stifled4mallettechnique

Indeed, my lame college email server failed me (and cost me my student discount, but I don't mind paying full price). I emailed Mr. Greer on yesterday (Friday) from my other account, and by the time I left for Vegas that night he had responded with his suggestions and my order was placed and paid for! I'm getting a Cartouche in the BW cup, and I'm starting out with an 18mm delrin rim in the style of my current mouthpiece, a 31B. If that doesn't work for marching I'll adjust from there, and keep the first rim for nonmarching use. And indeed, my nongambling Vegas expenses exceeded the mouthpiece expense! (And my gambling expenses were only about $22...) BTW, if you want a steak and lobster deal on Fremont street, pay the extra dollar ($11.95) and go to Binion's instead of Tony Roma's!

I just can't find the right smiley for that. Why didn't you throw in a "color guard" definition while you were at it? MikeD, if I understand you correctly, you want drum corps to become bands because the bugles (or whatever the technical generic term for them is now, perhaps "bellfront valved marching brass?") are allowed to have valves? It's an all or nothing thing? Back to topic, I'm sticking with my impression that underage corps members should not be dressed inappropriately. Nor should the legal ones, since there are children present. I would also apply that to choreography. Sure, it's a slippery slope, but that never scared anyone in DCI before.

Well, MY idea of DRUM and BUGLE corps is DRUMS and BUGLES, but I'm willing to make an exception for the guard and a few drum majors... :P OK, that was a bit excessive.... I'm ok with acoustic pits too... And for those of you that can't resist the urge to change JUST for the sake of change, why not set an example and change something major in your own life? Change to BOA, change your gender, or just change your mind! Seriously, if you change DCI so much that it's not drum corps anymore just so that DCI will survive, what's the point of DCI's survival? Just have them reorganize to the YEA! Summer music program and get it over with already.

How about underage guard girls have to wear more/looser clothing? (Now, somebody post that the legal girls should wear less....) MikeD, why? Honestly, why? Is it a plot by you DCP staffers to conserve bandwidth by combining the "planets"? Can't DCI just make a new division for summer bands and leave it at that? DCI HAS a place for woodwind player.... THE GUARD! ^0^ OK, nice seeing you all. I'm surely going to be banned now...

So, if I whine about not hearing from this guy yet, will I get an email within a few hours like last time with Kanstul? If so, will he also tell me to just use my regular mouthpiece? :P Ehhhh... I'll call him tomorrow. maybe my lame college email account didn't work right... Even if I get his feedback and order what he thinks is best right away, I'm still going to Vegas tomorrow night! B)

Unfortunately my schedule only allowed me to catch finals (and I missed a few DIII corps). For those of you that missed it all, it was good stuff. The fact that not all of the DII/III/International corps could have "beaten" the DI corps didn't bother me in the least. I had a great time, despite a little sunburn, and still had no trouble getting to DI finals in plenty of time. Hopefully next year's arrangements make it possible for more of you to see what you've been missing!

Too many to list. I'll add Larry Kerchner and Mike Duffy to the fine list above.

Now THAT'S good art! And a perfect response. Vague enough to inspire thoughtful interpretation (and several interpretations would do well in the context), well composed and appreciable by even the most unscholarly of art lovers. The juxtaposition of the piece and the poster's avatar add subtext that makes me consider searching for and reading the poster's other posts (forgive my repitition of the pronoun). Well done! (usually, a DCP post of this nature would be interpreted, even by me, as sarcasm. I assure you that my intent is quite the opposite. If I ran a Drum Corps, I would attain the rights to use that piece on the field in my next show.) On another note, it saddens me that the response to my last post, accurate as it was, confirms my fears for the activity. Apparently, the idea is to minimize anything that could detract from scoring while maximizing anything that has been allowed by new rules but not been (what's the word I want here... dictated? defined? Help me out..) to the judges in the context of how to score it.

Well, I can always get another rim if the big'n proves too much for concert horn use. But hey... what good is money if I can't spend it on something fun? I could go through more than that on an overnighter in Vegas without even gambling!

Mr. Greer, the gentleman from Moosewood, is the one I emailed last week. I'm just waiting for him to get back to me on how big I can go without major problems. I'm thinking a Cartouche with a Sanders rim (possibly in delrin) with as wide of a cup as he thinks is practical. Probably the A taper would be the most flexible choice. Since my 31B is 17.4 mm, I hope to go up to at least 18.5mm... maybe as far as 20mm, but if he thinks it's a bad idea I'll take his advice. Osmun's page doesn't look like they have what I'm looking for, but I'm sure they'll do what I want for the right price.

(Jeff Prosperie 2007)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKs1awHEsR0&NR=1 (Lee Rudnicki 2006) I know, I know.... you've already seen these snare solos, and it's DCA, not DCI.... don't click if you don't want to...

I'm dropped an email to a gentleman in the Phoenix area that makes some nice looking custom pieces. Here's his site. Once I get his feedback on the suitability of what I think I want, I'll probably be in business. In the meantime, I'll keep checking out your suggestions. I'm using a 31B now and it's not bad, and obviously with the old horn I'm playing I can't blame slotting issues on it. (Maybe I just need to get the loose nut behind the mouthpiece fixed!)

Ummm... Karl? Didja forget who hires the judges, who makes the rules, and who tells the judges how to interpret said rules? Playing, writing, dancing, etc to the judges IS play, writing, dancing, etc. to the BOD. But you knew that. Shall I rip on the HK Army now? :P

Please, elaborate. I must be misreading your post. Are you saying that any change in sound is bad? Even if it is intentional, and well done? Or just that it's easier to pick out improperly done backsticking? How do you define "better quality of sound" in the context of this argument? Do the drummers manipulate the physics of the drum heads in a similar fashion as a brass player might? Are you saying that drum corps are dropping "cool showy trick"s and focusing on technical skill? I must be misunderstanding you.

Don't let your mayor see that patriotism! You might get run out of town! :P

Thoughts after the fact... OK, I've actually changed my mind about the Cadets' narration. Not that the amount or the script itself didn't stink, but that the delivery was indeed what was required based on the script. If it had been performed any less like (to paraphrase myself from earlier postings) the parody of a Mormon family from South Park, it would have been even more silly, IMRHO. Nice how they cut the silliest parts for the broadcast, huh? I hope the guard chicks I was looking at were legal! Some of those "horses" had some pretty nice hindquarters.... Did everyone get a "Blue Hippo" ad, or was that a local cut-in? What? No "drop your weapons"? I predict Ben will come in and edit out a certain pic... (Insert other stuff that has been said over and over) All in all, it was better than it could have been, but with obvious room for improvement.

At the risk of being too "old skool" in my response to this post....

Well, obviously "design teams" should write whatever they want and for whoever they want. Maybe they'll keep making money doing it, or maybe they won't. Maybe they'll care, or maybe they won't. Maybe they'll earn fame or infamy, or maybe they won't. Maybe the results of their previous work will influence their future work, or maybe they won't. Regardless of how their work is received, they absolutely have the right to create art as they see fit. (Obviously, certain forms of art would be limited by law as to how it could be presented, but I digress.) Since the answer is so obvious, please ask the question you really want to ask. If it's "Don't you think I'm cool because I like artists that shun the public?", the answer is no. :P

Thanks guys! I'm actually playing an old Dynasty G, but with a Kanstul-inspired leadpipe mod. I was hoping Kanstul might do something custom for me. I'll check out the suggestions you've given me. THX! (EDIT) LOL Look what I found on eBay while searching! http://cgi.ebay.com/WAREHOUSE-SALE-4-VALVE...0.c50.m22.l1101 Who couldn't use a cornet with an "inbuilt" mute? (ANOTHER EDIT) What a coincidence! I got an email from Kanstul today! Anyway, Jim told me to just use a FH mouthpiece. Oh well, somebody else will take my money, I guess... (END EDIT)

Since I can't seem to get a response from Kanstul...... :( How big can one safely go on a custom French Horn mouthpiece without completely losing intonation and character? I was thinking about something around 20mm, with a fairly wide rim that would stay on my face better while marching. Any suggestions or comments would be appreciated. Even from those of you that will tell me to just practice more. :P

Not many people seem to care that it's not the members running the sound. Why not? The pit has no responsibilty for blend and balance now. Do they even lose points ("not earn", whatever) if the balance is off, or do the judges just blame the sound guy and shrug it off, as I perceive they do with narration? If the true motivation is proper technique, why not put everyone in the pit and mic them?

I wonder if the votes would be different if there was a comma in the second choice.... Please, will somebody on the "no" side tell me exactly what you are looking for on the field that would sufficiently go with the theme of any given show? This seems to be a major point of contention with some of you throughout the forums. Should Crown have used real horses? Obviously, I am pro cymbal line, but respect the corps right to choose.

What makes you think that your vision of what makes sense is so important that you would move to BAN equipment that you don't like? What is it that makes you feel so strongly about this that you mask your motivations in social responsibilty, then change your story to the corporate sponsorship angle when the first excuse meets such strong resistance? By all means, start your own corps! You've got your own company, you know plenty of potential sponsors, right? Show us all your vision! Chances are, many of us will like it (so long as when you get to the top 12 you don't join forces with you-know-who and force your vision on everyone). But we'll still like other visions as well, and won't call for their demise.

(EDIT)I guess if the pic is too much, the answer is too.... I bet danielray had that done!(END EDIT)