CrownStarr

Cool to see all the connections between DCI and the military bands - I recently joined Pershing's Own myself! As for Jeff Prosperie's reasons for joining the Army, I found this good interview the other day: http://armystrongstories.com/army-stories/interview-with-staff-sergeant-jeff-prosperie#.VYjdRlL3bCQ Some relevant selections: [...]

We also lost a bass during spring training and had to replace him (I think it was bass 3 or 4). But to be clear (because I misread your post at first), 2010 was the year when all that happened, not 2009. Also, Lee didn't leave for Madison until 2012.

If that's your criteria, then Crown broke into that group for the first time in 2008 and only fell out of it this year, by one place. I wouldn't sound the alarms just yet.

Nope, you're correct. Somewhere in the deep south, I think. Probably a solid third or fourth of the corps was inside in their bags, and most of the rest still out rehearsing were sick. We stopped early and they told us we'd pulled out of the show, then we drove to our next housing site and got hours and hours of floor time.

How many notable composers have you heard say anything about the usage of electronics in drum corps?

Yeah, this is exactly what I was trying to say. To use BRASSO's analogy: if the chief executive chef of a 5-star restaurant told me that some dish was delicious, but I didn't like it, then who cares? I didn't like it. My opinion of the meal isn't wrong because someone with more credentials than me thinks otherwise. John Mackey doesn't think electronics have added well to DCI until the 2014 Bluecoats. He's more than entitled to that opinion, just as I (or anyone else) am entitled to disagree with him. It's a non-issue.

If he had said that electronics were the best thing that ever happened to DCI, would you renounce any anti-synth sentiment you'd ever held because a famous composer came out on the other side? Somehow I doubt it. It's not some kind of "gotcha!" that John Mackey hasn't been a fan of electronics in DCI. I'm sure he's a very talented musician with a discerning ear, but he's just one person. His taste isn't the word of god, it's just his personal taste.

Ding ding ding!

Crown tends to do one of each: preseason recordings (done towards the end of move-ins) and end-of-season recordings (done during finals week). We usually did some percussion-only and some brass-only recordings too, either of the whole show or just of certain sections. Recording outside is nice, but there are drawbacks sometimes - I believe you can hear a power-washer in the background of the 2009 recordings, and I think there was baseball team practicing near us another year!

I'm probably more than a little biased as t was my rookie year, but '09 is still my favorite Crown show, followed by 2012. I'm not even sure I'd rate 2013 above '07 or '08 in terms of my personal enjoyment, but I'll have to wait and see. My feelings about shows always change a fair amount over time, especially in the months after the end of the season.

I believe they're playing the Heroes piece for the closer, but I'm not sure. Also, wasn't there some issue with Pink Floyd and DCI and rights once upon a time, or am I imagining that? A DSotM show would be fantastic.

Where was that battery drill in the show? I never caught it, that's a cool move.

Agreed. My theory is that there are too many lines in the cube compared to the prism. So not only does that mean that the shape is more complex to make sense of, but also there are fewer marchers to put in each line. There's a lot more empty space that's left for your brain to "fill in" the lines. WIth the prism, there are fewer lines, so each one is more solid than in the cube. It's more explicit.

I think I figured out where the seeming "dirt" on side 1 of Crown's prism is coming from. The beginning vertical line (down the 50) swings over to be the side 1 prism edge, and that gap they have to close is the gap that accommodated the horizontal line at the beginning of the move. So I suspect it's not the performers' fault, at least not entirely. Boggles my mind having to try and plan out that whole move so no one collides...

Wow, I always thought I got Crown's 3D prism move.... but I just watched it again and it actually "popped" for me for the first time ever. I had no idea what I was missing! I was never any good at those seeing eye puzzles as a kid either.