jeterbeater

Oh #### Worst slip of all time

How elegant

I've yet to see a drum corps show that I "didn't understand", so I'm not buying this argument. If a marching band show of all things is too complex for a person's mind, well then I guess there's a reason America isn't ranked among the top in education, especially those institutions in the south (except for Texas!!!)

This I refuse to believe, what evidence of this do you have? Not EMOTIONAL evidence, but true hard #### evidence

Boston is one of the oldest corps still in existence, there's a reason for that. As they say, they're never gonna die.

SAGE!

Yeah, I love the stuff Maynard did with the Kenton band, I've already mentioned this. And Maynard was a good player, but he also influenced a legion of moronic trumpet jocks. Yeah you have fun with your high notes, I'm gonna go make some money. True

SHOOP!!

They've played it in someway every year since 2000

I agree Brasso. Personally, I like Boston's *SHOW* but I can't get past all the dirt (and boy is there a lot of it). I'm actually shocked seeing Boston this dirty, especially visually, they've always been praised for their visual prowess.

No, I think the designers are getting in the way. The themes and programmatic materials are fine. Let's not forget, Beethoven wrote an entire symphony on that little four-note motive of his..... So no, there's nothing wrong with the themes and all that. If a design team backs themselves into a corner, its their fault for lack of creativity/technical prowess, no more no less.

Yeah but what about the lower placing corps who don't have difficult shows? It's okay to admit it. It's fine if people don't like the music, I'm just concerned with, again, variety and good quality shows. I care about quality, period. There are plenty of "fun" shows that are absolutely horrid, I won't name names because that would be rude. The arrangers in DCI are just in over their heads with some of these shows and concepts. I'm sorry Mr. ____ Arranger, but you aren't John Corigliano or Ligeti, you're a Joe Schmo who writes marching band music. Learn your limits or go back to school and bone up on your theory and score study.

I agree

I agree, we need better arrangers.

Well that shows what a sad state of affairs this country is in. Besides, what about Ellington, Ella, and Basie? Certainly we know them. And it's not like Miles Davis wasn't a cultural phenomenon, these are all WIDELY known musicians. Sorry sir, but I'm just not buying it. Maynard is the butt of all jokes told amongst trumpet players, at least the smart ones. Here's a few I just made up........ Wanna hear a joke? *plays a Maynard Ferguson album* How do you sound like crap when playing the trumpet? Play like Maynard Bud Herseth and Maynard walk into a gig, who gets the job? Not Maynard

So you're saying that judges will give a midwest corps a boost even when they don't deserve it? Hmm, sounds like 2006 finals, AMIRITE GUYS!?

But does that mean it's better? Certainly Maynard was doing great stuff when he was playing with the Kenton band, but his SOLO music? Dear god please stab me in the ears with heated steak knives.

That isn't cool at all

Yes and no

I don't like Granny Smith apples, they're too tart

Can we not be condescending here folks? Thank you... Anyway, I'd hardly consider Maynard Ferguson a jazz great. In fact, I know a lot of Jazz musicians that I've met and talked to (including Wynton Marsalis...) who'd probably puke if they read that. Now Thelonius Monk.........Coltrane.........Mingus......Ellington......Miles, THOSE are jazz greats. ####, what about Ella Fitz? HUH!? ;)

Well Schoenberg wrote tonal music too, a lot of it. He was a German Romanticist more than anything......he just happened to create the 12-tone system as well. Anyway, Phantom played Transfigured Night in 2001 which is a GREEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAT piece. In an ironic twist (TWEEST) it seems that drum corps now take fewer chances musically! Ain't that a #####? Again, watching Crossmen 97, they took some real chances with the music in that show. The dense chords, and corps that actually created polyphonic interest in the music. I marched in a drum corps of the current era so I knew, heard, and played these things first hand, it's kind of unfortunate.

Yes, god forbid our American way of life be infiltrated by the dirty speck of another language or culture..........unless it's Madison then it's cool, right? Not to be a pessimist, but I don't think marching band arrangers, for the most part, truly have the ability to do something like it and make it interesting. Saucedo succeeded sort of in 2003, but for the most part, a lot of the original music written for drum corps is pretty bland. Except.......oh wait, SUNCOAST SOUND 1985, the Florida Suite show, and wouldn't you know it......a jazz show. Hahaha. Unfortunately, Ticheli's too busy being a professor at one of the top university public schools for music and writing for the New York Phil.

If a corps wants to use programmatic material to wove things together let them, plenty of corps do it very well and then there are times when it doesn't work. I can excuse this, but I think some of it falls on the ability (or lack thereof) of some of the arrangers. How many of the arrangers in these corps are actually professional composers/arrangers/orchestrators? How many have degrees?

Now that I refuse to believe. Bluecoats did just fine in 05-06, BD won in 03, and there are countless other examples, but it just seems to have been dying in the past couple of years. Really I just want variety back in shows. Some of the lower corps are trying to be another BK or Cavaliers or whatever it seems, and it just doesn't work. The variety is dying, what's with Spirit and their shows the past couple of years? They're almost not even the same corps anymore.