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It's time for original music


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Seems the Corps and dci/dca jump through hoops for these rights and licenses. As we know they sometimes need to gut their media products to comply. Then along comes YouTube and it's all right there for you to do want you want with it. A few years ago YT audio/video was sub-par and the media won out. Jump to today's codex and it's up to 1080P (Blu-Ray quality) and will soon be 1440P or 4k the more common term. I always thought that at some point YouTube would be limited in quality to make you seek a licensed copy easy enough to accomplish but not happening maybe block chain will fix that down the road who knows but it is unfair right now. For me I feel a little guilty watching an unredacted copy of New York State of Mind but it's out there.

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1 hour ago, kdaddy said:

Drum corps arranging today is so much more about creating mood than arranging existing music that the line between "original music" and "arranged music" is pretty blurred. Not from a legal perspective but from a listener's perspective.

I agree. 

I think back to how Bloo would have these tasty arrangements of jazz charts that really were amazing creations; yet because of the prominent melodic content-the listener always had solid recognition of both the form of the chart as well as the overall aesthetic motif. [Liking how much of this has remained for them]

As you shared, many of today's arrangements [equally creative & wonderful] are designed imo in such a comparatively different idiomatic style.

I can appreciate both, especially when the entire ensemble brings it, but surely notice distinction of what you mentioned.

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Original music works on a case by case basis. I have enjoyed some original music over the years and in other cases, less so. It seems that much of the original music used is composed by someone either on staff or associated with the staff. Often it seems to be a bridge between compositions. For me, when a corps uses an original piece, it has to grow on me. If I see a show once, I tend to not be moved. If I see it more than once, I tend to enjoy it more. I think this lends credibility to those who enjoy recognizing the music or at least some of it in performances. Crossmen and Mandarins have used original music, my guess is composed for the specific show, and it has worked.

Someone mentioned "Florida Suite" in a previous comment. While I do not question Suncoast's talent, and they were daring as the Vietnam show demonstrated,  I do not recall "Florida Suite" being well received, and a quick review on DCX shows judges did not give it high marks either. Granted, 1989 was a great year for drum corps. As I look back, I know where my bias comes from and that's the title. I expected the music of Frederick Delius. When I watch the show today, I can see it as an underrated show. That being said, I am willing to bet there is not one corps who hopes that their shows will get a questionable response by judges and fans when performed but nearly thirty years later will be viewed as genius (it's scary remembering that Suncoast's last finals appearance was almost thirty years ago). That's a risk a corps takes when original music is used.

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13 hours ago, Daave said:

 When was the last time it was attempted and how long has it been since? 

It's been 2 whole years since Crossmen did a show based on mostly original music.  It was a pretty good show and it keep them in finals.

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13 hours ago, Daave said:

When was the last time it was attempted and how long has it been since? 

While the show wasn't entirely original music, BD's 2014 show had original compositions by Dave Glyde and Gordon Goodwin. In fact, every single BD show since 2014 has had some original music in it by Gordon Goodwin or Dave Glyde (including this year, Dave Glyde only). I'd say all those shows have had a good amount of success

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34 minutes ago, Tim K said:

Original music works on a case by case basis. I have enjoyed some original music over the years and in other cases, less so. It seems that much of the original music used is composed by someone either on staff or associated with the staff. Often it seems to be a bridge between compositions. For me, when a corps uses an original piece, it has to grow on me. If I see a show once, I tend to not be moved. If I see it more than once, I tend to enjoy it more. I think this lends credibility to those who enjoy recognizing the music or at least some of it in performances. Crossmen and Mandarins have used original music, my guess is composed for the specific show, and it has worked.

Someone mentioned "Florida Suite" in a previous comment. While I do not question Suncoast's talent, and they were daring as the Vietnam show demonstrated,  I do not recall "Florida Suite" being well received, and a quick review on DCX shows judges did not give it high marks either. Granted, 1989 was a great year for drum corps. As I look back, I know where my bias comes from and that's the title. I expected the music of Frederick Delius. When I watch the show today, I can see it as an underrated show. That being said, I am willing to bet there is not one corps who hopes that their shows will get a questionable response by judges and fans when performed but nearly thirty years later will be viewed as genius (it's scary remembering that Suncoast's last finals appearance was almost thirty years ago). That's a risk a corps takes when original music is used.

You might want to look at Florida Suite I (1985) instead of Florida Suite II (1989).

If I recall correctly, they came in seventh, but won brass, on Finals night?

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34 minutes ago, Tim K said:

Someone mentioned "Florida Suite" in a previous comment. While I do not question Suncoast's talent, and they were daring as the Vietnam show demonstrated,  I do not recall "Florida Suite" being well received, and a quick review on DCX shows judges did not give it high marks either. Granted, 1989 was a great year for drum corps. As I look back, I know where my bias comes from and that's the title. I expected the music of Frederick Delius. When I watch the show today, I can see it as an underrated show. That being said, I am willing to bet there is not one corps who hopes that their shows will get a questionable response by judges and fans when performed but nearly thirty years later will be viewed as genius (it's scary remembering that Suncoast's last finals appearance was almost thirty years ago). That's a risk a corps takes when original music is used.

Just to clarify. You said 1989 and yes that was Florida Suite. But that was version 2. Original Florida Suite was performed in 1985 and finished 6th. 

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2 hours ago, Bluzes said:

Seems the Corps and dci/dca jump through hoops for these rights and licenses. As we know they sometimes need to gut their media products to comply. Then along comes YouTube and it's all right there for you to do want you want with it. A few years ago YT audio/video was sub-par and the media won out. Jump to today's codex and it's up to 1080P (Blu-Ray quality) and will soon be 1440P or 4k the more common term. I always thought that at some point YouTube would be limited in quality to make you seek a licensed copy easy enough to accomplish but not happening maybe block chain will fix that down the road who knows but it is unfair right now. For me I feel a little guilty watching an unredacted copy of New York State of Mind but it's out there.

 

4K (actually called 4k UHD) is 3840 × 2160. 1440p is an intermediary resolution common in computers, not televisions.

Quibble aside, you make a very good point.

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7 minutes ago, StarOrg said:

Just to clarify. You said 1989 and yes that was Florida Suite. But that was version 2. Original Florida Suite was performed in 1985 and finished 6th. 

I am aware there were two Florida Suites, but I saw the 1989 show live more than once, so I felt more comfortable using this example. I do not believe I saw Suncoast live in 1985. The only shows I saw that year were local circuit shows. 

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24 minutes ago, ftwdrummer said:

You might want to look at Florida Suite I (1985) instead of Florida Suite II (1989).

If I recall correctly, they came in seventh, but won brass, on Finals night?

DCX has them placing 6th, and captions has Cadets and Blue Devils tied for 1st. As I mentioned in another comment, I saw Suncoast more times in 1989 than I did in 1985, which was only on television.

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