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Barbara Maroney. Bonnie Ott. Need better examples? You asked.

My belief is Kilties need a major reboot. Its time to stop trying to emulate a corps that was once great but that was 40 years ago. I think apart from the Kilt, literally everything should be fair game for change. Kilties as is are not remotely competitive and would have been better in the Sunday morning program. In fact I think there are sufficient people interested in being a part of a Kiltie Alumni corps. But some serious soul searching needs to be done if Kilties are going to continue competing in DCA, especially Open Class. Considering the area they have to draw from (13 million population within 2 hour radius of Racine) some thing is lacking in their recruiting.

NE what you saw in the hall was the HOF display that was set up. It was not the museum... for the Hall of Fame banquet and the 50th Anniversary Gala on Saturday night which had some 500 attendees... we did indeed set up a museum at the far end of the banquet room and it went over very well. Di and Tom Meek were in charge of displaying uniforms from many of the corps who helped define the 50 years - These were hung from the ceiling very effectively. Throughout, there was media shown on two giant screens that were prepared by Don Paluh, DCA's official photographer... and I collected memorabilia from many different people and displayed over 8 tables of the history of drum corps. I also brought in the Drum Corps Heritage Foundation people and Dennis Cole set up a historic display and Roman Blenski provided an amazing collection of "bugles" through the 50 years (and a few even older)... While much of the material was on loan and has been returned to the owners, a lot was donated permanently and all of that material has been preserved by the Drum Corps Heritage Foundation. In addition to their board which consists of Dennis Cole, Kevin Gamin (Gadget) and long termed Blue Devil/Renegade Jeff DeMello... Roman Blenski, Steve Vickers and I have been asked to serve on the advisory board. My thanks to all who participated - especially those who donated... Highlights of the display included uniforms from all 4 non-North American corps who have competed over the years... Heartliner from Ludwigshaven Germany, Kidsgrove Scouts from Kidsgrove England, Inspires from Yokohama Japan and the first to come over the pond, DCUK's Alan Thompson's Southern Knights, from Brighton England - Southern Knights also provided their International Champions Flag from 1990 which became a centerpiece of the museum. I also joined with many who got an education from Frank Dorritte on the history of the instruments... wow... does he know his stuff... The entire championship was a bit subdued by the passing of Red Corso during the previous week. Red as I'm sure you all knew had been DCA Treasurer since 1974. The Gala and museum were something he asked for and planned. The place of prominence among the uniforms was saved for Red's personal Matador uniform and sombrero. Thanks Red...........................................

There was always one thing that puzzled me, regarding the Kilties "philosophy" between the years 2008 through 2013. While the emphasis in that time period was on performance opportunities and (rightly so) "Entertainment", with the mantra being: "We don't care about the scores and placements" and "DCA is a small part of what we do", that mantra didn't always reflect the thoughts and feelings of the more competitively minded members of the corps. To put it simply: If that is the case, why are you angry or upset when you receive less than desirable scores and prelims results? If indeed, the full membership bought into the aforementioned mantra, there would be no need for presenting a laundry list of excuses, at the end of every DCA season.

He apologized to the band at large and the member he moved out of the way. It was a bad situation for all involved. The band was overtime, the kicker shouldn't have pushed someone, mistakes were made all around. In the kicker's defense, he is an athlete being paid millions of dollars a year to do one thing very well. Any situation that messes with that could jeopardize a game, or even a season. Apologies were made, now hopefully everyone can move on from this.

The point of standing in a football field and playing a horn is to play it loud enough to be heard. I'll take the tone quality of an instrument that is projected to an audience over the sound of a flapping polystyrene speaker cone any day.

One of the most irritating things about the marching band world is the victim complex so many in it have - kids and adults - vis a vis football. That's definitely at play in this thread.

Personally, I am against any performance contributions provided outside the performing membership of the given corps. The corps itself is the competing unit -- not James Earl Jones, not Eminem, not David Bowie, Etta James, or Patsy Cline. The corps. While it could be argued that we allow the contributions of adults through the use of drill and musical arrangements which were created by adults, it is still, in the end, how successfully the corps members perform the show which they are given. If I am auditioning for entrance into a major school of music, it is a given that I would have studied under some exceptional teachers. However, whether or not I am ultimately chosen depends solely on my performance that day -- not on the credentials of those who have assisted me. In much the same way, I am opposed to the use of any amplification or recorded media. If a solo calls for a big sound, I feel that it is up to the performer to produce that sound, rather than producing a lesser quality sound which happens to be falsely enhanced through electronic means to the level which is desired. As far as pre-recorded examples (such as narrations), what we are hearing is not the result of what is being created at that minute, and on that day. If your narrator is suddenly hit with laryngitis? Well...sucks to be you. Maybe you should have prepared a back-up for that reality (I think in the theater world it is called an understudy). The pre-recording of any performance used for competition will most probably be done through many "takes," and enhanced through sound mixing. Again, it would not be the product of what is being produced at that moment -- the very ideal behind multiple person or multiple group competition in the first place. Competition is a medium of what is happening now...not based on the best example of a particular sound, effect, or contribution as performed, polished, and recorded days, weeks, or months ago. Somewhere along the line, I think we've lost sight of that simple premise.

And millennium.

I suppose I'm a bit mixed regarding electronics. On the one hand I do like the sound effects when used well. Narration is a hit or miss for me. I thought Crown did it best in both 2013 and 2014. The jury is still out regarding Cadets this past year, but the problem for me was more the script and not the narrator and of the script had some tweaks I'm not sure I would not be saying that I thought Cadets nailed narration.I really enjoyed their show this past year and I am sure it will be one of those shows we will probably consider underrated n the years to come. Amplification of the front ensemble works for me, marching percussion and brass not so much, but for those of us who remember the "how loud can you get" and "How soft can you get" days, and can recall live performances of Phantom "Clair de Lune" with great subtlety or Madison's sheer intensity and volume of "Somewhere," amplification of brass and percussion will never be the same. However. whether we long for the good old days or your in the camp that thinks we're not moving ahead fast enough, electronics are here to stay. Now a pet peeve of mine regarding the use of electronics is having non-marching members controlling the sound while the performance is taking place. I seemed to notice it a bit more this past season. It also seemed as if the controls were monitored by people well over the age of 21. If we are going to allow electronics, and the electronics need to be monitored while the show is in progress, it should be done by a uniformed member of the corps, within the age of eligibility, and has to be of the of 150 members. If it takes away from a marching member, that's a choice the corps has to make. There can also not be an excuse such as they may not how to use the equipment since we're talking about a generation that has used electronics since about the age of 5.

It's any rock band in the razor thin niche between "who the hell are they" and "man they totally sold out."

You have it backwards. The solo's quality suffers when it is not amplified because the soloist is focusing too much on being loud. Tone quality suffers. Can you imagine SCV's solo in the ballad not being amplified? People probably wouldn't be able to hear it or the tone would not be nearly as pure. I'll take tone quality over a personal grudge on electronics and amplification.

Crown traveling to Japan

http://yea.org/programs/cadets/cadets/news/467-youth-education-sets-leadership-for-performing-ensembles Props to Rich Hammond for getting the corps off the ground and being pretty successful!

For people who seem to be implying that soloists are only being miked because they are weak players, as if it is nothing more than a crutch, I would suggest that while it may make things easier in some ways, it makes them harder in others. Like the fact that every frackin' imperfection is amplified, that you are restricted in position and angle, that you can't swear under your breath if you make a mistake... And the attention on you seems more intense. I think I would feel way more pressure playing into a mike.

well except the "young and leaving for love" rant Hop made a few years ago when the young lady whose name I won't mention left YEA for a personal matter. That said, I read it several different ways, and want to in no way make Rich out to look like a bad guy. to be honest, I think he had the hardest job in DCA.....to be the director yet have no real control.

Given a choice of hiring an instructor that is 35, relatively inexperienced, but expertly qualified, or an instructor that is 55, experienced, and similarly expertly qualified, all else being equal, I'd go with the latter. If the judges are 55 and over, go with an instructor that is 55 and older. If my hire doesn't need a name tag pinned to his shirt when all the judges, staffers get together for off season convention smooze over brie and wine, this is a GOOD thing in my view. But if a few others here on DCP think its not all that important for the judges to know you all that well if they run into you on the hotel elevators one might share from floor to floor, then thats fine too. Sometimes it seems to me that a few posters here on DCP forget however ( or were not aware ) that when George Zingalli was revolutionizing DCI Corps drill design in the 80's, he was only in his late 20's, early 30's... and that the DCI Visual and Guard judges that were evaluating his new and progressive designs in the 80's, in DCI competitions were in several cases, close to his age ( 30's ) as well. Zingalli absolutely benefitted back then that some of the judges were his age and receptive to his new designs. Had DCI utilized Visual and Guard judges in the 70's, 80's that were over 55 and in some cases 70 years old ( as they do now ), there is little doubt in my mind that a Visual and Guard judge born around 1900- 1910, 1920, back then would not have taken all that well by contrast to Zingalli's Visuals and use of Guard in DCI Corps in the late 70's to the mid 80's. Zingalli's age was simpatico with the Visual and Guard judges back then at the time however... they swam in the same young waters as he. They knew him.. and he them. Was this important ? You can bet your life, it was.. Thats what I know anyway.

Naturally, or their scores will suffer. But I take that to be one of the points of these discussions: whether the rules reward (or punish) things they shouldn't.

Hiring an old instructor only makes sense if he knows what he is doing . In most cases . They do. old or new makes no difference. The only difference is how they treat the kids and how well they teach. PLd instructors make sense because you know what you are getting.

Should've told them about Float and Ralphie, too!

That's an exaggeration. I saw the show at Ft. Wayne, where the soloist is unmiked. She was, as you note, at far left. I was sitting at the top of the stands and at about the right 40-yard line. I could hear her just fine.

Pre DCI era: 1966 I.C. Reveries, Revere, Ma., Jersey City,, NJ, VFW Nationals Championships,, Finals Nite:..... The Corps felt unjustly judged in prelims (finished 14th out of 48 national Corps ) ), marched their way into the Stadium on Finals Night ( set for the 12 Finalist Corps only ), took the starting position on the field and the corps marchers all went into the lotus position immediately of " civil disobedience " sit down protest and refused to leave. Keep in mind this is the 60's and VFW types that ran these competitions wern't taking kindly to sit ins and protests taking place across the country at that time. For " emotional impact " this was laying it all on the line for a principle, as its clear that this action now will lead immediately to loss of sponsorship of Veteran post and Church.. in effect this protest means the end of the Corps as we know it.. The Corps was told to get up and leave the field. They didn't budge. The announcer told them to leave the field. They did not budge. 10 minutes went by and the Corps was told by the announcer they would not be judged by the judges. They did not budge. 3 -4 minutes more went by... then the crowd ( with many rank and file military vets in attendance as well in the 25-30,000 or so audience ) slowly begin to chant... then louder.... " let them perform, let them perform, let them perform !!... " finally, after another couple of more minutes, the announcer comes over the intercom and announces : " The I.C. Reveries will be allowed to perform in exhibition for us all tonite ". Everyone chuckles with this pyrrhic victory, but its a " victory " of principle nonetheless, and the I.C. Reveries get up from their lotus positions, come to attention, then proceed to put on what surely now will be their last appearance ever again at a national Veterans Convention as a Corps, and one that, as such, is as " gut wretching" and " emotional" as one can imagine, given the environment and the circumstances. But out of that bold protest came a brand new Corps ( 27th Lancers ), and likewise out of that protest too came the beginnings of a new Drum Corps organization. Today we call that organization that had as its embryonic beginnings starting with that Corps real life " emotional and gut wretching " show performance decision consisting of real life, stand for principle, boldness. :........... DCI.

if the person is qualified, who gives a #### how old they are?

yeah I mean it's not like Aungst ever had any great lines or a program that was perennially among the best in the world. it was just all political hookups (insert large dose of sarcasm aimed at a poster well in denial) Aungst's track record speaks very well for itself. He doesn't need backroom deals to produce a great product. If you're so bitter about DCI and how you feel it's run/judged/designed/managed, stay the #### home

relative to names, history, and attractability to auditions, we AARP posters (to borrow from Brasso's image) must remember that to the MM today, the '90s isn't just an old past decade, it's a whole other century!!!

HornTeacher beat me to it. Here's an interview with Barbara Maroney from 1983/1984 Cadets. Her and Bonnie Ott are pretty legendary. And no, it wasn't solely (at all?) due to playing on a G bugle. Don't worry, you didn't ruin my day or anything with your opinion - just friendly debate! http://www.middlehornleader.com/Maroney%20Interview.htm

Just an fyi to anyone who thinks coming in 7th had a huge impact on their placement...if Crown had been as high as 4th in percussion they would still have ended up in 5th place. They would have had to be 3rd in percussion to move their overall placement up to 4th. Even if they had been 1st in percussion they would have still placed 4th. Of course, placing that much higher in percussion would have had an impact in other captions, at least slighlly.

I fail to see how anything I posted was a personal attack or flaming.

Wow - how did soloists do it all those years before amplification was legal? Now that it's legal, that's the only way solos can sound beautiful anymore? I can point you to a whole bunch of recordings of shows pre-electronics being legal that would beg to differ.

I just love reminiscing, sorry don't mind me! LOL Hey even Derry Patriots, I forgot about them and Sharpsburg Cadets, 84th Bucktail regiment. Weren't Silver Sabres a western PA corps? Also Cambria Cadets had a good corps in early 70's too. In NY...Tri-Town Cadets, Geneva Appleknockers, Lakeview Shoreliners (before Imperial Regiment), St. Johnsburg Blue Sabres, Castlemen, Alpine Girls, Magnificent Yankees, etc.

it is the slippery slope discussed on here before. Even in the band world, how can you enforce? if someone has the stones to propose a rules change, and figure out a way to logically check for enforcement, go for it. as for judges willingly ignoring balance issues, failures, etc, thats a whole other can of worms.

In percussion though?

Stay asleep! It is your loss!

Like James Joyce with a trumpet... In G

I've noticed news or discussions of Kilties on DCP has been virtually nonexistent for some time. I think this is both a "no good news so nothing to say" and the community view of "we don't really care so we won't comment on your post." Ed Mason: 2008-2013 would be the "Scott Stewart years" and those shows were decidedly a departure from earlier "Kiltie Senior" shows, and got us to 9th at DCA 2011 with a very unconventional show for Kilties. Though, I would argue that 2013 was not a true Scott Stewart show, as other fingers seemed to be working their way into the creative pie. (my view as non-member) Pre-Stewart, the Kiltie "formula" had been what we call a "bookend show" or "Oreo Cookie" with crispy Scottish/Celtic stuff on the front and end and a "let down the hair" jazz/rock "sugar" middle part and drum solo. Corpreps will illustrate that formula. There are some that would like to go back to that, but I think that would send you to the non-competitive/alumni universe. That formula does not fit contemporary competitive drum corps. Scott had a lot of great out-of-the-box ideas, and my favorite show (9th at DCA Finals in 2011) included the very (for Kilties) out-of-the-box "Interstellar Suite" closer. That show was designed as "Past-Present-Future" and I think made the widest range of both old- and new-school corps fans happy -- and gave the judges some good stuff to digest. It worked. It got us "solidly" into Finals with a 9th -- not a "by a hair" 10th. I also think the "Night at the Opera" show was a completely new and positive direction for Kilties. Scott Stewart was not involved with the 2014 Kilties; he left after the BOD election a year ago. I would suggest BOD members felt Scott's disease was getting the best of him and causing him difficulty as Executive Director/Program Coordinator. He was offered a less demanding "consultant" role by the BOD a year ago, but he decided not to be involved any longer. For (what seemed to me) to be a lack of a solid succession plan, 2014 was in a "pick up the pieces mode". I would throw HUGE PRAISE on the guy crowned/burdened as program coordinator, and the guy who stepped up as Director to make logistics work. In the last three weeks I talked to more than 20 members, staff, BOD and alumni about various topics/concerns and about running for either the vacant VP seat (the newly elected VP last year resigned over Scott's departure) or BOD at-large seats. EVERYBODY has strong opinions but NOBODY wants to ever say anything, openly. Typical. In the last 48 hours I posted comments on FB regarding my concerns with recruiting/branding/image, BOD transparency in the past, and the current cost of dues-to-run reason I would not run for a BOD position next weekend. The result so far has been a "lively" discussion about the identity and direction of the Kilties and ingrained roles of some individuals. It also, as predicted, brought very final resolution to a personal relationship. I wish the Kilties well in 2015. As much as I'd like to help and believe I can see a better path, I can't help fix anything as long as some personalities are in place.

"May the Sunrisers come out next season bigger and stronger..." Indeed. That would enrich the drum corps landscape.

as long as SCV keeps hitting the replay button, they'll keep putting me to sleep. where's the EDGE, vanguard? for me, at least, that's what Vanguard has always been. it's a shame too because technically the corps is rebounding. but the programming the last 2 years has been a snore-fest. flame away DCP.

I got a kick out of that..

I think it's a great number of things, but fixing 2 or even 3 should help improve the quality overall

The percussion members have been good. Nothing else in terms of percussion writing, design, or instructors has been good to them for years now.

Rumor has it the kicker is mad that DCI now allows trombones.

No surprise here, but well said. And to Larry Visconti, well done - no surprise there either.

I think they should move very little, until they see the on field adjudicator cross onto the field, then they should all chase him/her like zombies. hahahaahah.