luvah

Congratulations SCV drums for finishing 1st on the drum sheets. The improvement has been palpable every year since '09. It makes me feel good to see a group come together with musical maturity and begin to achieve great things. (great book too).

thanks for the review. You must have a cultured ear/eye to be able to communitcate your perceptions on all segments of the corps. The kind of thing I like to read.

Good Questions! To answer them we have to go back to the beginning of the activity and see the social forces that created the activity in the first place. Early in the 20th century there was an outcry for discipline in America's youth. Many urban youths were going astray w/ no work and no discipline. They became alcoholics, violent gang members or other kinds of criminals. So, The Salvation Army started a marching band to deal w/ the problem--to give military style discipline to troubled youths. In the 30s, the Holy Name Cadets and Cavaliers started with similar social goals in mind. The marching band and drum corps activities were started as a venue to teach military style discipline to young men. Until the formation of DCI in the early 70s, 2 veterans associations ran drum and bugle corps. The reason they did it was to perpetuate military style discipline in American youths. Now, our culture has gone through a blossoming period financially--the 80s and 90s--where there was a lot of money available in a booming economy for things like horns, drums, uniforms--professional instructors and arrangers--all the things that led to fantastic accomplishments and a general desire to be elite (not to mention the human resource of talented and willing kids that we had in abundance in those days). Today, we are a post boom generation where money is tighter, people work for less, its hard to afford luxuries like horns, drums, uniforms and professional teachers. Kids are under pressure to make money earlier in their lives--they've got less time to play the drum etc. Is there less of a need for discipline in America today than 100 years ago? Certainly not. Because the social need that initiated Drum and Bugle Corps in the first place is still prevalent, more than ever, I don't think the activity itself is in jeopardy. However, the elitist, money hogging, arrogant side to DCI could go away and I would not miss it even a little bit. Luvah

Well, I think you understood my opinion correctly that the Carolina Crown horn book is not arranged at the highest level (not many are imo). It is possible to criticize the arrangement as well as the selection. Sometimes people who are not over-awed by the reputation of a composer can have valid criticisms. The source that I'm familiar with is the Copeland "Fanfare." The opener is not transcribed directly from that source. I didn't like the polyphonic thing where the chromaticised melody is played in the high brass over the low brass fanfare. I felt really uneasy listening to it. I do experience music differently w/ repeated listenings, and that was only my first time w/ this show. Another criticism that I have is the lack of attention to formal continuity, (which is rampant throughout DCI today)--we take snipets and melody lines and marry them to drum licks, add in 8 counts of pure drum corps horn pop and call it music. I think that style neglects proper music education about music history, and it doesn't teach kids to feel the larger phrase (which is really important in jazz performance)--it neglects to give them a sense of what form has always been in music. Finally, I felt like some of the book was difficult for the sake of difficulty and I'm philosophically against that idea. Its hard to play the horn with professional tone quality and perfect intonation and with excellent articulation. Don't make it harder by writing music that is difficult to execute on the horn. What is an example of a show that gives proper attention to formal continuity? '92 Cavies, '92 Star, '80 BD--those are prominent ones in my memory. My criticisms are minute but I feel they are valid. And what gives me the right to openly criticize people who are undoubtedly better and more experienced than myself? I bought a ticket. Deal w/ it. Luvah

I agree about the drums in the endzone--leave it in an deal w/ the phase--they handle it pretty well actually-- of course you are always gonna hear it as a phase--its the effect that counts. When phasing problems cause timing errors, or it feels like there is fighting for tempo across the field--those are the tech problems caused by phasing--which is usually a staging problem. I think the middle section of CC's show is full of that type of thing right now. A drum phrase slows down a little bit causing a bad attack and tempo problems for the insuing horn lick--fighting back and forth for tempo. That's the type of thing that's difficult to clean with all the demand in the drill and music books. It actually reminds me of their 2009 program--which didn't clean up great--they were a GREAT corps--they got 4th? I can't remember maybe 3rd.

I drove to Bowling Green, Ohio for the Glassmen's home show. Its a great venue there-- very spacious, but the show was lightly attended. It started 15 minutes late due to Teal Sound pulling out (I guess they are done). Then 2 corps performed before a 45 minute intermission. The Blue Saints took the field. They are a beggining level corps w/ minumum numbers. Then Legends from Kalamazoo took the field. They are an open corps with a full drum line (6 snares), and about 25 horns. They had good presence and tone quality from the low brass section. They are comming. They've shown a lot of improvement especially in the front ensemble. If I was a young kid looking for a corps to get into--Legends! The real show stepped off with the Bluecoats about 9:05 pm. Their show is melodically driven--which is different from most drum corps shows today. They have a couple of slow moments that make the show a little sleepy. Its just normal drum corps ballad stuff, but I'm anti-that. The corps strenths are low brass and drum line. High brass is a weakness when compared with Carolina Crown, and Visual Ensemble is a weekness (perenially). If I was the drum judge (and I am in my own mind) then I would have given high drums to the Blue Coats. They executed their show very well. I do like their book, I like the way their drums and pit sound. They had the biggest audience response of the evening. I've always liked the way they connect with the crowd. Next was Carolina Crown. They have a great sounding horn line. Just as bright a tone quality and all the support you'd want. They are really good on the horns, but they are having execution problems. The drill is very difficult, so is the horn book--which I don't think is composed at the highest level, to be honest, For the great horn line that they are, the book does not flatter them too much--but they do have their moments when it pops too. The drums had many execution problems, staging diffulties--phasisng issues where phrases are not sinking up. I thought the drum judge was going to nail em--but he didn't--he fell in line w/ the scores that they've been getting. When you see a show where every judge has the corps in the same order 1,2,3,4 there is likely not much real judging going on--it suggests the judges don't always trust their own ears and have the confidence to reward or punish corps for the way they perform on a particular evening. Then Cavies and Glassmen rounded out the show. The Cavies are a little down. They seem a little young. The color guard uniforms are hard to get used to, but I'm kind of intruiged by the color scheme as well, and want to see the show again. I'm not sure I get it all from one viewing. If you haven't seen the show, the colorguard wears teal stretch pants The Glassmen are just behind learning their show. Their corps is strong enough to make finals talent wise, but a lot of tech and design problems to work through. They have a very competitive drum book and a younger drum line, that I feel is going to make a lot of progress in the next few weeks. In general, the scores are down this year. Its not just the Glassmen, everyone is a little behind cleaning their show. Bluecoats least of all. They came the closest to performing thier show w/ technical virtuosity--it wasn't perfect. Carolina Crown has a lot of execution problems and phasing/timing issues to clean. They have the mother of all phasing problems: They have drums in each endzone and on the back sidlines for Copeland's "Fanfare for the Common Man"--It was way off--I don't know how concerned the judges are w/ that--it could be just an effect thing. The judging system and its effect on design and execution is a work in progress right now. I don't really blame the drum judge--for my ears (which were up by the press box) the Bluecoats had the best drum show last night. That's it I got to run. I'm ripping out moldy drywall and insulation from a flooded basement. Its great you ought to try it. Luvah

I think its impossible to get that edgy sound on a b flat trumpet as compared to a G sop. The horn in G is pitched a minor third higher than the B flat variety. The tubing is about 10% shorter. Its a very different instrument. For a comparison, imagine there was no such thing as the top base drum, and the second base drum was as high as you could get. Base drums are pitched a minor 3rd apart. That's the difference between the natural range of the G soprano and the B flat trumpet. Many people have commented that B flat horns don't seem as loud. It could be that you just can't hit the old piercing notes that were possible on the G bugle.

I suspect there may be a few players in DCI up to the challenge of the piccolo trumpet. All you need is 3. The high pitched sound will cut and balance. The difficulty of playing it at the amateur level is probably the reason its so uncommon, but when the alternative is clarinets, I think a few trumpet performance majors might be found that would be capable of playing it. We've got the woofers, now we need some tweeters!

You forgot Glassmen. Their drum scores are high, but I don't see them making it.

Crossmen have really surged. I thought their show might gain momentum. I really do see them in top 12. I feel like Boston Crusaders might drop out, Putting Spirit and Crossmen in. It is tough though. I think even if they miss finals they would be successful. Kinda like Madison '09--14th was good.

Well, is there a rule against picollo trumpets in DCI? The most widely manufactured piccolo trumpet is already in B flat. Its tubing is exactly 1/2 the length of the trumpet drum corps already use (its pitched 1 octave higher). It seems to me we lost a minor third on the high end of the sop range in changing to B flat horns. I was looking into trying some choir arrangements for B flat horn choir and I found that we can't hit the top of the soprano range that choirs sing. But if we added the piccolo trumpet we could play the high notes. Any thoughts?

I believe 1 reason the G bugle sounds more aggressive than the B flat trumpet is that its pitched a minor third higher. I'm not 100% sure about this so if I'm wrong, I'd appreciate being corrected. I think the tubing of the G bugle is shorter than the B flat variety, making it sound higher. I guess the whole horn line is like this so we gained a minor 3rd at the bottom of the tuba range, and lost a minor third at the top of the sop range when we changed to B flat.

'93 Bluecoats--best 9th place show all time.

This is a great response to your post, but I'd like to add: What you are going to gain from participating with a drum corps is discipline. Every person needs discipline, not everyone knows it. At first, we typically respond negatively to discipline, but later we come to love it and really appreciate the people who gave it to us. So, yes its going to be hard. You should do what you can to toughen up your feet, or else the blisters will be severe. But more than the physical aspect, there is the musical aspect of discipline. Probably the most important thing you can do to prepare for your camp, and the best thing you can do to make your corps better is to become a better horn player. The world really needs good horn players. If you dedicate yourself to being a fine musician, your body will get used to the physical challenge very quickly.

Reminds me of south park's Jesse Jackson episode: "Apologize"-- come on kiss it...apologize"

Didn't know that, can't remember 2005 for some reason. Oh yeah, I was working in a weld shop all summer and didn't go to any shows.

Actually, the '95 Glassmen ripped off their arrangement of Martin Luther's ancient hymn "A Mighty Fortress is Our God'' from the vocal ensemble 'Glad.' That's the only choir music I can remember in DCI.

Cathedral choir music is a potential ocean of music for drum corps. Essentially, a drum corps is a choir, with drums. I think there are about 200 years of choir music that is appropriate and would make for competitive shows. Also, we've done some film scores in DCI history, but there are many good ones that remain to be performed. I've heard some people argue that the music appropriate for DCI is very finite. Well, if your imagination is finite you must be correct. Check out this piece: My link

Does not having a drum judge hurt corps performance level down the road? No! The drum staffs of each corps know what they need to work on. They even have a sense of which lines are more mature and which are ahead early in the season. We don't really need a drum judge before the 4th of July. Its as if the judges community in saying, "You have till July to get your book the way you want it, then if stuff still isn't clean or isn't effective when clean, we're going to tell you about it." Its more important to get drill staging and ensemble music issues corrected early in the season. Then the last month we'll clean the drum and horn books and the guard routine.

I think SCVs show has championship potential, but I don't think they have the best drum corps this year. Here are my odds: Cavies 40% Cadets 30% Blue Devils 25% SCV 4% Bluecoats + Phantom = 1%

I agree w/ '95 regiment. I liked that show. Piano Concerto as percussion break was a good idea. I also liked Dev's '10. History's wildest avant guard Jazz hornbook.

My opinion is that some people have aesthetically developed tastes, and others do not. I wish show designers would show some level of stylistic unity in their productions. You're right that I can't do anything about it. I could write a letter to the Bluecoats, and I would still be wasting my time. Catharsis was what I was going for.

The original poster is obviously rooting for the Bluecoats, as am I. He sees obvious design flaws in the program-and he wishes he could fix it. When I have seen the Bluecoats the past few years I have felt the same way. Year after year, their creative package just doesn't work. To me its actually a crying shame to see such a great corps work so hard to perform a show that isn't working. I feel the same way at BOA. How do they get such great bands to perform such clunkers? How does Radiohead's oldest, most played out song work stylistically with the rest of their show? What does any of it have to do with Aldous Huxley's novel? The show has no stylistic unity. Why do you want to design a show that not only does not jibe w/ your corp's style, it doesn't go together w/ itself? Why am I such a #####? Why don't I just eat up whatever poop sandwich these show designers serve up, and sit there and applaud like a good fan (for my $50)?

Gee, I guess my opinion was a misconception. SLAM! I got served. I'd like to see what the "pros" think about DCI brass today vs. 20 years ago. What do they think about their horn arrangements vs the last generation.

wow, looks like I've touched a sore spot. Gee, could you possibly be one of the amateurish arrangers I'm describing? Can I ask you some questions? If its not the skill of the arrangers that has caused the decay of the drum corps show, then what is it? Do you think that you and your peers are producing anything close to what was done 20 years ago in your activity? Do you not have the talent in the horn line? Are the judges sheets prejudiced against horn arrangements? I place the fault on the show designers and arrangers, who I perceive as mostly young "kids" with very limited musical experience. If corps paid for actual arrangers to do their horn books, they wouldn't be as musically bad as they are. What I say is my opinion, I don't need to qualify it as such. There used to be professionals who did horn arrangements for DCI, and these people were also university music professors. It seems to me we don't have any university professors doing horn arrangements now. Am I wrong? Or am I spot on?