jasgre2000

What is your evidence that there were more fans then?

True, but some genre's do not transfer very well to different mediums. I am not rooting for crappy wind ensemble music either. What made you think I was?

Yep. Doesn't do anything for me ... sorry. I realize this is all a matter of taste, but if every corps was doing stuff like that, I would probably stop paying attention to DCI. Not that that should change anyone's mind about what they like. It just isn't for me.

How does the fact that it has been used effectively at times in the past prove my premise that it usually doesn't work false?

Where did I ever make an argument anything like that? I simply asked for an example of where it worked in the past? I get it ... you don't like that I disagreed with you original post. Sorry.

I don't disagree with that at all. My issue is that a lot of pop music is not very easy to arrange well, without making it completely indiscernable. And my second issue is that even when it can be arranged well, it isn't. I have nothing against using popular music in a way that doesn't sound terrible. My experience has been that it rarely doesn't sound terrible

What "intellectually dishonest" argument? I was expressing my opinion of drum corps playing pop music. How is that intellectually dishonest? Give me a break ... people can have differences of opinion.

I'll have to check it out. Maybe it will change my mind ... I have to admit I am skeptical though.

I didn't say it wasn't valid. I just said that I can't see it working out very well, in most cases.

It's not terrible. The arrangement is really good. But there are still moments in it where I cringe, to be honest with you. I think that would fit into one of the rare circumstances where it works pretty well. Notice that they slowed it down quite a bit and stretched the notes out quite a bit. Also, notice that when they get to the chorus, they make drastic changes, which I think was smart. Playing the chorus to Creep would have sounded really cheesy, in my opinion. I just don't think you can do that with very many songs, and I don't know that there are many people smart enough to arrange it as well as the Bluecoats designers did.

We'll just have to agree to disagree. It's all good.

It seems my opinion is not popular in this thread, which is fine, but there is nothing that I dislike more than a drum corps/marching band doing a poor job of playing pop music. Blech. To each his own, though.

http://www.drumcorpsplanet.com/forums/index.php/topic/153043-dear-show-designers/page__view__findpost__p__3192701 Can you give me an example of a good sounding pop song performed by a drum corps, that was originally written for guitar and synth?

No it doesn't. You must have misunderstood me. I wasn't saying that the only drum corps music that will sound good in drum corps is music that is designed for drum corps. I was saying that Radiohead music was designed to sound good when played on guitar and synth, and it DOESN'T sound good when played by 60 horn players. As I said, I'm sure there is some contemporary popular music that would work well (I think Jersey Surf's show works well this year, for example), but the large majority of it wouldn't, in my opinion. Please, drum corps designers, don't ruin two of my favorite things (drum corps and Radiohead) by mixing them together in a distasteful way.

Because I fear that drum corps might actually listen to it and start designing shows that feature a bunch of crappy pop music. I agree that there is a lot of great pop music out there. I think there is even more great alternative and rock music out there. But that music was not designed to be played by a drum corps. I don't know that I have ever heard a corps play pop music without it sounding at least a little cheesy. Cheese is the worst part of drum corps. If that ever became a trend among top corps, I don't know that I could stay a fan. Let Radiohead be Radiohead. Let drum corps be drum corps.

There is a reason there are not 60 horn players in Radiohead. The music isn't designed to sound good played by 60 horn players. It is is designed to sound good being played by a guitar and synth.

How can they reward something that sounds like crap though? I am a big fan of most of the music cited in this thread, but it would sound horrible played by a drum corps. Judges are not going to reward stupid show designs ... sorry. That isn't to say that it can't work with the right song and the right arrangement, just that most of the time it doesn't.

As much as I hate the idea of corps doing "pop" music, I love this idea. Sufjan is awesome!

Posts like this scare me.

A - freakin - MEN!!! Let them do their thing, and if you don't like it go get a hotdog. I don't understand this need people have to try to force BD to do shows they like.

Does anyone know when corps starting liberties with their arrangements? I like to go back and see these types of trends develop.

I have noticed, from watching fan network videos, that in the past the musical arrangements most corps used were pretty straight forward. By straight forward, I mean faithful to the original work. A corps would take a piece of music, arrange it for the instrumentation of the corps, and play it in much the same way an orchestra or band would. Today, it seems like a lot of the arrangements corps are using vary from the original work quite a bit. Take, for example, The Cavaliers 1995 version of The Planets and SCV's version of the planets this year. The Cavies treatment of the music was very straight forward (and awesome), while SCV has done quite a few modifications. Do people have a preference for one approach over another? I personally love the treatment SCV gives The Planets, but I could see how someone would prefer a more faithful arrangement. As I heard someone say, a drum corps arranger is probably not going to be able to make a lot of improvements to a piece composed by Stravinsky. On the other hand, the medium is different and perhaps an expert drum corps arranger can take Stravinsky's genius and modify it to fit better on the field. Thoughts?

I still noticed quite a bit of dirt in the show, visually. That is probably why it isn't scoring higher. The design is awesome, but design isn't everything they are scored on.

I think removing the helmets at the end is at least as impactful, if not more so, as the corps removing the masks. The helmets are designed to make everyone look uniform, and when they are removed we see the individuality of each of the members of the corps. It is cool.

Wow! ... Thanks!