audiodb

You know, virtually all feedback on the '04 Cadet show was positive until the corps slipped into fourth place. Then, suddenly, they're "boring", "not cutting edge", and so on. Hmmm....

All the time. Since you were on tour, you wouldn't have noticed that nearly every criticism of Crown's vocals has been preceded by comments to the effect of, "wow, what a hornline!", "best Crown ever", and so forth. Fans appreciate the hard work that goes into creating brass sound of that caliber. Many of those fans would love to bask in that sound for another 30 seconds, rather than the vocals. Is that "bashing" (of the vocals), or is it "appreciation" (of the hornline)? Works both ways.

A couple of comments: - DCM uses only division I sheets. They also stick to the division I time limits for shows (10:00 to 11:30). So if a corps like Blue Stars performs a 9:00 show (legal in DCI Division II/III), they will take a penalty in DCM. - The lack of comments on the Royal Airs is no reflection on your performance. Remember that most corps members missed you, as they were assembling for finale. From where I was, you guys won the high-decibel award for the night, and I was surprised at how well you recreated that drum solo from '75 Cavaliers' show.

I know, but these four corps are the front-runners at the moment. That may not remain true in the end (watching PR gain ground).

Having had the relatively unique opportunity to hear all the top four corps on the field twice each this season, I thought I'd offer my observations on their use of amplification in the early stages of the 2004 season. I'll go in chronological order.... The Cadets were the first such performance I witnessed, in the fine surroundings of the Glass Bowl in Toledo, OH. The Cadets are amplifying much of their pit instrumentation; marimbas each have two microphones mounted to a crossbar under the keyboard to capture the sound coming out of the tubes, each tymp has a mic underneath, etc. Two dual speakers (one angled upward, one aimed horizontal) are used, bookending the pit. A mixing board enables proper stereo panning (i.e. positioning each microphone's sound in the stereo stage). Setup takes a lot of work, including cabling up all the mics and running a power cord, but the Cadets always seem to have a great number of volunteers with them, and thus were able to set up quickly enough to take advantage of the warmup as a sound check. The pit plays a feature segment from the show during warmup, while a staffer checks the mixer settings and looks for a signal from another staffer up in the stands. This procedure may have been a bit slow in Toledo; by the time their warmup started, I thought they were doing the "moving warmup" again this year. A week later in Normal, IL, they were more punctual with their setup. They did not appear to have exceeded their allotted time in either case, however. With all the obvious work and expense the Cadets have put into their amplification setup, the results are good. Their pit sounded like it ordinarily would. To their credit, they are using amplification per the stated intent of the rule proposal, to provide the same pit balance with the same number of instruments, enabling use of softer mallets/gentler technique, etc. Ensemble balance was unchanged from past years. The end result, a combination of acoustic and amplified sound, was not obviously different in character from pure acoustic sound. The Cavaliers brought out speakers similar in appearance and position to the Cadets, but refrained from micing their keyboard section. This left them with less setup work, as they had fewer cables to run, and no apparent sound check process. Their marimbas, the loudest-projecting in DCI in past years, might still retain that distinction in 2004 even while not being amplified. Cavaliers are boosting the volume on selected accessory percussion instruments, which can now rival the volume put out by the entire snareline in certain situations. Still, the overall impression of pit balance for the Cavaliers is close to what you would expect from them based on the past few seasons. I witnessed the 2004 Santa Clara Vanguard for the first time in Riverside, CA, where the pit clearly had difficulty getting ready on time. SCV is using a more conventional setup, with mics mounted topside on nearly everything in the pit, and two speaker sets positioned in front of the pit, not spaced as widely as the Cavaliers or Cadets. They had to cable up all the mics and a power cord. Rather than do a full sound check, they were satisfied to test each mic to make sure they were all live. Again in Walnut, CA, the corps stretched their setup time allotment, perhaps due to other issues, as the pit didn't even get their instruments in place quickly. There were several serious issues with this amplification setup. Santa Clara's pit performed as if they were in their own little world. Aside from timing (which was good), the pit payed no heed to the remainder of the ensemble, plowing through their parts full-force with little dynamic shaping. While the field musicians worked very hard at dynamic contrast, the pit was exposed as clearly overplaying every soft passage of music, a sin further exacerbated by the amplification, which clearly raised their volume level beyond what we would normally consider proper balance. Tone color of the pit instruments was altered, taking on an artificial, electronic character. Perhaps this is a symptom of a higher proportion of non-acoustic sound, or perhaps SCV's speakers are not as high quality (they didn't look new, either). There is also the possibility that the high-mounted mics were picking up sound from the field musicians and amplifying that as well. SCV not only had the loudest horn section in each of the Western shows, they reverberated in a way unlike any other hornline. Battery had a remarkably simliar reverb. Drill staging revealed suspicious behavior, as a section of horns passing in closest proximity to the pit would briefly project far better than one would expect from mere acoustic proximity. In contrast to the previous setups, the Blue Devils came out with individual speakers for each pit performer. Each marimba had a speaker mounted on it; the tympani cart had a speaker of it's own, etc. These self-contained units required no cabling to be done at the field, for either signal or power (evidently battery-powered). This approach would have proved fortuitous in Walnut, where all field power was dead (not just switched off), and show support personnel spent the better part of an hour running a quarter-mile of extension cords from a distant restroom to make up for that fact. BD sounded fine in Riverside, and there did not seem to be any bleedthrough of field sound like SCV, despite use of the same overhanging mic strategy. But balancing this pit is a whole different ballgame from the central mixing board setup of the other corps. In Walnut, the tympani player's amps were cranked up a couple of dynamic levels higher, creating an obvious balance problem that distracted from not only the pit ensemble, but the entire corps. A fine contra line's efforts were pretty much wasted in a losing contest with the overbearing tymps. I don't know if the tympani player can detect a problem like this one from her position behind the speaker, even at that level of severity. But you could hear her Udu drum without a problem.... None of these four corps amplified the human voice at any time.

In more detail.... The Thunderbirds had a feeder unit (Thunderbird Cadets) that decided to break away and become an independent corps, appearing in 1967 competition as the "Cascade Cadets". A year later, they dropped "Cadets" from the name. That's where the Seattle Cascades originated. Meanwhile, the Thunderbirds didn't make it into competition in 1969. They started over in 1970, competing in class C, but the comeback effort lasted only that one season.

Hogwash. You must live in one of the towns fortunate enough to have a school music program that includes competitive marching band in it's curriculum. For every such town, there are at least four others that don't have that opportunity. Are those communities "irrelevant"? Oh, and what about kids outside the 14-18 age group? Are they "irrelevant"? Actually, your comment illustrates a component of the "new attitude" of DCI that is worth noting. Amid the DCI marketing focus on marching-band kids, many people are forgetting that drum corps can also serve kids who aren't already in a competitive marching band.

That is tricky, because even though there are only two corps, they had at least five names between them. They were the Eau Claire Scouts/Eau Claire Boys/Sundowners, and their feeder unit, the Eau Claire Preps/Sundowner Cadets. There may have been three - Warriors, Warrior Cadets and Marauders (unless the Marauders were just one of the former corps under a new name). Sheboygan. West Bend Patriots (hey, someone has to guess that). CapitolAires and Royal Knights.

I don't think you said anything in your entire post that was correct, but this quote is the biggest laugh of them all. To make a long story short, a clean snareline can be made to sound "dirty" by inappropriate selection, placement and/or mixing of microphones. And that's just one of a long list of problems that inept audio engineers can cause.

I'd say so. And also bear in mind that no one can see or hear everything. Even the judge assigned to judge field percussion, for example, has a number of different sections to evaluate (snares, tenors, basses, cymbals, assorted pit performers, etc.). His focus may be drawn to a tough snare lick for a moment, missing something that the marimbas are doing at that same time. He may move in close for a better chance to evaluate one section, but at the expense of missing another (they refer to that practice as "sampling"). Over the course of the performance, each section will get a fair share of the competent judge's attention, though. In the same manner, we can't catch everything from the spectator's vantage point. But we can certainly express opinions on the portion we do catch.

Huh? I'm not disregarding the guards, just admitting that I couldn't see them from where I was. Ah, the perils of comparing scores from different shows....

Well, for what it's worth, things seemed a lot different from my vantage point down at field level, away from the discussions of the predominantly Midwestern audience, and seeing both of these corps for the first time this year (and having no affiliation with any particular corps). IMO, the judges were on the money. I'll invoke a disclaimer on guard, though, as I missed much of their action from where I was situated. Both corps, by the way, were quite good. Capital Sound did seem to have slight edges in performance quality across the board, but Memphis really projected their effects with clarity and energy. Amazingly, the caption scores support these observations.

First, three disclaimers: 1. I know it's June. I know I was seeing material that was just learned yesterday. You know this, too. So don't get miffed if my review sounds harsh in spots. I'm just calling 'em as I see 'em. 2. I was on field level for the entire event. Sound is great down there, but I do miss some of the visual stuff. 3. I'd like to highlight the fact that the variation in corps placements from day to day (right or wrong) is a refreshing change-of-pace. As much as any of us may disagree with the results, they do stimulate interest in the activity. It beats being able to predict the outcome flawlessly before the contest. Judges, please feel free to vote your consciences throughout the season. Don't let us ranting fans stop you. OK, review time. These are in order of appearance. The division III units led off. Eklipse (20B/11FP/4PP/16G): These folks know what they're doing, in all captions. Performed like a veteran II/III unit in mid-season. It's a shame their debut will be better known for the use of sousaphones than for the 10-point spanking they dealt to the Americanos. On that issue, knowing how awful those "baby contras" are, I'm glad they used the sousaphones today. And why is it that horn manufacturers are incapable of keeping pace with demand for Bb horns from the drum corps activity, a mere drop in the marching-brass bucket? Americanos (13B/7FP/7PP/12G): Did they just finish their show earlier today? The last minute of it was one of the weakest performance segments I've ever seen at a drum corps show, with the majority of musicians dropping out for lack of stamina or not knowing the parts. But I know better than to draw any conclusions on the 'Canos based on June. The drumline already shows some of that spark they had last year. The hornline will probably need a little more help, though, to get this corps into their accustomed role as division III title threat. Any eligible horn players out there with nothing planned for the next seven weeks? Glory Cadets (15B/14FP/6PP/3G): Speaking of division III title threats....Marion has a large and ambitious battery with six snares that are rapidly honing their act. The hornline is playing out so far this year. Last year, they were far too restrained - that should not be necessary in 2003. Marching even shows attention to technique at this early stage. The only negative is the guard numbers. With one of the finest auxiliary programs in division III the past couple of years, maybe they can attract a few more members for that section. Division I Carolina Crown (60B/17FP/13PP/33G), with seemingly all-new staff, have much news to report. Leading off the division I field helped this corps tremendously, as their hornline's deficiencies did not suffer a direct comparison with their peer group. In short, Crown currently sounds like a high-school band. Granted, a decent-sized HS band, but still....I must say I do appreciate that they are trying to play loud this year, something that wasn't part of last season's effort. But not only are they not getting there, they've lost their tone quality in the process. Their sound is small and constricted. Intonation also wavered quite a bit. Ninth place in field brass was the correct call. Drums were frequently dirty, but not much more so than other corps in the "block" (tonight's 3rd-9th place corps), and they have a very nice book. Percussion also suffered from significant ensemble issues tonight, the kind that will definitely improve dramatically and soon. Note the pack-leading score in auxiliary, and a surprising strong third in ensemble visual, nipping at the heels of the top two. The show could take this corps places. It's much more crowd-pleasing in nature than the past few years, and without relying on overly abstract or artsy gimmicks. Of note is the closer, Carol of the Bells, which is a gutsy choice - one of those pieces where performance will determine whether it goes down in history as a stroke of genius or a total flop. The use of dynamics is key here. If Crown can sell those peaks and valleys, this could be their comeback anthem. Oh, and about the uniforms - those stripes don't clash from a distance the way they do in a close-up photo. There's not much for me to say about Southwind (54B/19FP/10PP/26G). Last week, they opened their season with an inspired performance in Toledo; tonight's job was a comparative letdown, perhaps knowing that rivals like Capital Regiment were elsewhere. Well, if they are only 3.45 behind Colts with that kind of performance, then they missed a critical opportunity. And please take off those black towels, and keep the uniform jacket the way it was. Colts open with a glorious sound - well, actually, they open that way, close that way, and bathe us in more of the same in several breathtaking mid-show pushes. "Iowa's Corps" had the loudest hornline of the night. Their music has demanding content, varied styles and moods, and accessibility. Watching their 56B/23FP/10PP/25G, I was pleasantly surprised to find them with a corps once again in the hunt for top 12. Tonight's scores called that impression into some doubt, though. The Colts just didn't find any particular caption in which to excel tonight. Visual certainly wasn't going to be it, as a recent effort to complete the drill has taken focus away from intervals in the previously-learned portions. They've got a serious hornline, but a few individual lapses were even more exposed due to the ensemble's mid-July clarity. Drums were trailing decidedly in performance (snares), but could be right back in the ballgame if they clean up. Overall, this is a top-12 show that just needs top-12 cleaning to get there. Next up were the Madison Scouts (63B/22FP/10PP/30G). Now, I'm definitely not a guard person, so when an auxiliary grabs my attention and earns my rave reviews, that's something special. Man, these guys turned the Louisville turf into their stage. Dance moves were performed with such snap and precision as to deserve ovations just for that degree of excellence. I was relieved to find the "new Madison" not much different in style from the "old Madison", with enough brass steroids to keep us fans happy. Western fans will recognize half their music from Pacific Crest's 2002 show. The brass section is most assuredly well-taught, and led the "pack" in performance tonight. Drums, however, were very dirty here, a possible area of concern. I don't like the new uniform, but sticking to shades of green on the front makes it tolerable (I think the original design had red trim somewhere on front - ugh). I was a bit apprehensive that Spirit (63B/21FP/12PP/34G) might be going too obscure with the "Time" theme, so was I ever in for a surprise. Here was one of the most accessible, in-your-face shows of 2003, and a hornline in the running for top decibel honors, despite playing Bb/F. To further demonstrate their capabilities, Spirit presents an eclectic music book with genuinely difficult material in each segment. After a lush, huge opening push to show off that nice fat sound from each section, we are treated to fast tempo 16th-note runs and multiple-tonguing on the move in the next tune, then a ballad with a wide variety of tonal blends, then scorching jazz licks and rhythmic demand in Nuttville, where they once again prove the virtuosity of every section of the hornline. This is one very strong corps playing a very robust book, currently underrated except perhaps by the ensemble music judge, who placed them third in that caption. If there can be a show that satisfies both the judges and the fans, this would have to be it. Magic of Orlando (63B/21FP/12PP/32G) just throws everything they've got right at you this year. Tempos on both Holsinger selections are already cranked up, and performance shows no more strain than their peers in the process. So why are they staying in the back half of the pack so far? Hard to say. I would not be surprised to see them take turns beating several more corps in the coming days (in tonight's eighth spot, they were only 1.5 short of fifth place). Allusions to "DCI top 5" aren't realistic, but this show could take the corps to an all-time high DCI placement (or a spot in the bleachers on August 9th - it's getting competitive out there). Opinions are mixed on whether Wayne Downey's brass book meets advance publicity or not. Frankly, I think the key is whether Downey will be there to make key mid-season adjustments, or will he spend all his time with that other corps, the one from California. Last week, I saw the Glassmen (58B/22FP/11PP/??G) debut with horns and drums that were both clearly inferior to recent years in performance level. I didn't expect that their finalist status would be in any doubt, though - until tonight. They are improving, but the scores clearly have them mixed in with a crowd too big and too closely matched to say for sure what's going to happen. While the corps may not be as experienced and clean musically, it is nice to hear them delivering a solid sound from all brass sections. Even with a show in the same style as last year, that brass sound alone makes the experience more accessible. Marching is still solid, and thus is sure to become a caption strength for the 2003 corps. Following their cross-state rivals, the Bluecoats let me down due to a serious decibel deficiency. The 64B/23FP/10PP/34G unit's opening stages a climax that only tips the scales at a half-hearted forte. While dynamic range improves somewhat later in the show, their performance tonight seemed to be more for the judges' benefit. And four of them responded with third-place marks, boosting the Bluecoats to the top of the pack. Last year's show did a fine job of toeing the line between judge and audience. This year's performance style, like that of two years ago, seems to deliberately avoid the in-your-face approach. The Cavaliers (64B/20FP/9PP/37G), next up, won top honors in a near-sweep, relinquishing only the auxiliary caption to the Cadets by the smallest of margins. The panel got this call correct. Cavies' brass section showed greater power than a week ago, and some of the refinement of difficult passages that other corps can only dream of at this early juncture. And yes, they have even greater range demand than usual for the sopranos. Drums are far less exposed this year, compared to the past few years. Clearly, the visual program is the highlight of this corps, and I'll leave it's coverage to those who had a better view of it. The Cadets (61B/18FP/11PP/37G) are once again using the "moving warmup" to start their show (like they did in 1989). It wasn't particularly effective then, and it still isn't today. Hampered (in a top-4 sense) by design indecision, average brass arrangements and a percussion book that sounds as if it has been repeated every year since 1995, this could be a rough year (in a top-4 sense) for the corps. To further complicate matters, sopranos missed on two long-denied opportunities to prove if they could articulate together on anything faster and more rhythmic than straight eighth-notes, this occurring in Fanfare and Allegro. Their high-note fest in Malaguena earned some retribution, though. Meanwhile, the drums were off their usual smoking pace in performance. It would be a shame if the Cadet focus on entertainment can't coincide with the title-caliber performance levels they have achieved on past occasions.

(psst - Southwind didn't make semis last year)

Oh, OK. That is different. Would the intent of this be to build bigger corps "in Europe", or create a Yamato-like unit, assembling a European half and a North American half to compete exclusively on the DCI tour?

- DCUK already allows up to age 25, with three additional "any-age" performers. - Mainland Europe has no age restrictions in their open-class divisions. - When international groups come over to compete in North American DCI events, DCI already offers them the option of competing in the "International Division", which waives those rules on which overseas circuits differ from DCI (like age, for example). So this idea is already in practice, essentially.

Am I missing something here? I don't see anything about "DCI supporting DCE" anywhere in that press release. Posting this one DCE news item on the DCI website seems to be the full extent of the "support". I'm not criticizing here - just being realistic. How much "support" could DCI realistically provide to a European drum corps circuit, anyway? Besides, DCE seems to be making good progress from their own efforts. Here's hoping for more of the same!

George, thanks for picking up on this news from the opposite side of the globe. This would also be a good time to ask how one goes about posting tabular information in a readable format on DCP. I had trouble with that in the previous version of DCP.

Considering this was Reading's first contest appearance, I think the call for watering down the brass book is a bit hasty.

Well, it certainly won't be Pacific Crest. Check their webpage.