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Phantom Regiment 2018


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15 hours ago, ThePlanets said:

For 2018: 

There was a time, not so long ago when Phantom didn't care where they placed...they just wanted to put on a beautiful, musically tasteful program.  

.

 

"The best corps to never win!"

Some of the most passionate years!  Horn lines so rich, technical and powerful; no one could possibly understand a need for electronic instruments and amplification.  The deep passion of those seasons before winning DCI will never be the same as long as electronics and amplification are used.  

 

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One more song suggestion I have for for Phantom, if they can get the rights to it (the composer's estate has not allowed his music to be arranged for the marching arts, although the rise of Tresona may change this): "O Magnum Mysterium" by Morten Lauridsen.

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Source music means next to nothing. It's what the arrangers do with it that makes it work or not work, and increasingly, the less literally it's used, the more effective it is. FWIW, I'd argue that Crown's biggest failing this year was being too literal with the number from Wicked:  it came off as dull in comparison to the rest of their show.

Regiment's competitive problems now are about failure of imagination, more than anything. That, and an inability to take criticism and do anything with it (I can't believe they didn't get the memo that the program this past year made no sense, and the strip club voiceovers only made it worse).

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17 minutes ago, Slingerland said:

Source music means next to nothing. It's what the arrangers do with it that makes it work or not work, and increasingly, the less literally it's used, the more effective it is. 

I might just plaster this on my signature

:worthy:

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On 8/13/2017 at 6:54 PM, Cadevilina Crown said:

So here are some more specific suggestions I have for good ol' Phantom Regiment:

  • Take an even crazier approach to your uniform. 2017 was a good start, but I can see them doing even more, especially with regards to the helmet. I think a silver reflective helmet would look bad### on the Regiment. It would make for some more varied takes on the plume as well. And it would be nice if the look of the uniform could fit the theme even more. Too often, I feel like PR misses the mark when it comes to show-specific uniforms.
  • Speaking of costumes, some slightly less lewd colorguard uniforms would be nice.
  • A slightly smaller guard would be nice. I love that they're trying to make the Phantomettes relevant again, but it's coming at the cost of the hornline, whose sound is a bit too empty for my tastes. (Then again, it might be the youth of the hornline, but it could be a combination of the two.)
  • Since 2013, I feel like Phantom has often taken the "easy way out" with regards to show design and construction. They have used generic storylines, minimal props, and poorly thought out design choices that ruin audience enjoyment. That simply doesn't work in DCI, or any part of the marching arts, really. I want to see Phantom Regiment take more realistic programming risks. Think about some of their greatest shows: 1989, 1993, 1996, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2010, etc. All of these took reasonable risks: Choosing music and elements that fit their identity, experimenting with new music, plots, and visual ideas that we may not expect, and making sure there are enough great musical or visual moments that add to the show. THAT kind of thought-out programming is what's been missing since 2013. It all starts with thinking about something like a music selection or thematic motif that doesn't sound quite like Phantom at first but is reasonable enough for them to take on.

And now for my musical and thematic suggestions for Phantom Regiment in 2018:

  • Any show theme that closes with "The Frozen Cathedral" by John Mackey (one of his better pieces, IMO), or "Feierlicher Einzug" by Richard Strauss. Either piece would have the crowd on their feet before the show ends.
  • More Mahler! Symphony No. 5 especially. Or you can program some Ola Gjeilo; I love his "Serenity (O Magnum Mysterium)" and "The Ground." "Serenity" (or "The Mission/How Great Thou Art" by The Piano Guys) would be a great opportunity to introduce the first electric cello in DCI.
  • As a side note, I'd love to see more use of French horns and trombones from Phantom.
  • A New World Symphony revival. Yes, I'm being completely serious, but it has to be done in a modern context. Outer space comes to mind. You could call it "To Discover New Worlds" or something like that. And you can mix tons of other space-esque pieces into the three main movements, such as Holst's Planets, Bhatia's Interstellar Suite, Zimmer's soundtrack to Interstellar, etc. It's like what Cadets did with Bernstein's Mass this year: It would help connect your future to the past again and help bring back the Phantom "swagger."
  • In general, explore more various concert band literature, brass band literature, choral literature, never-before-done composers, etc. that would fit your identity to a T. The whole playing orchestral and piano music by tried-and-true composers thing is getting very tired for my tastes. I'd like to see a Phantom show that has little to none of that at all, if possible.

I agree with most of all of that.  I'd kill to see Phantom go back and play New World Symphony again.  I feel like they're getting closer on track to what they used to be, but it's still not there.  Personally I'd rather them go back to uniforms similar of 2010. This year's were good, but that felt off, especially the guards uniforms.  I want out of the next couple of years to be more of a classical style or play an opera. Maybe choosing one source and playing that for the entire show instead of cutting and pasting smaller licks.

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1 hour ago, Slingerland said:

Source music means next to nothing. It's what the arrangers do with it that makes it work or not work, and increasingly, the less literally it's used, the more effective it is. FWIW, I'd argue that Crown's biggest failing this year was being too literal with the number from Wicked:  it came off as dull in comparison to the rest of their show.

Yep. Cadets ran into the same problem this season by interpreting Bernstein's Mass way too literally. And Phantom has the opposite problem - recently, they've been interpreting music too subtly, with no real theme to tie the pieces all together.

They don't need to change their style totally. Maybe some tweaks, but I don't want them become totally unrecognizable. But without cohesive show design, they will continue to slip down the standings.

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Would it be doable if PR were to put together a show using only Adagios?  There must be some good pieces available to get the brass players heart rate up some.  The guard might really shine with this format.  What's wrong with a show full of emotional ballads?  

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10 hours ago, Ghost said:

Would it be doable if PR were to put together a show using only Adagios?  There must be some good pieces available to get the brass players heart rate up some.  The guard might really shine with this format.  What's wrong with a show full of emotional ballads?  

But what do you do with those angry drum lines that most corps seem to mandate with their kicks in the face punch accents, flams, and aggressive gang-like testosterone timbres? It's almost as if you'd be handing over the percussion to the front ensemble, those mallet magicians with their many symphonic toys and textures. The name of the "battery" as in "battered" would have to be changed to "musicians."

Aggressive percussion seems to be the only style of drumming the crowds applaud and the judges reward.

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8 minutes ago, xandandl said:

But what do you do with those angry drum lines that most corps seem to mandate with their kicks in the face punch accents, flams, and aggressive gang-like testosterone timbres? It's almost as if you'd be handing over the percussion to the front ensemble, those mallet magicians with their many symphonic toys and textures. The name of the "battery" as in "battered" would have to be changed to "musicians."

Aggressive percussion seems to be the only style of drumming the crowds applaud and the judges reward.

Definitely seems like batteries are getting more and more aggressive nowadays. I do think SCV stands out in that respect. They do feature their percussion a lot, but the writing is a lot more musical and less aggressive and they've been taking home a handful of Sanfords lately. 

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50 minutes ago, Cappybara said:

Definitely seems like batteries are getting more and more aggressive nowadays. I do think SCV stands out in that respect. They do feature their percussion a lot, but the writing is a lot more musical and less aggressive and they've been taking home a handful of Sanfords lately. 

Yes, Sandy Rennick influences Paul's writing and SCV is more musical than many.

I would also note Jeff Prosperie's tape at finals saluting Thom Hannum's writing when minimalist writing was appropriate for some of the musical pieces Crown played/sang. I am sure their Pit arranger had a huge play in this too, I just can't remember the name at the moment. The style varied greatly from what was used this year at Phantom's pit, good as it was. PR seemed to use simultaneous whole section aggression which was appropriate to the music that PR played, not as musically varied as SCV, Crown, BD, or Cadets.

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