CVQuesty

Many congrats. Alliance, for the hardest dogfight I've ever been in! I'm happy to have another Southern corps in DCA finals. That's 4 non-NE corps in Open Finals now. Can't wait for 6. Then we just might see some craazzzy things start to happen!

The only thing I see in this thread that needs more thought is the ticket sales thing. I'm not sure how a corps from Orlando could ever sell tickets to a show in, say, Paducah. Or someone from Minnesota for a show in Cinci. Sure, if the individual corps wanted some tickets to sell, then by all means, but unless I'm totally missing something, I think other than the really close-in corps may have a really hard time selling a $20-ish ticket AND a couple hundred dollar road trip and hotel stay. Did I miss something?

I fond this somewhat humorous, having read it for the first time. more than 25 set changes and an entirely new closer. 21 Tempo changes and something like 13/14 visuals. What didn't change again? I know I'm being cheeky, I just had to ask.

p'raps. :)

You should list the website address here. There's no way to check out the website for those of use who don't know the address. List the area of the country. List the dates/times you're thinking about having your first get-together. I think you'll have a little more success recruiting with a little more info.

we topped a couple thousand last year

Hey!

Were I a corps director of an Open Class DCA corps, I certainly would not want to take my weekend-rehearsing-only All-age corps and put them up against the 10-14 hour/day rehearsing Open Class DCI corps. The comparison is simply not fair at all, and would be a net loss for DCA corps in general.

Thanks for the support, everyone. I just love how freaking everything on DCP is a reason for someone to get exercised about something that's only going on between their ears and not anywhere else in drum corps land. So many agendas, veiled comments, perceived conspiracies, so many prejudices on these boards... It's the main reason I don't visit all that much any more. You people need to lighten up. It's only drum corps... it's a HOBBY.

I think there's a "shot" in there somewhere, but I'm not catching it. Not sure what the implication is. Don asked, I surfed on over to DCA's website, got all the scores, put it all in order, and then posted it up. Nothing to see here other than the scores.

Ummm... Maybe because Don asked for them?? I'm just sayin'

I'm sure someone will do something more official with point moves and all that, but preliminarily, this is how it breaks down: Open Class: 1 - 88.963 (.3) Buccaneers (Scranton, PA 8/1) 2 - 86.863 Hurricanes (Scranton, PA 8/1) 3 - 85.925 Minnesota Brass (Scranton, PA 8/1) 4 - 85.050 Caballeros (Scranton, PA 8/1) 5 - 83.850 Empire Statesmen (Scranton, PA 8/1) 6 - 83.463 Renegades (Dublin, CA 7/19) 7 - 82.713 Brigadiers (Waterloo, NY 8/1) 8 - 79.988 CorpsVets (Nashville, TN 8/1) 9 - 78.150 Bushwackers (Scranton, PA 8/1) 10 - 78.000 Music City Legend (Nashville, TN 8/1) 11 - 77.913 Alliance (Nashville, TN 8/1) 12 - 73.200 Crusaders (Waterloo, NY 8/1) 13 - 70.375 Kilties (Madison, WI 6/28) Class A: 1 - 73.625 Grenadiers (Waterloo, NY 8/1) 2 - 73.000 Fusion Core (Waterloo, NY 8/1) 3 - 71.138 SoCal Dream (Dublin, CA 7/19) 4 - 70.738 (.2)Carolina Gold (Waterloo, NY 8/1) 5 - 65.500 Govenaires (Mankato, MN 6/22) 6 - 65.188 White Sabers (Waterloo, NY 8/1) 7 - 63.175 Kingsmen Sr (Dublin, CA 7/19) 8 - 63.100 Sun Devils (Nashville, TN 8/1) 9 - 59.700 Lakeshoremen (Nashville, TN 8/1) 10 - 57.788 Sunrisers (Waterloo, NY 8/1) 11 - 55.950 Shenandoah Sound (Nashville, TN 8/1) 12 - 52.925 Excelsior (Waterloo, NY 8/1) Vigilantes

I saw this and was transported immediately to another online forum I'm a part of. I had to take a double-take! Good luck to everyone! This is going to be an amazingly fun show!

I thought there was a show up in the "great white north" last night. MBI/Kilts, etc... I've seen no talk of the show or scores or anything. Does anyone know what happened?

Good words, Tom. The only conspiracy here is on the X-Files. And it's been cancelled for years. :)

I just saw the evening news, and they were saying that the 75/85 connector in Atlanta will have up to three lanes blocked this weekend for construction. As a result, you're going to have a heck of a time if you don't get into the area early. Recommendations: 20W If you're coming East on I-20, you can take the Spring Street Exit. It will bring you all the way down to the Dome area, and you can turn left on Marietta then left in front of CNN and be n the dome area. Coming from 20E If you're coming West on I-20, you can take the Spring Street Exit. It will bring you all the way down to the Dome area, and you can turn left on Marietta then left in front of CNN and be in the dome area. 75N If you're coming in down I-75 from the North, you should be able to exit on Northside at exit 252B and Northside will pass righ tin front of both the Yellow Parking Lot and the Dome itself. 85N If you're coming South on 85, I'd take the loop northward on 75 and then take the Northside exit and follow the directions above. 75/85S Finally, if coming from the South, you can exit onto I-20W and turn off on Spring Street to come up toward the dome as above. They say it's going to be hairy, so give yourself an extra hour at least or come down a few hours early and do the lot. It's gonna be a great day, everybody be safe and come have a good time.

The humorous part of this G/Bb debate is and always will be that the original military field bugles were Bb bugles. (1939 rings a bell here) G came after Bb and now we're on to Bb/F. "Muck that up" is a little subjective (as is most things with this activity). I like the horns we have today if manufacturers could figure out how to make the trumpets less shrill. It's pretty much across the board the trumpets aren't as dark and beautiful as the lower instruments. Once that gets fixed, I'll be happy. :)

Err... It's already been done... In competition. Recently.

Kanstul also makes G horns. They can tool a full line on request. Also, yes it was the Colts with a mixed line, and I must say that I really liked the sound. Darkosto & Jjeffory: We had a full line of G horns last year and are on a full line of King Ultimate Brass this year. I've stood in front of both lines and think there is most definitely a difference. I've finally quantified the difference in sound between the two lines. The G horns sound more "broad" to the ear while the Kings are more pure. There is some error early on in this thread that implies that when the bugles started being made, that valves & rotors just started getting cobbled onto the horns without any further engineering. Nothing could be further from the truth. Kanstul and DEG did tons of their own modification and engineering in their own right. To imply anything otherwise is incorrect. The engineering, I'm finding, is definitely better in the Kings than our old line, but these horns too are not without some engineering issues. First valve and especially 1+2 combinations are considerably more sharp that I expected them to be. We've done quite a bit of work with our players to mitigate this issue, but still fight it. Otherwise, great conversation....

I'm with Chris on the trending. Maybe even where you can do a comparison between corps via both trend lines and their caption scoring against each other... Think of the Bloomberg app when I say that.

Hey Hrothgar, catch me offline. I work for CNN supporting developers. I'd like to chat with you about some design & data considerations that you may or may not have already thought of. NICE looking app, though.

Y'know, this argument isn't any more valid this particular discussion than it was the last 47 times we've had it. Outliers factor into their YEARLY OPERATING BUDGET traveling around the country to get decent scores. Yes, there are plenty of shows in shouting distance all over the Northeast. However, outliers have to give up extra staff, arranging fees, time on the road in lieu of extra rehearsal blocks, and resources to make it somewhere that they can get decent scores compared to all the other corps they will see at championships. Net gain in comparison to other corps. Net loss in overall instructional resources. It is indeed a zero-sum game. For each trip North for us, for instance, we just budget the 10-12 grand for the trip in the yearly planning meeting. It's really that simple! Just saying from the outset "We're going to Timbuktu. How much will it cost, what will it take, we're committed enough to the circuit and the need to see all competitors that we'll take the financial hit." That's right, folks. as much as 12k a trip (and that's after vetting a couple dozen bus companies each and every year). Now, performance fees don't even come close to that. So, outliers find it in their best interest to eat the cost of that travel for a competitive perspective. The membership buys into this in their acceptance of much higher membership fees to help the corps get down the road. Truly, everyone must buy into the philosophy. I think the true issue here is that outliers are highly motivated (scores, for instance) to make those trips. NE corps don't have the same motivation, as scores are easier to obtain even though some groups have to bus as much as 6-8 hours. I don't think the argument that continues to reappear here works because the motivations are different between "home base" and the "outfield". Outliers want to get more time seen by DCA judges in DCA shows compared to other DCA corps they will see in championships. It is a calculated cost of "doing business" in the circuit. You budget for it, eat the cost of a Marimba each and every time you do it, and you just do it. You do it happily, and you do it without complaining. The thing about reciprocal action is that the NE has no similar motivation. Not good. Not evil. It just is what it is. Here's where the philosophical discourse deviates. For NE corps to come to other areas, the only motivation is benevolence. NE corps have no need to go to other regions for the scores they need, they have no reason to make those trips like outliers do. Instead, the only motivation is enlarging other circuits (and by proxy DCA's whole circuit) and the appeal of the DCA activity in other regions. In truth, outliers get a return on their money in scores. NE corps do not. These outliers' shows are all in their beginning stages (the oldest home show that I am aware of being very young in comparison to DCA itself) and in some cases is a money loser and some just starting to make money for the first time in recent years. So with no hope for financial recompense in the near term in the form of performance fees to corps, a trip out of region (and I mean all the way... Kiltie's show, CV's show, Renegades show, MBI's show etc.) is a 100% investment in the circuit and not in the direct interests of the traveling NE corps. I think what will need to happen will be for the importance of the growth and extension of the circuit to become more important than the money/resources lost for the corps in question. Again, not bad, not good... it just is what it is. The real question left by this discussion is: "When is the enlargement and growth of the circuit worth the investment it'll take to make it happen?" Anyone care to venture a guess?

Thanks, Jeff. I had to stay home with a sick loved one, and couldn't be there for the show/critique. You didn't say anything we weren't aware of, so it just reinforces we're on the right track. Thanks for the review.

Since you're his secretary, won't you be posting it for him?

Well, my point there is that CV certainly has momentum, but their target is not the Bucs, Brigs, Cru, or anyone else. Their target is CV. From week to week, they're trying to beat themselves. If the numbers work out well, then Yay! If not, but they've beat themselves, then it's a win. The reports I'm getting back is that CV had a bit of a flat show in comparison to what they've been seeing, so I'll hold my personal judgement until after I see the video of the weekend. (rehearsals and show)