Lance

I recognize and hum a lot of what's played today, and have for quite some time. It is difficult to please fans who only want to hear what they know and/or love all the time. :)

I think it would be really hard to do an entire show of Lincolnshire Posey because it's not a terribly long piece, and most of its length comes from the 2nd and 5th mvmts, both of which would be really hard to transfer to the field. But, Lord Melbourne is really dramatic and a designer could have a lot of fun trying to make it work on the field. It sure would be cool to see a drum major conducting some of the rubato stuff in that movement. And it would be awesome if a hornline could pull off the woodwind stuff in Brisk Young Sailor. I would want Phantom or SCV to do it, if anybody.

I was just thinking, if we're talking about specific pieces, Short Ride in A Fast Machine. I think SCV's arrangement was a bit harder than The Cadets of Bergen County's.

Oh, cool! They would be one of my prime choices to bring it back for an all Barber show. Probably won't ever happen with any corps, but I can hope. :)

Actually, I thought Phantom's hornline in '03 was pretty good for a 4th-place corps, but nothing spectacular, or even very far above average. A few parts weren't balanced very well IMO, and there were some ugly individual tone quality problems that really stuck out, but some of the other parts were just plain out of tune. I loved the music arrangements and selections though, and it is one of my favorites to watch for emotional impact of Phantom being "back" and playing some pretty excellent music to get there...it's not a show that I just listen to very often, though.

'91 BD, wow. '91 Star, of course. '04 BD Lots of other corps, but these came to mind first. I'd also add that a lot of corps have played extremely difficult music badly, so I usually don't think of them in the same category. :)

What did you put? I'm intrigued. B)

I think I've heard traces of Galactic Empries in a few Cavaliers shows from the 90s and a bit in '00 too. But, they never listed it. Same thing with the McTee stuff they throw in. Speaking of which, any of McTee's Soundings would be awesome to hear. :)

Prayer of St. Gregory--Hovhaness Any of Barber's "Essays for Orchestra." (Phoenix Regiment did these, but no div I corps yet.) Soundtrack from Krull--James Horner Anything from Mahler 1,2, or 5 Symphony #3--Robert Jager Scenes from the Louvre--Dello Joio (Vanguard Cadets did this, but I'd also love to hear a Div I corps tackle it...SCV, SCV!) "Requiem Aeternam" from John Rutter's Requiem

I don't think it's a Madison bandwagon at all. They finished 1.5 points behind the defending champions, and beat them in a couple of music captions. If it is a bandwagon, it's looking pretty stable to me.

Yep. I wasn't impressed with their hornline either, but I liked the music and the show design enough to make it one of my favorites of the year. :)

Great show. Great thread. And an AWESOME story! Thanks for sharing that with us, UTsnarechick. ~goes and watches Phantom '03~

I watch Cavies '03 on mute all the time. Don't care about the music, love the drill. But I agree with things that GMich and Krista are saying. Music is most important to me. Heck, that's the main thing that attracts me to shows like '95 Scouts and '93 BD. But, that's just me. I'm sure there are a lot of people out there who care less about music than visual.

If only it were possible. I have some friends that I try to show 70s and 80s drum corps to, and they hate it, no matter how much I try telling them what they're missing. But you're right, everybody needs to get what we want. :)

Entertainment should be first and foremost. I'm entertained. So are many people I know. It's what many of us want. Others aren't. I think that's pretty much how it goes with any form of entertainment. I find it funny that the some people put what they want above what anybody else wants, all the while accusing others of doing the same thing. They act like they're fighting the good fight for the good of all, (even the kids who despite the evils of drum corps, are still marching, I guess against their will since they are championed by amp-haters ;)) but the self-centerdness that fuels their statements about corps directors, corps themselves, their members, and their fans, is pretty obvious. The sheer joy that some people have for a certain corps NOT receiving applause shows that, among other things. I'm obviously not talking about all of the anti-amp people here, many of whom voice their displeasure respectfully and with real consideration of the kids. I don't blame people for being upset about changes and voicing their disapproval, but please, don't act like what you want is more important than what anybody else wants.

I agree that a fundamental part of what makes a corps good is the novelty we all feel when we hear an awesome piece of music for the first time. A lot of pieces that drum corps play become "instant classics" for fans who might never have heard the music otherwise. I know that's true of me, and many that I know. Some will always just want to hear their own tried and true favorites all of the time, and they will only find pleasure in watching and listening to shows on recorded media. I pity them. I say thank goodness corps are willing to try new things musically, otherwise drum corps would be nothing but the same dull round over and over and over...sounds a bit like the argument DCI made when they separated in the first place. eh.

I don't think all of their fans come here. Probably not even a lot. Honestly, this is one of the last places I would come to get advice for producing a show.

I hereby vow not to read or post in this thread anymore. Sheesh. :lolhit:

Wow. If it were only about vocals and narration, I would probably sign it. That said, do you think there's any way you'll get to present this to the BOD again...is that even a goal of yours? Good luck, anyway. :)

go to the top of this webpage. on the left you'll see quick links. pick live chat. you have to have aol instant messenger.

Come...chat with me. :)

1. Blue Devils 2. Cadets 3. Cavaliers 4. Madison 5. Phantom 6. Bluecoats 7. Vanguard 8. Crown 9. Crossmen 10. Glassmen 11. Spirit 12. Boston 13. Seattle 14. Colts 15. Blue Knights 16. Magic 17. Southwind

Thanks for the terrific review. Please, grace us with your writing talent more. Great descriptions!

The main piece they're doing, Airborn Symphony has lots of narration throughout. I'm talking about the actual piece by Blitzstein that came out decades ago...you should listen to it sometime. The mix of music with narrative is what makes the symphony so good.

Living in WA, I think most years I have to drive a lot further to see good competitions than people in CA ever have. We usually get 1 top ten corps per year in the whole state. Last year was a fluke when we got BD and SCV. I think CA gets that at least once every year, plus a lot more. Anyway, I'm hoping SCV gets their program together. I won't get to see them or any other top 12 corps, except Phantom, until the quarterfinal theater broadcast.