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Please don't speak for me on this matter. I have no problem with it, and I am an alum.

I wish the colts were in finals more often.

Going back old skool....27th Lancer's "Crown Imperial", any year they played it.

As an 18 year old going to a respectable college (University of Virginia), I both agree and disagree with you. There are some people who really are dumb as rocks who use that word on a daily basis. But believe it or not, it's just become a part of modern day lingo and sometimes used casually or playfully by people who do actually have a brain. Generalizations are not fun, my friend.

Here's a quick challenge. Go stand in front of Crown, or SCV, or Phantom, or Madison during horn warm-up, and let us all know if you think DCI has lost its edge and swagger.

Don't speak for all of us! I have talked to a lot of alumni that don't care or are in favor of the rule change and only a few that are upset. MYNWA

This thread means so much to me! Personally, I think this thread is more meaningful than any hall of fame. This is WAY more personal and every one gets to teach or learn on some level, no? I need to thank all of you for just plain being here! Whether you submit pics., share history / personal stories, play along with creative clues, fill in blanks about a featured person... or just take a guess at who it is.... This is awesome and I can't thank you all enough!! HUGS!!!!

Me too. And thanks for such a thoughtful reply.

I'll beat hostrauser to the punch: Colts 1999.

Cue the fly-over!

I know: it's awful that Scouts were in favor of trumpets, baritones, euphoniums, mellophones, tubas, etc. You know, band instruments

I've always loved the first 30 seconds of Star's 1990 musical program. Simply a joy to the musical ear.

DCI hasn't lost its swag; it's just being done electronically now.

Mac...... ........the Kiltie Klassic is the evening of Saturday August 2nd at Historic Horlick Field (!!!!!), all alumni will be honored as a part of the event---with a very special alum section/tent area inside Horlick for free "refreshments" (aka BEER) and snacks------- --------plus early entrance into Horlick, alumni discount admission pricing and a whole bunch of other stuff. There is already a crew from the "64" corps setting up a gathering---for the "64" alums-it is the 50th Anniversary of the Kilts winning their first VFW national championship in Cleveland. Lots of good stuff happenin'!!

That is correct for us. Our focus when we started out last season was primarily education based for young students, this is the main reason we stuck with the IP rule of under 22. Not to mention our oldest staff member is 24, so it is what made sense for us! If anyone has any questions for us, we are an open book. Although, we don't have much information as far as what WGI's hopes are for competition next season. Also, you can always go to https://www.facebook.com/royalsoundime to "like" us and for more information!

then we agree......lol...i think

As a reminder, these aren't "perfect" scores but "maximum" scores. And what would be the point of disallowing judges from awarding the maximum possible score? All it would really do is make the maximum score minus one tenth the new maximum.

I would love to see some of these videos, and find out how much of the explanation sounds like legitimate artistry, and how much sounds like bunkum. (For instance, did BD ever come out and say to the judges, "Look, we realize that we can't really do a true Dada show, because that would mean breaking all the rules, and we don't want to be penalized. We just liked the idea of Dada for the collage aspect"?)

I'm trying to remember if he's one of the (many)Directors that fired me. I guess it's bad when you lose count... Maybe I should work on that.

Hopefully, Joel will share some stories during his Maryland HOF induction speech on the 22nd. A great guy... this induction is a long overdue honor for him.

The picture looked like people were in Arizona Academy's uniforms to go with those flutes and saxes.

The scores are relative to the season. A perfect score now doesn't necessarily set a cap on what needs to be done to achieve that score but I think it does set a floor for the future so that maybe you do need achieve a harder book with more consistent players to get a perfect score again.

This is the future for today's Open Class drum corps. The economic sense of running a summer program just isn't there, but this would allow those with smaller, local membership bases to compete in a format that lends itself to their size and time constraints. And some of these independent units could compete in a Summer League version of this under DCI's auspices, if DCI took the next step and created it. SoundSport was always a logo and a general idea looking for a structure; have WGI create the competitive structure for winter, tweak it for the summer performances, and you could have year-round drum corps for those who want to compete but don't want to have to spend $400k a year to do so (and more units for local show promoters to use in creating their lineups).

I don't think I'm being clear. I'm not saying MiM should provide BOA with anything. I'm saying that DCI could partner with BOA and supply the same services to BOA using the O-15 corps/directors in the same fashion that MiM is providing to USBands.

I was just reading these remarks on the Vienna Philharmonic's recent appearance in San Francisco (three concerts plus related workshops and panel discussions), and was struck by the following: My emphasis added. For those who don't speak German: Verklärte Nacht is probably better known on these shores as Transfigured Night; Phantom Regiment performed it in 2000.

...noone was condeming him..I was speaking in general BECAUSE there are plenty here who condemn the bigger corps for everything concerning the smaller corps and what those corps should always be doing for the little guy....thats all well and good BUT those same people obviously ( at least many ) dont support by showing up at their shows. 3200 at a show..thats great now do it more than once...you actually think 3200 at a show actually makes a dent in cost for a season?....ive been at shows and wonder how they even paid for a stadium or anything for a show..thats how little people are there....its an old story.....people run and support the big guys mostly...and thats fine BUT dont condemn corps for what they arent doing for the little guy UNLESS youre ready to step up yourself...NOW and this is where you are confused ..when I say YOU I mean people in general and looking at themselves!...some wantt the little guy to have a voice...Im pointing out that ..this can happen when the little guy is looked at more seriously..and that means $$ coming in...as I have said WGI finally realized that although the world guards are the ones everyone runs to the High school A guards are the cash cow in WGI. Also if you look at my response to him I tell him he was right...my 1st 2 words...pay attention..jk... ..lol

Ok, I think the discussion is becoming clearer to me: * no, I didn't know you were being sarcastic, so thanks for the clarification. It's not uncommon to misconstrue intent reading stuff, and I missed that originally * I agree that arranging and re-voicing instrumentation for drum corps is obviously the norm. Even when corps arrangers do brass band charts they rearrange thing for pacing reasons, and use different instrumentation for effect or just flat-out practicality. It's what we do/love, and I'd be lying if I said there weren't pieces of music that I enjoy the drum corps arrangements more than the original compositions (FWIW I heard "Phantom of the Opera" via SCV before I heard the original or saw the musical, and I still prefer SCV 88 & 89 over the stage production and DEFINITELY over the film version). * I guess I fall somewhere in between your either/or positions above: my personal preference of instrumentation is generally 2013 drum corps instrumentation. That being said, I'm open to see what arrangers do with t-bones, concert F-horns, etc. Like all aspects of drum corps design, some implementations will rock my world, and some will feel lame. As far as what you posted regarding the "All animals are equal" post, I generally agree in part, and disagree in some aspects. The poster you referenced describes art, but seemingly implies that artist adapt other genres while staying within the confinements of a specific idiom. That is indeed SOME art, but not all. Sometimes art is pushing boundaries; art is literally redefining boundaries. He mentioned the hip-hop idiom, but there have been hip-hop acts that played with live bands and not just a DJ sampling other genres. He mentioned photographers & composition but the digital tech has radically changed how a photographer composes and manipulates their shots. Art is constantly influx, while drum and bugle corps (and marching band, WGI, etc) is an idiom that does have to rely on other art forms to exist, as the bulk of DCI shows revolve around arrangements of other's work, that doesn't mean things HAVE to be confined to specific instrumentation. Again, I prefer no woodwinds, no strings, no guitars or pianos. But what I like is not only irrelevant (since I don't teach/design/direct DCI corps), but it's also naive: what if my holding onto a traditional preference shuts the door on some amazing show design? DCI directors and designers have delivered far more awesome "moments" than I could've ever imagined, and will continue to do so. While not every corps produces an "all-time" type of show every season, every year has something that truly amazes me. For me, designers have built up so much "good will," so to speak, with the amazing things they've delivered over the decades I've been a fan/member/instructor/whatever that for now at least I'm willing to give them a shot. Does a trombone glissando really mean the difference between the piece "working" for drum corps or not? Probably not: as mentioned DCI corps have done PLENTY of music originally written with other instrumentation in mind. Would the piece be COOLER with a trombone glissando; or would other phrases in other shows be cooler with concert F-horns, or trombones, or other brass? I don't know, but I'm willing to at least give it a shot and I think the designers are well within their rights to push for their inclusion. I know we've been going back-and-forth a bit, N.E. but I'm probably closer to your mentality on this regard than apart. To be blunt, as a percussionist I feel like once electronics, and then synths were allowed drum corps turned into an 'anything goes' type of instrumentation mentality. I've actually been surprised that corps are still skewing WAY more towards traditional stuff than "weird" when it comes to percussion instrumentation and FX. For me once rules changes meant that literally any percussion timbre imaginable can be used in DCI, I guess I kind of feel for my brass brothers and don't see any problem with them getting to add whatever brass instrument they want. Now, DCI and its designers will REALLY put my mentality to the test if woodwinds are allowed... (PLEASE no one turn this into "OMG WOODWINDZZZ?!?! discussion...)

All of them!

Just about every year they have the show design of a top 12 corps, they just don't always have the excecution

Per the DCI news story in which the any-brass rule was announced: "Also by unanimous vote of the membership, eight individuals were elected to one-year terms to serve on the DCI Board of Directors. Overseeing the business affairs of the corporation will be Tom French (unaffiliated), John Masterson (Troopers), Chris Komnick (Madison Scouts), Jeff Fiedler (Santa Clara Vanguard), Fred Morrison (Crossmen), David Gibbs (Blue Devils), Jim Coates (Carolina Crown), Mark Arnold (Blue Knights) and Rick Valenzuela (Phantom Regiment). Appointed as officers, Fiedler will serve as Chairman, Komnick as Vice Chairman, Morrison as Treasurer and Valenzuela as Secretary." This story also shows that DCI can't count.

The '82 alumni will be there in force!

Same challenge applies then. Go watch Crown or SCV or BD or Madison or Phantom, and say corps don't have their edge.

The problem isn't warmups. The problem is on the field of competition & in the DCI offices.

Something that teenagers with IQs lower than their shoe size say. Trust me, I'm an educator

really? AFAICT the scouts are still the scouts. a couple of trombones doesn't change that.

I would be prone to go with: 82--lead (in G) sopranos 2--2nd (in G) sopranos 2--3rd (in G) sopranos 86 WAIT!! That seems a little bottom heavy: 84, 1 and 1 would be better.

There are some image hosting sites that show your image on an HTML page, so you'll need to make sure that the extension is something like gif,jpeg,jpg,png Extensions like that.

no matter what sheets change to...winners know how to win..plain and simple...youre right..nothing will change

I agree with your basic premise, but in all USBands shows, local or circuit-run, USBands assigns the judges to the show. The host does not hire just any judges they want. It just appears that way sometimes.

Do you know what an oboe sounds like?

When Glassmen played Concertino for Oboe and Strings in 2001 I felt the same thing. How dare that flugelhorn soloist completely enamor the audience with that wonderful playing to the point where not a peep could be heard during his solo as the audience soaked it in. It didn't sound correct.

There's a difference between remaining objective and completely using the past against them. What happened in years past is years past. There is mostly negativity and naysaying on this thread in reference to what the Cadets will do this year. Just because what happened in the past didn't work so well in the view of many, doesn't necessarily mean it won't work this coming year. But hey, you all have the right to remain on the fence. I'm not going to get too excited for this upcoming program, but I'm not going to discount them either.

Glassmen 1975 Staff Announcement By chance while walking down the halls at the University of Toledo wearing my Glassmen jacket, someone called out "Hey Glassmen", it was Joe Thomas who became our brass instructor that year. Joe, who worked with or marched Blue Rock, was doing his PHD work. IRC on infant response to visual stimulation or something like that. He was a nice guy. The corps did not field for the next few years after 75. I never knew what became of him.

and then you have scv doing the most faithful (only imo) arrangement of the bartok piece to date by any corps, and lots of people love it and lots of people hated it. what scv did with barber's adagio was downright buther-like to me...they fileted it and manipulated it to death. but it was still pretty good. faithful arrangements don't make for great shows because they are faithful arrangements, so please let's not fall into that 4th grade train of thought. to me, what was done with app spring and rocky point holiday by the cadets in the 80s barely sounds like the original pieces, but it's still good drum corps. same with hundreds of shows from the 70s, 80s, 90s, and 00s for me. i happen to like stuff from the late 80s and 90s better than what's been going on musically for the past decade, but i'm not quite inane enough to say that what I like the most is inherently superior to what goes on today. it's fun to discuss what we like and don't like, though.

In other words, you've set up this imaginary demarcation point in your mind ("idiomaticallly correct"), and anything that doesn't fit the criteria is wrong or bad. Ok. I DID old school drum corps in the 70s and early 80s. We had fun, but those of us with music backgrounds back then knew that a lot of of we and other corps were doing was pretty crass. There were a few masters in the art form (Ott, Sanford and Royer, most notably), but there were also a lot of well-intentioned weekend warriors who could only turn out "drum corps versions" of whatever you handed them. I'd argue that the style of the 70s and early 80s was less eclectic than now, and while there are some current cliches I'd like to see retired, by and large, arrangers seem to have figured out how to marry more sophisticated voicings with the specific, unusual needs of a musical form whose musicians are constantly moving in and out of close range to the audience.

You're the one who's using this theoretical "dci arrangement comparison algorithm" as the entire source of evidence for your claim. I believe it is possible to make one, though. It would be fun to put it to the test for say SCV 88 vs. 89, or for measuring the "trueness" of different orchestral arrangements of the original piano version of Pictures at an Exhibition. Take into account what happens to overtones when you change the key of a piece and the choice of instruments used in combination with each other as opposed to another combination, and you're talking about a pretty sophisticated "objective measure."

Some more that I can think of: Classic baritone soli of the main theme, with a soprano response to finish... ...led into by a sixteenth note scalic pattern Laid-back swing section bridging the two themes Climbing triad topping off the sop soloists

A+. Ever consider going into drum corps arranging? That post alone qualifies you greater than a lot of the guys we have today.

Let me guess at these elements: 9th chords...and lots of them - (I LOVE 'em...) Slow intro, using themes from the show... Morphing into the tune itself, at double the tempo Mellos doing 16th runs underneath the 2nd theme (there is 'old' style arranging, encapsulated in one term: Second Theme. There are no 2nd themes in drum corps anymore - only 1st themes, and 'hits') As the tune nears the end, harmonic progressions somewhat distant from the home key are employed...and...cleverly!...they turn back around to the V7 of the home key...with a HUGE crescendo, including sopranos driving up to the top of the range... The sop soloists either: hold the about to happen tonic note, WHILE the V7 chord is still going...or they resolve to the tonic note when the rest of the corps does. This is the cue for all babies in the audience to crawl swiftly and securely as close to their mothers as possible, to avoid gratuitous throwing. How'd I do?

Flugels, various forms of alto horns, french horns, and soon ........ ....... saxophones.