Hew

Ok, but when you start adding actors to the field, make sure they protray the image and style needed to sell the program. Faust worked because the 20 year old protrayed the devil character to the level at which it was believable (due to the fact that we dont have a solid concept of what "devil" looks like or moves like, and the actor never had lines to say). Unfortunately for the Cadets design team, we have all seen professional business women, women in their 50's and 60's, and many of us have heard women discuss their life experiences with family and struggles with cancer....... and what is on the field right now is not even close. So now the "actors" and design team need to expand their research to figure out how to sell this to the audience in the outdoor stadium setting. My previous post suggested that changing the narration concept to align more with Liam's perspective would be the easiest way to make it believable and palatable. Changing the perspective for Sarah to be reflecting on her mother's persuit of happiness and how that affects her own persuit is easier to stomach than the current narration.

I rarely crawl out of my hole and actually post here, but I hope George reads the good ideas posted in this thread. While I find the show a little much to handle at this point, I feel Liam's suggestion is EXACTLY what is needed for this show to evolve into something the audience can buy into. From my perspective, I dont think the current narration works because a woman would never ever say the things that Sarah is saying throughout the show. Some of those lines were obviously written by a man. No offense to all the other men out there, but when it comes to writing about happiness from a woman's perspective, men dont have a clue! George, if you are reading this (hopefully you are to see how your recent PR stint worked) there are some real opportunities with the show design for the concept and narration to evolve to become more age appropriate. We (the audience) really enjoy the music and visuals, but we cant buy into young adults speaking as parents and seasoned professionals. Also, I dont know any mother or business woman who would actually say those lines. ..... back to my hole..... see you all next groundhog's day!

In thinking of the eventual fallout from this, it begins to look like the top corps are saying "give us what we want or we will take our ball and go play somewhere else." DCI ate up all of the regional circuits, how much longer until the power hungry (top 9?) leave DCI and create their own?

I am a daily reader of DCP and I rarely post responses, but this topic has struck a nerve. In short, there is an obvious need for the governing body to evaluate its business practices, from a purely business point of view, since they are obviously striving to become financially profitable. Excerpt from link provided: "Drum corps exists to provide a meaningful, challenging, positive experience to the youthful participants (primarily) and to the fans, supporters and adult staffs (secondarily), through an environment which encourages musical, physical, social and personal growth and the achievement of excellence, utilizing a unique, exciting, tradition-based entertainment form as its vehicle." While I agree with the majority of that statement, it doesn’t take a MBA degree to realize that "tradition-based entertainment" is a poor business decision. The top 50 companies in the world achieve their continued success by accepting that things change and finding a way to work through the period of change and retain their market. I heard a CEO summarize it best when confronted with a question that compared him to his predecessor. "I don’t care who came before me, my company doesn’t care who came before me, the time is now, we work in the now, we live in the now..... the company must strive to lead the change in our world, reacting to change means the world no longer needs you (your product)." I wish the DCI BoD good luck figuring out how to agree to change. But sooner or later you will realize that change is the only constant that is needed in the survival of a business. I’ll crawl back in my hole now.

I agree that this is a start, but unfortunately the 'legit' educators out there will not change their minds unless someone smacks them in the face with it. Retirement is the only hope that we have at this point for many of those educators who are stuck in their ways. My experience has shown that many of the said legit educators have had previous students "damaged" after marching DCI, and ALL of those stories are from pre-1980 corps. Brass education in DCI has come a long way since then, and some anti-DCI educators are amazed when they see how things are done today. I was able to take a retired band director along with me to Finals in Boston the other year and he was just amazed at the level of performance and technique used. He even borrows DVD's to use for examples in college lectures on musical interpretation and communication with the audience. It's a small step, but hopefully the next generation of music educators will realize the value and benefit of corps style ensemble playing, or atleast not become as closed minded as the last generation did!

If you are looking for one horn to meet all you needs take a look at Stomvi trumpets. They are very consistent in manufacturing and have an incredible quality of sound and control in all registers. I always recommend playing the horn for a few days before purchasing, and I know how difficult it can be getting a Stomvi in the US, but I highly recommend Stomvi horns, if you can find one to try out. All the trumpets use the same valves and the Master gives you more felxability over the Elite, but is a little heavier and more fragile because of the interchangable leadpipes, tuning crooks, and bells. If you find the setup you like on the Master you can get the exact same thing in the Elite horn, which has the typical bracing setup. Elite and used Master horns will fit your budget, spending a little more for a new one is also worth it! Every trumpet player who has tried my Master Bb has offered to buy it, even though it is not for sale. Cambrass imports them from Spain, and you will find that Carlos is very helpful!

Here's a link that will add to the conversation http://www.thetuningcd.com/a440.html When someone says they can sing a G or Bb without a reference pitch ask them which key they are performing in! If that doesnt make sense do some research on pure temperament. Again, musicians that consider themselves human tuners don't make good ensemble players.

is that 2 valve or 3 valve G's?