luvah

Did you see the order of performance? Why were the Colts on so early? They are getting shafted by the judges sentamentality, that's what's going on here.

Me too! The Colts Brass arrangements make sense, the show is well staged, the color scheme works-- it seems to me the Colts design staff knows what they are doing. The brass sound is big and balanced, the arranger knows how to hit the sweet spots in the horns-- I just think its a better design than the Troopers-- Although someone said the Troopers drum line is superior Someone also said the Troopers horn arrangements are "Hackneyed"-- which seems like an apt description to me. Come on MUSIC GE judges! geez! You are supposed to get it--you can't just reward bando horn arrangements cause the Troopers are loud. Staging, part writing, balance and tone fall under MUSIC GE too right? I think the Colts should focus on individual marching technique in rehersal--posture and bearing--an improvement there could get them into finals maybe. GET OUT THE HOSE for the drum book, too. Its time. Basically, the Glassmen are beating the Colts at individual marching technique--it is very visible--but I think the Glassmen are excellent at that particular thing.

The Corps in the top 5 w/ the most demand in the Cadets, but I don't see what they would gain by watering--they just need to do what they always do and clean the drill like crazy. But I noticed SCV is getting drilled by the drum judges--they usually do not over write their drum book--I'm not sure that's the problem. When I saw the Cavies in june their drum line was not clean, but I haven't seen them lately. I guess the ones w/ the most to gain from watering their book would be SCV battery percussion--like I said I don't know if it will help their score.

I agree with the first sentence--there is too much imitation in drum books and styles, as well as brass arrangements. It leads to a codification of styles, i.e. everyone playing w/ the same style, which has happened to some extent. Drum Corps still has a style, but I remember when every corps had its own recognizable style and sound. I'm talking about '82-- '95 roughly. Today If I were to just listen to a corps with no knowledge of who they were, I don't think I could identify any of them-- Perhaps SCV because they still play buzz rolls-- and this years Cadets show w/ their pit book is pretty recognizable. Beyond that I couldn't tell Glassmen from Phantom--from C.C.-- its all codified. When someone finds something that works on the judges sheets, everyone races to rip it off--and everyone ends up playing the same book. The second sentence I disagree with. Their have always been rules in any art form. The key to progressing in any art is innovation WITHIN CONVENTION. Every art form, including film, rock n roll, visual art, theater--ect. has a conventionality that should not be compromised--or the audience just won't get it. Audience expectation has always played a huge roll--even if you're talking about the premier of a Beetoven symphony--or Italian opera. The 1917 premier of Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring" comes to mind. If a piece is too unconventional the audience can get real ugly--riot.

A couple notes about ideas in this very interesting thread. First of all, I'm not sure DCI wants more revenue-- it needs its not for profit status. As soon as DCI starts making money, then they violate child labor laws-- pretty soon every kid has to get paid to play in Drum Corps-- and there is a Drum Corps Labor organization with agents representing their interests. Easier just to not make the money-- that's the real reason why drum corps is not on NBC in high def every weekend--and why Drum Corps is marketed with such deliberate mediocrity. Not because people wouldn't watch it--of course they would watch it--they watch anything--they just have to be told its good. If I was marketing drum corps in this youth centric market--I would highlight all the beautiful kids that march in Drum Corps--nobody is more tanned and buff. They would probably have to put a parental warning before the Boston Crusaders took the field however. Most movies and television--and pop music--even sports--all of entertainment is geared toward the youth--there is no reason in the world why drum corps wouldn't be wildly popular among kids, except the lack of exposure. If that were to change--you could see kids going to school with Phantom Regiment lunch boxes and having Cavaliers breakfast cereal--The Breakfast of Cavies. At the very least we should have live drum corps on the radio. I'd listen to that every night. Also, I disagree w/ the idea that there is more talent available now than in the 90s. It seem like there aren't enough good horn players to go around--that may be another reason that horn books are not as thick and challenging as the old days. I'm glad other people sense that having the judges sheets balanced between visual and music is really having them out of balance in favor of visual-- if there were some kind of multiplier in the drum and brass caption that would make those margins count I think that would be good. If we really had all that talent in the Brass section, someone would try to do a swing show-- with a punchy style swing brass section-- you know--with space between the notes. But the truth is, no one has a brass section that can swing--and so we listen to brass arrangements with whole notes because its easier to clean--you don't have to worry about back field drag, ect.

I think the first step to preserving drum corps as an art form is to begin composing original music for a drum corps show. Like ballet--which includes the creative input of the coreographer and composer, drum corps combines the creative talents of arrangers as visual design staff. -- So why not compose an original 10.5 minute piece of music for Rudimental Drums Percussion and Bugle choir in G? Well, gee, because composers get paid to do what they do, for one thing. Secondly, a general audience might tend to want to hear recognizable stuff--so who would play an original drum corps composition? But with the esoteric music already being performed its not that much of a stretch. Its not totally unheard of to play some original music in a drum corps show-- '92 crossmen (great show). The guy that did this original post says he's a composer-- I've got a degree in music composition but that's not what I am. Are you out there? Have you thought about writing an original piece for drum corps? The biggest problem I see with the idea is that most composers have very limited knowledge of how to write for percussion generally, and would have no idea how to put a battery percussion book together. Unless they have a specific interest in percussion music, a composer is primarily trained in piano, secondarily in vocal music (which could help w/ horn arrangements). They are grounded in the classical tradition and understand form--and that's what seems interesting to me--the drum corps show as a compositional form. Its funny to see the parts that non-percussionists write for percussion. You are likely to count 67 measures rest then go "ding" on the triangle. A percussionist writes totally differently, because only he understands how it 'feels' to play the part--and how the hands work is a big issue to the percussionist, but the composer only cares about the sound produced. Violinists also talk about the difference playing music written by a violin player--much easier--parts written "in the hand"-- so they don't have to reposition the hand as often. Famously, Prokofiev would spend whole days locked up w/ a new instrument learning to play it before he felt comfortable writing for it. I can just see him in a practice room with a set of tenor drums going "what the hell?"

its possible that BD is getting set up for a fall. I don't see how their score can go higher-- their show is maxed out--and they don't have the demand that the Cadets have, certainly. I think any of the top 5 can still win, I'd be surprised if SCV wins--being 7th in drums. Cadet's and Cavies have a real shot.

They are getting killed by the Drum Judge--losing to the Bluecoats (who have a very good section)

That post was fine, yours in negative and not nice to read

The most off the wall musical choice that I can remember is from this year-- the Blue Devils are doing Copeland's "Piano variations?" Have you ever listened to that piece? Its by far the most avant guard piece that Copeland ever wrote, and is probably the most avant guard piece that has ever been played in Drum Corps. I would have never in a million years thought that anyone would do that piece, and if you told me the Blue Devils were going to do it I would have laughed out loud-- but I guess it makes sense in their show. In 93' when Star of Indiana did Barber and Bartok certain vocal fans said: "What? Barber and Bartok on the football field? This is not what drum corps is supposed to be!" In 2009 the Blue Devils do Copeland's "Piano Variations" and no one says a word about how avant guard the music is.

In '93 both Blue Devils and Madison played "Strawberry Soup"-- I think DCI '09 is far superior to last year. I didn't like the show designs last year--and the miked announcers for every corps were horriible. The Cadets blaze bourgious show from last year irked me--didn't like it-- but this year's show kicks. Whoever said they like last years show better must be a Phantom fan-- they deserved to win last year--I didn't even really like their show that much. The show designs this year are much better-- Carolina Crown is playing a real drum book that fits the show they are doing, unlike last year. Drum Corps is UP in '09!