....please read. It is educational. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BaritoneBone Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 I am a DCI fan, just watched the finals in Indianapolis last month. But I agree with the OP whole-heartedly. I wouldn't want to have to choose between the two organizations because they are just different. With that said, I also sat in the stands in Annapolis. I find the all-age groups, particularly the mid to high level ones, are more entertaining and impactful, even if less technically proficient. Bryan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K2SMA Posted September 8, 2012 Share Posted September 8, 2012 WNEW, the DC Metro news station was also plugging the event as well. I nearly swerved the wagon when I heard them discussing it as something to go to for the weekend. WNEW? Was that call sign re-assigned to a station in DC? Sorry to be off topic... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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