HornTeacher
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Posts posted by HornTeacher
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We could probably turn this into an Olympic event. I'm in.
Unfortunately, Jim McKay has long passed. He's the only broadcaster I would trust to treat it with the proper respect of which it would deserving.
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I always called it spider legs choreo.
I prefer the "poopy-drawers squat" move, myself.
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I fear that all of this discussion is leading up to one inescapable conclusion: that being, the formation of what shall forever be known as SCI.
Skating Corps International, that is.
With the list of 13 Founding members to include:
Argonne Axels
Boston Blue Biellmanns
Casper Camels
Catawba County Crossovers (the world's first fully transgender Skating Corps)
Debuque Death Drops
Edmonton Edges (lending true "international" credence to "SCI World Class")
Louisiana Laybacks
Las Vegas Lutzes (Due to pressure from Mafia owners and executives of city casinos, the corps will fold after the first season, due to a total loss of electrical power throughout the city resulting from the single need for all power being consumed to simply maintain a serviceable ice surface in the Nevada heat.)
Santa Clara Salchows
Spirit of Spirals
Toronto Toe Loops (See "Edmonton Edges" above)
Twin City Twizzles
Walla-Walla Walleys
Brian Boitano will be the first Executive Director of the SCI. Championships will be held each year in Nome, Alaska (which also serves as SCI headquarters...their motto being "Out of sight...out of mind. And only Sarah Palin can see us from her porch.") -- to huge outcry from ALL fans, both of the East AND West coasts of the continental United States -- not to mention those in Hawaii -- who scream "You can't expect us to go THAT far for championships, for cripes sakes!!!", and will hire Scott Hamilton as its championships stadium announcer. Hamilton will be fired after the first year, due to his propensity to yell "OHHHHH MYYYYYYY GOD!!! WILL YOU LOOK AT THAT!!! FAAAAAAAABULOUS!!!" throughout the entire evening -- including in the middle of corps performances. To replace Hamilton, SCI will hire former skating announcer Dick Button. Unfortunately, Button will have to be removed due to his constant, simple assessments of "Well...THAT sucked." for all corps performances (always said through judgementally-pursed lips). If nothing else, Button's inclusion will be of a positive nature for the activity, giving rise to a tradition of "Dick Button died." rumor mongering amongst all of its corps. For Button's replacement, SCI will hire Oksana Baiul. Her thick Ukrainian accent will render her announcing almost unintelligible -- but SCI will justify her hiring with the rationale "Oh, well...at least she'll be cute to look at." (totally forgetting, despite its infinite wisdom, that nobody will actually SEE her in the announcing booth). SCI will employ Tanya Harding as its "Kiss-And-Cry" area reporter. Harding, too, will be fired after her first year, due to her beating the living crap out of George Hopkins after his smug reply of "We'll let you know soon enough." in response to her question of "Do you foresee any changes to your program?" after one of its shows. Though SCI will actively seek out Nancy Kerrigan as Harding's replacement, Kerrigan will only be able to wail "WHYYYY MEEEEEEE???," and will be dropped from consideration. Finally, Michael Boo will be hired as the official score tabulator. He, unfortunately, will ALSO be released due to constant squabbles and disagreements with the Russian Judge, who will insist upon submitting all scores not only in word form, but in Cyrillic script as well. His replacement will be someone who goes by the secretive name "Garfield," and who, on another site, often exhibited an expertise in making sense out of numbers (well...sort of, anyway.). Boo will be reinstated to the post 20 years later (replacing "Garfield," who resigned from the position and, along with "the kid," accepted the position of DrumHead with his much-loved Toe Loops), but will again be canned due to physically abusing the same dino...errrr...Russian Judge after the judge's "SPASM" (Simultaneous Playing And Selective Movement) caption score of 2.712361597 -- with the combined Corps IQ being tripled, then divided by a combined total of a certain bodily measurement found within the Guard (depending upon the exact makeup of the Guard, of course), then multiplied by the negative square root of the GNP of Ghana, and finally divided by Pi) for the eventual 16-time World Champion Blue Biellmanns. This second firing will lead to the longest thread (11,647 pages, and named "What is the Worst Case of Blue Biellmanns You've Ever Experienced?" ) of controversy on the SCP (Skating Corps Planet) website. In conclusion, all judging will be conducted according to a variation of the old "tick" system, but now called the "Slick System," whereby a judge can make allowances such as "I THINK that was an error...but I'll let it slide for now."
(In the words of teachers everywhere -- "Isn't summer wonderful????")
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Wouldn't it be interesting if all corps had to perform a compulsory 5 minute show to get into finals. Same music, same drill, with only variation being guard, orchestration
Only as long as they can forego the skirts, sparkles, glitter, and dreaded "kiss-and-cry" area.
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2. Can the Crossmen start the season ahead of Boston? Their show is ready. But, it is their first performance. Percussion will be key and the Bones percussion scores lagged behind BAC last year until mid-July. Having heard the Crossmen music several times, I would give Music GE to them over BAC. IMO. But, what do I know?
If it makes you feel any better, barigirl...you know a hell of lot more than I do. Then again, an ostrich knows more than I do.
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I have been pondering on this since you brought it up. Sometimes, when performers are mic'ed, you can add more depth to an arrangement. For example, Bluecoats have a mic'ed trombone octet on the main stage (the four props put together on the No. 1 side of the field) at the end of their closer. I believe this is a legit octet, that is eight parts, but I might be off on that. The mic'ing allows this kind of depth in the arrangement so that the trombone parts can be heard without being overpowered by the rest of the horn line.
I understand that, Lancer. And my post wasn't aimed at any corps in particular...or in the contemporary usage of microphones, for that matter. However, I guess the traditional, old-fashioned band director and musician in me is still somewhere down in the pit of my stomach crying out "But, still...... ." Not particularly proud of it -- but it's still there, nevertheless.
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. . .I am anxious to see how far they can push this "drum corps wise", though, to get it away from the WGI stigma.
There's a chance to play with the dimensions; having a few of the slides and ramps the same color as the field (roughly, or in the case of Indy, you know what color to approximate) complete with "upside-down" yard markers and numbers would make for some interesting visuals.
Hell, borrow from the Cavaliers tenors a few years ago . . .get some folks to sufficiently camouflage themselves to hold the soloist upside down while on said ramps.
Or, make people disappear from one slide and reappear on another . . .
Lots to play with here.
Just as long as someone doesn't go and pull a Vinko Bogataj on us.
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Good lord. You know, Troopers could hand out $100 bills to everyone in the stands, etc., etc., etc. ....
To paraphrase Nathan Hale: "I only regret that I have but one like to give to this post."
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...and in a strange way, you tied figure skating and current drum corps design methodologies together rather tidily...
Not me...(clearing throat and nervously pawing at the floor with my toes)....
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Question: if some corps, some year, were to choose to do an all-Scottish inspired show...would bagpipes be allowed? (I was going to say an "all-Scotch" inspired show....but we'd be talking about two entirely different matters, wouldn't we??)
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Beat me to it.
The compulsories are what gave figures to figure skating -- you literally drew figures in the ice with your blades. And you had to be able to do it with either foot. More on Wikipedia -- Compulsory figures.
How about this: Each Corps "short program" has to be marched with the "opposite" foot first. For the Cadets, this would be starting on the left foot; for everyone else, the right.
What used to be called "compulsory figures" are now referred to as "moves in the field." "U.S. Figure Skating requires each skater to pass a "Moves in the Field" test, as well as a free skating or free dance test, in order to qualify for the various levels of competition. Skaters must perform each field move in the specified pattern while demonstrating adequate power, quickness, edge control, and extension throughout the pattern to be accepted into the level." (Wikipedia citation.) My daughter has said countless times that she is glad that the school figures (compulsory figures) are no longer employed as a part of competition, although she had to extensively work on them as part of her training. I believe that the use of them in competition ended in 1990. Many former skaters have decried the decision not to use them in competition, and cite the fact that, in their learned and experienced opinion, skaters of today do not possess the intricate abilities of many skaters of the past. Now, it's simply more a matter of "wave arms," "make pretty (or intense) face," and "JUMP, JUMP, JUMP, and JUMP some more."
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I have been saying for a while that true costuming will eventually replace traditional uniforms in DCI (note the word "eventually"...it will be a gradual process), and I thought watching the Coats last year that they specifically needed to go that route if they decided to remain cutting edge with their show designs. Their traditional coats and helmets were jarring against the contemporary look and sounds they were presenting. Their choices this year are great, IMO.
Traditional isn't always bad. Heck...Oh! Calcutta! came out in 1972 (I believe) -- and as far as I know, the costuming for that show has stayed pretty much the same in the intervening 46 years.
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Ithaca, New York. Video quality was exceptional (other than a few periodic feed "blips"), and that particular theater has a VERY large screen (much larger than others in our area -- obviously, that's a GOOD thing). Sound, for the most part was very good, although the theater must have cranked the speakers a tad after Boston, because there was an appreciable volume difference during their performance and after (something I noticed when comparing the volume of Rondo's speaking before and after). Attendance? I'd say roughly 100 or so.
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yeah, but it's more than goo. Really, I didn't notice much goo last night. What I heard was a greater range of electronic sounds used throughout wider ranges of the shows. There were moments in . . . . Phantom's? . . . . show where not a soul was playing a note yet there was loud ... music-al...ly stuff coming from the various speakers. It was a transition point: Corps stops playing, computer starts playing, computer stops playing, corps resumes playing.
We have crossed a threshold. It's all very entertaining and wowza, but we are now in a different room.
Are you saying we're not in Kansas anymore, Toto?
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Bring them on!
Oh, you deceitful TRAITOR!!!!
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A comment during the theatercast yesterday jumped out at me. It was one of the corps design peeps who was in the booth prior to the corps performance. Probably was Dean Westman, but could have been someone else. Not important. The important thing was the almost casual, tossed-off remark, made in the final second before the guys in the booth turned it over to the show on the field, that effective show design requires a costume/uniform that supports that show. In the increasingly intense fight for the 0.00001 of a point that makes a difference somehow in the lives of these kids for the next 70 years of their existence, it becomes critical to come out each year with a look that is specifically, um, tailored to that particular show.
Just the complete casualness of the comment, the of-courseness of it, was a powerful, powerful signal about the state of the art in the activity. He didn't attempt to rationalize it, explain its necessity, or be persuasive. It was just: This is the way it is, cool, huh?
So here we are. Those who seek every ounce of available scoring reward must now give serious consideration to a new wardrobe every season. As if this activity isn't challenging enough to the budgets of the nonprofits that run these corps.
Did I love Bloo's show? Of course. Was I blown away? You bet. Will I want to see it again? Many times. Is it drum and bugle corps? Not really. We are in a time when we have to redefine what is meant by the "marching arts." And really, it's not so much "marching" anyway. It's really, really good and I'm wiling to spend my money to see it and support it for the good of the youth who still derive lifetimes of lessons from it. But I can no longer honestly regard what Bluecoats do as "drum corps." And if the rest of the activity follows Bloo's lead, the same will be true for the rest of DCI.
That's life, I guess. Always changing. In many ways for the better. But as with all change, some good is left behind, too. The only certainty is that fans who are ecstatic today about what Bluecoats are doing will grumble in 20 years about what the Next Big Thing is doing. Change is eternal. Griping about change is eternal. Might as well embrace it and enjoy the ride.
One, I think you're right. I think it was Dean Westman. And when he said that, my mind immediately went back to one of the concluding scenes in "Hellbent for Victory." He was addressing the Troopers on the morning of semi-finals (I believe). His message (and I'm paraphrasing) was "We do this simply because we love doing it. Go out and spread that love to the audience. If we do that, we win. Put us in 20th...we win. Put us in 16th...we win. It doesn't matter what we score, or where we end up. If we go out and share our love for this activity...we win."
Not sure if this makes any sense. But if I interpret what you're saying (and I totally agree with your point of view), it seems that there has been a certain change of heart even within the directorial community.
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I don't think it is really that far out from where some others are right now. Bloo is not wearing hats, but Cavaliers and BD have gone to the much more themed costume look as well, in their own way.
The big slides are not a huge departure from the Tilt triangles or the spheres from last year.
Everyone is using electronics and amps to various degrees.
BD has been doing staging for years, and is doing a huge amount of non-marching movement this year.
So, maybe it is not all that radical? Perhaps people are reacting mostly to the spandex shirts and lack of headgear, as that is a much softer look than what they have recently worn.
The activity has been overdue for the more athletic outfits for years. The physical demands now are so tremendous that it just makes sense.
Hats? Don't care.
Slides? Don't care.
Spandex shirts? Don't care.
"Athletic" outfits? You're right -- it makes sense. Therefore, don't care.
Which brings us to electronics. I'm not against electronics. I like my television. I like having lights. I like my stereo. I like my electric furnace, and not having to trudge through the snow on a -20 degree night to grab frozen pieces of wood to burn in the fireplace, and not having to wear 3 layers of clothing to bed simply to keep from shivering. AND yes, I do believe in progress. That being said...I'm beginning to see an onslaught of PEE's...the marching version of the athletic world's PED's. I just feel that Performance Enhancing Electronics is lending an artificial nature to what is supposed to be a "live" activity.
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It's funny. Over the years, I've never taken to the Bluecoats. Can't tell you why. Just haven't. 2014 gave me pause to reconsider my ignorance of them. It grabbed me pretty well. My appreciation grew even more for them last year -- though I still wouldn't drive 50 miles to a show just to see THEM. This year's show, while also intriguing me from a purely "progression of the activity" angle, also makes me wonder just how much farther they can go. They push the envelope...yes. But -- even envelopes can only hold so much before they break. By the time they reached the half-way point of last night's show, my thoughts became "O.K. We're continuing the trend. We'r'e being different. I see that. But.....besides that, what else do you have?" Just as my appreciation for them ascended appreciably over the past couple of years, I'm finding that there is a real danger of that appreciation having reached its peak, and that same appreciation may very quickly wane. Just one person's view.
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No, it wasn't your imagination. I thought the same thing watching in the theater last night.
Phew. Thank you. I seriously feared that early-onset dementia was beginning to rear its ugly head.
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Because. Simply...because. And even as a long-time band director, that's good enough for me.
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Was it my imagination (or have I simply missed the fact across the years), or did there seem to be a lot more "mic'd" horn soloists last night? Maybe I'm just showing my (apparent) old fogey dinosaur bias, but to me, there is something faintly "artificial" about the activity when brass instruments need to have electronically-enhanced volume simply to be heard over the other electronic enhancements which have increasingly permeated the activity. That is not to say that I disapprove of modernity, or that I am one to be stuck in the "what used to be was way better" frame of thought. But...just a question and observation. Nothing more, and nothing less.
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The funny thing is almost 2/3 of those messages were about food.
Hope it hasn't spoiled by now.
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Nice thought, but no. You don't add a sunburst late in the season. It takes a complete season to get it right. Troop has never thrown one in at the final hour. There's a first time for everything, but the show they have now is enough of a visual beast to keep their complete attention right through August.
I wasn't saying START it at the end of the season. But it can be worked on...and reserved for later usage. We'll see.
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It won't surprise me in the least to see the sunburst appear on the final hit of "Fix You" late in the season. In fact, I'll bet that they have something up their sleeves to make it the old Troop sunburst in a new light. Purely a case of saving it 'till it counts most.
Brass sounded tired at times, but from what I gather, they've been rehearsing all day long for the most part. A lot of "splats," especially in the soloists. But that, too, shall pass. Solid drum line, and much improved guard. A long summer is ahead, and that will afford the cleaning time that all corps need this early. All in all...I think I'll stand by my prediction for them for 2016.
How fair is it?
in DCI World Class Corps Discussions
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And human nature and the fickleness of human emotion being taken into account, I'm not sure that even those results can truly be compared.