Leland

Yeah, it would be "sour grapes" if I had been part of a corps that was beaten by that pile of trash. But, I wasn't. I've appreciated Cadets when they won before, and when they tried stuff that was beyond them but weren't clean enough to win. But, like I said, when the kids who are the focus of the show answer with a big collective "Uhhhhhhh...." when asked about the show concept, doesn't it seem a little -- well -- STUPID? Maybe that was the idea, though. Maybe, just maybe, they rode around inside that box all summer, never were approached by the staff, never talked to the rest of the kids, all in an attempt to make their confusion on the field completely genuine. So, when you see the one in the hard hat, she really IS thinking, "What the #### am I doing out here??" <**>

Nah -- that one was easily viewed as being about one girl, her parents' divorce, child abuse, and nuclear war. This Cadets one... well... I think it's a bit off that the MAIN CHARACTER(S) DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT THE #### IT IS. Jiminy christmas, when there's even a slight chance that you might get interviewed for TV, you'd better know what the #### you're doing on the field. That was stupid. STUPID. S-T-U-P-I-D.

Who says that it was acceptable? The only comments I heard about Cadets' drumspeak were laughter and "Shut up and play your ####### drums!" Similarly, right after the first "Yowza!", I heard groans and more "Shut the #### up..." comments. Just because they're doing it doesn't mean that we like it. Frankly, I don't think they care if we like it or not, either. Screw 'em.

They're not supposed to watch the drum major, just like the rest of the pit isn't supposed to watch for the majority of the show. That will solve any timing problems. Guaranteed. Rule number ONE of pit playing: LISTEN BACK. If you watch, you will be early. That goes for soloists, too.

The "soloist" part only has to do with being up front all the time. If you're just going to be playing ensemble parts, people will still look and wonder what you're doing down there. DCA corps seem to have an understanding -- that the big-hitter screamer soloist will stay parked in the pit just to play screamer parts & solos, sometimes while wearing a variation of the uniform. DCI doesn't really do that, though; BD had solos throughout their whole show in '93, for example, but they distracted from the rest of the corps and cost them in GE. Like I said, you probably won't see a horn player parked in a DCI pit unless they're injured. If you're really going to play sopran.. I mean, trumpet... the balance is the only thing you'd have to address. Play in time by listening back (just like the pit is supposed to do), and play in tune by listening back, too. If you have Maynard-like chops, check out a DCA corps. If not, and you're a good tympanist, I'd still suggest playing that instead -- tympani players can be hard to come by sometimes.

I've seen it happen, usually because the horn player was too injured to complete the season. You say you play tympani, though -- how about that instead?

It's about time you showed up! I saw Greg Wiese at DCA this weekend, and he was asking about where you went; I gave him the three phone numbers I had for you. He's planning to put together an Erie Thunderbirds alumni corps for next summer. Three rehearsals or so, and an appearance at DCA. Sound good?

Hey, don't knock accordions until you've tried 'em -- put one on, get a quick tutorial about the chord buttons, and you'll have a lot of fun with that mass of sound right against your chest. Seriously, those suckers shake. They suck anywhere besides living rooms, restaurants, and Oktoberfests, though.

I hate them, though -- but I do understand that it's a personal opinion. I formed mine by performing alongside them, learning how to play them, and watching some of the absolute best & worst woodwind-ists around. Even when they're played spectacularly well, I can't stand the sound. There are exceptions, of course -- alto flute, contrabassoon, or even a full-on, reed-only woodwind ensemble (mainly in a small space) have the potential to not suck. One of my favorite BOA performances I've seen on video was the Spring, TX, HS marching band doing Hindemith (1993, I think) and featuring woodwind soloists & small groups amplified with mics. I'll say it, though. I hate the sound. If I liked it, I would seek out more woodwind performances; but I don't. I'm so tired of the breathy, disembodied sound of flutes, the "KWEE KWEE KWEE" articulation of clarinets, the rattly chainsaw texture of saxophones, the piercing shrillness of piccolos... ugh. Screw it. <**>

lol... yeah, I know, pretty caustic of me to put it that way, huh...

#### woodwinds. I have the opportunity to hear some of the best woodwind sections on the PLANET right where I live. And you know what? When I hear them, I think, "God I ####### HATE how woodwinds sound..." That's why I did drum corps -- to get away from the #### woodwinds. #### woodwinds. That's all I want to say. At Finals this year, I was in the concession area during Boston's show, standing as close to the crowd as I could, trying to hear & watch the show. But, when I found that the vibes were as loud as the rest of the corps, I walked away. I WALKED AWAY from a show -- even though I had nothing better to do. No friends to see, no beer to buy... I was simply disgusted, so I left. That was a first for me. Been hooked since the '86 PBS broadcast, been involved since '87, and I was disgusted. I'll never forget the moment. If I have to be subjected to some stupid woodwind piece of crap, I'll stand up and leave. #### 'em. I won't yell, I won't look for Hoppy, I'll just leave. I don't care anymore. They can have their bands. (yes, I know that there's a cuss censor)

A lot of you guys have been talking about an ending building up to a release -- that's really the key. I kept seeing "tag" endings this year where the closing number would just kinda stop, change gears, and everyone would run around in some crazy drill while playing a few loud chords. Cripes, it was the same stuff. Half of the corps could have used each other's endings and nobody would have cared. The good *power* endings are the ones that have had minutes of buildup. Madison '97 started "ending" during the swordfight on the rack and just kept screaming along; '88 started partway through the Malegueña drum solo. You could see the finish coming from a mile away, and at the same time, you wanted to watch the whole thing. Fast movement, loud chords, flying flags, and split drumheads do not guarantee an interesting ending, though. There's much more to it.

Correcting the horn is a start, and makes listening much easier to accomplish. It's also much quicker than having to carry a tuner from player to player. Plus, everyone's been "existing in tune" for so many weeks in a row, constantly working on playing fundamentals, and consistency is just going to happen. Adjusting with temperature is quite important, especially with the recent introduction of 120 dB vibraphones. :( Having the pit & horns play out of tune with each other is just plain annoying. Once you've spent enough time having them in tune, it hurts to hear them play otherwise. One more thing while I'm thinking of it -- some horns (or players) just won't be able to reach "normal" tuner calibrations under certain conditions. Players who are always on the sharp side (or the DEG 2-valve French horns we had in junior corps) almost certainly won't be able to get down to A=440 or 442 on hot summer days. Recalibrate the tuner so that they can play without their tuning slides falling out.

People do it to seem smarter & better-skilled. If you marched with some top-flight corps, then you've surely got at least some knowledge of rehearsal & instruction techniques, right? We had a sop who started marching with us in '88 and claimed to be in Star '87. Later, in '91, one of our horn staff (who marched mello in Star '87 and Scouts '88) said, "Hmm, I don't remember seeing that guy at all in '87." The sop poser didn't say anything about Star after that, and he evaporated after the season closed. More recently, I got a private message from a kid on a Honda forum who claimed to march SCV tenors in 2000. I asked him if he knew Rieko (their hot tenor chick in '99), and he said that he'll have to look up the name, and that he didn't quite remember him. Well, not only could you never mistake Rieko for a "him", but the fact that there was a girl in the SCV tenor line was quite a topic that year.

I honestly don't want to read this whole thread, so I wouldn't be surprised if I'm just going to repeat what someone else has said... A 10.0 means that there just can't be anything better. Perfection is perfection, that's it -- not "the best seen tonight". By that logic, we'd be seeing 10's in June. The judges did that to a band I was working with at a midseason contest -- we got some perfect caption scores even though the kids felt they had a bad performance. If they had to give a 10.0 because they didn't leave any room, then maybe they were too generous with the other scores. If WE can see performance problems, even without shot-by-shot analysis via DVD, then surely the judges (purportedly more educated, intelligent, and with keener eyes) would have seen them as well. The old record from 1989 came about because there were too few judges. We don't have that problem anymore, though.

I brought up that line because that was my ageout year (my corps had the oldest contra line in DCI that year... all ageouts, all two of us.. lol). In previous years, Glassmen would come onto the field with at least 8 or 9 contras, but you couldn't hear them if you tried. Frankly, as a fellow contra, it was very annoying -- all those K90's going to waste. They came onto the field in 92 with six players, and we thought, "Oh great, we definitely won't hear them at all...ugh..." Boy, they surprised us.

lol.. "no visible thermometer" is a good idea -- I don't think I ever found out how hot it really was. I'll say that the gatorade idea is, unfortunately, not a great one. The kids are going to be getting the nutrients they need through food (well, hopefully), and the thing they need to do the most during the day is hydrate. Gatorade, and other flavored drinks, need to be digested -- which could cause the body will take water from other parts (muscles, etc) to aid in digestion. That really doesn't help in hydrating the entire body. Ever see a sweat-soaked shirt dry out? There are salt stains, but not nearly as much as is contained in a jug of Gatorade. You don't lose as much as Gatorade's ads will have you believe. One thing they need to look out for is over-hydration. You can actually drink so much water that the solution within your body becomes too watered-down, and the chemical processes won't work correctly. You can kill a brain rather quickly this way. I don't think they'll have any problems with too much water, though. I've rarely sweated as much since I aged out.

It's certainly convenient -- no more complex than a trombone's F attachment. Including false tones, as ratty as they are on these horns, you can go chromatically down to the pedal C. I'm going to lobby for it to be included on the new set. As much as I like the K90 I keep at home, its slip-slide is still a pain when compared to our Kanstuls' extra rotor. (wonder if I should put Rifle Expert in my sig... lol)

On the side, K-90 style, no doubt about it. That's by far the most natural position. Position 1: Put your hand in front of your face, relax your fingers, and turn it knuckles-out (as if you were holding a cup of water. Position 2: With your arm in the same location, turn your thumb towards you & down, so that you can see your knuckles. Position 3: Hold up your hand so that you're looking through a letter "C". In positions 1 and 2, can you feel the strain in the muscles & ligaments of your forearm? You'll feel that same stress with convertibles like the Yamaha 201M, which has upright valves in concert configuration. You'll get tired more quickly, and your fingers won't be as agile. If this was really the best position (Position 1, that is), then trumpets would be designed very differently. PS -- How's the Tubachristmas music coming?

double post! argh...

I figured I'd see a Tubenetter on here.. lol It's a trick with the lighting or something -- in the "After" photo, there are only two C-shaped non-stock braces, one just to the left of the house window and the other on the right side of the antenna. You can barely see the original straight braces in the "Before" pic. I fabricated the C-shaped braces after popping one of the originals loose. After that, I gave it to my repair guy in my college's town, and he smoothed everything out & cleaned it up; the "After" pic is the day I got it back from him. Serial number is 881944. I have no idea where that falls, though.

Before cleanup: AFTER :) : PS -- sorry about the antenna in the way...

Well, of course you can't hear a bad contra line... ;) First things first. For a contra line to have even a shot at being "decent", they must be heard. Trends that I've seen: BD = clean, on the quiet side, sometimes loud PR = usually loud, sometimes too much SCV = on & off years Cavaliers = used to be nothing to speak of, got much better by the late 90's Cadets = hit or miss, usually alright Glassmen = sucked (SUCKED!) until 92 Bluecoats = some really nice lines, lack of depth often apparent in the past Scouts = usually pretty good, unfortunately never godlike VK = some good stuff in the early 90's DCA in general -- good contra lines are rare, honestly

I was sitting on the bus with my K-90 during a ride to a show while marching Empire in 2000, and Jerry Kelsey, sitting a couple rows back, says, "How can you manage to carry that thing everywhere?" I said, "Every time I make a noise on it, I feel justified." The big Kanstul is a kick, the DEG supermags are pretty good, the smaller DEGs are an exercise in restraint, our custom Kanstul 2p/1r contras sound better in ensemble than by themselves, and the Duratones were actually pretty good, considering their size. But, man, that K-90... It's like it's the voice of God.