cixelsyd Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 10 hours ago, glory said: Of the top six finishers' programs in 2017, which would you like to see continue as a direction for drum corps? And which would you like to see abandoned? None of the above. I do not want to see the entire direction of drum corps follow any single previous program idea. Generally speaking, what I would like to see as a "direction" is less use of props and amplification, and more unison drill/guardwork and pure acoustic brass/percussion. That said, my opinions on the top six 2017 programs. Boston was my clear favorite among the 2017 top six programs. Their array of props and featured vocal soloist seemed like tastefully restrained use of props and amps compared to the other corps. At the opposite extreme, I have no desire to cue up video of BD, SCV or Cavaliers. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glory Posted February 21, 2018 Author Share Posted February 21, 2018 1 hour ago, cixelsyd said: None of the above. I do not want to see the entire direction of drum corps follow any single previous program ... Need not be direction for the entire activity. Just direction in general. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MotoSurfBass Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 11 hours ago, DrumManTx said: I would prefer each to follow their own unique path, but I know what scores well is what will bleed down. Agree with this, with one special note: To the Bluecoats, please stop overdeveloping your show during Spring Training. The last two years, you have come out of the gate with a fully realized final version at your first show. While this is fantastic for early season competitions and puts you on the inside track in June and July, if you don't give your show room to grow and change you WILL have other corps blow by you in August, as you did this year. Please, PLEASE take it easy this year. Have a clear concept and ideas at the Premiere, but leave plenty of room to add or change elements of the show throughout the season. That will help keep you fresh through Finals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glory Posted February 21, 2018 Author Share Posted February 21, 2018 11 hours ago, Liahona said: I appreciate the thoughtfulness of your post...but wish you would ADD your thoughts on the topic as a starter. Yeah. I'm pretty negative about last year (which is unusual for me). Didn't want to go first and set negative tone. Anyway ... Direction to follow. Jazzy - BD and Bloo have been jazzier lately, including 2017. That's good thing. Love the swing. Love that you can score without making it seem as if good music is an intellectual challenge. A big brassy ballad - BD gave us one for the ages. (See "ballads not brassy" below for the other side of this discussion.) Direction to Abandon (a partial list lest y'all think I'm a hater) Dark themes and dull uniforms - Burning witches, a huge black slash, deconstruction, primordial man forms, snakes chasing their tales ... Not only did the 2017 themes lean heavily on darker notions, the uniforms they wore were mostly colorless. Too much grey (and of course black). Even when some corps used green for contrast, that contrast got lost in the turf. Lighten up ... Ballad that's not brassy - I'm good with mic'ed singing. I just think too many corps are using the ballad as the spot to showcase female vocals. More brass please. Brass taking the easy way out - I'm talking about you SCV and Cavies. Watch the tape. Note how the brass seldom play anything remotely challenging on the move. It's whole and half notes on the march. Anything difficult is stationary. Even Boston with a drill that was decades ago slow. Uncovered - Someone needs to pass a rule. Corps look better in shakos, aussies and whatever that is that Crown has been wearing. Keep covered. HH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranintothedoor Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 Ugh... I hate excessive DOMINAAAANT-percussion break*rimshot* rest - RESOOOLVE thing. This is great if you've built and earned the tension, but if you didn't it's pretentious and meh. One of my favorite uses of this technique done tastefully is Cadets '92. (This one was, in my opinion, earned... the tension had been building for 3 minutes! Plus it was used in a Coda... they'd already delivered on the tonic chord right before this part, so the audience's ear was satisfied... the Coda was basically just candy for the ear afterward. Love the writing and pacing of this show. ) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 music that doesn't get cut from media due to sync rights 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ibexpercussion Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 BD- More of the "in your face" and toe-tapping charts. I loved the ballad, and then the way they tied it all together and melted our faces off at the end. SCV- I liked the use of new music, but could do without the individual ensemble carrying the meat of the brass book. Crown- Mentioned already, but too much of the vocalist. It would be fine in a small part (see Boston 17, Crossmen 2015). Loved the opening of the show. Cavies- Loved that they played well, and were able to bring some levity to their program as well. Bluecoats- Keep doing "your thing," but maybe go back to more traditional style uniforms. Boston- Loved the percussion writing, as a nice mix of old school/modern progressive writing. The use of vocals was just enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triple Forte Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 17 hours ago, glory said: HockeyDad inspired me. So here's my question to spark a little discussion during this quiet month. Of the top six finishers' programs in 2017, which would you like to see continue as a direction for drum corps? And which would you like to see abandoned? For reference, the top six finishers, in no particular order, were: BD, SCV, Crown, Cavies, Bluecoats and Boston. Define the program attributes as you like. But know that this is a discussion about programs, not performance, staff, members, expenses, etc. Anyone who discusses anything except program will be required to read the Cadets 2018 thread from beginning to end. The question again: Of the top six finishers' programs in 2017, which would you like to see continue as a direction for drum corps? And which would you like to see abandoned? Trends I would like to see continued are Bluecoats musically Crown visually Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeN Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 I'd like to see more corps follow SCV's lead visually. Their program had a very logical flow to it that made it both easy to follow (they made sure you were looking where they wanted you to) and full of "wow" moments. I'd like to see more corps follow Bluecoats musically. Let's have fun with drum corps, you know? BD caught on this year - their ballad, while a bit of a throwback, was totally in line with Great Gig in the Sky, and the two of those tower over pretty much every other ballad in DCI those seasons. More jazz, more prog rock, more pulling modern music into drum corps and lets all get blown away by how awesome all of that music is! Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowtown Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 Brass Lover echoed my thoughts but to add Likes Blue Devils, fully developed music in their ballad, allowing a song time to breathe, develop and resolve. Funny / sad but they displayed a wider musical vocabulary than most by playing a song SCV, a focused visual program that relied on drill to generate effect. Unlike many others, the visuals mostly had a point and reflected the theme, very little gratuitous posing and box checking Crown, loved your brass in the first part and um Cavies, some good guard moments, nice field integration with the brass at time Bluecoats, marchers sold the show Boston had the most complete, unified package in the top 6, all section were integrated towards the theme. It made sense and was easy to follow, mostly avoided cheese or talking down to the audience. I saw a show, not designers’ egos. Dislikes Originally, I did this corps by corps but it became a long winded rant on the designers poorly utilizing their toys so we’ll just shotgun it as a general statement Over reliance on amps, sound effect patches, and synths to generate music GE at the expensive of composition and playing resulted in incoherent musical books with limited replay value Stale visual programs showed the flaws of the recent movement trends. Visual programs were boring, disconnected and unengaging with too much emphasis on individual, sectional and pod visuals and not enough drill or full ensemble visual moments. Shows looked like they were practiced on 3 fields, integration was forced. Dirt was abundant on finals night Overall, I felt like I was watching designers trying to be cleaver and wasn’t all that entertained. We may have hit the point where there is not enough musical performance to sustain my interest. The marchers need more musical responsibilities otherwise, I might as well watch Mass Games 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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