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are brass soloists allowed to improvise


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4 hours ago, BRASSO said:

  They all liked him, so they quickly forgot it... but to this day, he is often reminded of his dance " improvisation " that day... to mostly chuckles now though.... lol!

If my guess is right as to whom you are referring too, now a days you might catch them occasionally directing sections of the corps music.

Edited by Ghost
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Does "never playing the solo the same at every show" count as improvisation?  How much difference is enough for it to be considered "improvisation?  I know that we (Les Diplomates), in 1973, for the Anvil Chorus-Volga Boatmen solo, could never get our soloist to play the solo the same and we gave up and stopped trying, as long as he started it on time and finished it on time.  Granted this was during the "concert" part of the show.

Most solos these days are too short to allow much improvisation, anyway.

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16 hours ago, waliman4444 said:

after listening to really good soloists over the years it dawned on me that from show to show the solos were pretty much the same...meaning, played the same way every time*give or take a note)..hence..how much if any improvisation is being done by the soloists in drum corps

There is very little variation in the solos performed in drum corps competitive programs, especially nowadays when there is so little jazz, rock or other styles where improvisation would be a native element.

As for the question in the thread title (is improvisation allowed?), ignore the know-it-all responses.  Answer is, we do not know.  We cannot know.  True improvisation is such a rare talent that few corps would ever confront the issue to begin with.  I can only think of three soloists in junior corps who improvised solos.  Meanwhile, in the rest of history, the best anyone will have is anecdotal knowledge if a corps or two ever had an improvisational solo talent that they chose to restrict.

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6 hours ago, cixelsyd said:

True improvisation is such a rare talent that few corps would ever confront the issue to begin with.

True improv is not a rare talent; it is produced all the time by Jazz, Fusion, and Funk players all around the globe; it is no more rare than true music performed by players.  Some of the improv players have inherent talent, others have learned skill.  But to say their ability to improv is rare is far reaching hoo-haa.  Scholastic Jazz Bands are chock full of those who can improv nicely; Night Clubs from NYC to Chicago to Dallas to LA to Paris and beyond all have great solo impov occurring every night.  It is just something that is avoided in symphonic and concert/marching band situations (which is where most DCI marching performers come from).

Edited by Stu
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Of course it is allowed. That being said, in my experience, over the course of a long season, the folks that have had the skills and leeway to improvise often settled into an ideal solo by season's end. 

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At times over the years on the DCA side of life, some soloists have been given leeway on certain solos or riffs. Ritchee Price, Joey Pero, among others.

But a number of those guys were/are professional players for the most part, so an improv was not completely out of their realm.

But I absolutely understand why the vast majority of solos.... at any level of drum corps, DCI, DCA, or alumni corps...  are, for all intents and purposes, played "to the letter" as written.  Especially if the brass ensemble is keying off a particular solo for an entrance... it would be tough if that solo changed every time it was played. LOL. 

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 So,... to currently summarize... the DCP answer to the OP's question "  are DCI Brass soloists allowed to improvise ? " is  the following.... 1) "No. Never".    2) "Yes... Always".... 3 ) "Sometimes, but infrequently"... 4)" Nobody here can possibly know the answer to the question"...... 5)" Don't listen to those who claim they know ( and the don't knows ? ) "....,  6 ") BD improvises never.. always..... sometimes."..... 7)" BD doesn't count".  8 ) " what is improvisation ? ""  I think this about covers it up to now, near as I can tell anyway... haha!. Glad we havn't confused the OP here today and can assist him here with his question.... lol!

Edited by BRASSO
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1 hour ago, Fran Haring said:

At times over the years on the DCA side of life, some soloists have been given leeway on certain solos or riffs. Ritchee Price, Joey Pero, among others.

 

 Yes, I have witnessed brass solo improvisation ( as I understand the term ) in the past in a few of the DCA show performances, I've even seen " brass soloists " in DCA competitions some years that even planted themselves on the front sidelines, never marched a lick on the field the entire show performance and played their brass solos there on the 50 yard line, sidelines, however they deemed they wanted too ( and when ) in that performance. Some of these  brass soloists were sometimes the brass arrangers and/ or the horn instructors themselves in the Corps... haha!.... but the OP's questions here on the DCI side of DCP, is asking us about " DCI ". But your comment regarding DCA in the past in some cases is so noted... and is accurate, Fran.

Edited by BRASSO
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1 hour ago, Fran Haring said:

At times over the years on the DCA side of life, some soloists have been given leeway on certain solos or riffs. Ritchee Price, Joey Pero, among others.

But a number of those guys were/are professional players for the most part, so an improv was not completely out of their realm.

But I absolutely understand why the vast majority of solos.... at any level of drum corps, DCI, DCA, or alumni corps...  are, for all intents and purposes, played "to the letter" as written.  Especially if the brass ensemble is keying off a particular solo for an entrance... it would be tough if that solo changed every time it was played. LOL. 

Yeah in Dca soloists and drum majors took alot of leeway often causing a hot mess on several levels.thankfully that stopped mostly

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