Stryfe

/thread

I love how this thread is so obviously a case of battery people vs. horn people and a bit of new vs. old. :) I agree with his main point, but I think it's a red herring as far as conventional DCI goes -- I solidly believe there aren't any (DCI) instructors who want duts to be audible from the stands. Every marching group I've been in has derided the field percussion when it was /audible/. But does that mean it's not necessary? If you can't hear it and it helps them attack (do you think Phantom Regiment's percussion can't count without dutting? ... do you think they should abstain from dutting inaudibly just because they can?), why are you so bothered by it? And even still, there are moments where audible duts are indeed a nice, drum corps-ish effect. It's almost never within a ballad. I think a lot of people get so self-righteous about duts when they watch drum lines in the lot, and evaluate it as an independent musical idea - OMG THOSE DUTS ARE SO LOUD. Yeah, they're also out of context. Color guards counting is also a peeve of mine, but I usually can't see it, and if I can't hear it, either, then it obviously is a non-factor. I wish someone would write an article about high school front ensembles that bob their mallets obnoxiously, because that's distracting and there are far more natural ways to internalize pulse, but no, let's go after what percussion caption heads are already going after. The 2010 Madison Scouts had battery dutting the entire time, and there were a LOT of instances of hornline duts (OH NO!). In my Quarterfinals recording, I can hear the percussion dut a few times, and I always like the effect, which is subtle at best. But the rest of his article seems a lot worse, to me, and suggests stinginess and dinosaur-ness, as well as another disconnect from perception and what's really going on in modern drum corps. Again, I solidly believe that groups that never stop using the metronome are waaaay in the minority as far as DCI goes. Even when the metronome is used, most groups don't want horn players, pit players, or guard members to rely on it -- it's there mostly or entirely for the battery to keep them honest. Then there's "8 and out," where the metronome simply tells the battery/DM where tempo is then exits the conversation -- the majority of drum corp rehearsal is this, especially once they start touring. Around June, the metronome is really taken away. All members in the corps learn very solidly what perfectly precise tempo is, then learn how to "breathe" with it to a certain extent with 8 and out. The majority of ballads are also almost never put to a met, at least not for the entire duration -- the DM is given a framework to consistently apply slowing down/speeding up. And if you want a solid, concrete reason why a drum corps starting a rehearsal chunk without "8 and out" is difficult and, at times, unreasonable: the front ensemble CAN'T rely on the conductor for this, and in the case of a continuous segment, wouldn't actually have to, nor would it be anywhere near their best musical interests. So for at least the sake of one part of the ensemble, it's necessary. Edit: In reviewing his article, I kind of mischaracterized his viewpoint as being too strict, what I'll again insist is that all drum corps already follow these rules he's created! Unless he's aiming it at high school marching bands (which he's not, correct me if I'm wrong), it's a red herring. His points about ear damage are worthwhile, however. Our met operators never used headphones and the battery was not allowed to. Not terribly great. And maybe it is, at some level, just a difference of opinion. I like the sound of modern drum corps - everything's clean. Sometimes, perfectly, squeaky, obnoxiously clean (Cavies 2002). And I listen to some older drum corps recordings where metronomes weren't a consistent factor, and I think, if that was going on today, the lack of rhythmic clarity would be railed upon... and it's by no means a bad thing. I think it's just what each group is used to. :P

My guess is that there will be far more rookies, because vets now have much less money than they did the previous summer and many are losing jobs or getting into the throes of college and can't really afford to do drum corps for a summer or two. Example: me. After tour, I experienced a random bout of "oh, I don't really have much money of my own left" and "oh, my mother and my stepdad are separating and an enormous amount of money is disappearing in the process" which leaves me struggling to pay for rent, bills, tuition, groceries, etc., much less WGI and DCI :(

This.

I didn't get to watch too many shows after performing, but one show I did get to see in mid July or so and again at Quarterfinals was Phantom Regiment, and the improvements made in that show blew me away. I was told that the show I saw in Kansas City was not, in the members' eyes, a strong performance, and it had hardly an impression on me. But at Quarterfinals even though I sat on the side 2 10 yard line, I could tell that the show had become much more cohesive and powerful. The intro and outro were especially chilling. Big props to them.

Cavies win 00-09, Devils win 01-10 which I won't ever consider a meaningful unit. I voted for Cavies.

1. Academy 2. Blue Devils 3. Blue Knights 4. Blue Stars 5. Bluecoats 6. Boston 7. Cadets 8. Cascades 9. Cavaliers 10. Colts 11. Crossmen 12. Glassmen 13. Jersey Surf 14. Madison Scouts 15. Mandarins 16. Pacific Crest 17. Pioneer 18. Phantom Regiment 19. Santa Clara Vanguard 20. Spirit 21. Teal Sound 22. Troopers

Any mention of the Crusades makes me want the show to allude to Assassin's Creed. But Shosty's 10th is also a keeper. Sounds neat!

This post was a very amusing find; that was awful. 9 days left. As for things to bring, most of them have been mentioned. Pack light, don't get skin cancer -- last season I was confident in limited, sparse application until I started getting very suspicious spots on my head -- no more messing around for me. And if you're anything like me and really need a lot of media to keep you entertained on a bus, bring a few books, an mp3 player, and a handheld gaming console, but losing things really sucks (I didn't lose any of those things, but I got very close a few times and it was not a pleasant emotion at all). Also, be the guy who brings Super Troopers.

I'm not going to get at all involved in the actual meat of this conversation, but let me point out that the idea that a poster is completely unassailable or entirely immune to constructive criticism just because "OMG IT DUSNT AFECT SCOREZ IT DOESNT MATER WHO CARES SHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUP" is entirely against the foundation of rational, open discourse, and anyone who doesn't actually want to talk about posters probably shouldn't be in a bloody thread about posters. Carry on :D

As everyone else in this thread, I don't really have any informed opinions besides talking to some fellow members, but here goes a mix of wishes and what I think will happen. Mostly it's just order of preference through a filter of realism. 1. Cadets (not exactly a championship show concept, though... whatever that means) 2. Cavaliers (doubtful, very doubtful) 3. Blue Devils (no idea, they'll probably just win again) 4. Crown (sounds like a neat idea... no ideas about vet retention or anything) 5-7. I honestly can't decide between Phantom, Bluecoats and SCV. I just can't. 8. Blue Knights (who knows) 9. Blue Stars (they'll either stagnate and float down a little or steal some places, I don't see them falling) 10. Madison Scouts (I've heard some good things) 11. Boston Crusaders (no idea) 12. Colts (I've heard some good things) 13. Glassmen (no idea) 14. Troopers (there will be no Bon Jovi in finals*) 15. Crossmen (here-ish) 16. The Academy (no idea) 17. Spirit not-last: Mandarins, Teal Sound, Cascades *I'm not really hating, there might be and I wouldn't be against that, I love Bon Jovi

No. And as someone in a position to know, that is what is going on. All the people who are really uncomfortable with the idea amuse me, though.

My girlfriend is a bassoon player. She likes drum corps but is terribly ignorant of it. And she hasn't been to any shows before, though she'll probably go to about two this summer, ones I'll be marching at.... so yeah she'll go to fewer than me :P

There will be some.

No. Tell me, what was the theme of Harmonic Journey? More topically, Power, Pizzazz, and All That Jazz, or even something as vague as, say, A Drum Corp Fan's Dream? And what about those titles makes them necessary? Do we need someone to say "We're playing jazz music this year" or "This is music that appeals to average drum corps fans." I certainly don't mind them, but if Phantom had just showed up in 2003, played four unrelated pieces and left the field without ever giving their show a moderately useless name, my experience of that show would be the same, and I'd still like it. (disclaimer: all that having been said, "Faust" and "Spartacus" are two of my favorite shows. There's nothing to a themed show or an unthemed show that makes it innately better than the other, just execution and design)

The reason we have been pronouncing the years 2000 - 2009 as "two thousand [+ whatever]" is the same reason we pronounce the years 1000 - 1009 as "one thousand [+ whatever]". I'm completely for going back to "twenty ten," and I will refuse stodgily to say it any other way But looking back at all the ways we pronounce different years from 1001 "one thousand one" to 1801 "eighteen oh one" to 1900 "nineteen hundred," I don't think there's a right answer. But most of the smarter people are using "twenty ten" (see post re: technology earlier), and it just sounds cooler, so my vote's for that.

I think NR_OhioBando has made it abundantly clear that he's not wishing the Scouts bad luck or even insisting that they'll do poorly, he's simply saying it's a weird thing not to have a show title/theme for the season since DCI hasn't seen anything but themes since like 2003. I agree that it's a strange thing and could throw a small wrench into the judging system, and there's a possibility the judges won't stand for it. I think it'll work out fine, but I see where he's coming from, it's an interesting and stimulating point to bring up, and we can stop the bashing party now :P

Having been there, I can tell you that the brass spent 90% of the camp marching and working on visual stuff. They didn't touch their horns that often at all. I'm not excusing the sound quality, but it was certainly not a focus of this camp. There are no percussion clips on there because percussion spent most of the weekend cleaning very small parts of the show; not very exciting to film.

Isn't that a song by Madonna?

I don't think anyone has anything against themes, I just think people are tired of having five years of nothing but themed shows. To be honest, I hope more corps announce their show titles/themes, but that's only because I want Madison to be unique Now that I think of it, actually, that could not be a typo... it'd be an awful pun, though.

He means that the "Album" field in the ID3v2 info is "Toy Souldiers" [sic]. Toy Soldiers? A purposeful easter egg? Someone idly filling in blank fields with whatever comes to mind? Purposeful misdirection? Found out later, at... whenever they announce their show.

BD - Pretty neat, I dug it quite a bit. Not my favorite BD uniform, but it's somewhere up there. Crown - Not only was I not a fan of the cream to begin with, add the green and nothing about those designs appealed to me at all. (all black?! sweeeeet) SCV - I might be one of the very few people who liked the 2008 uniforms. I appreciate these being a little simpler, but I thought 2008 worked well. oh well. Bluecoats - I liked the uniforms, when they wore them. :P (I kid, the indoor suits were pretty neat) Boston - I miss the old uniforms really bad. Probably another unpopular sentiment. Phantom - I don't even know how I feel about those uniforms. They're kind of neat, I guess. It looked like Phantom Regiment, in spaaaaaaace... Glassmen - I liked those quite a bit. A very good change. Scouts - I liked them from afar. Being very close to one, it wasn't exactly the way it looks from far away, but hey, that doesn't really amount to anything. Crossmen - I just don't know.

haha. but I think some of the dinosaurs don't get the reference. :X

I don't think I'm going to remember anything about 2009. I mean, just, nothing happened for me. It was really sterile, yeah?