Jump to content

Segmentation: How DCI Has Gotten More Complicated... And Less Difficult


Recommended Posts

43 minutes ago, jmc5682 said:

I would just like to say what the color guards are doing is much more difficult than when I marched in the 80's.  The combination of dance and equipment work, and the pace at which the guards are moving is far more complex than what the best guards were doing in my time.  

And I would also say that many of the large stadium rock/pop concerts now have a visual spectacle far more complex than anything seen in DCI; but the trade-off there is lip-syncing by the singers and musical miming by the band members; which is not an unfounded fear for DCI since the recrnt admission of some corps using recordings and dubbings of brass music in their shows.

Edited by Stu
Link to comment
Share on other sites

26 minutes ago, N.E. Brigand said:

I don't know. In terms of melody and development, BD's ballad excels, I think.

It does rely heavily on soloists, and its visual interest is relatively low, but I don't think hostrauser is claiming there should never be park and blow moments.

This year the BD ballad, some charts from Boston, and Bluecoats, and Crossmen, yes there are a few melodic development moments. And going back a few years I can think of the SCV Ballet for Martha show, Scouts Empire, and and a few others. But the overwhelming designs of the vast majority of shows post Y2K are the ADD Instant Visual Gratification type designs where many layers are going simultaneously and changing so quickly 'all the time' that musical development has no room to blossom. I am not advocating going back to former rules per se, but the last time I heard the majority of corps producing great full-show musical melodic designs where the music was allowed to blossom throughout the entire show was the '90s.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 hours ago, hostrauser said:

3. COORDINATION OF ELEMENTS
I'm sure we've all seen the 2017 Blue Devils by this point. They play very, very well. They move very, very well. And they almost NEVER do both at the same time. There's what, ten or fifteen seconds at the end of Flight of the Bumblebee where the brass is trucking with both fingers and feet simultaneously. Otherwise, all the difficult movement occurs by performers with their horns down, while the hard music is performed by small groups stationed and immobile on the staircases. And then there's the park and bark. Oh sure, you can throw in a few lunges and leans, maybe a stanky leg or two, just so you aren't COMPLETELY immobile while you're playing, but come on. It's still park and bark, just "new" park and bark.

I found your overall article really well written with many good points. I agree with a lot and disagree with a few.  Overall I think it's a great read and a good look at what some fans are bothered by. 

In reference to Blue Devils 2017 and Flight of the Bumblebee I feel this may not be the best example. How many drum corps can even play this music? No matter how good a corps is I doubt any drum corps can play it and still march intricate drill. I think Blue Devils had to make a choice. You are either going to clean drill or the music, but not both. And in a case like this the music should come first. BD clearly places their emphasis on music in this section of the show. They do a small bit of marching to it (as you mentioned). To me BD has staged this section of their show exactly as it needs to be. Also, if you look at most of the tough horn books over the years, when there are really crazy passages the brass line usually comes to a halt. Crown's most demanding "runs" this year are played while not marching. I have no problem with that. Some things just cannot be played and marched to (if you want to clean), so some body movement and staging is perhaps the better option. 

As for the "Park and Bark" that some corps do, and in particular BD gets singled out for, I think it depends on how it's achieved in the show. What I see from Blue Devils is top notch staging and a clear emphasis on driving the music forward by not overdoing the visual, by not taking away from the musical climax, and by allowing the musicians to sell the jazz shout in that ballad. The effect of their ballad is stunning.

Now having said that, i agree with your larger point that the sheets allow for less traditional marching and other types of visual demand through staging, body movement, character play, jazz running, dance, etc.  This is something DCI and its' directors will have to hash out. How much traditional marching do they want in a show. Some might argue that a minimum time should be established. Perhaps 4 to 5 minutes. But questions will be asked. What is traditional marching? Why is it considered harder or better or more needed than say jazz running and dance or body movement and character play? I am just throwing those out there. Drum and Bugle Corps has definitely become more theater like, and in that sense it is more individualized at times with many more types of visual demands and ideas being incorporated into the shows. 

I will say this: there will always be the argument of how much is enough? How long should brass lines play? Battery? How much marching should a corps do? How hard does it have to be? When has demand gone overboard and cleanliness suffered?  When have electronics gone too far? Ok, let's not get started on that one. :)  Lots to discuss there.

I say the above because to me it is the Blue Devils who have done the best job of making their show about MUSIC!  Their brass and percussion book drive that show from start to finish. The visuals in their show are either hard enough or simple enough to perfectly convey what the music is saying. That's effect!  They make smart choices and do not go overboard with visuals that might cause them to be running around the field with their heads cut-off like chickens...something we saw a lot of during the whiplash, run-and-gun era from the late 80s through the 90s. When I think of drum & bugle corps I think music first. I know some do not, and some think of both as equals.  I do not. Music First!!!  The best shows start with a great music book.  Blue Devils have done that. So have Bluecoats and Crown. 

Anyway, great read! Thanks for taking the time. 

Edited by jwillis35
  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

it's all about the music first and foremost. 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

27 minutes ago, jwillis35 said:

Now having said that, i agree with your larger point that the sheets allow for less traditional marching and other types of visual demand through staging, body movement, character play, jazz running, dance, etc.  This is something DCI and its' directors will have to hash out. How much traditional marching do they want in a show.

This is the "great crossroads" ahead. What best to do with all the bodies out there!

I believe it's time to put the term "Marching" at the back of the shelf. Replace this simply with "Movement."  In the end, it's about achieving perfection, presenting in sync, executing without flaw.  We can determine relative success whether doing an extended Company Front, Jazz Running, and Body Movement. The challenge is all the same.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 minutes ago, Jim Schehr said:

it's all about the music first and foremost. 

This! The Blue Devils have never been a high octane drill corps; that's just not their style. It never has been and probably never will be. Their's has always been music first and foremost. Stage the members effectively so as to fully maximize the impact of the performer's musical talent. 

Edited by corps8294
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 hours ago, cube said:

I disagree completely and utterly. Take a look at some of the drill SCV performs this year.

In order, the corps that do the most, most complex, and largest ensemble movements while playing are SCV, Cavaliers and Bluecoats. 

The bottom line, as always, boils down to what the corps believe the activity should be. The sheets are written, basically, by the corps. If judges had a point of emphasis that said, we love great playing with no movement, but we MORE love great playing with movement, the activity would change. Overnight. 

My suspicion is the same corps would excel. Because the corps that are traditionally at the top are there because they have mastered all of the key creative areas. They have the oldest average corps, the most experienced marching members, and logically a lot better and more diverse training.

My two cents, fwiw, is that scatter drill and jazz running has become the standard way to move from one idea to another. The upside to this is that it allows designers to create multiple great stand alone ideas without having to worry so much about how to get the corps from one to the next. The down side is that it has fundamentally changed the very nature of drum corps, and even marching band. 

I've heard all the arguments about how hard this actully is, but it is not as hard as whole ensemble movements in drill formations. It's just not. Shows that rely on scatter and jazz running have dramatically more flexibility, and therefore dramatically less demand.    What I am not saying is that scatter drills aren't difficult. But what is clearly obvious is that this has fundamentally changed the very basic fabric of drum corps. 

In the end the corps will determine whether this is a good or bad thing. Personally, I feel as though guard has become so important now, and guard is largely not a drill activity. To me, when you have both sides of your corps doing very little drill from one idea to the next, it results is what we now see: very busy shows visually, with stuff all over the field. And, shows that struggle to communicate a central idea without narration and singing.

The poster child is Cavaliers. It's a design mess. And it's a design mess because the designers aren't being punished for almost no corps-wide drill movements. The result is a cluttered array of stuff everywhere, with small groups doing things all over the place, precious little extended musical moments, and again, recorded narration, samples and overdubs to communicate the message. Big, giant fail for me.

i vote for less, far less, scatter drill. Jmho.

Edited by MikeRapp
  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

59 minutes ago, corps8294 said:

This! The Blue Devils have never been a high octane drill corps; that's just not their style. It never has been and probably never will be. Their's has always been music first and foremost. Stage the members effectively so as to fully maximize the impact of the performer's musical talent. 

I have no issue with what Blue Devils have traditionally done. But now, what they do has become the activity. Because the sheets dictate it. 

Watching semifinals this year was a bit scary. Just too many corps trying to be something they can't be, from a design and talent standpoint. 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Jim Schehr said:

it's all about the music first and foremost. 

Others have postured that it is all about the visual; you have stated here it is all about the music. Sorry, but both of these are erroneous and self-serving. A DCI performance is supposed to be about a healthy 'marriage' and 'balance' between those elements. If two people, one a blind musician and the other a deaf visual artist, can enjoy the exact same show with equal gratification, 'that' is a show which has a healthy marriage and balance.

Edited by Stu
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, jwillis35 said:

n reference to Blue Devils 2017 and Flight of the Bumblebee I feel this may not be the best example. How many drum corps can even play this music? No matter how good a corps is I doubt any drum corps can play it and still march intricate drill. I think Blue Devils had to make a choice. You are either going to clean drill or the music, but not both

It's not either or and never is. If a corps makes a choice to do one thing then they live with the outcome. Right now, what we have is an activity that clearly values one thing over another, it will significantly reward Bumblebee but not punish BD for standing still while playing it.

Again, I'm not complaining as much as I am pointing out the facts. Clearly, DCI decided at some point that ensemble-wide marching is significantly less important than music proficiency. The result is what we see now, which are far more stand alone small ensemble or even soloist music moments and far less large ensemble musical and drill moments.

What has made drum corps totally unique, historically, is the massive corps-wide design and execution. It has ALWAYS been, fundamentally, a group activity, not an individual activity. What we have now, quite obviously, is far far more emphasis on individual activity TO THE EXCLUSION OF corps-wide activity. In my view, it has not been a good move for the long term.

Edited by MikeRapp
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

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