Romosays

You know what I love, I love it when people feel like their opinion matters, even when they weren't even involved. I for one was there. jafar and dcimarky are two example of people who like to sit behind their computers and spit out garbage. I had a kid come up to me after quarters from our percussion section and thank me and the staff for a great experience. He told me at the age of 17, he now knows he wants to march until he ages out and wants to be involved with music for the rest of his life. He was not the only one.... Kirk Gay was the arranger for the pit this past year(teaches at UCF), he has written for the Crossman ('92-x) and Phantom ('96-x) and Drew Tucker did a great job getting the book clean. I can tell you this much, every summer you have your ups and downs. Magic is in a rebuilding stage, in 2004 they had only 6 vets returns. In 2005 they had 40. Next summer from all accounts it seems it will be more than last. The average age of the corps this past year was 17.7. With a great year to year return rate and some design/staff changes The Magic should be headed in the right direction. The corps never broke down on the road. The corps ate better than anycorps I have been around in the last 13 years (steak 4 times,great meals between steak nights, and peach cobler to die for. Our cooking staff was UNREAL!). The corps was only late to a housing site 2 times all summer. If you want the real story, and not something from people who have nothing better to do than wish they got out and did something with their own lives please feel free to send me a message here, and I will put you in touch with the people you can talk to about their experiences, and with the staff as well.... Chris Romanowski The Magic Percussion Caption Head 2k5

Then I guess all you had to do was ask that question instead of rambling on about everything else, telling the guy from Southwind that he had your condolences and being rude.... For someone who wants a professional response, and a professional opinion, you sure haven't been very professional yourself. If you took the time to read the original post of mine that someone else put on here from another message board, you would have read where I said: "things went very well for us that weekend, and that I look forward to seeing how the summer plays out for us and our new drums." I will be on the road almost all summer, you can come talk to me anytime you'd like. You can look at the equipment, see how we are tuning it, ask me how things are holding up, and then you can judge for yourself. I guess on page 3 then where you chose to tell Teddy he was full of BS was actually meant as a compliment. Sorry, my bad.

Rick, There is no "carrot" to speak of as you say, and Teddy and I are not signed with Ludwig and don't have to say anything nice if we don't want to. Many people have asked questions, we have given some insight as to what we got straight out of the box last camp. Magic and Southwind are in a great position this summer to help Ludwig with their designs and get them to where they want to be. Bob B. from Ludwig did a great job getting us what we needed at camp, and will continue to be supportive during the season. You gave a laundry list of things that you say you don't like, yet you yourself bought stuff, your line bought stuff, and then you turn around and criticize me for telling you how things looked to us. I have nothing to gain by telling you what our drums looked/sounded like. If and when you can figure out why you are so angry, and why there is a need to accuse myself and Teddy (a percussion instructor who has had numerous succesful seasons with every group he has worked with and whom has my greatest respect) of speaking out of line with what we experienced, then feel free to contact me.

DrumnMan2004 and LancerLady, Thank you for your interest in The Magic Percussion section. Our new management has done a wonderful job this year to help set The Magic up for a successful summer. All the way from the wonderful volunteers we have had at each camp (I have to give it up to our cooks, we eat pretty phat) to the decisions made by the board for instrumentation needs. Seeing as how neither of you are a part of the organization, and were not there to see what equipment we did or did not have, and what kind of shape it were in, I can see how you could easily try to come to your own conclusions. I don't remember anyone else in the room at the last camp tuning drums with Teddy and I until 3am, fresh out of the box, so I am assuming that DrumnMan2004 you have your own set from the new era Ludwigs that you could enlighten us about. If you have any further questions regarding our instrumentation, please feel free to email me, pm me, or stop by the arc to see things up close and personal. Chris Romanowski Magic Percussion Caption Head