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Showing content with the highest reputation on 09/14/2012 in all areas

  1. Hear, hear. In summary, I think its a great thing that Gray is doing less of the creative decision making and some new folks will get the opportunity to actually take the corps places without being second-guessed. There was some amazing talent that was wasted this year on a boring and predictable overall design concept. Please, whatever you do, don't lay blame at the feet of the horns and drums--they got it done. I won't say Gray is arrogant, ineffective, or uncooperative, but I would add that the number of people who have left the corps (even mid-season) since he arrived speaks volumes about staff unhappiness and self-worth. Seriously, have you ever had to endure one of his motivational or philosophical conversations? It seems as though the most dangerous place in the world is that space between Michael Gray and a microphone. He loves the sound of his own voice so much that he is drawn to a video camera like others are drawn to oxygen. When scrolling through FanNetwork videos, I no longer watch the official Bluecoats videos for fear of having to endure some long rant on how the Bluecoats' show conveys some nebulous or meaningless mindset. This is so much the case that I know which videos he has scripted, even though his voice may be absent from the video--others are doing the jibber jabbering for him.
    4 points
  2. I'll be turning 27 years old in December and have been doing pagentry full time as a career for 5 years already. Teaching drum corps is MAYBE 3% of my annual income. Writing drill for marching bands is about 94% while the last 3% being random marching clinics, etc. Drum corps is not "my career" but is my career all at the same time. (Not sure if that came across the way I meant it to) Teaching drum corps is how I got the "street credit" to be able to write marching band drill for a living at a very young age. It's a tough market to break into with no benefits, long hours, a scary tax season, etc. But there are also many perks to it. Make sure you're 100% committed to it before you decide to do it and be prepared to be really hungry for the first couple of years. :-p
    4 points
  3. Let's get this done for them folks. Whatever the cause of their trouble we're all a family. Family helps when we're needed. Don't let another corps fall into history because you wouldn't make a donation, even a small one. I made a small donation by PayPal. Remember you don't need a PayPal account to make a PayPal donation, they take credit cards too. Best of luck Bush
    4 points
  4. 4 points
  5. I definitely noticed his penchant for mindless drivel after listening to his second installment on The Marching Roundtable. I think he means well, but he's caught up in the business of being an artist with its usual motto of "everything must be meaningful and deep" nonsense. Maybe I'm just jaded after studying and taking a billion art and philosophy classes that anytime I hear anything that resembles a search for the metaphysical, I roll my eyes.
    3 points
  6. I noticed that one back in '91 watching the show - you see it every so often where the drill comes up to meet the soloist instead of the other way around. I've always thought the drill coming to get them was always a much cooler move. Mike
    3 points
  7. Having heard from Jay, Bob and Dave....and still not necessarily able to make perfect sense of everything....i did what I thought was right.... I hit the Bushwackers website, clicked on Donate and put a little in the PayPal kitty. I didnt want to miss out on an opportunity to be part of the solution. This drive toward a solution has a REAL chance at being a drum corps success story.
    3 points
  8. Frank, although I totally understand where your coming from, the sheets don't make sense as far the Judges comments. How do you get comments like "great show", "aggressive charts" "very entertaining" and then get a score that doesn't back those comments up. If we got sheets that said "tempo problems" "weak show", Corps not able to sell show, then we would understand what we have to improve on and that would justify the score . We would much rather have constructive criticism. I believe tapes would provide us with this as the Judges could comment as they go along and point out weaknesses and strengths. It's really that simple
    2 points
  9. Ummm...turn the sheets around.... There you will find what exactly what the judges are awarding criteria and points on! Take those sheets, max out the criteria set forth, and you get your score. All I'm saying is if you feel you need the sheets or a tape, then good for you. Me personally, as long as I understand HOW to read the sheets that are given to each mini corps in the packet when the mini corps registers, I try my best to apply it to the said corps, and let the chips fall where they may. Because the championships is a one shot deal, and as ALL of the DCA corps do NOT get tapes at Championships, (just sheets), they do the same for Mini Corps. I'm sorry....but a tape for this year will absolutely do nothing for me next year! Sheets might help some, but if the sheets stay the same, year to year, then I as an instructor or program coordinator of my mini corps should know how to inturpret those sheets! Yes...my opinion of this has changed over the years.
    2 points
  10. Another option is to marry a rich Princess.... sort of like the updated and modern day version of the Cinderella Story . Then as the worldly Prince, one is free to do the full time Drum Corps teaching thing throughout the Drum Corps Kingdom.
    2 points
  11. Start with the entire Top 12 from 1984 - maybe the best 1-12 top to bottom ever!
    2 points
  12. Cavies had plenty of performance issues. I know some turned a blind eye/ deaf ear to them.. But they didnt sound all that great, and they looked awful on the field. Bring the red things.... haven't recieved any since the last time I spoke out on the Cavies. But no.. they are so great. best drum corpz ever!!!! I luved their sunglasses!!!! <3<3<3 I <3 the cavaliers!!! Yeah boyz!!
    2 points
  13. You might consider the U.S. Marine Corps D&BC. http://drumcorps.mbw.usmc.mil/
    2 points
  14. I think I am stating what the rest of the drum corps world has already stated. We are not used to seeing the Cavaliers as a "bottom 6" drum corps. At least not since 1984 and 1997. It's a competitive environment, everyone is working to create the best product they can, and each organization has it's own set of unique challenges that influence what you see come finals night. Your above stats are correct... in this current decade only once have The Cavaliers and Boston been in the same conversation (2012). The other years? Not so comparable. Do you understand my comment now? Thanks for illustrating it, but I didn't say "never been compared to..." I said "foreign" meaning "out of the oridinary".
    2 points
  15. I've grown very tired of "bring back" shows. It would only delay their rebuild. Look forward and be part of the future.
    2 points
  16. I was going to suggest "15 Minutes of Fame," but it might be too soon.
    2 points
  17. Cadets 11, Phantom 08....there's your GE monsters
    2 points
  18. I am agreeing with all those who have mentioned Bluecoats--i felt they were amazing every time i heard them. (ANd their drum line was amazing as well)
    2 points
  19. I'd say: Bluecoats (I had them in 3rd...) Spirit Crossmen Pacific Crest
    2 points
  20. The person who posted that comment lacks basic math skills.
    2 points
  21. So I was checking out the Aimachi video that Boo posted, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTJe84VeOIs Since I saw them live at DCA, I've been watching the Kidgrove Scouts too. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vM-Pum1CEM0 Finally, I saw Patria from Guatemala because of the BD trip there I know there are groups in Indonesia, Europe, and other places in the world. It's great to see Drum Corps and the marching arts in general in so many countries around the world. Still the question remains... What part of the world can rival the US, or at least come the closest to rivaling us in quality? Are there groups in China that could compete here? What about Brazil? My guess is that Japan is the closest, followed by Europe. What do you guys think? I know many of you are very knowledgeable about the marching arts around the world. Is there a region or even a country that can rival us? Where is it? Who comes the closest?
    1 point
  22. You ask a question of me that is not quite the concern and/ or priority for me that it might be with you. For example, perhaps you attend shows to determine who is " the best ". Thats cool. I attend shows to find out which one is the " most entertaining " as it is defined by me. As such, at local shows, I usually leave after I've determined which was the " most entertaining " ( and my personal placements for this at the show ) and then let the judges decide who was " the best " on the judging sheets they use. We are usually on the highway when the judges scores are announced. Only at Regionals do I have some interest in the scores and placements. But even then, its not what brings me out to the shows. Some of my " best " shows didn't place well at all. That doesn't concern me.
    1 point
  23. I was at the Championships in '93 and I talked with more people that thought even Phantom Regiment should have finished ahead of 93 Star. Were you at the Championships ? There was no ( for example ) booing that the Cadets won, nor did I sense much anger at all that Star did not win. While Star won the Quarters, the Cadets then pulled away in both the Semi's and the Finals. Quite of few fans didn't care for their show at all as a matter of fact. So I'm a bit confused by this comment on Stars placement in 93 with the fans reaction. Star finished 2nd in back to back competitions with 2 different sets of DCI judges and I didn't sense much anger by the fans at all to it. If the Cadets were going to do a recreation of another show from another decade, I 'd much prefer to have them ressurect one of their own winning shows, rather than a 2nd place show from some other Corps. I liked the DCI winning 93 Cadets show better than the '93 Star show, so if they were to do a recreation, it would be better to do that Cadets show if it came to that.
    1 point
  24. With all due respect to the Jim Ott award winning Carolina Crown for 2012, the cleanest horn line of them all was the Blue Devils. However, most underrated of the big boys goes to the Bluecoats. The Bluecoats proved, once again, that their hornline has been among the most consistent, impactful, darkest, cleanest, and bad#ss sounding hornlines of recent years. Staying with the "Blue's", how about the Blue Stars? The Blue Stars were among the loudest hornlines last year (the loudest award goes to Crown in 2012). I enjoyed their book. I still think the Blue Stars deserved to be in finals, but, why digress any further!
    1 point
  25. Frank is right, but for those that insist a tape with comments will help them for next year, let me give you some helpful comments that should assist you when designing your next program: BE MORE AWESOME. GET BETTER. SUCK LESS. Do you really need anything else? Anything more than that is just frosting.
    1 point
  26. I've always wanted to make my way up the ranks. I love teching. Music and visual.. I've done it all. And I know I would be good at the drum corps level.. I guess I have to just start making myself more visible. I just have other priorities right now. But being a marching band arranger, and drum corps brass arranger might be a my dream job. If I could make enough money I don'r know. I digress. I ####ed enough #### up... I gotta work myself out of this hole first before I can actually do what i want to do. However being a GM at a high volume Wawa is a great career choice. Seriously. #### being a teacher.....
    1 point
  27. Far be it for me to go toe to toe with the Master of CI (I'm verklempt ), however I am not suggesting that design by itself can carry a corps to the title. In fact design requires top notch captions as well (but I refer to them as "the ticket ride")....IMO championships are built on the backs of monster designs (those..."oh yeah, that's one's going to seriously compete" designs). And in the best DC designs, the captions actually rise up to meet the level of the production. Some obvious exceptions, BD 08 and Crown 12 Percussion. And again IMO, the sheets just record all of that....they're not calculated.... just judge's rationale for outcomes. Also, I'm not suggesting that design was Cavies only problem this year, but design is like a badly written musical with the best actors and musicians available to perform it. They can only take it so far, and I would even suggest that as the season begins and everyone (including the MM's) know that they have a weak performance vehicle....it effects the attitude of the performers and even the staff. In some way, I think I'm attempting to define CI and how it works negatively as well.
    1 point
  28. Maybe they could combine elements of dance, Japanese pop-culture AND a couple additional minutes of fame? What?
    1 point
  29. How about they pick a few catchy songs that don't have to have anything to do with one another, get awesome arrangements of them and play that? No title to the show, no intellectual meaning that we're supposed to figure out (or be told via loud in-show narration).
    1 point
  30. Caballeroville sounds like a great place, so move to Mankato and join in on the fun. I think the Cabs need to do a show in the Mankato area in honnor of Bob, lets say, around the weekend after DCI sounds good. I believe I could put together a drum corps show and a little party to go along with this event. p.s. Bring the alumni corps as well
    1 point
  31. That's $8,500 raised in six days, leaving four to eight days (the original post of 9/7 said they had a window of "10-14 days" -- can anyone explain the uncertainty?) to get the remaining $3,500 (and hopefully more, on the assumption that the corps will try to make Mr. Kapp whole, including the lost interest).
    1 point
  32. they should honor their innovative history by continuing the tradition of bringing something new and fresh to the field.
    1 point
  33. Sweet: so DCI should then drop brass and go w/all woodwinds & string instruments. THAT has never been done before...
    1 point
  34. Many thanks for this. I'd like to suggest that this be permanently pinned at the top of the Historical Junior Corps board.
    1 point
  35. Now we're talkin'!! I also propose that F# and Cb should no longer be used, as it's been done before and by the best. Chuck
    1 point
  36. Hmm. No company fronts, no box rotation, no box compression or expansions. Isn't everything a direct repeat or variation on what has been done before? That to me is what pushes the creativity- how to do something a little differently or better than before. Now if you manage something entirely new, all the better.
    1 point
  37. THEY DO IT REGARDLESS OF ACCESS TO TAPES OR NOT!!! WHAT IS SO ###### HARD ABOUT THAT FOR YOU TO GET? Long before you had the interwebs, lower level corps copied big name corps. Now with the interwebs they do it. so putting a tape up or the ability to put a tape up hasn;t changed a ###### thing. I see far too many WGI lines trying to do what Pulse, RCC, Music City, X etc do badly...and there's few if any WGI tapes floating around. So what's their excuse...err your excuse?
    1 point
  38. I thought that the Cavaliers were underrated. In the early season, they had some heros sticking out of the ensemble, and definitely you could hear their feet in their horns, but by the end of July, they had a much improved sound. Maybe not quite up to their usual championship level, but really good. I also was really impressed with Bluecoats, Madison and Santa Clara's brass lines. Each had a mature and powerful sound. But out of that group, I would give the edge to the Bluecoats.
    1 point
  39. Lines that play stuff and do so extremely well. 2012: BD Spirit of Atlanta Bluecoats
    1 point
  40. Nothing wrong with real grass if it's well-kept. I'd expect that since it's an MLS venue, the carpet would be nothing short of impeccable. Another great option might be Crew Stadium in Columubus OH. One of the best stadiums I've ever performed at hands down, great facilities, parking and concessions, a major urban environment, and very well-situated to be conveniently accessible to both east coast corps and midwest corps (and west coast corps won't have quite as far to travel).
    1 point
  41. Bluecoats Crossmen Spirit SCV and Oregon Crusaders
    1 point
  42. Much like the Democratic National Convention the Judging system doesn't allow for the hearing of the truth. With the audience yelling I, the result is the judges saying they heard ney.
    1 point
  43. If there is no high cam, then this isn't a recording of the "show". It's vignettes of individuals within the show. Give us the SHOW
    1 point
  44. Great to see so much love for Bluecoats. Here's a great lot recording!
    1 point
  45. I'm sure this would put the activity in the news. Left-leaning news sites: "People have the constitutional right to throw pretend babies!" Right-leaning news sites: "Throwing pretend babies will always lead to throwing real babies- this is an outrage!"
    1 point
  46. I'll second that. I also thought the Bluecoats were one of the best sounding lines.
    1 point
  47. Bloo, PC, and Spirit from a scoring standpoint. I would've had them (SOA) ahead of Cavaliers in horns.
    1 point
  48. I would definitely say Bluecoats.
    1 point
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