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What will be the trends for 2018?


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I foresee corps next year diving deeper into "creative brass arranging" (My apologies in advance; that's the best term I can come up with right now. Please don't read too deep into that phrase. This is not not to imply that groups haven't been arranging their brass creatively. They have and it's been great. I'll explain more)

 

BD and SCV both did soundscape work, but they did it through brass arranging more than through electronics.  BD put soloists in the steps at different parts of the field and SCV used the small ensemble (and they were mic'ed, I know, but that aside) to creatively generate musical elements of their show using mainly the placement and arranging of their brass. 

Long story short, my prediction is that brass arranging will take some even bigger creative leaps this year.  That was probably a pretty poor description of what I mean, but hopefully it makes sense .

 

 

 

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Nothing crazy... Drum Corps is an ever-evolving, slowly evolving activity. Bloo accelerated the process for one year after their 2016 win, but the evolution of the activity with continue at a more gradual pace in the coming years.

Unless somebody else does something even MORE drastic this coming year.

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I do not believe amplification will go away, but it will be coordinated much better. I don't think amplification helped everyone and in some cases, it seemed turf shows which I'm sure judges noted. The goal will be to have amplification so flawless, no one knows it's being used or at least barely notice.

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What it has been for the past 15 years or so:

Try to out-BD BD.

Bloo managed it last year, but that's the game now.  I said weeks ago this season was over and that BD had it on lockdown.  Everyone is chasing BD and they will take as much from them as they can and try to do it better than them.

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4 hours ago, BRASSO said:

 Oh I definately give the Bluecoats deserved credit for its wise use of it.

 I think the heightened use of the transformation of performers natural sound ( voice or musical instruments ) being altered thru engineering means will be an escalating trend. As such, all these Corps Engineering Sections ( not Brass, Percussion, or Guard) will increasingly become THE most important section in their Corps in the next few years regarding scores/ placements. All the signs are there to see where this is going, and the " trend lines" thus seem unmistakable to me.

I agree, and while I love Bluecoats, I do not feel good about this trend. I've said this many times, but there is no great future on what we saw from Scouts and Cavaliers. Bluecoats plays their ##### off, and focuses on musical shows. Less amplification wont impact the musical quality of their shows one bit, imo. Take electronics out of Cavaliers and it literally makes no sense.

I paid a lot of attention to Scouts in finals because I wanted to really evaluate their musicality. Truthfully their music is pretty impressive, but their visual just makes you forget about the music. I'd rather see blue Knights 100 times than Scouts or Cavaliers once. 

I realize that every corps will go through evolutionary changes and they will all do something different. But this year felt like a transition year more than any other. For every Boston there was a Cavaliers. Just do not want this activity to carve out a niche in which music is secondary to visual, especially visual coupled with in your face electronics that doesn't even involve the marching members.

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Hop will lead the charge in rolling back some of the A&E arms race. And fans will be able to sit in the first five rows again without blood pouring out of their ears. 

Dare to dream 

Edited by HockeyDad
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2 hours ago, HockeyDad said:

Hop will lead the charge in rolling back some of the A&E arms race. And fans will be able to sit in the first five rows again without blood pouring out of their ears. 

Dare to dream 

The most dangerous place to stand is between Hopkins and an open microphone. He is grabbing onto the issue at hand because it gives him a stage. If Cadets were Cavaliers right now he'd be all about the use of electronics.

Corps may in fact choose to pull back on amplification. But unfortunately the use of recorded voice, effects and kitch will probably continue because a couple of corps scratched their way back into relevance using it.

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4 hours ago, geluf said:

What it has been for the past 15 years or so:

Try to out-BD BD.

Bloo managed it last year, but that's the game now.  I said weeks ago this season was over and that BD had it on lockdown.  Everyone is chasing BD and they will take as much from them as they can and try to do it better than them.

I don't think any corps tries to out-BD BD. Their secret is in financial resources, depth in music performance experience and talent, and organizational talent. The only way to compete with them is to do what they have done and really only one organization, Vanguard, has the money and talent to do that. 

 

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7 hours ago, BRASSO said:

 The Blue Devils, undeterred by the hatless trend of 2016, went out in the single most traditional shako and traditional Drum Corps plumes in all of DCI.... and went undefeated this season in the process. The 1st quarter of their show was also a throwback show too, very traditional in Drill, Visuals, Percussion, Guard.. So much for the hatless craze, or the attire craze as being determinative in scores and placements. The Boston Crusdaders did not follow the trend of going hatless. As a matter of fact, they took their shakos and plumes and made them into a visual creative advantage in their scoring, with the " plume wiggle".

No doubt this was true, but I doubt it's what BD wore as a uniform or hat that allowed them to win. Talent, show design, and excellent teaching lead to winning and/or higher placement. Boston wearing hats was not what made Boston amazing this year. It was the talented MMs, the designers, the teachers, the admin.  I'm not saying a good uniform or costume isn't important -- it is -- but developing the show and the talent is first. By the way, I loved Boston's uniform and that plume was used to cool effect. 

As for the OP's question, I still think you will see costuming, some corps will not use hats or shakos, and despite the malfunctions at Indy with electronics I believe we will still see electronics and amplification used to enhance ideas or for soundscapes. I doubt that vocals will go away because both Boston and Cadets used them well. I still think what Bluecoats began about 4 years ago will continue to peak the interests of other corps, but there is no doubt Blue Devils show design from this past year will also get looked at by many design teams who will break down every little detail as they decide on their next program.

Let's see what happens. 

Edited by jwillis35
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