PR_ducky

It's a curse LOL

OK, making the assumption that tone quality and tuning are assumed, and we are only talking about volume. First off, nothing in the Bflat era can compare to the volume of the corps on G bugles. The corps now just don't have the power they did and its mostly due to the horns. As far as rip your face off volume I would have to go with 86 SCV. When they laid into Great Gate of Kiev you felt your insides rumble. I have been told that 89 Regiment was extremely powerful but I marched in it so never got to hear from the front.

Sounds like Bob

I REALLy think Star will bump out either Coats or Crown

well in my opinion PR, BD, SCV, Cavies, Scouts, Cadets, and Star are locks. Only question is which other corps got bumped up thru the voting due to DCIs mercy rule. Nothing against Crown or Boston or whoever, but if any of those others could be on more than once we wouldn't be seeing anything other, and probably not even all of those 7. I would very interested to see the actual vote totals for all 30 corps that made the final voting round.

Uh...yea LOL We did "misplace" a guard member. Before we were turned loose we were told be on the bus at a certain time ... OR ELSE Come time, everyone was there but this guard member. We checked a few places. Pat O'Brians....and so on Nothing, So we left her. Usually not a big deal, we had left members before (usualy unintentionally though) and you just hitch a ride with another corps to the next show. However, there were no other corps to get rides with. If I remember correctly this was within 2 weeks of finals and we were looking good to win. I also heard she turned up in a hotel the next day, more than hungover, but we never really got an "official" version. At any rate we finished the season without her. Was a bizarre situation to say the least.

When I marched the people who got pulled went to the far end of the field and another visual instructor did basics with them. Once the drill down got down to about 10 or so people, everyone would come watch the end.

If it is a DCI ring I would seriously hope the guy marched 89 as a youngster. How tacky would it be to wear a ring you won with another corps while marching?

In 86 at Regiment we started the season with 2, but one of the baris blew his knee out late in the summer so the put him in a DM uniform and planted him on the sideline at a crucial spot where we had trouble seeing the podium. So technically we had 3 DMs and the poor kid who blew his knee out got to finish the summer.

I know when I was marching there were always ocasions on which we would have a great show and the score would drop, or we would have a crap run and the score would go up. We were convinced there was no rhyme or reason. Slotting explains it a little, but it was never that blatant. I do think that because we were the Phantom Regiment we got the benefit of doubt from the judges, especially early in the season. I think thats probably true for all the top corps though.

I know this it just won't come to me. I do recall in 95 we were on tour and it came on the radio and Ralph looked at me and said in a cool voice,"I wrote that" LOL

I am pretty sure the Classic Countdown is shown thru digital media shipped to the theatre. The Quarterfinals Show in the theatres is broadcast by satellite

did the same thing in 94. Mr. Beckman and Mr. Watkins are old friends

crossing the country has l;ittle to do with it, the more shows you do and better exposure you get against other top corps has much more effect

I'd be shocked if he remembers me LOL I worked for McGavock HS in Nashville for about 10 years and came down to Lassiter to help out in 94. It was a great show. I don't know, maybe he'll remember me. I still live in Atlanta, I should stop by sometime.

Ralph and I were both there in fall of 94

We did those a few times a year when I marched. I was always out fairly early except for once. In 89 we did one towards the end of the summer and it came down to me and a Mello Player. They put us on the yard line and had us march backwards at 8 to 5. We got 4 yard lines before he didn't hit center. The 3rd baris carried me off on their shoulders LOL I think everyone was happy that for once Carrie Hyde didn't win LOL

Doesn't look familiar. I don't think we got them, or at least I didn't get one.

Its funny but I was wondering the same thing a few weeks ago. I taught with Ralph at Blue Knights and Lassiter HS. Where are ya Ralph?

LOL Drill Down! Do they even still do this? I look at alot of corps now and have a hard time imagining they even work on fundamentals. I know we were still doing them at regiment in the late 80s, can't recall doing them in 96 when I was there.

Don't feel too bad about your birthday. Mine is July 11th and when I marched that was just as bad as May 31st. Back then if you turned 22 before finals you couldn't march. Even worse, they changed the rule to June 1st the year after I aged out. I feel for you LOL

In general I think we ate very well at Regiment. I don't think I realized just how well until I started instructing with other corps. We had it pretty good. In 86 we didn't have the food truck, we hauled our food around in a ryder truck. Luckily the job of my section was to load and unload it every day. As you can imagine, my bus got a lot of late night goodies. I think it was the next year we got the food truck. Man what a step up that was. The cooks loved it and it showed. We ate like kings that summer.

I was 16 my first year. When I marched there was no minimum. I know in my 5 years I marched with several 14 year olds. Unless I am mistaken, I marchjed with a guard girl who aged out in 89 and her rookie year was 78 or 79, something like that. I know she marched ALOT of years all in the first corps. I marched with many many kids who did 5 ro6 years in regiment Cadets then 4 or 5 in Regiment.

Mike, My point is that EVEN if a corps has the players, if it's within the rules (or more specifically "not against" the rules) a corps will end up doingit, mainly just because they can. I still think amps prove this. Initially only for amplifying the pit, now for vocals, I am sure a few more uses that can be squeezed within the current rules will creep up this season or next.

I don't think we need pianos, or strings, but I would not disagree about the undersize pit kid using one. The problem is that that is the OTHER extreme. As soon as you make electronic keyboards available for the kid in the pit in your example, 4 other corps will have a pit with 8 electronic keyboards and nothing else using them to play marimba parts as well as strings, horn parts, and everything else under the sun. next comes a drum machine to replace the battery. I am sorry about the lonely kid in the pit by himself who needs it, but I would much rather sacrifice him if it means avoiding the other situation.