bmt2116

I just spat iced tea all over my computer screen looking at these.

Ditto. I think the changeable uniform concept is genius.

I do a lot of things! I'm a music major at Columbia University, so that eats a lot of my time. I'm studying conducting, so I'm either in a practice room or in front of my mirror flailing my arms like a fool. I also love the arts in general. I'm lucky that my school is in New York, so I go to museums and performances of opera's/the philharmonic/etc a few times a month. I'm also a bit of a movie buff too, and especially love animated films. I love teaching (though I don't get to do much here), so I'm hoping to be a college or high school band director one day. Not arts-wise, I do graphic and web design as a hobby, though I've been paid on occasion because apparently people think I do a decent job. I also loooooove to cook, especially with my boyfriend, whom I love more than anything in the world. We'd be married if gay marriage weren't effing illegal in New York. I know it's weird to say at my age, but I can't wait to settle down.

This makes me wish there was a "like" button.

I haven't gotten mine either, and I ordered them in November when they had that really cheap deal....I'm assuming not? I've tried emailing them, but gotten no response...

BAHAHA.

True. And understandably upsetting. But also look at it this way. A corps decides to use electronics, but does so poorly, and it detracts from the artistic value of their performance. It destroys their blend. Etc. They indirectly lose points in other categories because of this. Every choice made is in some sense a risk. Sure, taking the risk of using them may be less of one than not using them, but it's not an absolute. It's all in how it's done. (Skewerz, not trying to argue your point, just attempting to look at it differently.) Do I think electronics are always positive? No. Do I think they present an exciting array of opportunities if used artisically? Definitely. And that goes for anything new added or changed to the medium. Dance, narration, vocals, electronics, etc. Change and addition is only pretentious when it's done out of indignance. The fact of the matter is Drum Corps IS an art form, and if an art form hopes to survive, it must progress. It doesn't mean that the progression is BETTER than what came before. It's just different, interesting, and when viewed thoughtfully, exciting! If we didn't allow art to progress, we'd still be stuck listening to Renaissance polyphony everyday. And who want's that?! That is a joke by the way. Love me some Josquin.

George Parks is, quite literally, my hero.

Also, incase anybody's curious, this is the poem quoted in the video. I wonder if it'll be used at all for inspiration? Angel Or Demon by Ella Wheeler Wilcox You call me an angel of love and of light, A being of goodness and heavenly fire, Sent out from God's kingdom to guide you aright, In paths where your spirits may mount and aspire. You say that I glow like a star on its course, Like a ray from the alter, a spark from the source. Now list to my answer; let all the world hear it, I speak unafraid what I know to be true: -- A pure, faithful love is the creative spirit Which makes women angels! I live but in you. We are bound soul to soul by life's holiest laws; If I am an angel - why, you are the cause. As my ship skims the sea, I look up from the deck, Fair, firm at the wheel shines Love's beautiful form, And shall I curse the barque that last night went to wreck, By the Pilot abandoned to darkness and storm? My craft is no stauncher, she too had been lost - Had the wheelman deserted, or slept at his post. I laid down the wealth of my soul at your feet (Some woman does this for some man every day). No desperate creature who walks in the street Has a wickeder heart than I might have, I say, Had you wantonly misused the treasures you won, As so many men with heart riches have done. This flame from God's altar, this holy love-flame, That burns like sweet incense for ever for you, Might now be a wild conflagration of shame, Had you tortured my heart, or been base or untrue. For angels and devils are cast in one mould, Till love guides them upward, or downward, I hold. I tell you the women who make fervent wives And sweet tender mothers, had Fate been less fair, Are the women who might have abandoned their lives To the madness that springs from and ends in despair. As the fire on the hearth which sheds brightness around, Neglected, may level the walls to the ground. The world makes grave errors in judging these things, Great good and great evil are born in one breast. Love horns us and hoofs us - or gives us our wings, And the best could be worst, as the worst could be best. You must thank your own worth for what I grew to be, For the demon lurked under the angel in me.

I really hope the rumors that they decided to stay with the original uniform aren't true....so much potential for a new design!!!

SICK. I'm also DESPERATELY hoping they play this piece. The only thing that could beat Joshua Bell is sick-nasty hornline. And here's hoping what they showed at the end isn't the logo they chose?

Oh, and what do you mean by "pop"? Popular, definitely. But their music in the past few years has had so much variety....if anything it's been taken more from the classical repertoire, especially in the past 3 years.

I agree. I think somewhere in Nimrod, things fall just a little bit flat. You never quite get a sense of emotional climax. (But OH MY GOD the Mahler. I still listen to it everyday.) However, I think the ending they ended up with was nothing short of conceptually brilliant. I know some people though it was cheap to end with Promise of Living again, but I thought it was an incredible choice. Both shows ('09, '10) dealt with the same philosophical idea of our human nature to want the things we cannot have. A Second Chance just did so in a darker way, stating that wanting want we can't have can be dangerous. Brilliantly though, the new ending brought us back to the same place that '09 did...a musical return to home with the Promise of Living. I dunno. It was almost too good to be true. You'd swear their creative team had a background in opera or ballet design. These shows should seriously be studied in academic settings. I just can't wait for some Rachmaninoff. After last year, I feel Crown proved that they have the classical chops. They have so much color to their sound that is going to bring such life to romantic music. CANNOT WAIT AHH

How is the Mackey coming? I effing love that piece...

1. Cadets: I think this concept could be incredible - visually, musically, and artistically. 2. Bluecoats: Harvest is one of my favorite band pieces, and Creep is one of my favorite pop songs. Can't wait to hear the actual concept. 3. Crown: After hearing Mahler and Copland from them, I can't wait to hear some romanticism, Crown style.

This is actually BRILLIANT. And I say that as a paid graphic designer. Have you considered a shako instead of the halo?

Thanks, Kay! I actually had no idea. I've never really paid a ton of attention to DCA, though I really should educate myself. Maybe my summer won't be so boring after all. :)

Hi all! New guy on here from Manhattan, NY. Not too many people around here even know what drum corps is (and if they do, they generally think of bad marching bands that play top 40 and showtunes), so I can't wait to actually have people I can talk about it with. I've actually been a frequent visitor to these forums for a couple of years now, and decided that this summer was as good of a time as any to start getting more involved in the discussions. I'm originally from VA, and went to a high school that had a very small, but very good marching band. Those of us who were really hardcore spent our summers getting to as many DCI events as we could while preparing for our own competition seasons. I miss those days quite a lot. I left VA to go to college in NY (Columbia U) and study music, focusing on musical theatre composition, but a few years later and I've switched my track back to what I really love: wind band conducting. I've picked up some great outside-the-band-world experience that I hope to bring into my eventual career as a band director (HS, college, or otherwise). But I've never lost touch with DCI. Though I've never marched with a corps myself (tried out once in HS though!), I've always kept a very close watch on each season. Last summer, my best friend and I drove from VA to Indianapolis (a solid 17 hours, it was awesome) for finals. If I were to choose a favorite corps, I guess I'd have to put myself behind Crown, though I grew up watching the Cadets (my band director's favorite). I got into DCI right around that Crown started becoming a top tier corps, so I suppose you could say I feel like they're a small part of my youth. :) Indeed, given the academic nature of my music department here at Columbia, I've been known by my professors to write many a paper on DCI. I think it's come to a point where drum corps deserves some good study and academic research, given how much it's grown as an art form. On a less-musical note (hah), I also love film (particularly animation and film scoring), musical theatre, keeping up with politics and current events, and going to IKEA. I currently live here in NY with my boyfriend, who means the world to me. Hoping to drag him to Allentown this summer. :) So uh...hi everybody!