McDutchy
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Posts posted by McDutchy
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04 BD. Pretty much the total package except for that whole winning thing.
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As a low brass player, the one thing that really frustrates me about marching bari/euphs is the range below F in the staff. I have not played a baritone or euphonium that had a good, achievable sound to that range. Yamahas have a really strange fuzziness about partials 2&3, Dynasties lose volume and projection, and Kings are just weird down there. Unfortunately, that range is common to what the arrangers and caption heads write for technique exercises and show music. Why can't anyone get that range right? It's been done well with student to intermediate level concert instruments.
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The Eugene show will indeed be at Autzen Stadium.
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Fielding two Open Class corps within the same organization in the Northwest sounds like the most unrealistic thing I've ever heard.
Yep.
Consider what this means for the return of Spokane in 2010.
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A little background knowledge for those not familiar with Northwest corps:
One of the big problems for the merger is the financial history of the Seattle Cascades. The Cascades had been in massive amounts of debt and operating at a loss from at least 2003 onwards. In 2006, the organization was prepared to fold following the summer tour, but then the staff from the Oregon Crusaders jumped to the Cascades with the plan of making Oregon Crusaders the Cascades' feeder corps and making the Cascades the primary competitive Northwest Corps. However, for a variety of reasons, this didn't work out. The Oregon Crusaders nearly folded, but were brought back with new leadership and instructional staff and have enjoyed some competitive success(5th place D3 2007, 4th place Open Class 2008). The Cascades struggled in 2007 and did not field in 2008. A good deal of the difficulty they had in 2008 was that their program management was poor(think food) during the 2007 season and as a result the necessary core of veteran membership didn't appear in 2008.
Spokane Thunder, on the other hand, has been steadily growing since their start in 2004 and appeared to have reached some competitive success last year while remaining in decent financial shape (no debt).
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IMPORTANT THUNDER ANNOUNCEMENT
JANUARY 3, 2009
To Spokane Thunder Members, Prospects, and Parents:
Over the past few days the Greater Spokane Drum Corps Association (GDSCA) Board of Directors has made some strategic decisions regarding the Pacific Northwest Drum Corps experience and Spokane Thunder in particular. In an effort to provide a positive drum corps experience and to make our drum corps more successful, we have decided to join with the Northwest Youth Music Association (NYMA) which is the sponsor of the Cascades. We are pleased to announce a new "Drum Corps Northwest" initiative, which will streamline business management for our two Drum Corps. We also hope to increase fund-raising success by cooperative endeavors which will provide immediate improvement in the financial health of each organization, and will set the stage for continued success for future Pacific Northwest drum corps activity.
In order to provide the best opportunity for all current Cascade and Spokane Thunder members for the 2009 season, we have decided to merge our two drum corps together for this touring season. The Cascades have a terrific staff, and we are exploring opportunities to combine our staffs where possible. Together we believe the Pacific Northwest will be well-represented in DCI, and you will have a great experience. It is our full intent to re-emerge the Spokane Thunder for the 2010 season as an Open Class Corps.
The Cascades and Thunder will be holding a special clinic at Mead High School (302 W Hastings Rd, Spokane WA 99218) Saturday, January 10, 2009, from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM. I highly encourage all Thunder members and prospects to attend this mini-camp and get to know the Cascade staff and the 2009 program. There will be no fee for this special camp, and you will be responsible for your own lunch. (You can either bring a lunch, or there are fast food outlets not far from the school). Please visit the Cascade website http://www.seattlecascades.org to download the music that will be the focus of this clinic. Also, please bring your own instrument if possible. We will have Thunder instruments available if needed. There will be an informational meeting for all parents at about 9:30, and we encourage all parents to come! The GSDCA and NYMA Board members will be there to discuss our plans and to answer any questions.
I highly recommend that all current and prospective Spokane Thunder members come to the January 10 clinic. If you cannot attend this clinic, but still are still interested in joining us this summer, the regular Cascade January camp will be held January 24 in Yakima, WA. For planning purposes, please send me a reply message if you plan to attend the January 10 clinic, or the January 24 camp. Please see the Cascades’ website for registration forms, information and directions.
It has been an honor and a privilege to have been your Director over the last year. You truly represent the “best of the best” and your horizons are limitless!
Rich Harvey
Corps Director
Spokane Thunder Drum & Bugle Corps
Source- http://spokanethunder.org/index%5B1%5D.htm
This is.... interesting. Sucks for this to happen to Spokane, especially after the best season the corps has ever had. Any thoughts on what this might mean for the future of the two programs involved?
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As much as I'd like to see SCV make it a championship in each decade, I'm going to have to go with this:
1. BD
2. Crown
3. Cadets
4. PR
5. Cavies
6. SCV
7. Bluecoats
8. Madison
9. Boston
10. Crossmen
11. Blue Stars
12. Spirit
13. Glassmen
14. Blue Knights
15. Troopers
16. Academy
17. Surf
18. Pacific Crest
19. Colts
20. Mandarins
21. Pioneer
22. Cascades
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1. Cadets
2. Crown
3. BD
4. PR
5. Cavies
6. Vanguard
7. Blue Stars
8. Bluecoats
9. Blue Knights
10. Crossmen
11. Boston
12. Madison
13. Troopers
14. Glassmen
15. Academy
16. Colts
17. Spirit
18. Jersey Surf
19. Pacific Crest
20. Mandarins
21. Cascades
22. Capital Regiment
23. Pioneer
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To the OP:
No. It's not for you. At least not this summer.
Given your list of complaints, it may not be for you ever.
Understand. Drumcorps is hard. It is a lifestyle of discomfort and hardship. You will hurt. A lot. The pain is constant and unending. And just when you think things can't get any harder, they do. You will be pushed well beyond the realm of what you ever thought was possible. You will be asked to do things normal humans would walk away from. Heat, fatigue, cramps, heavy instruments, broken-down busses, hard gym floors, sleeping sitting up for 3 months, being yelled at by staff, crotch-rot, cold showers, sunburns, tan lines, blisters, chronic diareaha from tour food, not having a moments peace, lines just to take a dump, nuclear mosquitoes, I could go on.
Do I think it's for you right now?
No.
Is it worth it?
You bet your ### it is.
Please note that the list of complaints that this poster has listed is generally exaggerated. Marching corps is more a mental thing than anything else. If you decide you want to be a BAMF or even just above average, it's possible to do it with not that much pain involved over the summer. It seems that there's a perception of corps as the hardest physical thing you'll ever do, and that's wrong. It's one of the harder mental things that you'll ever do. Don't lose sight of that distinction.
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I think that if you are conflicted you should definitely test the waters at a camp or two before you commit to the full summer experience. If you're enjoying the camps and the other people who are participating in the group, chances are you'll be fine for the summer. Soccerguy nailed the pushup/running issue: it's not something most groups will spend a lot of time on. Sure, it exists, but it will not be the focus of your season.
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One of our lead trumpets' mouthpieces flew out after a horns down at finals this year. Somehow he managed a 2-count recovery.
I never had any instrument malfunctions during a show, but I did lose my mouthpiece and have my 3rd valve stick in rehearsal due to some environmental conditions this year.
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Brass scores seemed wonky from semis to finals. Maybe everyone's runs really did change that much, or perhaps it was the judge. I will agree on overall placements, but I'm not sure about brass caption ranks.
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If you're talking about Dalzell Field at Dubuque HS- yes, that one's still hosting a show. I marched that show in 2003, but I don't recall anything extraordinarily good or bad about it.
Argh. We had our first show on tour there this year, and it did not go well. Nobody had a good time with the field, especially the long grass. The only good thing about it was that our vis staff was probably able to identify some pathway issues from the tracks in the grass.
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27th Lancers: Never saw it. Not even video.
Anaheim Kingsmen: Never saw it. Not even video.
Blue Devils: 2003
Blue Knights:
Blue Stars: 2008
Bluecoats: 2007
Boston Crusaders: 2000
Bridgemen: Never saw it. Not even video.
Cadets: 2003
Carolina Crown: 2008
Cavaliers: 2002. Except for the snare wiping his hand on his pants.
Crossmen: 1998
Glassmen: Haven't seen enough shows to give a good opinion
Madison Scouts: 1996
Phantom Regiment: 1996
Santa Clara Vanguard: 2004
Spirit: Haven't seen enough shows to give a good opinion
Star of Indiana: 1993
Suncoast Sound: 1985
Troopers: Haven't seen enough shows to give a good opinion
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Impressive. Now next time either move the mic's back a little or set the levels or something. When they open up it gets REAL distorted and you can tell it's the recording equipment not the hornline. (See about 1:45 on)
But from what you can make out it does sound good!
I would have to agree. They do sound pretty nice, but the met(which is probably backfield or moving with the drumline) is a little distracting, and the audio equipment is not set up correctly to record this.
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Oregon Crusaders has baritone openings.
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PR 03. No contest in my book.
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Something that has been sorely missing from the discussion has been "The Lick", from Suncoast Sound '85. Not just trumpet/soprano, but the entire hornline.
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There are some problems:
-It is much harder to write drill for trombones than baritones because of the extra 1-2 feet of instrument
-Cannot play as fast as easily
But there are some benefits:
-Can play in tune more easily
-Can add stylistic devices not available with baritones
Basically what it boils down to is slide vs valves. Each of these have their benefits and drawbacks, but I think that with the current trend in show style, baritones will be around for a long, long time.
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PR 06 - I've seen 05,06,07 about a million times each. I picked this pretty much at random.
SCV 07 - Freakin' awesome
Cadets 07 - Amazing.
Bluecoats 06 - Old style uniforms, great jazz, what's not to love?
BD 05 - Scott Dean.
Madison 05 - Last good latin show.
It's tough to pick just 6 shows.
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1. My high school band director, former brass staff for a couple of top 8 corps including BD, shows drum corps videos during band camp to give us a sense of what we should be trying to get to. That, plus there have been some talented people who I look up to who have done or are doing drum corps, and I want to be as good or better than they are.
2. Not really. It just doesn't matter that much. As long as there's still low brass, I'll still be interested.
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Generally, mouthpiece sizing is not universal. Whatever enables you to produce the tone that you're looking for, probably fairly dark yet clear for marching, is what you should get. I would recommend starting off testing a 6 1/2 AL like what you have now. Other common-ish sizes to consider are 5G, 1 1/2G, 12C, and possibly a 7 or 8C (these last two are somewhat rarer, in many cases you would be better going to a 6 1/2 AL or a 12C). I would recommend as large a throat size as you can stand so that you can move a large amount of air through the horn, although this may be different depending on your individual needs.
Bottom line is that everyone's different, and what works best for you is what you should have.
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Did Blue Stars fold in your "realistic" world?
Agh. Forgot to write Blue Stars. The second time I said BK, I really meant Blue Stars. I'll go and fix that now.
Anyone catch Adam Rapa at New Cowboy stadium?
in Brass Forum
Posted · Edited by McDutchy
4th valve on piccolo is to extend the lower register so you can play the occasional F (or lower) that you wouldn't be able to get on a 3 valve piccolo. Most of the time it's not used a lot but I think there are a couple pieces in the repertoire that need an F or two.