MarimbasaurusRex

Yeah, happy birthday... um... baby? How about.... Happy birthday, ya big baby! :P or Happy birthday, I wanna have your baby! (not in a gay way, of course) or Happy birthday, but what are you doing to that baby!?!?! :sshh: Either way, you're still older than me! HA!

YAY! We had a good corps that year. Small, but determined to get back in finals. The drill execution was clean as snot, but so badly written that you could see every form developing 100 counts ahead and then waiting.... waiting... for..... the....... impact......... and................ you... can.... see.... it.... coming....... and...... snorrrrrre..... But, gotta give props to my peeps, a really good mallet section, from left to right Brad Amidon, Jennifer (Becker) Richards, and Mark Ortego, I'm on the far right. This was the first mallet section in drum corps to have all the players use four-mallet technique and also the first section to use weighted mallets. Scored a 95.50 in perc ens, .05 behind winning SCV. The best part was when SCV, always gracious, came over and said they thought we should have won. I agreed and said they should give us their plaques! LOL! Graciousness only goes so far, but we had a good laugh. Both Jen and Mark marched BD the following year. Brad aged out and I gave up. Drum corps... PHOOEY! hehe

Just got back from Glendale where I saw the Troopers rehearse and had a nice talk with corps director Fred Morris. (We marched side by side in senior corps back in the 70's and I've always admired Fred as one of the most solid guys around.) Really good to see the Troopers back on their feet and healthier than ever. And amazing to see how far they have come in such a short time. Fred told me about how they had only 22 kids for the first camp and it didn't look good. But, as word spread that they were following through, sticking to plan and doing things right, soon they had over 470 kids trying out for spots. The membership is into it and working hard, the staff is focused and the infrastructure solid as a rock. The debt is gone and as this corps matures the future will surely bring great things. The show is a nice balance of traditional Americana and contemporary design. Scott Koter has done a nice job of programming within the ability of the members, many of whom are first year corps kids, while rewarding the audience with some nice Trooper moments. Looking forward to the next few years and seeing Troopers in finals. It's coming. Somewhere, Jim Jones is smiling. Go Troop.

Let's take a closer look at the top 6 movement in VFW from a few of those pre DCI years. In the 5 years from 67 to 71 there were 15 different corps in the top 6, and 8 different corps in the top 3. The trend continued into the first few years of DCI as shown in my earlier post. 1967 1 Cavies 2 Troopers 3 Des Plaines Vanguard 4 Royal Airs 5 Kilts 6 Racine Scouts 1968 1 Kilts 2 Cavies 3 Troopers 4 Des Plaines Vanguard 5 Royal Airs 6 St. Joe's 1969 1 Kilts 2 Cavies 3 Troopers 4 Boston 5 Blessed Sac 6 Des Plaines Vanguard 1970 1 Troopers 2 Boston 3 Cavies 4 Blessed Sac 5 Blue Stars 6 Kilts 1971 1 SCV 2 Troopers 3 27th 4 Blue Rock 5 Kingsmen 6 Argonne Rebels Case rested.

I'm not the fighting kind, so no worries. But, it's easy to see that things were more in flux in the early days. The judging was different and it was possible for a corps to pull a great performance out of their keester and make a big jump. No one ever really went from 12th to 1st and there have always been power houses and dynasties, but it was more common to see new faces make the top six each year or to see a corps make the jump from 5th to 1st or 9th to 2nd or whatever. Below are some placement examples of the top 6 from the early days that show the difference. Imagine how much more interesting it would be if this kind of thing happened today. 1972 1 Kingsmen 2 Blue Stars 3 SCV 4 27th 5 Argonne Rebels 6 Troopers 1973 1 SCV 2 Troopers 3 Blue Stars 4 Madison 5 Kilts 6 Kingsmen 1974 1 SCV 2 Madison 3 Kingsmen 4 Muchachos 5 Troopers 6 Kilts 1975 1 Madison 2 SCV 3 Blue Devils 4 27th 5 Blue Stars 6 Oakland Crusaders 1976 1 BD 2 Madison 3 SCV 4 Phantom 5 27th 6 Bridgemen

I kind of agree with this idea. Every corps in finals should have a legitimate (or maybe outside) chance of winning the show. Unfortunately, in some years that would mean only one or two corps really belong in finals. But, that's been a problem of the competitive aspect for decades. If they ever reduced finals down to say 5 corps, it would make the whole thing more marketable for TV and other media and truly represent the very best of the activity. The only reason for the marathon today is for the feel good aspect of including 12 in finals. There was a day, actually before DCI was ever founded, when any of the top 12 might have had a shot at winning, but that is long gone and the 12 concept is obsolete. It's a tradition without purpose.

Booing is tacky even in pro sports. But, people have every right to make themselves look like idiotic buffoons. Why not just wave a big sign that says "I'm a no class loser who takes everything too seriously!"

I'd let them stay at my house but my cats wouldn't put up with it. Note that this is for the period BEFORE the shows start. Not sure if DCI has any real responsibility to house a corps during that time, although they should obviously help out. This may not play out as you think. It could just as easily provide ample opportunity over many years for DCI and it's member corps to wear out their welcome. Time will tell if it's a good plan or not, so save the props until the results are in.

Probably depends somewhat on individual technique preference. The tough part with rosin is the prep of the head. Takes a long time to work the rosin into the head and it needs to be coated pretty thick around the edge. Kind of a patience thing. But, once the head is well coated, there is no moisture necessary and a good roll can be produced without any prep of the hand. A lot of orchestral players like it for this reason, so that the player can produce a roll immediately with a dry thumb in the case of a quick switch from another instrument or if the rolls go on for a long time. A tambourine well prepared with rosin can produce a figure 8 roll that can go on indefinitely. Also, it has to be bass rosin which is quite a bit stickier than regular violin rosin. Different strokes for different folks. :)

Vibes were a bear, as gangly as they were heavy. Marimba and xylo were no biggie once you were used to it. Glock was quite a bit lighter than a snare drum, especially the aluminum Mussers. Between drum corps and high school-college marching bands, I've marched snare, multi-tenors, bass drums, roto-toms, timbales/bongos, tymps, xylo, marimba, and vibes. Marimba and xylo felt similar to tenors or a mid sized bass drum. I still carry a marimba today for some occasions. Vibes and the bigger tymps were in a league of their own along with the biggest bass drums. Bass drums are just as bad as any because they are worn high on the body and the center of gravity is well out in front. And Mike Braga, What's the deal not carrying any chimes along with that 3 octave concert vibe? Slacker! :)

Better than bees wax, try string bass rosin.

LOL Hey, it's late. But, you would surely take the field with a bang and put on an explosive show.

How about... Now taking the field from Granada Hills, California... The Granades! (sounds better than it looks)

Hey Guy! Truly. There are plenty of bad bus stories to go around, but we had the busses from hell. I remember when they first pulled in front of the corps hall to take us on first tour and thought to myself, uh oh, this is not going to be good. Dr. K. was so proud that we finally had busses of our own, but those death trap hunks of junk hadn't been busses for many years. One was painted on the side "Sounds of the Pentecost," previously owned by a church choir. Even the pentecostals didn't trust God to get them down the road in that thing anymore. It became not so fondly known as Sounds of the Holocaust. You could hear the blood curdling screams just looking at it.

Without a theme how will I ever understand what kind of pseudo-artistic nonsense a committee of high school band directors wants me to think is cool?

This first one was not so much tough as it was memorable... Denver, Mile High Stadium parking lot, busses pulling out after the show. Bus lost all hydraulic pressure, stalled, brakes went out and we careened out of control backwards down the hill. The driver was smart to steer off the road into a brick wall to stop the bus. But, I was laying across the back window. Still recall clear as day seeing that brick wall heading right for me at what I guess was at least 20 miles an hour. Jumped out of there right was we hit hard and I don't think anyhone has ever made it from the back of the bus to the front of the bus in faster time. We were pretty shaken up, thankfully no injuries. But, you should have seen what was left of that wall. The bus didn't fare much better either. Leaving Boulder, brakes went out again, doing 90 down the winding mountain road, bus driver with both feet on the brakes and white knuckes on the steering wheel. Our instructor, Tom, was sitting right behind the driver and said, aren't we going too fast?! Bus driver's response - Tom, don't bother me now! That was the quote of the tour. Second tour in 81, some kind of stomach bug had me doubled over with painful cramps for a week. That week was just a blur of getting off the bus, curling up on the gym floor, sweating profusely, and getting back on the bus again. Couldn't rehearse or perform at all. Best the corps management could offer was pepto bismol. Lost a few pounds on that tour. That's when I decided that 9 years marching was enough. Good times.

Totally. At first I was wondering if they might secretly be using G horns. For me Academy is quite nostalgic because I like that sound. Not sure where the high school thing comes in, but maybe referring to the 40's swing stuff? I agree it's a bit cheesy. I actually liked their show better last year. Couldn't agree more. They are fine performers but I just can't understand how such a snoozer of a show is getting the scores. Thanks for the review.

Many kids have decided it wasn't worth it, as I did my age out year. Judging from the number of kids marching corps then versus now (hundreds of corps then versus a handful now), it seems the ones who decided it wasn't worth it are a silent majority.

I always felt for the ones who didn't get to march finals their age out year. Prelims as your last show is pretty anti-climactic. Didn't march my age out year, but at one point I had hoped to leave my white bucks on the field as I had worn them for many years. But, then our corps changed to black shoes which I hated so the magic wasn't there anyway. Was a fun tradition though.

While I don't disagree with the spirit of your post, there are a few misconceptions... Not really. DCI age out is 22 and the average age of many div 1 corps is well over 18. I don't know very many 21 year old high school kids. Those decisions and many others are/were made by adults. Kids don't decide anything in DCI. The DCI board of directors makes all the decisions. Not many kids directing corps. Nobody ever asked me to decide anything when I marched and I don't think that has changed over the years.

HONK! HONK! :)

Sounds as if you might be trying to do too much with the fulcrum when the other fingers should be helping instead. Pinching the fulcrum too hard means that the stick will be less fluid in the hand and restrict the movement. Let your other fingers do the work. The fulcrum is merely a pivot point. If it feels as if the stick might fall out or pop up out of the hand when you relax the fulcrum, try sliding the thumb upward slightly toward the top of the stick. That way the stick can't pop out so easily when relaxing those muscles.

The DCI season is not a marathon. It's a series sprints and only the last three count.

Academy will let their show do the talking when it counts. I only saw them once at their first performance. If that was any indication of what is to come, they will speak very loudly indeed and might even blow your face off. What difference does it make how many or how few performances they do? They are either good or they're not. So far, they're looking pretty darn good to me. Honk twice if you love Academy! HONK! HONK!

Seems as if Vanguard was rewarded early in the season for having an incomplete show. They've not challenged for the top spot since the closer was added.