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Keep the Amps out of drum corps, part dos


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Something I noticed about the petition and how it is presented is a problem.  I am for the amped pit for the reasons that most corps use it for.  But There needs to be better guidelines established.

There are guidelines...mic placement geographically-speaking, who can be micced (no brass)...etc...what other guidelines are you looking for?

Mike

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We now have 2 seasons’ worth of evidence that such innovations fail to enhance the overall quality of the product, but rather degrade it.

That is pure opinion...and IMO not remotely true.

As long as the petition is just spouting opinion....Both corps who used it last year used it well, and once the balance issues are resolved, the Cadets use this year will be fine too...have not heard the western corps.

Last season we were led to believe that pits would be smaller

I'd love to see the genesis of this...plus, according to Jeff the pits are down a person on average. I'd rather they stay the same size, myself.

and able to play across a greater dynamic spectrum than in the past, but instead, the result was a glut of overbalanced pits that made it impossible to hear brass lines on the field, as evidenced in DCI end-of-season recordings

They are able to play across a wider dynamic spectrum.

I never had a problem hearing the brass...you can't use RECORDINGS as evidence of balance issues.

We were also told that brass lines would not be able to utilize microphones, and yet there were several instances of the brass lines being picked up by the microphones because of their field staging

If that is true...assess a penalty. The only one I've read to date that said that is a person who was standing on the field. I never heard any brass coming through the amps from the stands.

we were told that there would be consistent standards of judging corps that used amps in their performances; there were none. On a few occasions, corps suffered electrical or equipment failure, and yet were rewarded with higher scores, something that would never be done for any other sort of “failure”, be it a musical or marching mistake.

You can't know why scores show to show went up. Different slates, different competition. Maybe they'd have been higher if the amps had not failed. There is just no way to tell WHY something happened score-wise on a given show.

5 division 2 and 3 corps were forced to go inactive this year as a result of these costs, and yet some directors want to continue to push the economic envelope and make it even more expensive for corps to be able to compete

How many said amps were a factor? Did they purchase amps? At least one of them specifically stated that finances were NOT a factor. Another alluded to internal issues and rehearsal location problems. Just making this stuff up is not going to help the case here, IMO.

We know that this is what lies ahead, because two Division 1 drum corps directors have even admitted that it would be impossible in the future for a corps to be competitive without utilizing the newest innovations, should the visions of a few directors continue unchecked.

Who are the two? Jeff Fiedler already covered that, and if the second was Darren from the 'Coats, he is 1) not the director and 2) did not say anything close to that...he refuted that assertion himself.

Recently, a few individual corps have been able to secure sponsorship from various corporations. We are concerned that such arrangements, while beneficial for these individual corps, will ultimately wind up hurting the activity as a whole if lower-ranking corps are not able to make similar arrangements, thus making the competitive gap even more difficult to span.

Corps receive sponsorships for all sorts of things. Have for decades. As far as I know, they still pay for their stuff.

Already, we have witnessed corps shows where such voice-overs, singing, narration, amplifying pits, etc. do not provide any meaningful additions to the corps' program

Again, pure opinion by those who hated the idea from day one. Irrelevant, IMO.

Good luck.

Mike

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I think amps themself are OK if used sparingly.

There are some percussion instruments that would really bring out some nice effects.

However, since most Corps are just using it as an excuse to have Vocals I would say NO to AMPS just for that reason.

Why not change it to using amps in exhibition only?

I don't dig the vocals at all!

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There are guidelines...mic placement geographically-speaking, who can be micced (no brass)...etc...what other guidelines are you looking for?

Mike

Said guidelines didn't stop several instances of brass lines being picked up by the mics, regardless of their positioning, something that many fans who attended shows attested to last season.

So I guess I'm looking for a consistent enforcement of the guidelines that are in place, and for corps that have their hornlines picked up by the mics, whether accidentally or intentionally, be penalized, which I was led to believe would be the case.

Edited by Galen
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I hear more problems with balance and tone quality with amps than without.

I think you get better blend and overall musicianship from a completely acoustic ensemble than a mixed one.

I worry about safety. Several pit members admitted getting shocked last summer. The more electric cords on the field, the more likely someone will be seriously injured.

I hope I'm proved wrong about safety, but I know of 1 tragedy in the band world several years ago.

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Exactly. I'm in favor of AMPS (don't start a flamewar here.....I have an opinion, sorry). I might have signed last year but when someone approached me in Denver to sign I said I was still puzzled. The guy responded that when I wouldn't sign I would be in favor of killing drumcorps. I thought that was extremely rude and have not signed. I guess the whole campaign should be less agressive. It is OK to state your opinion on a matter like this. I understand people do not like AMPS. I don't have a problem with it, not even the singing. The only thing that bothers me is the quality of it, not too good, but that might be a matter of time.

All I'm trying to say is......do go on with your campaign if you want to. The only thing is dislike is the agressiveness of some people. They find a way to turn every discussion in an AMPS discussion. People against AMPS are very vocal, people in favor are not......

The only reason why I skip posts in this forum is because someone changes the whole thing to bash AMPS and the corps that use them. If we could stop that, the whole campaign might be even more succesfull.

Just my opinion.

Your assertion that the anti-amp people are the only aggressive ones is completely false...

Many pro-ampers (except Mike Davis) get HIGHLY offended when we voice what we don't like....worse yet, in the past year, I have yet to hear a concrete argument FOR keeping the amps.

Sorry, but the pro-ampers' aggression is far closer to being nothing but whining.

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