pmaustin

I found it on this very site several years ago. I've been told by a couple of friends that marched with Star during their championship era, that it was one of their horns. I have no way of proving that however, I do know that Star used King 2 Valves during their run. Sorry to see it go, the K-80's are beasts!

Hello CDM, You may want to take a look at my King K-80 Euphonium that I have for sale on ebay. It's a nice, low cost horn that doesn't require any work. Sound like it might be just what you're looking for.

Hello folks, I've just placed my K-80 for sale on ebay. It's in nice shape and reasonably priced. Great sounding horn. PM me for details. Thanks, Paul Updated - Horn is Sold

FYI: I just placed my Kanstul Grande Baritone for sale on ebay - Excellent Condition! Three Valves, Key of G PM me for more information. Thanks, Paul Updated - Horn is Sold

Sir, Thank you for taking the time to read though a number of posts filled with largely hot air and uninformed opinions. You have captured the issue, and our stated goal - i.e. to enhance our ability to put on a better performance/show each and every year, by leveraging enhanced feedback from the judges - in whatever form that ultimately takes - audio recording, critique, revised scoring sheets, or a combination of the above. No other agenda - Period.

The only big concern I would have in holding the event outside - at the Dock for example, would be a lack of seating for the audience. It's about a 2 hour show give or take, and that's a long time to stand, particularly for those with disabilities. Just say'n

Joe, You raise a number of valid points, but the fact remains that the activity changed dramatically that night in 2006, when Star United showed up and played for the first time in Rochester (for the better in my opinion). From that date on, it would never be enough to just show up and play, as you now had a group in the activity that has continued to push the boundaries of excellence - I'd say after seven wins in a row, they've done just that. What to do as a member of a competing unit? Do you just roll-over and not show up anymore (as several groups have chosen to do), or do you try your best to close the gap and produce the very best product that you can? Fortunately, there are still enough groups in this activity that will not settle for mediocrity - just because Mini Corps are small in number, doesn't mean that our competitive fires burn less brightly than larger organizations. I promise you, that if you had to jump into the ring every year and compete against the likes of Star (and all of the other very talented groups that participated), you would want beneficial feedback as well. It is a simple and reasonable request isn't it?

As a point of fact, yes we did offer to pay for tapes several years ago in order to resolve this issue. The whole "DCA lets the mini corps perform there" is a cheap cop-out. There is an obvious and beneficial symbiosis between DCA and Mini Corps in which the venue gives participants a chance to perform in front of a crowd, while DCA benefits by providing an attraction for fans on the Friday night before prelims. By the way, the local Chamber of Commerce also benefits by having extra people in town spending money that might not otherwise be there that early in the week (Mini Corps typically arrive on Thursday). No one on here is suggesting that the manner in which the Mini Corps show was run was anything less than exemplary. 2012 was in fact the most enjoyable time that I've had at the event going back to my first year in 2006. The coordination, venue, and community were all first class, and I absolutely love Annapolis and it's friendly people. Donny was 100% correct in that this was the wrong forum to discuss this topic, as there are too many people that can't wait to give an opinion - whether it is informed or not. Paul

HBD, Your response in your "side note" that DCA judging now uses digital recordings indicates to me that you don't fully understand the situation. Audio recording does not occur with Mini Corps - that is the issue. Furthermore your "100%" statement about placement being the driver is just plain wrong. It has nothing to do with the situation, as this issue has been raised on many occasions over the last five years, and no progress has been made in rectifying the situation. It comes down to the future viability of the activity itself, as more and more Mini Corps are deciding to stay home. The original poster is correct, in that there are no judges tapes, (or digital recordings of any kind) furnished to competing Mini Corps. Three score sheets are produced with no correlation between them. One sheet had only these three comments: "Aggressive Book", "Well Done", and "Excellent Job" followed by a score. There are no category breakdowns on the sheet. There are no critiques or opportunities to have judges explain a given score. There are no recap sheets produced. There is no way of determining if there is a deficiency in show design, content, execution, performance, etc. There is no opportunity to measure strengths and weaknesses vs the competition. Since there is zero judging feedback, next year's show by default is developed in a vacuum. Could you imagine a scenario in which the Caballeros (for example) received a single score, with no granularity as to how it was arrived at, coupled with no information as to what any other corps scored in any category, and no opportunity to question the judges as to how the score was arrived at? Their score sheet simply said "Nice Job". One can only imagine that the second place corps score sheet said "Really, Nice Job" I suspect that this would be the subject of much more discussion if it were Open Class Corps instead of Mini's. Mini Corps spend thousands of dollars and hundreds of man hours of time in developing the shows that you see on Friday night at the I&E. We truly enjoy the opportunity to compete, and the thrill of performing in front of a wonderful crowd. Shouldn't Mini Corps have access to the same professional judging evaluation that is afforded to all other competing drum corps?

Without trying to speak for other Mini Corps, I don't believe that the majority would object to a "Park and Play" type of performance. This was after all, how it started years ago.

Suggest checking out Basement Brass at 6:30PM followed by Kidsgrove Scouts Brass Ensemble at 6:35. These two ensembles will be excellent!

Thanks Fran, nice to see the Renegades back in the Mini Corps competition after a little bit of a break.

So is this line-up official or is it conjecture?

Given that we're just a little over a week away from the show, will a performance schedule be published? Thanks

Dick, Our thoughts and prayers are with you in hoping for a speedy recovery. Get well soon!