jm615

Like mentioned before, booing is just not classy at all. I've heard people booing at random bars with terrible house bands playing, but the booers are usually drunk and have absolutely no respect for musicians. Okay, so you don't like it, don't boo. It's childish and makes you look drunk and ignorant. Send Hopkins an email and tell him what you think, or go talk to him or the staff after the show. Booing during a performance...only uneducated people do that. Look at how every corps presents themselves with such pride and maturity, why can't the audience do the same and just respect that they've spent an entire summer working hard to put on that show. If you don't like it, don't give a standing ovation, don't cheer, and don't applaud more than a couple times. If you went to a symphony concert and didn't like a certain piece they played...would you boo?

keyboards, boards, rack, bells, glock (glockenspiel), mallets, front ensemble, timpani

I need some help. I log in...and then I click underneath the welcome greeting on the top right corner that says to watch the event...then it takes me to the login page again, and I enter my info again, and it does it over and over and over. What should I do?

I don't see the front ensemble as a distraction at all. I enjoy watching the front ensemble because they are able to express musicality with their body movements while the brass pretty much can't while they're marching. The faces on the players in the pit show the love and dedication of the corps while they're showing everyone what they've been working on all summer. The amps are great for the pit because they don't have to bang the hell out of the instruments to be heard and sacrifice good tone production. Yes, in the past you could hear pits without amps, but that's pretty much with only two general dynamics "Oh, I can hear the pit because they're playing really loud" and "Oh, I don't hear the pit because they're not playing with 12" stick heights." If you think the pit is a distraction, don't look at them. What's next, Drum Majors are a distraction? Let's go back to the older days when they were on the field? Or let's make some regulations about how big flags can be because they're kind of distracting too. Give me a break. If you get bad seats so all you see is the pit, then learn your lesson and purchase your tickets earlier. Oh, and marching timps and mallet instruments actually seems more like a distraction then having them stationed in the front. Whenever I see those shows, granted the drill wasn't as complicated as today, I can't help but stare at marching timps, etc. Missing the "oohs and awws" happens all the time. You just have to train yourself to know where to look. The visual teams usually do a good job in setting up big impact (ooh and aww) points.

It was neat at first, but then it just seemed like a waste of time and money to make that happen. It's not terrible, but it's not great either...

Nothing else really needs to be said after that last comment.

The pit, with good writing, can provide so many different colors, harmonies, and polyphonic textures. Some pit books actually do seem like it's not neccessary to have more than one of each instrument especially when they write nothing but homophonic lines. I would strongly suggest listening to pit books by Sandi Rennick such as Crown 04, Phantom 05 and 06. Listen to the different textures that they provide, they're pretty amazing. The cavaliers' pit has a unique way of integrating their book with the rest of the brass and drumline and the theme of the show.

I don't think everyone read my update...but...I'll just say it again but in a shorter version. I had a glitch with my transfer credits and stuff, and I'm not able to graduate this spring...I can't graduate until next fall...soo I am not going to Grad School until Spring '08. So that leaves this summer open to definitely doing drum corps. Thanks for everyone's honest opinions. My mom is in full support. My faculty is now in support as well.

Just a quick update for everyone. I ended up having a couple of glitches with some transfer credits, so it ends up that I cannot graduate until next fall. SOO, I think it's a sign that I should definitely try to do drumcorps! It's a second chance, and i don't have to worry about grad school now. So, I'm currently in the process of auditioning for Phantom Regiment. I've always loved them, admired them, and I think it would be a great corps to rook-out with if I get a spot. I'm practicing all the time, and trying to learn as much from Phantom that I can!! Wish me luck with the upcoming camps!!

Thanks everyone for the quick responses.

Just wanted to know what opinions are out there for a 21 year old graduating senior planning on going to grad school in fall 2007. I've never completed an entire summer of drum corps because of a health issue that has been resolved and well this is my last summer to march. Facutly have strongly discouraged me from going on tour the summer before I'm expected to enter a master's program for music and I have tried to convince myself that they are right. BUT, I just can't shake the burning sensation inside of me to go on tour. I know it's something I will regret for the rest of my life if I do not march. I was hoping that some might have comments or suggestions or if anyone has had this same problem. Thanks.

The intro in Ave Maria was a pit feature for about 8 measures. Also in defense for the amps, not only does it help minimize the distorted sounds of the keyboards, it helps prevent several injuries like tendonitis, or erosion in the wrist. Instead of playing the heck out of the keyboards trying to barely be heard over a fortissimo being played by the brass, the pit can play a comfortable double forte instead of FFFFFFFFF. The amps also help ease the stress of many university professors worrying about their students coming back with injuries preventing them from playing for a semester. Keep the amps, just learn to put the microphones not so close to the amps. Let's see what happens on the DVDs.

Crown- I haven't really had a chance to hear or see crown's show until today, their brass was great, their percussion was a huge let down!! The little jam out session was terrible, all those rim shots missed and dirty...yuck. I really enjoyed their drill, it's a definite improvement from last year IMO. SCV - Too much xylo. Overall, I enjoyed their show. Bluecoats - I think it's generally a good show, but it doesn't have that drive to the end to be in the top 3. They definitely peaked too soon. The steel drums actually got kind of annoying, a lot of "barking" from trying to play a little to loud, and you can definitely hear the effects of summer on them. Cadets - The horns during the ballad are amazing. Their ballad would definitely be on the top of my list if it weren't for the singer. Every show I see, she seems to still be experimenting with different vowel placements, and it's not very consistent and it's somewhat flat, so it kind of lessens the impact of that section for me. (the only corps the entire night not to receive applause after their show in the theater, it left the majority of the people in the theater saying "what just happened") PR - Amazing brass!! I couldn't really tell what was going on with their drill because of the camera following around Faust a little toooooo much. I eventually kind of gave up hope trying to catch a glimpse of their "new" ending drill, but it gave me a chance to sit back and absorb the beautiful and incredible sound that PR is known for. I'm kind of bummed that they don't play the third verse of Ave....it's beautiful. Mahler kicked some you know what. BD - It's a good idea. Cavaliers - another great cavalier show. Amazing visual!

I actually would also be happy with any of them in first.

1. Phantom 2. Cavaliers 3. BD 4. Bluecoats 5. SCV 6. Cadets 7. Crown I'd be happy with Phantom or Cavaliers in first.