Too many amplifiers?

[Corps_Efan]

Do you mean speaker stacks?

No.

Yes

Limiting to 2 speaker stacks creates more balance problems than it solves.

Professionals know better.

[gak27]

Too many DC Dinosaurs, but certainly not too many speakers and amplifiers. Either enjoy it for what it is or stay home in your lazyboy and turn down the volume on your TV.

Tact, much?

[UKSuperman]

Tact, much?

Do you really expect any better from someone who's name suggest what their posts are going to be, Poppycock?

[gak27]

Do you really expect any better from someone who's name suggest what their posts are going to be, Poppycock?

One can always hope...

[Hrothgar15]

Which corps does everyone think is using the least/softest bass synth this year?

[UKSuperman]

Which corps does everyone think is using the least/softest bass synth this year?

Out of the top, I think Crown isn't using very much, if any, bass synth.

[Cappybara]

Which corps does everyone think is using the least/softest bass synth this year?

I'd have it from least to most

1. Crown

2. SCV/BD

3. Bloo

4. Cadets

[cixelsyd]

This is the reaction I often see. "It's a cheap way out," "it's not needed," "they're doing it mainly to amp the bass," "it's cheating," and on and on.

Sorry, but no. It's much more complex than this. I've heard Bluecoats, Crown, Cadets, SCV, etc. live. Unplugged their horn lines would be incredibly powerful, and their percussion sections are incredible.

Well, at least we agree that it is complex.

You mention a key word - "unplugged". I have seen/heard these corps live a number of times, from a number of vantage points, such that the acoustic and electronic sounds can be distinguished from one another. Carolina Crown provides powerful "unplugged" brass sound. I would also give honorable mention to two corps you do not mention above (Cavaliers and Blue Devils). Cadets high brass usually provide some power, but low brass clearly do not receive the same guidance. SCV started the season with only the mellophones playing out - it took until August for the other voices to step up most of the way toward balancing that.

Bluecoats amplify field musicians so frequently throughout the show, it is very difficult to determine how much acoustic sound the hornline produces. And what difference, at this point, does it make if they so rarely play a note without electronic augmentation?

So why use electronics and amps, because there may be musical textures better suited for such technology. A muted solo will sound better mic'd and allow the soloist to add inflections not possible if unplugged. The same is true if they want to add an effect to the solo. Soloists featured way back field no longer have to blow their brains out to be heard. The Cavaliers put a euphonium soloist way back field this year, and also a few years ago, and there is NO WAY that would have been audible without the mic. A more musical approach, I'd say.

I understand that if you want to apply an electronic effect, you will probably want electronics. (Fans of 1993 Freelancers may still argue that one.)

However, to be literally accurate - no, a muted solo does not sound "better" amped. It might end up being more effective as perceived at the press box of a domed stadium, though. Ever since we took the clear majority of our judging upstairs, and the most important contests indoors, that is exclusively where/how evolutionary change is evaluated.

This notion that a "real" drum corps blows its brains out, plays loud all the time, and is filled with real men back when the sheep were nervous is full of potholes, old stereotypes, and an overblown revision of what the "good ole days" used to be like. Technology has made a lot of things possible, and in my opinion a lot of things better.

Sorry - what? Is your viewpoint on pre-2004 drum corps really that distorted and insulting? Or did you just choose a poor time to inject humor and detract from the point you were otherwise trying to make?

Yes, it has also caused some problems with finding the right balance in terms of what to use, and how and when to use it. Their are corps using WAY too much synth bass. It's a problem and hopefully that will tone down over time. But I'm willing to put up with some of these mistakes if it means we get all the colors and cool ideas that electronics can bring.

This is where we have a compound disagreement. For starters, this is supposed to be a contest for the performers. I am keenly interested in hearing brass and percussion perform, to see how few mistakes they make. I do not want additional mistakes injected by non-members at mixing boards, or by the failures of electronic devices that are still oh-so-frequent, and apparently always will be. I do not even want mistakes covered up by electronic noise, pre-recorded samples or synthesizers doubling horn parts.

But additionally, I do not find the electronic ideas to be necessarily smarter or more effective approaches for our venues. For example, consider brass soloists once again. A bell-front soloist projecting loud enough acoustically to fulfill the solo role now carries the black mark of "old school". But it works. As long as the earth has an atmosphere, you can rely on the acoustic transmission of sound to function without interruption. Will we ever be able to say the same about our electronics? Even wired mics often fail at field shows. Wireless mics often cut in and out, ruining the effect for everyone in ways the performer cannot possibly compensate for.

Those of you who just want "all the colors and cool ideas that electronics can bring" have the entire universe of popular music genres in which to exploit your desires (and marching band, for that matter). Those of us who just wanted brass and percussion in a competitive setting did not want our only outlet corrupted for this purpose which already had so many other outlets.

[C.Holland]

when you mic a horn, you allow that horn to stay in the timbre and context that they are unable to achieve at higher volumes.

To be able to play that soft melody and cool jazz styling, you'd need to mic it to be heard. And it works. The trumpet solos come through, without having to blast. So they can play bebop, without having to push the horn into a point where the tone gets harsh.

which is a timbre we didn't have before the elex

[shofmon88]

when you mic a horn, you allow that horn to stay in the timbre and context that they are unable to achieve at higher volumes.

To be able to play that soft melody and cool jazz styling, you'd need to mic it to be heard. And it works. The trumpet solos come through, without having to blast. So they can play bebop, without having to push the horn into a point where the tone gets harsh.

which is a timbre we didn't have before the elex

I think you'll find that many will agree that solos with a microphone aren't all that bad, though most probably prefer un-amplified solos. We get the need to maintain tone quality, or add things stylistically you can't do without a microphone. Where most people have issue is with the synthesized bass. There's no need for it, unless you have a really tiny hornline and you need more bottom end, but even so, it needs to be done very sparingly.