doctortelco

I don't see a section 245.

I understand how this guy feels. I have been a fan since I saw a McCormick's how to march video in 1975. I saw my first contest in Atlanta in 1976. I wrote for Drum Corps World in the 80's to early 90's. I loved D.C.I. I was the type of fan that would rather see the DCI Championships over the Superbowl. However the electronics has been a bad move. With the voice over/tapes-discs/keyboards/MIDI's they are removing the human element. The corps are less entertaining and I have thought about giving up on following the activity. Why play loud just crank the amp? I know that woodwinds have been considered and strings wouldn't be far behind. Part of the beauty of drum corps was what could be done with the limitations. Without these limitations the beauty is disappearing and the appeal is lost in the process. If you want marching units with no limitations Bands of America offers just that. It may make a better audio CD but it sucks as entertainment. Did any of you see UK's "The Company" last year? I would rather sit though a 24 hour marathon of synchronized swimming then sit thought that Goldilocks show. It appears we are headed in that direction. I have found refuge in the DCA corps who have not gone down this dark path. They aren't afraid to play loud, the human element remains-it is still in your face drum corps the way drum corps should be. Scott Smith

As a fan thank you for giving us the performance of a lifetime. If I had only seen Empire Statesmen last night; that alone would have been worth the 10 hour round trip yesterday. Scott Smith

You didn't show us what was in the briefcase :doh:/>.:doh:/>My guess is the 2014 DCI results :rolleyes:/>

I have to say that is the best drum corps event I have attended since DCI Championship in 1984. Great job DCA. I hope they are planning on a DC area show next year. Scott Smith

I am enjoying the commentary. I'll be there in person tomorrow. Scott Smith

There are college level courses offered in drill design. At the University of Kentucky back in the 80's you were allowed to take it twice for credit. The first year I took it; Gordon Henderson, who is now the band director at UCLA taught it. Gordon still writes drill and and music for multiple drum corps. A class like that will give you lots of practice without messing up some band or corps season with your learning curve. It's not as easy as it looks. There was nothing like putting 20+ hours into a drill chart just to see Gordon with his big black magic marker totally destroy your masterpiece in front of the class (don't worry their drill was next.). The next time I took the class J. Steven Moore taught it (He wrote the book Play it from the Heart). Steve and another professor (Dr. Allen Goodwin)wrote a computer drill design program that had a lot of success during that era. I don't know if they eventually sold the software to another company or not. Just like any computer program-garbage in is garbage out. There are rules and guidelines you need to know to make drill work. Steve was very good at outlining the basics needed to make a drill design work. Just buying a computer program isn't enough. If I was going to go into drill design I would start with a college level course by someone who knows drill design. You will need practice and critique. Scott Smith

I just made a comment about the Crossmen's drill design on another thread. The Crossmen drill this year was a failure due to the fact it failed the basic premise of drill design. The purpose of drill is to present the horns. I was fortunate enough to be sitting on the 50 yard line on the upper level in Georgia Dome for the DCI South contest. My daughter looked at me after their show and said "you didn't like them". I replied "they play great, but the drill is a disaster.' I have been a Crossmen fan since I first saw them in Atlanta in 1976 (the night after they were disqualified for an overage member). So for me being a Crossmen fan I was disappointed in their drill design; I expected better. With a better design they would have made finals. Scott Smith

The purpose of the drill is to present the horn line- Drill Writing 101 So many of today's drills fail at that basic premise. It may be a neat formation and is visually pleasing, however if it doesn't present the horn line the drill is a failure. The Crossmen had some neat drill moves this year however the drill was an overall failure when it came to presenting the horn line. A great example of that was 27th Lancers drill back in 1980. The hottest drill move during that period was figure rotation. The 27th Lancers lead in that involution. Their show was full of rotating drill. However in all of it's artistic glory the horns with the melody ended up in the wrong place. I think that was the difference between 1st and the 2nd place they received at finals. The Blue Devils drill lacked the artistic flash that the 27th Lancers had, but their show presented the horns incredibly well. I would recommend watching both shows on YouTube and comparing those shows and notice the presentation of the horn lines. All of that being said to really judge the coolest move this season it would be nice to hear the music in context to see if the drill met it's basic purpose. Scott Smith

Rifles don't kill corps. Bad judging sheets do.:music:/> I find this topic funny and disturbing at the same time. At the same time let's protect the youth. 1) No more fast tempos--someone could fall 2)No marching on a wet field. 3)Drum sticks need to be banned they are a choking hazard..and an eye hazard as well 4)All instruments that weight over 15 pounds must be placed in the pit so we don't have back injuries 5) Elevated stands and stairs of any kind must have railings 6) Drum major platforms must have wheel chair lifts or ramps. I am sure I left a few things out. Scott Smith

"Do you think GH will next propose to remove "execution" from DCI scoring sheets?" Sorry folks the idea of "Execution" left 30 years ago. Only the captions remain. Also I guess we can also cross out an updated version of Garfield's old "No More War" show. Scott Smith

The Phantom Regiment streamers at the end of 1812 was in 1984. It's easy for me to remember since I have only been to the DCI Finals 3 times (1980, 1984 and 2000). Also in 1984 Suncoast Sound released balloons through-out the audience at the end of "Aquarius" piece.That kind of took the edge off Phantom's streamers a little later in the evening. SVC was playing the bottle dance most if not all their season in 1978. I saw them in in Indianapolis on July 3rd, 1978 and the bottle dance was in the show then. Scott Smith

I was disappointed that there was no high camera option every corps was shown in multi-view only. Scott Smith

DUMP THE ELECTRONICS!!!! I have been a drum corps fan since I saw my first contest in Atlanta, GA in 1976. 1) Electronics are removing the human element in the activity. Tempo is now partially controlled by the vocal recordings and midi devices. Everything can be "computer perfect". 2) There was beauty in the limitations. Listening to what can be done with just brass and percussion was a great thing. 3) Electronically reproduced music sounds electronically reproduced. If I wanted that I would sit at home and listen to my stereo. I hate what this activity is becoming. The extra junk from large props (like the towers that Carolina used a couple of years ago that reminded me of West Virginia CB Antennas) to the extra amps, piped in music and how can we forget the Blue Devils DA-DA voice overs to remind me why I never want to visit France. I am thankful that at least DCA hasn't gone off the deep end yet...even though this weeks pit-amp rule is headed that direction. As far as the direction marching bands are going-they are not something to be imitated. The BOA's contests have violins, midi's and recordings--it's a mess. I saw a band a few years ago where everyone had amps on their backs. They played ' 76 trombones and just turned up the volume. Where's the human element? If I hear one more oboe solo I think I will throw-up. I would rather hear the 9 brass versions of the Children of Sanchez in the 80's. After seeing what marching bands have become I am glad I changed my major away from music education in college. High school bands and corps as well should need musicians not sound engineers. So you want to know where the fans have gone--they gave up on the activity. It's expensive to go to, the volume level has been diminished and so has the entertainment. I shouldn't get to the end of the show and see the audience look around and say "What the heck was that all about". I am almost to the point of giving up on DCI all together and putting my fan dollars in DCA only. For those who want to increase the age of the activity please keep in mind that this is a youth activity. Sometime in the future you may want to get a job and contribute to society. 21 is a good age since that is about the time you should be getting out of college. If you want to continue in the activity. The DCA corps are terrific and their weekend schedule allows you to have the best of all worlds; hold a job, raise a family and be in a drum corps. So now that I have offended many of you there's my opinion. Scott Smith

I got my CD's today. I am still waiting on the Blu-Ray. Scott Smith

I would pay real money to shut-up that French Guy that talks all the way through the Blue Devils show on my CD. I honestly can't handle listening to the show....it's a whole lot worse than viewing it live. What were they thinking when they put together that show? Scott Smith

I got my DCI CD's a week ago. The DCA Blu-Ray I ordered at the DCA finals in September. I later added to the CD and the Mini-Corps CD to my order. I have seen nothing from my DCA orders. I actually came to the DCP today to see if anyone has received them yet. Scott Smith

Tom, I am with you on this. When I was a DCW writer I offended a few fans with a comment about a corps show being "over the heads of the audience". A few angry letters were sent in. I didn't mean to insult anyone. I just didn't feel that I should have to carry in a musical score and have to evaluate it like I was back in a music theory class in college to appreciate the program. I don't know if you were around back in the days that DCW covered Winter Guard. If I remember correct WGI wanted a right of censorship on the articles, so DCW decided to no longer cover winter guard. My point is to be brutally honest about it. I watched the DCE on the Internet and quite honestly I don't get it where The Company is concerned. I wasn't sure if the target audience was a kindergarten class or the artsy-fartsy crowd. To me it sounded like 11 minutes of Over the River and through the Woods. The music and program didn't seem very challenging or entertaining. Yes they did it incredibility well, I just didn't like the show at all. I didn't see it being first place. I watched their show from the previous year on YouTube and enjoyed it. Maybe it was better in person, but from the internet broadcast Kidsgrove appeared to be the better corps. Scott Smith

Everyone's been making suggestions but according to the original article they were accepting between April 1 and May 1...it appears this thread has run longer than the bid process. Scott Smith

Back in the mid to late 70's; Murray High School in Murray, Kentucky had 280 students in their music program and only about 500 students in the whole school. The football program was terrible. The band won the 1977 MBA Summer Nationals (that eventually became the Bands of America organization). Scott Smith

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g20Fbw72zco&feature=related I am blown away by the Soka Renaissance Vanguard. Here is the 2010 program, I am still searching for a video of the 2011 show. The color guard work is amazing. Thanks for the heads up. Scott Smith

Vanguard got a perfect GE score in the TIC era (of course GE was non-tic based) in the 1975 Finals---still lost to the Madison Scouts. Scott Smith

I have had friends of mine on the staff of various corps over the years...they said being on staff may cover your "beer money". I think your best bet is to study music and to go into composition and arranging. Jay Bocook has made a good living doing that, but he also continues as the director of bands at Furman University. Let's face it making a living is tough, making a living in music is even tougher. Scott Smith

I had a friend of mine from high school that was on the Spirit of Atlanta's staff that year. I always meant to ask him about it and I never have. Scott Smith

Grumpy, You made some very good points--I just don't understand why the premium seats didn't sell out. I also don't understand not having 15,000 fans in the stands. Scott Smith