Higgy

I'll just include the article, since the link didn't work. On Wednesday night in Huntington, WV a bizarre series of events caused the percussion section to “come apart at the seams” for more than 30 seconds during the percussion break. The “breakdown”, according to George Hopkins, “was the worst I have ever witnessed on a drum corps field. At one point, I thought I would have to re-start the corps”. So what happened … After the tom feature there is a 4 count hold for applause, after which the red queen says “do they always have to do that”. The vocal is on count 5. On Tuesday, Marc Sylvester changed it to count 7 and never told anyone. Now, at the Tuesday night show, with Hopkins at the audio panel, the entrance for the red queen was missed … it never happened. At rehearsal, when the corps works in ensemble, we always stop following the top feature. So … no one knew of the change. Until …. The show in Huntington. With the voice two counts late, and coming in on count seven, the snares, who face backfield, were not sure of the counting. They were expecting to enter on 1, not 3? Meanwhile the keys followed the major and came in on one. The first snare was two counts late with the voice, the second snare tried to rebound, the third followed the first, the fourth did not play etc … Unfortunately, this is a 100 count phrase so for 100 counts, it was nothing but a jumble. It was impossible to make sense at all of anything being played. In the post show meeting with the members, Hopkins referred to it as catastrophic while nothing that things happen, it was in the past, and all we could do was learn from this huge error. The students’ reactions ranged from upset, to anger to confusion. It was indeed, a night to remember. Interestingly … the corps still was judged to be the victor despite this huge gash. The percussion field guy heard it … indeed, the corps was almost a point out of first in field percussion. But other captions did not mention the debacle, whether they were not sure what they witnessed, or, they just did not know what to say about it. This will be a performance that we talk about for years much like the 1996 performance at Massillon when 30 members of the horn line fell on one move … Or the 85 finals when one half of the corps entered a count before the other side! Amazing stuff, but kids are kids and live performance is live performance. It is why we do it. And why we lose our hair.

I don't know if anyone saw this but this is on the front of the Cadets webpage today. AMPLIFICATION ... Yes, it is a challenge to do it right. Tuesday, June 27, 2006 By: George Hopkins Want to be a sound guy for the rest of the summer? There are many in the corps activity who hate the idea of amplification. I ran into a few folks in Sevierville this Tuesday night who hate it … just hate it. I appreciate the sentiment, but at the same time, my feeling is that if it is done right, done well, done with quality, the use of amplified sound (Including narration and even singing) can be a great, great bonus to the overall sound. But, there is a key here … We need to do it right. We need to be in balance. We need to eliminate back-feed. We need to be able to make the performers sound like stars. To date, we have been using the skills of staff members who have some college background in sound engineering. But as the quality of the equipment grows, the variables increase, and the need for expertise is immediate. What is the greatest challenge? The five minute set up time. If this was a normal environment, people would take hours to set up what we have to set up in minutes. Thus, the rehearsals need to be the best. The prep needs to be the best. The understanding of the system needs to be the best. The Cadets have the best teachers of marching music in the country. We need to have a high quality sound guy on the road. We need to have someone who can give answers, not ask questions. We need someone who can guarantee -- as best possible -- a great performance evening for the corps. Knowing that great 'Sound People' are more than likely working at a “real” job, allow me to ask the question. If you have background in amplification systems, including the use of wired and wired mics, and you would like to spend a week, or a month on the road with the Cadets, please contact George Hopkins, the director of the corps at hopkins@yea.org. In the meantime, the team we have in place will continue to work the system, all the time moving to perfection. For the sake of the performers, the audience, and the potential of this program, we need an authority. Can you assist?

It's actually part of the Season Pass content. So you can only see it if you are a subscriber.

Man..That video of The Academy was impressive. I really think they are on to something down there. Can't wait to see them live in Madison.

I WANT MORE !!!!!!!!