Jump to content

hornandsoccer

Members
  • Posts

    528
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by hornandsoccer

  1. Holy Oregon. This is a supremely confident and competent drum corps. I'm really hoping the horns have a couple more gears, because if they can turn it up, I can really see this being a "play on repeat" show in my car, which is I guess my yardstick for awesomeness.

    Fans seemed to buy it.

    • Like 2
  2. General curiosity: Any idea why the Blue Devils have always stuck with 12 tubas, even after the member increase? Just wondering if there's any particular reason.

    They've always been a top-heavy hornline, 24 euphs who can PLAY can cover the difference, and given their liberal use of the synth ooze, why spend four members on tubas when you can put them in the guard, or have a couple extra conductors? Different strokes, etc.

  3. I love this show! Got to admit that it wasn't up to my standards though. Too many rifle drops and their feet couldn't seem to find their dot and complete formations. Can't think of any excuses. I just hope they work on their M&M in the coming weeks. Still, I feel that it can be up in the top 5. I LOVE YOU SCV!

    I think some of it is that the field is "plain jane" as the visual staff would call it - the absolute minimum markings DCI requires. They're better when they have full turf markings. One of the tradeoffs of the dot system is that when you begin to rely on markings which are, increasingly, nearly always available even at rehearsal sites in BFE, it's a different thing when you have to do the show without them, especially with the way Peter Weber writes. I imagine that Gaines drill may be slightly easier to translate to plain jane, given how orderly it is vs. Pete's curves and clusters, which all require 0.25 sometimes 0.125 dots.

    In any case, there's only a few shows left on plain jane fields anyway, and none of them are absolutely critical.

    • Like 1
  4. I've listened to Cadets CYO performance a few times this afternoon. I really like their music this year. I understand why people would make the comparison with Vanguard '99, but so much of what Cadets are doing this year is handled differently.

    The one thing I'll say is that when Vanguard came out with that show in '99, it just seemed so "New Century" in comparison to everything else. It was a bit haunting but quite modern. During the ballad their guard did this dance performance that was out of this world.

    The only thing I'll say is that I didn't think Blue Shades fit the tone of the rest of the show.

    Agreed, I've always been confused by the Blue Shades bit.

  5. Just a guess on what's going on with the bleachers, but I think there's a "high school senior about to get drafted and go off to Vietnam" vibe. I could be crazy, but I'm sensing a tension like that of the anxiety of the draft, the volunteer vs. get drafted dynamic, the high school sweetheart who's scared out of her mind because her hotshot quarterback boyfriend is about to go to basic, etc.

    That could be way off, but if that's what they're going for, they might try being a little bit more explicit about it. I'm probably not right, though. Divining what a show is attempting to communicate is really difficult, especially for concept shows.

    • Like 1
  6. Ok, either SCV brass is way sharper in person, or the processing seriously messed up the pitches.

    EDIT: Just ran the file through Audacity and lowered it by 47 cents to get it back together. DCI audio engineers, I love you guys, but you might want to check this out.

    • Like 1
  7. I hear what you're talking about with that 06 quality.

    Actually, this is one of those times that synth HELPS! At the very least it kind of orients the sound spectrum, so you can get a rough sense of where things are relative to that.

    That makes a lot more sense in my head than it probably does written out. Basically, relative pitch.

  8. Some thoughts:

    Theater's probably not the best environment to judge the electronic ooze, but I only really noticed the Bluecoats synth.

    Boston:

    The show is about as dull as their coats are grey.

    The Whitacre was nice, but that's all I can remember. Seriously, I'm watching it on FN right now, and I don't remember any of it.

    Spirit:

    Love me some Boerma.

    Lots of visual demand, but not so much that they can't get there

    Lots of drum demand, and they will definitely get there

    Nice ballad hit

    Closer was genuinely entertaining. In June.

    Cavs:

    It's June, and it looks like 3/4 of the hornline can't buy cigs yet.

    Yeah, I think that's all I have to say about that right now; nothing nice, don't say anything, etc.

    Sidebar #1: Did tuning tenor heads become optional this year or something?

    Phantom:

    Jamey Thompson, have my babies, please.

    Pearl = yes. There is exactly one person in the world who can make a Dynasty snare sound good, and that's the guy who built it.

    I dig it. Probably my favorite since 07.

    Sidebar #2: Blooing during the last two minutes of someone else's show should be a penalty. A harsh one. Absolutely unacceptable.

    Bloo:

    That caveat aside, the show's cool.

    Jon Vanderkolff is a big upgrade.

    Rarick delivers yet again.

    I dunno about 2nd in drums again, but I guarantee I'm gonna watch 'em regardless.

    Not sure I like, or am just ok with the uniforms. I think I like 'em, probably just need some more time.

    I like electronics, but seriously, there should be a ban on two digit Hz effects.

    Cadets:

    Dear BD/SCV - guess what, you're not leading the country in drums right now.

    Dear Crown/BD - you might be leading in brass, but it's June, so don't start engraving that plaque just yet.

    When I heard they were playing Barber/Bartok, I thought 'well, they better deliver if they're gonna play that' - and they're doing it.

    It's very clearly a Cadets interpretation, late 90s early 00s vintage.

    False closer is false. Which is good, because Medea is dreadful right now. No problem, though, it's clear as day it's being rewritten.

    For the love god put the #### stripe back on the pants. Even Crown figured out that straight cream pants do not look good, and it only took them, what, 15 years?

    • Like 1
  9. I wear glasses, but my first three summers I went without them for the summer (except for non-prescription sunglasses).

    By my fourth year, my vision had become worse, so I wore glasses for shows and non-sunny days. World of difference. I know a lot of folks like contacts, and that's fine, but I don't think I would ever switch.

    Then again, I wore an aussie, and I don't think I could have worn the glasses with a shako.

×
×
  • Create New...