pearlsnaredrummer77
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Posts posted by pearlsnaredrummer77
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Brian,
Could you please post the Class A scores if you get a chance?
Thanks!
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Prayers coming your way Jim!
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The AMerican International Open in Butler was our home show so finals 83-85 were good for us. Outside of that, the local shows that were all A-Class corps were more fun. But the absolute best audience was at the VA hospital where we did annual performances-it was very rewarding to play our show and the National Anthem for the veterans.
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Wasn't really the Brass Caption Head. Quit way before the competitive season began if I recall correctly.
Wow.,. The Pittsburgh story is too close to home. Right across the river from my hometown. The school board president is the older brother of a classmate. It's a terrible story on so many levels. The other story-a 14 year old girl! I just don't understand this.,,, i wish there was a better way to weed out individuals predisposed to this behavior.
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Actually, Crown has already included a flute sample in their field show.
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I've always wondered how they would police samplers, modern synths, etc. You can sample just about anything, assign it to a key and the judge probably never knows what you are doing.
The irony of all of this is I started playing drums to get away from woodwinds (especially the clairnet which I played with very little enthusiasm) and to be in a drum and bugle corps because of the 'pure' brass sound.
Now those darned woodwinds are sneaking back and bugles are dead. Who woulda thunk?
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Having said that, I know how to get around all the electronics rules using keyboard functions that would take someone staring at the score to see. (And no, I won't tell. I like my cheaters.)
I have wondered that myself. I think there are myriad way to cheat with a decent synth and maybe a sequencer these days. What judges would actually know what I was doing if I mapped a sample of a difficult brass riff and played it when necessary? What judge would actually know the difference if I showed up with my Roland w-30 and Juno G? Do they care about the difference in quality of sound between synths? I just see so many potential problems with judging a new instrument family-especially one that has so many different types of sound generation from sampler, to sample based synth, to pure analog, digital, etc. I love synths and been playing them since the 80s-but don't think they are appropriate for this activity. Some things are better accoustic.
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Couldn't agree with you more Keith.
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True some people who haven't dealt with this have the idea that a clear check means the person is safe when all it might mean is not caught or reported. IMO about all checks do are help to guard against those who were caught or a CYA for the group that at least they are doing something. But also needed is a policy to update the checks every now and then. Know mine is way out of date......
Such a sick world we live in. I wonder if preventative training from police might be a good idea. Not so much for the offender, but for the kids to know signs to look out for such as the "coaching", etc. it seems like these types do have certain common methodologies. The better educated a young corp's member is, the better they are able to protect themselves. I believe some police departments do stuff like this as part of community outreach?
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Here's an old one....makes my back hurt just looking at those Premier monsters!
Those look torture weapons. I think I need a muscle relaxant and Percocet just after looking at them.
:lookaround:-
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I used to prefer drum corps because it sounded better to me. I find the G bugle sound more pleasing and exciting than a marching band. i particularly dislike squeaky woodwinds. But there are only a few G lines left (will really miss Empire!) outside of alumnus.
Truthfully I don't know if one artistic expression is 'better' than another. That's a matter of personal taste.
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If we really want to go back that far, the original Americans, the Indians, think evolution sucks. They are getting their revenge now in the form of certain tribes, with casinos and cigarette sales, etc., but for the most part, they aren't exactly fans of ours. Bur we don't have their opinions on Bb's vs. G's and electronics....
Actually 'we' do. I am part Native. :)
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I've read this idea in another thread, but today's activity lacks a groove that can get audiences involved in the performance. I think that the choppy nature of today's shows and the popularity (with staff) of orchestral music rather than big band, approachable jazz, soul, etc., has turned it into more of a passive audience activity for the average audience member. I always think of the groove in Blue Devil's 76 Legend. The drum major is dancing, the audience grooving-just a total participatory moment. I think the modern arranger/director that can recapture that mojo will be regarded as the new Zingali of the activity.
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I've read this idea in another thread, but today's activity lacks a groove that can get audiences involved in the performance. I think that the choppy nature of today's shows and the popularity (with staff) of orchestral music rather than big band, approachable jazz, soul, etc., has turned it into more of a passive audience activity for the average audience member. I always think of the groove in Blue Devil's 75 Legend. The drum major is dancing, the audience grooving-just a total participatory moment. I think the modern arranger/director that can recapture that mojo will be regarded as the new Zingali of the activity.
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Cut the size of corps to 128.
Establish formal funnel routes from g7 auditions to other corps
Limit spending on pit
Establish a minimum # of years for use of instruments
Cut pit size
Eliminate electronics & synths
Reestablish regional tours with top corps only meeting infrequently (builds drama)
Establish standardized maximum staff salaries
Age out for World 20
Age put for Open 21
I know none of these suggestions will be popular, but the theme is cutting costs and encouraging more open corps and increase their attractiveness and performance opportunities.
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Change is good and progress is inevitable. Reminiscing is good. Resisting change is not so good. No one will ever convince me that an outhouse is better than indoor plumbing. :satisfied:/>/>
I think that the traditionalist argument is not about change within a given form. It's about altering that form into something else.
Personally, I think it the amps are done well, it's not a big deal because it doesn't (or shouldn't-my concern about effects a few posts up) change the sound produced. Adding new instrument families indeed turns the activity into something else-neither better or worse. Just something else.
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Change is good and progress is inevitable. Reminiscing is good. Resisting change is not so good. No one will ever convince me that an outhouse is better than indoor plumbing. :satisfied:/>/>
Well change is not always good. The industrial revolution brought about a lower standard of living for many, increased the spread of disease, gutted India's economy, intensified slavery and so on. Eventually it worked out, but we can't forget those that lived through those tumultuous changes and saw them as other than a positive good. Also, at one point communism was thought by many as progress and the ultimate form of society. So I think we always have to be aware of context and not too confident about what we alter in the name of progress.
But you got me on the outhouse!
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Just impossible to compare eras. Lines before say 84/85 played practically every note of the show with less marching demand. Later lines have to run, but play far less during a show. The lines of the 50s/60s were playing to a completely different standard. Before the 1980s lines were primarily local and talent was diffused among over 250 or more corps. Moreover modern lines have a higher average age. I think the safest we can say " blank was one of the great ones!@
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Well put. Amps with hiss and white noise mixed in... not good.
But then what if folks start using the effects like distortion, flange, chorus, etc. Seems like there will need to be very clear guidelines on what is legal and what is not. Don't many effects units come with looping abilities? How much training do judges have on sound systems?
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At the Scranton show the other night, Statesmen were on G horns. They were certainly loud, but Hawthorne and Reading were louder.
Of course, that and five bucks will get you a cup of coffee :)
The problem is of course that there are so many variables. How many brass for each corp's, level of playing ability, arrangement style, staging, hearing of audience participant. Etc.
I think an experiment with one player, who would have no given preference, equally adept on either instrument in a controlled environment like a recording studio would be the best way of getting objective data.
I also suspect that the greatest difference may not be in pure volume, but timbre.
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Thanks for sharing that... As a kid in the 80s I would see that name and thought they were an early Gay (as in homosexual) group. I was amazed that drum corps was that liberal in the 60s. Later I found out that it was a different type of diversity. :). Great corp's history!
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Let me know the attendance of the other alumni shows that run all year then.
Not as big.
I live alumni corps. But their appeal is to a segment of the audience that's going less and less. Until corps start going in more of an 80's/90's route, alumni Atendance will start to die off. Literally.
I think there are a lot of factors. One being that Alumni Corps don't have a strong central organization to help with promotion. At this point it's almost word of mouth. The pre-season standstills often compete with bad wintery weather. I don't think it's necessarily the product, but a combination of factors.
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As someone who performed in 4 of them, I will agree with you about the scheduling. But it is what it is. There really aren't other options. They (meaning DCA) manage the best they can.
Agreed!
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There's so many reasons and electronics and show design are just two of thousands of reasons.
But I tell you what: since you think old time drum corps will bring the crowds flocking, let me know what the attendance is at the alumni show in 2 weeks. I love alumni corps but let me give you a hint: not as big as finals
I think it's fair to mention that the Alumni show is (necessarily) scheduled awkwardly.
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LegalEagle, In what post did I say I hate the current product? I have said, that you seem to ignore, in a few of my posts is that I attend DCI and DCA shows and that I enjoy them for what they are. And yes, most of what I loved about drum corps is missing from the current product which to me resembles marching bands. I do not think a marching brass band with no bugles in the brass line should call itself a drum and bugle corps or drum corps. The first line of the wikipedia definition of "drum and bugle corps" says drum and bugle corps also known as drum corps so calling them drum corps when they do not utilize bugles doesn't cut it either. By the way, I know all the four letter words that you know but I have not used them or xxxx's when corresponding with anyone on this forum. I have also not told anybody to "go to he'll" so, while you are accusing me of disrespect, you might want to audit your own posts. If you and your buddy Jeff don't like what I have to say, skip over my posts. Have a nice day!
I kind of agree about the terminology. To my mind, when DCI added the electronics they fundamentally changed the activity. Since the 1930s the activity used brass and percussion as the sole instrumentation. Synths are neither-so there's a definite difference. Earlier developments all came from those existent instrument families. So what DCI does is something a bit different-not my cup of tea, but certainly a viable art form. I don't think that opinion somehow demeans current marchers-it says nothing about about their obvious talent, work ethic and so on.
I also don't see how suggesting that today's DCI is an association of marching bands is a pejorative. At this point, DCI has much more in common with the current crop of (excellent) competitive high school bands than drum and bugle corps of the 1950s. Why is being a band so bad: isn't that a value judgement in itself that posits drum and bugle corp's as superior to bands? To my ears, the pure brass-preferably g/percussion sounds more pleasing than a band with synths and/or woodwinds. But that isn't a value judgement on which is 'best.' In art is their ever really a 'best'? Isn't it a matter of personal taste?
The argument that is really a dead horse is the one that claims anyone who prefers a brass and percussion musical form believes that their time was the best or somehow defines a pure state of the activity. I am of the opinion that the golden age of the activity was years before I marched in the mid-80s. When I marched the activity was in decline.
I think Liz's point about drum corps vets acting out at shoes is sadly true. I've sat at show and had to listen to the 'expert' opinions of veterans who should know better. Dissing the people on the field is never cool. It really isn't showing off drum corp's/marching band expertise: it's just a callous display of ignorance. And if you dislike the entertainment: do something else and let the paying customers enjoy.
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A "Tradition Corps"? What do you think?
in DCI World Class Corps Discussions
Posted · Edited by pearlsnaredrummer77