nguyenbr

I was browsing the Vic Firth website recently and came across a picture of some new pads that I've never seen before. They're blue, white, and black and sort of trapezoidal shaped. Has anyone used them? Thoughts? Are they worth the price? http://www.vicfirth.com/products/pads_mutes.html

in addition to all the suggestions above: people i marched with swore that Febreze was the best thing ever. I brought a carpet to put under my feet for the bus, definitely felt pretty good on my feet. if you're a drumline guy, and your section doesn't shave their heads, bring some hair products (gel, mousse) so you can look good in the lot. Okay, I guess that's been mentioned, but just to emphasize : look good => feel good => play good for snacks, i recommend energy bars, preferrably the kind that don't melt in the sun. ear plugs? bring a sharpie because you'll want people to sign stuff. Trust me. a lot of corps require you to bring a drinking cup for meals to cut down on waste. You might want to invest in a quality cup for this purpose. find out if your bus has a DVD player or a VHS player, and figure out who's gonna bring what. I recommend the movie Anchorman.

from what i've seen -- girls in the battery ~ 1:12 girls in the pit ~ 1:2

To the best of my knowledge, this was only the official policy for one year, 03 I think. Any other moving in in the past few years is unofficial and not required. Bottom line, check with the techs in case they ever decide to reinstate the policy.

don't think its Freddie... doesnt look like him, and he's playing tenor parts.

while I generally enjoy g-cym's posts, i think the wording in his original post is skewed towards one answer.... thereby invalidating the whole point of having a 'poll.'

that truman video is hilarious

Isn't it obvious? The quality of the corps from CA is so irreducibly complex that they necessitate the work of some unspecified intelligent entity...

1) amped vocals 2) any of my hometown corps placing low 3) tour disasters, for any corps 4) empty stadiums for Div 2-3 finals week 5) corps who had a cymbal line in 05 not have one for 06

the answer is Intelligent Design.

as an ex-college band member, i must say that DCI enthusiasts who are looking to be entertained or even impressed by college bands are, for the most part, setting themselves up for disappointment. There are many college bands who play between 3 to 6 shows every season to accomodate the tastes of drunk football fans who are just looking for cool movement, formations, and exciting / familiar music. These are fans who have no concept of 'clean' or 'sound quality' or 'dynamics' because the main attraction believe it or not, is the football game. In my opinion, any band who realizes this and focuses on playing to their audience is doing an excellent job.

bluecoats 2005 boston crusaders 2000 vanguard cadets 2000 (assuming "championship" refers to div 1, since a lot of people are picking Crown)

like the guy above me said, be straight up with your caption heads and any other relevant staff about your situation. If they care about you as a person, they'll understand what desires you may have. Chances are, it's likely that they also experienced a situation where they were trying out for more than one corps. Most staff members understand the inherent pecking order of drum corps anyway. I personally think it's great that you're still going to the Impulse camps and whatever rehearsals they have, knowing that you may end up at PC. Doing the opposite (getting cut from PC and THEN calling up Impulse to see if they have spots) is not unheard of but would probably hurt your chances of getting a spot later on in the season.

As far as the idea of having only horns & guard on the field, where would they listen for tempo? Seems like it would be a nightmare for faster songs, unless you want to have an 11 minute long ballad. You could put the pit in the back (which I've heard has been done before) but that creates its own problems.

one thing you have to consider is the performance opportunities for the following groups of people: a. marching battery percussionists b. brass players / pit it goes without saying that if you're an awesome (insert battery instrument here) player, your performance opportunities are pretty limited. DCI, WGI, and a handful of 'professional' drumlines. That's why the auditions for the drumline are fiercely competitive for pretty much any drumline not at the high school level. if you're in category B, you don't have to learn the nuances of a new instrument in order to be a part of any symphony / orchestra out there. There are also jazz/rock ensembles for brass players to join. This is quite possibly a factor in why a drumline-less DCI type activity outside of Blast! probably wouldn't/doesn't garner much interest... because there's other stuff out there for your instrument. Keep in mind that I'm being completely objective here and that I bear no ill will towards any brass / pit players...

I think the commentary is sarcastic. how could you be in the Vanguard organization and put in the Grand Pause without expecting people to yell out "Vanguard"... the entire idea that their comments might have been serious is ludicrous to me. In recent history I think they've had it every year except for 2000-01... didn't think the one this year was very well put though. Personally i hope the new staff will keep the tradition alive.

it would be great to have the Freelancers back and all, but would it be feasible for two div 1 corps to come from the same city? has it ever happened?

drumcat, i dig what you're saying... i experienced something similar the first time I heard it and didn't immediately think "ugh how lame" but rather "hmm that actually fits pretty well." It led me to believe that I can tolerate the human voice if it's used as an accompaniment instead of a featured uh, voice. like Cadets drum feature 05. that took me months to be able to listen to it without tensing up inside. There's something about a loud booming voice that disrupts the flow of my enjoyment. I was at some show this summer where the Cadets were performing, and as a member of a corps that performed earlier I had to settle for a seat off to the side... I didn't hear the cadets drumspeak because the amps were pointed to the center. I enjoyed the show immensely. I wonder if any sound engineers on here would care to make 05 recordings without vocals, not unlike the version of Star Wars Episode 1 without Jar Jar Binks.

um no. Judged competition? you can make a judged competition out of anything. poker, Halo, curling, dog contests, America's Top Model, freestyle rapping. There's a judged contest to see who can write the most obfuscated piece of C code. Doesn't make it a sport. Physicality? breakdancing, cheerleading, running on a treadmill, and farming are not sports. Definition of sports? let's check out the wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sports ... or how about a ctrl-F on the drum corps wikipedia for 'sport'... oops, phrase not found. Cheerleading is a sport? if you said that to my face i would laugh. I'll still watch the competitions though. i love drum corps for what it is. so yeah, just as long as no one tells ESPN2 that it's not a sport we'll be fine...

I dont know if it'll fit your theme, but i've been listening to a lot of this band called The Bad Plus recently... they have some good shizzle some of which may make a good percussion show

i'm against the switch back to traditional... match grip (in conjunction with Murray's technique) was a step forward. I think it'll hurt when all the returners have to abandon the technique and style that they bought into for an entire season. kinda discouraging to say the least.

its all about the fried rice baby! with dressing over it!

1. At my job, I think of my workday in terms of "morning block" and "afternoon block"... I almost did this out loud in front of my co-workers. 2. when people complain about their tans and tan lines, i always have the urge to show them my sock tan, or even worse, my butt. 3. the policy at my gym that states everyone has to wear a shirt upsets me to no end.

hey all, i finally registered after lurking for a long time. I registered for the sole purpose of joining the SCV 2000 fan club. That should tell you something I suppose. The first drum corps show i attended was at San Jose State in 2000... a show that I wish I could go to again for obvious reasons. anyway, just thought I'd join. SCV 00 is without question my favorite drum corps show. -Brian