corpsband

Exactly correct. Design is meaningless without execution. Despite all the whining about adult-designed programs (which AFAIK has always been the case) sloppy execution is perfectly capable of killing brilliant design. What's grinding some gears here is that there's a certain tolerance level for execution that can be "overcome" by the confluence of design and performance. It's an interesting question (with no defined answer). What's the minimum level of execution at which design becomes effective? How much "error" is tolerable before it begins to affect the number you're about to write down? Of course for some the answer is any error should impact design. This is exactly what you had in the "tic" system (which simply shifted the semantics to "what is a tic"). And this tolerance (which has always existed and always been subjective) will vary from judge to judge, show to show, and design to design. You hope and pray that you get consistency. Of course that's the goal of the judges as well -- to agree on the values used to define a performance. Some moments only work when they're perfectly clean. For other moments clean is so irrelevant (or impossible to define) that in practice they always work. Most moments are somewhere in between those two extremes. To say "it's all about design" is just plain ignorant. Design is a precondition. You must have design to place a value on the execution. But in the end performers must realize the design, bring it to life, and make it their own.

very modern show and seemed to be well-received. seems like design has taken some strides forward for both the drumline and the full corps.

first time for them. they are doing a great job staying "in touch" with the activity.

https://www.facebook.com/USMC.Drumcorps live in 5 mins!

Cadets 1983.

Madison 95. Crown 2013.

It's drums in a gym -- how can you tell? that aside - it's pretty hard to get good sound at a drum corps show (as we've all learned from years with the fan network). they eventually got pretty ok at it, but there were some terrible experiences. (and then you compare it to what Mr Blair produces on the BluRays and then it makes it all those streaming shows sound like crap again).

so marching an equal number of males/female guard members this season? interesting.

You have to wonder if staying downtown is what's causing a lot of folks to be "bored" ? I stay out a bit past the airport (and therefore have a vehicle). Started doing that to be closer to Avon (for obvious reasons) but I think being mobile (like you normally are in "real life") might be an advantage. I've stayed downtown and the best thing about it was walking to the stadium. My walk is not any longer when I park in the lot directly in front of the stadium. Never had an issue getting a spot there. Oh and some very nice properties are a lot more affordable.

the challenges aren't so much in doing multi-cam (although directing the multi-cam is a real bear). imo the biggest challenge is getting the audio right.

Announcing first is certainly getting them a lot of "airplay". I think if I were another corps, I might take advantage and beat them to the punch :-)

Cadets hammering the "we need boys" bell a lot lately. Anyone want to read the tea leaves?

just thinking this over a bit more. there should be good stats from DCI for both the fannetwork and dcilive to help Flo project the potential audience size for the events this summer. as others have pointed out, DCI is a bit unusual in that they were running VOD services betore turning to Flo. i still doubt things will go well . but at least there's reason for a small sliver of hope. (and I'm completely ignoring the challenge of successfully producing the live events. very different than covering typical sports events)

F Sister William Bernice always wrote those in red (not that she ever gave me one!)

https://www.bbb.org/central-texas/business-reviews/internet-services/flosports-inc-in-austin-tx-1000108975 made me laugh (and then cry).

And sit up STRAIGHT when you read that :-)

love love love Cadillac.

lol and the information link goes to a FloMarching page that just says sorry it's not available to regions outside the US. so informative! another little factoid. flosports started with wrestling and can't even provide quality service to that market. apparently they didnt' forsee the demand for a big match between PSU vs OSU. http://www.flowrestling.org/article/52221-apology-from-flosports-ceo-co-founder-martin-floreani they offered two months free service as compensation or a refund and cancellation of service. if you're going to be the exclusive provider of live event coverage (for any sport) , you'd best not fail in providing the coverage. there's no suitable way to compensate a user for missing it. there are plenty of providers who've "figured out" how to make live streaming successfully scale. Flo doesn't seem to have figured it out yet for their largest customer base. it's not "hard" to figure out any more -- there are plenty of vendors who provide streaming that will successfully and transparently scale. you just have to be willing to pay for it (which means keeping your capacity WAY ahead of demand). the LAST place you want to skimp is infrastructure for your core service. things do indeed look bleak.

Has Flomarching ever given a sensible response about why they only accept US subscriptions? From an ecommerce POV it's trivial to accept non-us payments.

Effect will most always be dinged by sloppy execution. "I see your intent but you're not fully realizing it". Sometimes the performer and the design and the emotion of the moment carry the day (see Spartacus) but most often it does not. Bringing something new may be necessary (although that specific language is not on the DCI sheets, it does appear in some other venues) but it's not sufficient. Bring something new and perform the snot out of it is far more reliable path. IMO Bluecoats absolutely deserved the win last season. Entertaining as hell. But -- after the lights were switched off -- everyone watched the DVD. If you think excellence needs to be "good enough" and that your "innovation" will always carry the day, you're in for a rude awakening. You want proof? Take a look at what that corps in Concord never fails to do. Execute.

Perhaps guard staging. IMO that is a large part of Gaines' genius -- the guard would always be in the right spot to generate effect. And frequently you didn't notice how they got there -- it would just hit you.

they got a big "your GE trumps your dirt" pass last season. imo those sort of passes are only good for one use.

Problems with the retractable roof. Of course DCI would have kept it closed anyway