ftwdrummer Posted August 19, 2016 Share Posted August 19, 2016 It will drop out of the top 3, but it will be glorious.... I mean, if any corps could make top-3 with all Gordon Goodwin original material, it'd be BD, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PamahoNow Posted August 20, 2016 Share Posted August 20, 2016 USE OF ELECTRONICS Finally, from an electronics viewpoint, I believe the Bluecoats continue to show the wonderful possibilities. It's not always easy or perfect, and electronics can bring additional issues of balance, mixing, the need for professional training and good equipment, and designers/arrangers who have a good idea of how they wish to incorporate these additional bells and whistles into a show. To continue on this theme Aaron Beck penned the following for the Bluecoats Alumni. Behind the Bluecoats 2016 Soundscape (contributed by Aaron Beck, 1995 Cymbals) A Broadway Sound Design on a Football Field. This is my 2nd year involved on the design team and this year we really wanted to step up our game and do things a bit more professionally. Before this year I would put Drum Corps Audio in the same world as your common garage band. The corps have done ok in the past but no group had the team to go past a basic setup. I would call basis as some type of mixer with 2-4 speakers to the front or side of the front ensemble. For the 2016 show we wanted to continue what we started in 2015 with the field speakers and push the envelope again. My goal was to create a multi-source system, around the entire football field, to allow Vince and the other designers the freedom to do anything they want. The support of David Glasgow to the entire design team is unbelievable. I’ve never seen someone be so supportive and willing to invest like David does. He almost never says no to the crazy ideas that the design team comes up with in the offseason. We are very lucky to have him as our Corps Director. We loved the field speakers last year and how we could locate sound to a specific area backfield. Vince Oliver had the original idea to spread out the Front Ensemble for the season. During Finals week last year, I drew up a sketch of the front ensemble and we did a little test on Friday afternoon in Marion, Indiana. It is amazing looking back that we tried this almost a year ago. To make this work acoustically I chose to do 6 individual speakers in front of the keyboards and instruments in the front ensemble. Our front setup is not a Left / Right setup, but rather 6 individual outputs of the console that match what is behind them. For example, the instruments in Keyboard Pod 1, only come from speakers 2 and 3. The drum set only comes out of speakers 3 and 4. Each speaker is delayed back 8’ so that the acoustic sound of the instrument matches perfectly to the amplified sound out of the speaker. Each cart has a Yamaha DSR 115 main speaker and a Yamaha DSX18 Subwoofer. The Field setup consists of 5 Main Speaker Carts spread from the 5 yard to the 5 yard line. Each cart on the field has a Yamaha DSR 215 main speaker and a Yamaha DSX 18 Subwoofer. In addition to the 5 carts we also have 2 Yamaha DSR 215’s on either side of the main stage on side 1 that amplifies 9 microphones located on top of the stage and 2 to the side. The payoff for the main stage has been huge and created a wonderful focus point for many parts of the show. The main mixer used on the show is a Roland M5000-C Digital Console. Most corps use Yamaha mixers but we knew we needed something with a bit more flexibility this year. The console is setup with 88 Inputs, 13 Matrix Outputs, 10 Sub Groups and 15 Auxiliary Sends. The flexibility of the console has allowed us to add In Ear Monitors for the Front Ensemble members. Each performer has their own mix and can listen to any of the inputs on the console during the show. With the console this year we added the ability to do Scenes or Cues during the show. This allows us to change input levels, panning, routing and the mixes for the front ensemble members as well as to balance and save settings during each part of the show. It is a huge challenge now to add the balance of electronics as an instrument during the show. I’ve read many post from others outside the corps that believes we have it easy or “cheat” with electronics but I believe it to be the exact opposite. It is much harder to balance the show with the electronics and the added cost, time and details to make it work are that much more challenging. We deal daily with issues the other groups don’t even think about. Extra time to unload and setup, 45 minutes to setup the system before each rehearsal, lost time for the kids during EPL dealing with more stuff, rain, broken cables, logistics of getting on and off the field, and I could go on for days. In the end we make it all work and seem “easy” because of the advance planning and great team we have working for the Bluecoats. I’ve worked in the Professional Audio world for almost 20 years and what we do with the Bluecoats in the world of Audio is no different than in my job with Cirque du Soleil. In the design of the system I tried to think of everything in advance to make our lives as easy as possible this summer. The System Design consisted of 12 Pages of Autocad drawings detailing every aspect of the system. We have as many inputs as I did on several Broadway tours, more speakers than most shows on the road, and we do it in all in less than 17 minutes. The count from Ryan Kilgore was we have 300 hands (150 Members) to set up the field in the 3 minutes and 15 seconds and it takes all but 6 of those hands. It is such a privilege to be back connected with the corps using my expertise to push the activity to new levels never seen on the field. I’m privileged to work with the best team in the world and I look forward to the rest of the season and the bright future with the Bluecoats! The Team (The Best in the World) * Tom Rarick – Percussion Designer / Composer * Vince Oliver – Electronics Designer / Composer * Aaron Beck – Audio Systems Designer * Erik Kosman – Front Ensemble Instructor / Sound Engineer * Brad Palmer – Front Ensemble Coordinator * Ryan Kilgore – Music Ensemble Coordinator * Nathan Bashline – Audio Intern 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Guns Posted August 20, 2016 Share Posted August 20, 2016 All Goodwin-original show. Do it, Devils. Been screaming this for the last two years. If BD ever goes all Goodwin for a show, 99.70. Game over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ftwdrummer Posted August 20, 2016 Share Posted August 20, 2016 Been screaming this for the last two years. If BD ever goes all Goodwin for a show, 99.70. Game over. I mean, you theoretically need a premise to go with it... I want to see them do with jazz what they did with Felliniesque. Go behind the scenes with a jazz band, that plays just about every style, and tell that. Something like a cross between '97, '02, and '14, with Goodwin music. I think it could work. If anyone could make it work, it'd be the Devils. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeRapp Posted August 20, 2016 Share Posted August 20, 2016 I mean, you theoretically need a premise to go with it... I want to see them do with jazz what they did with Felliniesque. Go behind the scenes with a jazz band, that plays just about every style, and tell that. Something like a cross between '97, '02, and '14, with Goodwin music. I think it could work. If anyone could make it work, it'd be the Devils. I couldn't agree more. But the Blue Devils' design direction is now to choose a non-musical art topic, and express that topic musically. They wouldn't choose to do a blues show, but rather a show about a topic or individual (not a blues artist) of the so called blues era. Someone is going to do a jazz blues show and it's going to score in the high 90s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snare_guy_83 Posted December 31, 2016 Share Posted December 31, 2016 On 8/15/2016 at 3:32 PM, snare_guy_83 said: Remember when I was the 1st to throw this out there on 8/15... Announcement: This was probably that latest I can ever remember a corps announcing their program... This might be nothing or something, who knows at this point, but I wouldn't be surprised if more corps waited later than normal next season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeN Posted December 31, 2016 Share Posted December 31, 2016 That audio detail above is fascinating. They do indeed make it look very easy. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garfield Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 On 12/30/2016 at 7:52 PM, MikeN said: That audio detail above is fascinating. They do indeed make it look very easy. Mike ...because it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldbandguy Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 6 hours ago, garfield said: ...because it is. Actually NO it isn't very easy...or ever corps would be doing it well. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monoemono Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 8 hours ago, garfield said: ...because it is. Let me be the second to point out that this is incorrect. Anyone who has ever performed in a mixed acoustic/electronic/amplified environment knows that there are myriad challenges involved. The way that Bluecoats has handled this over the past 3 years -- taking into account the setup and teardown of the electronic environment, mixed in with handling the props and staging, plus the changing venue considerations, including indoor and outdoor variations -- is nothing short of wizardry. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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