Jump to content

percussion judges in drill


Recommended Posts

I noticed while in Atlanta last night that the Blue Knights have the perfect opportunity to lure the field percussion judge into the center (mirror) of the black hole. Points they would loose in percussion would probably be made up in GE.

It was during Cadets' show last night that I said to the _Kid "That drum judge is going to get nailed. He better get out of there!" The judge was right in front of the snares and the corps was moving backwards pinching him in. Twice they did it, and twice the judge managed to shift out of the way without ever seeing the corps coming at him from behind. It was the first time in a long, long time where not only was the judge getting pinched but I was watching him at the same time.

Still, no collision and I was glad that he was on the field for both Cadets and BK.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey Garfield; have you ever seen a copy of Zappa's Black Page?

I attended my HS's trip to solo & ensemble contest two years after I graduated and watched a HS drummer play Black Page the year after Zappa released it. I was dumbfounded watching it having never seen the score. Still everyone applauded and cheered, and he was awarded a '1'. It wasn't until weeks later when I finally got my hands on a copy of the score. I was never a good trap set player preferring rudimental snare instead, and I gave up on Black Page relatively quickly.

For those of you who are interested in what can be written for drum set when sufficient drugs are available:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjpZihqVY-g

Edited by garfield
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Man this thread took one heck of a turn. Wow. Oh and drummers can't take a joke cause they'd have to stop playing and listen. LoL. Rimshot please!!! I kid I kid. No need to take ourselves so seriously. Heck be happy guys. Percussion has pretty much taken over the music caption in DCI. Corps can write all kinds of extended percussion breaks with no brass or just brass accompaniment and everyone loves it. Look at SCV the past two years and Coats this year. This is a great time for percussion writing too. Some excellent material out there played to the max. Lots of fun to listen to.

Edited by auldschool
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Mike Jackson posted this on Facebook last night.

The short: I'm officially altering my position on the DCI field percussion judge. I wasn't necessarily sold on the specificity of a field judge; more so, the lack of an alternative method to experience blend, balance, subtlety, and nuance from performer to performer. Moving forward, I'd like to see a field clear of adjudicators. If given the opportunity, I would vote as such.

The long: In all these years, I have yet to be convinced that we have the consistent depth in our caption to truly benefit from the aforementioned opportunities. This is not meant as a derogatory remark. It's just the truth as I see it. The system does the best it can with all the imperfect variables in the mix. Do the judges get the exact and equal sampling from night to night, or corps to corps? No. Impossible. I am convinced the only way to truly level the playing field is by experiencing everyone in the exact same manner from the exact same position. As much as I'm going to miss the up-close-and-personal reads, they're too problematic and too inconsistent to truly be the equalizer they're meant to be.

I also have to mention and somewhat concede the criticism this season regarding the safety of the performers. This, of course, is difficult to challenge. How does one take the stance against performer safety? Yikes. With that said, I think some of the criticism was unfair. Historically speaking, field judges have been around since...drum corps. Looking at some of the hyperbolic reactions, you'd think DCI had just implemented this method. I believe the field judges were unintentionally set up to fail. They were not implemented until later in the season, giving them less time to physically acclimate to the intricacies of each production. How could there not be issues? I didn't like seeing these individuals ridiculed, nor the system bashed for allowing this historically omnipresent approach to percussion evaluation. Yes, I believe it's time for a change. However, we can do it in a way that doesn't point fingers nor humiliate fellow humans.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mike Jackson posted this on Facebook last night.

The short: I'm officially altering my position on the DCI field percussion judge. I wasn't necessarily sold on the specificity of a field judge; more so, the lack of an alternative method to experience blend, balance, subtlety, and nuance from performer to performer. Moving forward, I'd like to see a field clear of adjudicators. If given the opportunity, I would vote as such.

The long: In all these years, I have yet to be convinced that we have the consistent depth in our caption to truly benefit from the aforementioned opportunities. This is not meant as a derogatory remark. It's just the truth as I see it. The system does the best it can with all the imperfect variables in the mix. Do the judges get the exact and equal sampling from night to night, or corps to corps? No. Impossible. I am convinced the only way to truly level the playing field is by experiencing everyone in the exact same manner from the exact same position. As much as I'm going to miss the up-close-and-personal reads, they're too problematic and too inconsistent to truly be the equalizer they're meant to be.

I also have to mention and somewhat concede the criticism this season regarding the safety of the performers. This, of course, is difficult to challenge. How does one take the stance against performer safety? Yikes. With that said, I think some of the criticism was unfair. Historically speaking, field judges have been around since...drum corps. Looking at some of the hyperbolic reactions, you'd think DCI had just implemented this method. I believe the field judges were unintentionally set up to fail. They were not implemented until later in the season, giving them less time to physically acclimate to the intricacies of each production. How could there not be issues? I didn't like seeing these individuals ridiculed, nor the system bashed for allowing this historically omnipresent approach to percussion evaluation. Yes, I believe it's time for a change. However, we can do it in a way that doesn't point fingers nor humiliate fellow humans.

This 5 judge panel early season is the reason for this problem IMO...it really is not serving the corps, the judges, or the fans all that well...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mike Jackson posted this on Facebook last night.

The short: I'm officially altering my position on the DCI field percussion judge. I wasn't necessarily sold on the specificity of a field judge; more so, the lack of an alternative method to experience blend, balance, subtlety, and nuance from performer to performer. Moving forward, I'd like to see a field clear of adjudicators. If given the opportunity, I would vote as such.

The long: In all these years, I have yet to be convinced that we have the consistent depth in our caption to truly benefit from the aforementioned opportunities. This is not meant as a derogatory remark. It's just the truth as I see it. The system does the best it can with all the imperfect variables in the mix. Do the judges get the exact and equal sampling from night to night, or corps to corps? No. Impossible. I am convinced the only way to truly level the playing field is by experiencing everyone in the exact same manner from the exact same position. As much as I'm going to miss the up-close-and-personal reads, they're too problematic and too inconsistent to truly be the equalizer they're meant to be.

I also have to mention and somewhat concede the criticism this season regarding the safety of the performers. This, of course, is difficult to challenge. How does one take the stance against performer safety? Yikes. With that said, I think some of the criticism was unfair. Historically speaking, field judges have been around since...drum corps. Looking at some of the hyperbolic reactions, you'd think DCI had just implemented this method. I believe the field judges were unintentionally set up to fail. They were not implemented until later in the season, giving them less time to physically acclimate to the intricacies of each production. How could there not be issues? I didn't like seeing these individuals ridiculed, nor the system bashed for allowing this historically omnipresent approach to percussion evaluation. Yes, I believe it's time for a change. However, we can do it in a way that doesn't point fingers nor humiliate fellow humans.

Considering who that is coming from it is worth a read and consideration. For sure.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

What other competitive activity would accept an 18-24% sampling rate of an entire performance that is then decided by tenths and 100ths of a point? It's tantamount to giving Academy Awards voters random 5-minute samples (1 each) of the films being considered for Best Picture - not even the same samples for each voter.

Yes, there was a time when two judges on the field could "camp out" and listen to the snares, actual tenors, and basses, because they stayed in "the pocket" and didn't move much. No keyboards, tympani, synths, speakers, or drill. As one who did it "then" and "now" - there is no comparison between eras. The performers and fans deserve better.

I miss those days too, but they're over.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This 5 judge panel early season is the reason for this problem IMO...it really is not serving the corps, the judges, or the fans all that well...

The five man panel with no field judges *absolutely* serves the corps in the early season. There's really no need for performance caption judges at that point, and there's nothing they will tell that you don't already know. I was teaching a DCI brass line when the move to the five man panel started, and we loved it in the early season.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...