big old drummer man

i agree with all of your points, and i very much understand all of the time constraints. i have taught weekend groups before (both WGI and DCI). in no way am i trying to take away from what reading's staff has accomplished the past 5 years. like i said, i put them at the top of DCA. that being said, i don't put them quite on the same level as top DCI staffs. let's remember one important aspect: DCI pushes DCA, not the other way around.

yes, please, bring him back. it can make a HUGE difference.

DCI kids would still have an advantage in percussion, for the same reason.

problem with this is that allentown is toward the end of the DCI season, so everyone is really starting to clean up nicely, but it's about mid season for DCA. they aren't clean enough yet.

sure there are examples of individuals on reading's staff who are top-tier DCI quality instructors/designers. my point is that overall, from top to bottom, their staff is clearly not better than EVERY SINGLE staff in DCI, which is the claim that was made by the original poster ("second to none in dci" was the terminology used). for the record, the buccaneers' staff is BY FAR the best in DCA, in my opinion. no one else is even close.

i am very familiar with their staff list, and my opinion still stands.

no, it's not. it is head over heels better than any DCA staff, but it is not close to the top DCI staffs. no, they wouldn't. then you're just disillusioned. did you ever even march DCI?

The Academy- 07 Blue Devils- 06 Blue Knights- 06 Blue Stars- 09 Bluecoats- 08 Boston Crusaders- 09 Carolina Crown- LOVED 09, but i have to go with 08 Cascades- never seen The Cavaliers- 06 Colts- 07 Crossmen- 08 Glassmen- 06 Cadets- 09 by a longshot Jersey Surf- 09 Madison Scouts- actually 07. i thought the show they put out in pasedena was VERY cool. just filthy, since they didn't have time to clean it. Mandarins- 08 Pacific Crest-07 Phantom Regiment- 06 Pioneer- never seen Santa Clara Vanguard- 09. breathtaking. Spirit- 08 Troopers-09

it's all good. i'm sure that whomever takes the reigns (do we even know that roger carter isn't returning?) will be very capable.

you accused me of insinuating that i am "up there on the leading edge, innovation wise." that's what i meant by don't put words in my mouth. as far as some of your other points... lots of members of the star 93 staff have been hired since. particularly the drum staff. thom hannum, colin mcnutt, and lee beddis (among others) have all been quite successful in their post-star careers. about your comparison to wayne downey: the difference is he has held that position consistently through those years. HE was the one pushing the activity past where it was the previous year. dennis has been out of the drum corps game for a long time now. he still has an eye and ear for it: he is a great WGI percussion judge (GE). the difference is, he hasn't been down in the trenches for a long time. compositional techniques, timbres, playing techniques, tuning, rehearsal strategies, etc have ALL changed quite drastically since then. all of these things, in addition to some personal experience with him in the activity that i have, make me think he would be quite outdated as a current percussion arranger. this is, of course, all opinion. who knows. i could be drastically wrong.

don't put words in my mouth

obviously not, but that's not the point. just because a line isn't on DCI level doesn't mean you can't write in a current, relevant fashion. no high school line is on DCI level, but plenty of high school groups play relevant, innovative books, because their arrangers are hip to the current trends. i bet if you asked dennis, even he would say he is a bit old school to be currently writing for a top 12 contending corps.

he wrote for the rutgers university marching band for a while as recently as 2007 or so. his beats haven't changed.

well yeah of course. all of this is subjective. there is no objective way to measure the relevance of someone's arranging. but dennis still writes like it's 1981.

no thanks. the activity has long since lapped dennis on the track of innovation...

i would put money on tom aungst filling the vacancy at blue stars....

aside from bret kuhn returning, mike mcintosh would be the best fit possible. that would be an AMAZING design team.

the drum books are written according to what the horn book demands. if the horn book ends with an exclamation point, so does the drum book. i think you're focusing your anger at the wrong group of arrangers...

dude. chill out. it's summer band.

bluecoats: finals perc 1 2007, 2008 cadets: 2005 quarters perc 1 1994 midseason crossmen: portion of 1992 tape of charley poole judging the drum feature regiment: 2006 quarters perc 1 and 2, semis 1 and 2 vanguard: 1998 finals perc 1 star: 1993 finals perc 1

...and by that, of course I mean which hornlines haven't been loud enough?

the 2003 line was FILTHY. anyone putting them in their top 10 list has no idea what they are talking about.

watch music city mystique's 2007 show, and tell me that body movements can't add to an overall visual package.