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Showing content with the highest reputation on 09/11/2013 in all areas

  1. Please join me in offering a prayer of thanksgiving today that the life of my sister Regina was spared when the World Trade Towers were attacked on 9/11. She and her staff were out of her office that day at an off-site meeting. One of her staffers stopped at the office to pick up some materials enroute to the meeting for which he never arrived. It was 4 days wrought with anxiety and waiting until we learned he was ok. Not so were countless dozens of my neighbors, parishioners and friends, including a number of alums of the many small corps in metro-NYC area. Amonst the dead were four of my former students, Michael Cahill, Thomas McMahon, Colin Farrell, and Conor Lynch. Only Thomas' remains were identified to this day. Please keep their families, including Mike's wife and daughter in your prayers.I don't have PTS from that day or the many funerals although the memories of watching the burning towers from the windows of where I was stationed twenty miles away are still vivid.I am praying for peace in Syria and the Middle East as I am certain you are.Thanks.
    7 points
  2. From a staging point og view......sure. But Blue Devils will never be one of those corps that I watch on high cam not to miss any of the drill moves. They are the one corps I prefer close up - the "drill effects" just don't add up for me. Later, Mike
    6 points
  3. Thanks to DCP for keeping the 9/11 Tribute. I just watched it for the first time in months and I have got to admit that I shed some tears. Please continue to pray for our country because it is still a dangerous world and there are those who wish to hurt or kill us! Thanks to our military for defending our freedoms (including our ability to have drum corps shows) and our freedom to disagree on stylistic matters! God Bless America and God bless all drum corps people everywhere! Let us make sure we will never forget why freedom isn't free!
    4 points
  4. A few weeks ago I posted on FB that I was going to leave drum corps. By background is....started marching in upstate NY in 1970 (Royal Coachmen), taught Renegades (NY-1982),Rochester Patriots 1984-89, Hoechster Schlossgarde (Germany) 1987-88, Rochester Crusaders 1990, 2001-2003, Heatwave 2003. Presently teaching HS choral music in FL. I just seem to have lost interest! I am one of the rare older people here who like where the activity is. I am not happy that drum corps is dying but do appreciate what the remaining corps are doing to try to add someting different using technology. Like it or not, kids today are tech savvy and it is the way of the world. Old days were nice at the time but as the world changes, so does everything else...including drum corps. I love DCP because of the memories we can share BUT I hat DCP because of the direction some people want to take it. We should be more supportive of this activity rather than go gainst it. What good do we do if we become negative? Negative causes hatred and some of the posts on here are hateful. Most of the blame is put on one man. Maybe that one man is smarter than the rest of us. Maybe drum corps could have died way sooner but the creativeness and the direction taken by that one man has kept DC moving and breathing. I don't know GH and never met him BUT maybe, just maybe, his ideas have kept the activity in DCI from going under. Crazy huh? So, I sort of helped put a corps together down here but decided not to teach corps. I loved it but didn't feel the excitement anymore. I actually lost it in NY as I saw another corps start to decline. Didn't feel like part of the team my last summer. Maybe I wasn't good enough? I lean that way today because throughout my DC career I was never in any "clique." I was never good at BSing either. I never hung around the right people. My friends from my first corps were upset that I was talking about leaving. It was nice to hear that they cared but then, I don't see them anymore since I live in FL and they are in NY. I have a FB page for the old corps but I seem to be the only one that posts, so I don't do that anymore. I just feel that maybe my time is done and so I left the teaching part mostly because I love being with my wife. Love going to breakfast on Saturday morning, shopping and holding hands. That to me is what life is all about! Until 2004 drum corps was my love. My parents were tryingto get me to quit in 1974 and I fought. When I started teaching corps they thought I was nuts! After I started teaching school at 40 years old...it wasn't so bad. I haven't lost the drive really, still would like to do corps but.....I think it's for younger people now. Do I sound crazy? Anyone else feel like this? By the way...I love what the corps are doing today and I applaud the creativity and the education that is happening. Now carry on!
    3 points
  5. Atlanta to Hornell...20 Hours Atlanta to Downingtown...18 hours Atlanta to Annapolis...14 hours Not trying to rock the boat...just sayin'. Dan
    3 points
  6. Blue Devils did something with stadium lights in 99 at their home show. They were going to use blindfolds but decided to just turn off the lights and finished their show.
    3 points
  7. Nope. Not yet, anyway. Maybe your post will generate some of that. Personally, I don't see how one of the top couple DCA corps making a single trip someplace far away will have any impact on DCA, esp given the huge costs (read Amy's post about bus costs alone), but maybe someone can come up with a rationale. DCA is still primarily a Northeast circuit, when you look at the season on fromthepressbox. There are only four DCA shows outside of the Northeast where there are at least 4 DCA corps competing...Racine, two in MN and one in GA, all of them in early/mid August. On top of that, at each of the shows, there are only two Open class corps competing, if a 15-point spread can be called 'competing'. Even in June there are DCA shows in the Northeast with 5 Open class corps. One reason the dropping of Empire is so scary to me is that DCA needs to remain strong and viable in the Northeast for there to even be a DCA. Hopefully Bush and the Sunrisers continue their Open class resurgence, Fusion can continue to be competitive, and that C2 thrives. IMO if the Northeast portion of DCA drops below "critical mass", the circuit would have a tough time surviving. "Weekend-only" and "Nationwide exposure" only work when there is a strong core in at lest one area to provide a solid structure for the organization.
    3 points
  8. Well done Michael. But that's why you da Boo! :thumbup:/>
    2 points
  9. Well I guess we'll never know until they try it.
    2 points
  10. Jay's work sometimes looks deceptively simple because he writes it that way and the corps performs to such a degree that they make it look easy. But it's not simple at all. How he worked the corps around 100 poles this past season is a perfect example of that. As for the velocity of his forms, sometimes you have to look at the feet to see what's really going on. I was at one time in the camp that thought his shows moved kind of slow. I have since come to realize that his shows don't move slowly at all...that he plays with different types of velocity in a way that is unique to him. I have been in awe many of the past few years. When I watched Fan Network and saw "Through a Glass, Darkly" for the first time, I practically had to pick myself up off the floor. "Cabaret Voltaire" did the same thing to me. Once I realized what was going on out on the field, I couldn't take my eyes off the pacing and development of the forms. Jay forces one to look beyond drill evolutions, because everything he writes is in the process of evolving to the next stage. That's perhaps why it's a challenge to say what's one's favorite BD drill moments, as he doesn't "do" particular moments as much as entire shows. A typical BD drill "moment" is somewhat over 11 minutes long.
    2 points
  11. Is the guy on the right (side two) praying for guidance or out of frustration given who else is at the table?:w00t:/>/>
    2 points
  12. You got that one right. Bunch of bandos...it is cute to see their responses. Cute...like a little wet kitten...cute. I am old VK and I am TBDBITL, there is no comparison, at all.
    2 points
  13. 2 points
  14. IMO it didn't seem like the lighting they did in that show really contributed to anything other than the "wow they turned the lights off and have lasers" effect ....sometimes I feel this about some of the electronics in the shows these days....some feels like its there because they feel like they have to but yet add nothing in some cases. Again just my opinion
    2 points
  15. If they don't spell their name at the beginning of each game, they're liable to forget what it is. Shame....
    2 points
  16. I haven't seen this, but if it's already been covered swear under your breaths about old people texting without knowing what's going on. One of the biggest issues with travel for all but the tip-top of the competitive pile is that as a weekend activity you lose a week's rehearsal when you travel. I think that both Reading, Hawthorne, and MBI, judging from how tight the end of 2013 were, could absorb a travel week (i.e. no rehearsal except a couple of hours before the show). Everybody else needs every week from Schools' out through Labor Day to hit their points with their shows. Travel can wreak havoc on a weekend only activity.
    2 points
  17. We already got those when electronics was approved...We just didn't fully realize it at the time.
    2 points
  18. You'd have to catch the harp quietly. Any vibration of the strings would result in a penalty.
    2 points
  19. Following up last year's very entertaining video game show TBDBITL performed a show this past Saturday that had me reflecting on some of the fun drum corps fans came to know with the Velvet Knights, Bridgemen and now with Jersey Surf. I like how they used the huge scoreboard at The Shoe as a prop in the show. Last week the school up north (Michigan for those of you south of the Ohio border) did a script O H N O. The OSU band had a fun response this week. Halftime could be better than the game this year.
    1 point
  20. I'm starting a rumor here that the show "Resistance" is about the old GD horns we used to blow into. Most of them blew back harder. The drill could start in the form of my old "Smith" baritone (they were embarrassed to put a real company name on it - like checking into the NoTell Motel as Mr and Mrs John Smith). Then a form that looks like enormous cheeks puffing out... followed by a tremendously loud High G... Resistance... You asked for it... we supplied it... Getzen Bugles...
    1 point
  21. We sure did in 2004. Crown was the first to make entensive use of amplified voice, performing with amplified singers in one song, and staging an entire drum solo with beat poetry recited throughout. The hair-on-fire reactions I heard in person and online were right up there with "drum corps died in 1971". Today, in year 10 of amplified voice, it is pretty clearly here to stay, so complaints no longer reflect the hyperbolic desire to repeal the change. But the quantity of complaining remains in proportion to the extent of usage. Crown used a lot of amplified voice in 2013, and they received a lot of negative comments about it. Sorry, but he is dead wrong. Crown has never gotten "an instant pass on everything". Not in 2004. Not in 2007, when people jumped all over them the instant they added that racetrack commentary. And not in 2013. In your own words, Crown got hammered here this year. I rest my our case. Well.. remember that Plan sees pretty much all commentary on BD (sans outright praise) as "hammering".
    1 point
  22. I agree that Jay's work isn't what you would normally go check out on high cam like say a Michael Gaines' show would be. But even with all the accolades the corps has received and the success Jay has had, I do believe he is one of the most underrated designers ever in DCI. His staging is standard setting, especially within the color guard. I know his last handful of shows have not been popular, but part of that is because he (along with Scott Chandlier's input) is doing things that no one else in the activity does and very much out of the norm when it comes to "drill". Jay along with Scott at one point won 9 consecutive WGI Ind World titles between two different guards (4 with San Jose, 5 with the Blue Devils, or maybe the other way around?). They set the standard in that activity and changed how things were done. I believe lately they have done the same here with influence from their indoor history. I thought this year was a good mix of staged effects and actual drill, and they really amped up the demand. Again I know that is not popular but it's happening and they are getting credit for it. A lot of credit does have to go to Scott Chandlier. There are times where guard is written into an area of the field, and Scott does everything else in terms of playing with and mixing things up along with the choreography. It's a true team effort in that way and goes back to their long history together. It's also important to understand that just because the drill itself may not always be demanding, it does not mean that other things they are doing visually are not demanding. For example the playing while moving up and down on the chairs required a whole lot of body control to pull off. The weaving in and around the chairs blindly at a good tempo while playing was also not a piece of cake to pull off. He seems to get a bad rep for lack of demand and I think that's not always fair. I haven't even gotten into how great his instrumental staging is along with his musicality. His attention to detail in his musical staging mixed in with the color guard while still being effective and extremely musical has been a huge influence on my writing. As for my favorite designs of his in chronological order, I'd have to say 1994, 1995, 1999, 2000, 2003, and 2013.
    1 point
  23. It was one of the most defining moments of my design career because of it's meaning and intent. Never forget. Fran
    1 point
  24. I'm always kind of surprised when people bash on college marching bands, but maybe it's just me. People always complain and say drum corps shows need to be more entertaining and fun for the "normal" audience, and that's pretty much what college bands deliver. They're not out there producing some high-brow show, it's usually a really easy to grasp show with recognizable music. What's so bad about that? The kids enjoy it, and the people in the stands seem to. Maybe that's where people can go that just want entertaining shows all summer, just shift your viewing to the fall?
    1 point
  25. Hey guys my name is Nash. I am 15 years old and a sophomore in high school. I'm currently on my school's tenor line. I've been a fan of DCI for a while and I'm planning to try out for the Crossmen tenor line my senior year. What should I expect during tryouts? Also, what's it like during the experience camps? Thanks, Nash
    1 point
  26. For a second, you had me imagining that he would officially sign on as DCI's consulting conspiracy theorist. Naturally, such a move wouldn't be seen favorably by the drumcorps conspiracy theorists who had no direct affiliation with DCI.
    1 point
  27. ...of course BITD charts were hand written, and there are a few big-timers still doing it today (only what they write is transcribed to, mostly, Pyware for ease of teaching/communication)...the computer doesn't "generate" drill, it is "written" within the program...but you can move pretty quickly compared to charting by hand, that's for sure. I teach so many drills these days, well, I'm SICK of Pyware! I mean, you can easily see Pyware drill if you view with that in mind...of course you have to be familiar with *how* it looks, but that's no big deal if you pay attention. If you have Fan Network check out, say, Crossmen and then switch over to Colts...you will definitely see the difference. AFA "changed with the click of a mouse" well, it's just like charting by hand here, just easier to do the job, as far as I know there's no program out there that'll do the thinking for you if you're having to write-out a hole or something...guys are moving pretty fast nowadays, but they are making a living doing it...a *good* living...
    1 point
  28. Depends on how you define "loaded." MBI has more money in the bank than the other top 9 DCA corps combined. (Well, you'd maybe have to exclude C2 if you count YEA's resources) MBI has the largest budget. Their assests are greater than Phantom Regiment's. This is all on public record if you do the research. They did it based upon financial prudence, diversification of income and on top of that, they can still afford to go out east twice per season. THAT's the model that other DCA corps need to follow if this activity has any chance of long-term survival.
    1 point
  29. got me there ol buddy.
    1 point
  30. And this gets to the essence of of the difference between Gaines and Rosander. Myron understands that seemingly-finite space is actually infinite. How many points are there between 0 and 1 on a number line? It's one finite unit, right? But the answer is: INFINITE. There are an infinite number of points in shapes (a field) and solids too. I'm not judging one as better. From a practical point alone, Gaines is WAY BETTER. Gaines' art is in his ability as a "magician," and I mean that with the utmost respect. I walk away thinking he uses infinite space...even though I know he doesn't [strive to], lol. Gets back to the "dots vs form" thing, of which, again, I have no preference nor bias. I'm just an old-fart brass guy who has seen it all on both sides, and I'm reporting my observation here.
    1 point
  31. Recall that Boston Crusaders used LED lights under the white scrim which they rolled out during Charlie's great Les Miz low brass solo.
    1 point
  32. Our drumline wears red, but the hornline has always been blue. Guard is usually purple (except for the green year, but we don't talk about that much ) Thanks! It's great to be back!
    1 point
  33. don't think DCA subsidizes them. they come on their own. but it benefits MBI. they get an east coast read before DCA. lookat readings history. they never travelled. only time i remember was 1961 VFW NATS in 1961. minneapolis. they ain't gonna do it.
    1 point
  34. Can you guys take this to Marching Band Planet? This thread made me throw up in my mouth a little. Especially the comparison to VK part. Garry in Vegas
    1 point
  35. Bottom line, for the most part, the finances of many corps (as with many other non-profit organizations) are an annual "hand to mouth" existence. A drum corps organization, as with any business, should not place at risk it's short term or long term future if it does not have the wherewithals to meet the expenses of any venture decision; be it travel, purchasing new toys, etc. There is a graveyard full of corps who placed the emphasis on all the wrong things without financial accountability. Membership enrichment comes from within coupled with wallet wisdom, not how many miles a group travels, how many new toys they may have, or who's the compensated staff de jour'.
    1 point
  36. Stanford did a tribute to the Irish potato famine at Notre Dame and a tribute to OJ at USC. There is no question about which college band is VK's legacy. And BTW, this ND alum says both UM and OSU can take a big bite out of my buttocks.
    1 point
  37. 1 point
  38. But he said Book was equal. Not staging, but book. While Jay is a master at staging, I have NEVER seen him try to write something that would match the book of these other masters for anything except for staging. I do believe that he wrote some tasty stuff in the early 2000s, but that's as close as it gets. ...and I do believe that he is a master of his style of writing. I know, I'm likely to be dinged for not doing so, but I just don't see comparing Murphy to the norm work of Zingali, Gaines, Sylvester, or Brubaker. Their body of work on visual and specifically drill compared to Murphy's work just has different goals and is incomparable. That Murphy receives so much credit for what he does drill-wise should be considered a complement to him I guess.... But I don't think his focus has ever been on "drill" even all the way back to 1987. It's been more on staging and especially "visual" recently...
    1 point
  39. Oh really? Was that from Drumline?
    1 point
  40. That was a VERY impressive LIGHT SHOW. Music - to Ohio State Marching - to Ohio State General Effect - to Ohio State Best use of a gimmick that will work one time - Michigan
    1 point
  41. We are a South corps that participates in Southern shows. It has a lot to do with how we were accepted early on by the South. That being said, we annually travel at least twice to other south shows, particularly Florida, which would not have had enough corps for a show if we didn't participate. Yes, we are fortunate enough to participate in 2 PA shows recently, but we plan our travel budget for our regional circuit. I would say that annually we travel more miles than any other DCA corps.
    1 point
  42. Place it in this perspective: Let's make most all DCA shows occur between MN and CA with the DCA finals forever being in the San Fransisco Bay area thus forcing Reading, Hawthorne, Bush, and Hurricane to 'always' travel west. Start traveling ya east coast corps; we all love you!
    1 point
  43. Absolutely not, but it has been in the best interest of MBI and the All-age activity to have the corps out twice a year. It is time that the Eastern corps take their responsibility in marketing and growing the all age activity nationwide seriously. No one is saying that the Eastern groups should do it every year, or that they never have, but maybe every 5? It obviously isn't easy to do, but it is doable. The growth of the all age activity has largely been outside of the NE over the past decade. It is important for the NE corps to recognize that growth should be supported for the better of the whole activity. Otherwise, DCA should just continue to be a nice regional circuit and corps like CV and MBI should do something else.
    1 point
  44. Whether it's the Inspires (and best wishes to them for this season -- when are Finals? December?) or someone else, it would be great if DCA had two or more international corps on hand for next year's 50th anniversary championships.
    1 point
  45. Right... but what would be the difference between a normal midwest or south show and a regional... all the corps would be the same. Basically any non eastcoast show is already a regional because there are so few shows. Take a look at what corps would be at these so called regionals: South: Gold, CV, Sun Devils, Alliance Midwest: MBI, Chops, Govies, Kilties, CT, High Country, *Lakeshoremen Yes, those are some dang good corps BUT... the only real "ringer" in there for the Midwest is MBI and the only one in the south is CV. People will show up anyway to see them but imagine if Cabs or Bucs made a trip there... I bet more people would be interested in going. I bet you anything that people skip one show to go to one the next week because thats the show MBI is taking a trip to. Is there a huge benefit to the east corps? Not really, but it would be good for every corps at that show and would promote DCA a bit more in those regions, showing it really is a national circuit. (no disrespect to any corps, just using facts that the top Open corps bring in bigger crowds)
    1 point
  46. I think the people who've already replied to the thread have the basics covered... Try your best to watch the vets and how they rehearse. I say rehearse because a lot of us will act goofy during the camps; it's our first time seeing our friends since last summer so we tend to pick up right where we left off. Normally though, as soon as we're needed to do something serious, we get on task. That's when you should watch us. Also don't be afraid to come and interact with anyone during meals and stuff, especially not the vets. All of them have been where you have before, and they all now how nerve racking the process is. The weekends can be much friendlier if you make friends quickly. Take in all information the staff gives you, and apply it to your fullest ability. Camps at Crown are very big on that, because it is a learning process. If they ask for a volunteer for something, raise your hand immediately. The more one-on-one time you can get with staff members the better. Especially when you're playing in front of them + 30 other kids. Never relax. If you're in the middle of the block in the middle line during visual block, you're still being watched. You're always being watched. Sometimes staff will ask trusted vets questions... "How is _____ doing? How's their work ethic? How would they handle a summer?" And make sure to take care of yourself. Eat a good meal before you drive/fly down to camp, don't rush yourself. Pack a couple of days ahead, you want the experience to be as relaxed as possible, in the sense of not stressing yourself out. When you get to camp, be sure to always be drinking water or gatorade. Don't overeat during meals... Food truck food does something different to everyone their first time eating it... Mine was not pleasant (the food isn't bad, it's just different than what you eat on a daily basis). But having said that, make sure you eat. Nothing is worse than you getting light headed halfway through a visual or brass block. And try not to stress out too much when you get called in front of the brass staff to audition. There are hundreds of other kids in the same shoes as you are, trying to prove themselves to get a spot. Don't worry about them, and don't worry about how the audition is going to go. Just go in, do what they ask, and own it. Confidence can make or break people at camps. If you have any questions feel free to PM me or something. I'm from NC as well, so maybe if you're close enough we can carpool.
    1 point
  47. Michael Klesch, present music arranger for Carolina Crown, was a bass drummer for the Cadets before he became their drum major for '83; he won the first DC I World Class championship titles with each of these two corps!!! Joe Reichert, drum major of the Cadets in 1995, had been one of their snares. Jim Zulick, drum major of the Cadets in 2005, was previously their color guard captain, a high school saxophonist who learned a mean rifle; he also won World Class championships.
    1 point
  48. Well, one would hope they were looking at the root of the problem, and not the result.
    1 point
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