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bdlykdad

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Posts posted by bdlykdad

    Minneapolis, MN - July 7, 2018

    in DCI World Class Corps Discussions

    Posted

    9 minutes ago, drummer5485 said:

    Just now, bdlykdad said:

    So Madison is now coed, or just using a female soloist? And if they have even one female, does that make them considered coed?

    posted from the DrumScorps app

    They had a female performer in 1972 and 2005 as well.

     

    I remember the Carmen show ... didn’t realize they had a female in ‘72. My question remains ... have they decided on going coed?

    posted from the DrumScorps app

    My thoughts

    in DCI World Class Corps Discussions

    Posted

    "Oh, and I really like the Rite of Spring, but Stravinsly is spinning in his grave right now after they butchered his masterpiece"

    You do realize they are not playing the Rite of Spring .... they are playing Brenzel's/Sebesky's jazz arrangements of the Rite of Spring.

    • Like 3

    Which show moves you emotionally?

    in DCI World Class Corps Discussions

    Posted

    The Blue Devil's show is without narrative structure of any kind. The show almost antagonizes the audience and dares them to "figure it out". The performers face away from the audience throughout most of it, literally alienating them. The charge the horns do as they run down the corridor is away from the audience, not toward. It's a collection of playful, supercilious, abstract expressions and in-jokes between designers. It's exclusionary and self-indulgent, but meticulously performed. The show design apparently encompasses the evolution from invertebrate animals to humans who play jazz at the end, as the guard appears to be emulating the characters of animals, elephant tusks, and galloping horses at one point, but it's completely unclear what the progression is, or what the visual statement is they're trying to make. The various clusters of performers gather and disperse, ad nauseum, and the lack of through line is frustrating to watch, and alienating to experience. The ending park and blow, when the corps has evolved into human life form, looks desperate and out of place after ten and a half minutes of unflinching abstract posturing and crisp, modern circus like technique. It no make-o sense-o. Other big issues are why isn't there any improvisation in this jazz show, how does the animal choreography fit into the overall arc, why is the crowd so contemplative and silent during the show, and what in God's name do the white posts represent, and what have the same white posts represented in each of the last two seasons' differently themed shows?

    The Carolina Crown show is clearly about humans finding meaning in their lives in the high tech age of space exploration. Crystal clear. The voice arrangement of the pulsing numeric chatter is both ridiculously absurd and haunting. For a corps to capture that emotional duality is unheard of. The material is fresh, funny and profound. The wide open chords are haunting and rich like the depths of space. The guard captures both the comedic robot-like jitter, and the balletic "How much do you love me?" passage so well, it's hard to believe they're the same performers. There's something for every level of sophistication in this show-- shaking knees, an e=mc2 spelled out, and an infinity symbol, and a spinning 3-d pyramid at the end. But it also asks the big questions about measuring love, "How much do you love me" and measuring the significance of life and love in vast cold space. Profound, breathtaking and moving to the core. When that drum major bows and clasps her hands together at the end of this moving show, she is thanking us for allowing her to share her message-- an utterly absurd opposition that I last experienced in the very first season of Cirque du Soleil when the performers bowed, and thanked the audience when it was they who had blown our minds. Such warmth in their universally human message. Same for Carolina Crown. Emotionally, it's almost too much to handle.

    It sounds like Crown's show reaches you more than BD, which is fine. But honestly, when I watched Crown's show .... I didn't think what you thought. It was NOT crystal clear to me. But it sounds like you believe Crown's show is so much "easier to get". Different corps reach different people. BOTH are amazing. As a BD alum, I will admit that I stand and clap faster for Crown than I do for BD. But I don't try to read too much into that. In the end, although my heart bleeds blue, I'll be fine with any of the top four winning this year.

    Which show moves you emotionally?

    in DCI World Class Corps Discussions

    Posted

    For me, music is an emotional expression. It's the international language, meaning whatever language you speak when you hear a piece of music you hear the same thing, you don't need an interpretor...and IMHO a show that has the most impact on me is that which moves me, because the performers have effectively communicated that emotion into their performance. I also think that in today's world we don't credit that as much as we should. Music is simply notes on a page, the performers have to invest themselves in their performance, feel it and express it for it to be effective...to me, that has always been the essence of Drum Corps, and why I love it.

    In my book this year, Carolina Crown does the best job of any corps of expressing power, tenderness and wonder in their show, and it moves me, I can relate to it, I feel it. Not discounting Blue Devils and their technical proficiency but their show does nothing for me except make me appreciate the difficulty of what they are doing. I get it, it's hard. But to me, that's not what music is intended for. It is to communicate feelings so you feel it with them, you are in suspended disbelief while you take the journey with them. Trooper/s show does that...I think we've gotten away from this very simple, yet very difficult mission...how can we move an audience> how can we pull them in and take them on a journey with us? I think SCV's show does that well too.

    We over complicate things and focus on areas that the common fan will not appreciate. I'm not saying dumb it down at all, bc we all have a high sense of musical appreciation, what I am saying is pull a page out of CC's play book and design a show that accomplishes the objective of musicality...move me!

    Whatever the results are on Saturday, THANK YOU Carolina Crown, Troopers and Santa Clara Vanguard, you are the essence of musical expression.

    The whole judging thing has gotten away from the essence of why we are musicians...if I wanted zero emotion and technical greatness, I would have been a math major or software programmer. As a musician, what piece would you rather play...that's what I'm talking about.

    But what moves you, might NOT move me emotionally .... and vice versa. And performers in many of the groups are investing their heart and soul into their performances. Some people really love opera or country music, and others prefer jazz or metal. It's not a cut and dry activity to adjudicate, and that's why I try to take things for what they're worth..... and that's people performing. My father played Dixieland every Sunday in Atlanta, and I used to LOVE going to hear him play. Then again, he played in the ATL symphony too, and while I enjoyed going, I would have rather been playing! My point being, people have different tastes and don't think it's as simple as saying some groups play technically proficient but with no emotion. I've heard GREAT groups play flat shows ..... and I've probably been in groups that did the same.

    For me, I connect with SCV, BD, Crown, and Troopers ..... probably in that order. Spirit on a good night would be thrown in the mix too .....

    • Like 1

    In 1 sentence - what 1 thing would you change about DCI?

    in DCI World Class Corps Discussions

    Posted

    Put an end to talk of returning to G bugles because I have ears and an understanding of intonation.

    What? You asked!

    :tongue:/>

    Maybe it was the actual bugles I played, but we played just fine on them. In the right hands, the instrument performed great. I think Star played on bugles up until 90 or 91? Can someone confirm? There were some amazing sounds on those instruments .... they weren't all pieces of crap. And just curious .... did you ever get to hear some of the great groups of the 80's and 90's that played on G bugles? Not being condescending, just asking ...

    Murfreesboro Mayhem

    in DCI World Class Corps Discussions

    Posted

    You merged together " appreciate what all these kids do ", and " enjoy what a Corps is performing ". The implication seems to be that you somehow believe that if an audience member does not like a Corps show, he or she does not " appreciate what all these kids do ". With all due respect to your assessment, I reject that observation out of hand. I know lots of audience goers that might dislike a Corps show yet still very much " appreciate what all these kids do ". I'm in that camp as well. I appreciate " what all these kids do ", but I don't enjoy all the Corps shows the same. For me to state that I do would be disingenuous.

    I didn't merge that together .... It must be your interpretation. All I'm saying is I didn't need to hear an audience react to what I was doing. I joined just to play in a great group.

    Murfreesboro Mayhem

    in DCI World Class Corps Discussions

    Posted

    Proposed: if the audience isn't entertained, the performer isn't excelling.

    This just isn't true. When I first got in a drum corps, it had NOTHING to do with an audience except me. I liked what I heard, and I wanted to be a part of it.

    Some might say that Jersey Surf, who doesn't score as well as others who are on the road much more, are VERY entertaining. Yet, in the judges eyes, their scores indicate they don't perform in a manner that indicates they are excelling. Don't get me wrong, I am HIGHLY entertained by Surf! Entertainment is different from person to person. What entertains you when you go to the movies might NOT entertain me. Some people are entertained by a baseball game .... some hockey fans think baseball is too slow.

    In my take, most of these performers are excelling. If you don't like it, that's fine. But other people DO like what they do. And it STILL has nothing to do with hearing a brass section up close and saying THAT is what I want to do. I'm sure that most people need to have their ego stroked enough to hear that the masses enjoy what they're performing. But it's just not why I wanted to play in drum corps. Keep in mind that I aged out 30 years ago ..... This dinosaur just appreciates what ALL of these kids do .... PERIOD!

    • Like 1

    Murfreesboro Mayhem

    in DCI World Class Corps Discussions

    Posted

    You didn't like people cheering and clapping for you? That was always the best part, to see people crying and cheering for my performance every night. Different strokes I guess...

    Sure I liked it ... but the reason I got in was just to play in that brass line! No medals, no audience ... that was it. The rest to me was icing on the cake.

    • Like 1

    Murfreesboro Mayhem

    in DCI World Class Corps Discussions

    Posted

    I guess I wanna do it to inspire kids the way my first drum corps show did to me, to get them on their feet, and to be a part of something inspiring. Instilling that and getting people on their feet is what is driving me to do it. To each their own I guess...I don't care about how good the corps is that I do it in or if I get a medal. As long as I'm inspiring people and growing as a person in something that is greater than myself, that's all that I care about doing.

    That's all good .... except wasn't your original quote about how inspiring it must be to get all those golf claps? It might be inspiring to people (in your words) to grow as a person in something that is greater than yourself. Just because someone chooses to march in a corps that gets golf claps, or is boring, or doesn't score very well .... it doesn't make it LESS inspiring to THEM.

    The reason I marched was because I went to a Spirit of Atlanta rehearsal, heard them up close and I thought ..... I gotta be in that! It had nothing to do with an audience clapping. It was pure joy playing amongst those other brass players that wanted to excel ..... that was IT.

    Percussion

    in DCI World Class Corps Discussions

    Posted

    Keep in mind that the percussion score is SUPPOSED to reflect in the overall Music Ensemble score, as well as the Music Effect score. It is better for a corps to score well in all captions. This is how the "perfect" world would work. Lots of great things happening in all the performances this year ..... I just try to focus on that aspect.

    • Like 1
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