jbeatty89
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Posts posted by jbeatty89
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Yes, they were. Can't remember what year they broke away but once they got out from under George's thumb is when they went from a bottom-half finalist to a contender and ultimately champion.
I look at Crown and dream of what could have been if the Crossmen had been able to get away sooner. There is a story floating around that much of Crown's current core staff were set to go the the Crossmen but George nixed it somehow and they went to Crown. No idea if there is any truth to the story or not.
As a member of the Crossmen during the mid to late 90's I can't thank George Hopkins and YEA enough for preventing the corps from folding. I can't say I know everything that occured behind the scenes, but YEA is the only reason the corps made it past 1995.
Much of Crown's current staff has had some involvement with the Crossmen over the years. Not sure what benefit YEA would have reaped if that story were true.
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Jim Coates, current Crown CEO, was first employed as an assistant director of the Cadets and then director of Crossmen (part of YEA) before the corps moved to Texas and Jim moved to Carolina to take over Crown.
I wasn't aware that Jim Coates was ever a part of the Cadets staff. He was a visual instructor with the Crossmen from 89- 94. In 1995 he was the Crossmen Business Manager then took over as Corps Director in 1996-1999 during the YEA years. What years was he with Cadets?
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given the modern technology of midi
MIDI is about as old as the Commodore 64.
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Sitting in the stands as a soon to be freshman in high school, in '92 at my first corps show, and hearing that drum feature from the Crossmen.
Same here... In 7th grade I marched in a Div III corps and the first show we had with open class corps got rained out. The Crossmen were still in town and did a clinic the next day. After the first 5 minutes of their show I knew where I wanted to march.
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I'm not sure this is the best approach to joining a drumcorps. There will be more relaxed moments and less relaxed moments during the season. But make no mistake it will be intense wherever you go. Being a member of a drumcorps is not always easy or fun, but it is immensely rewarding. I think you should rethink whether you actually want to go through with it. If you want to relax during the summer, the $3000+ you are going to spend to sleep on gym floors, take cold showers, eat crummy food, and rehearse for the rest of the waking hours might be better spent on a backpacking trip through Europe.
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"They are different than most mellos in the way that they have a full horn kicker and not individual valves"
I used to repair brass instrument for a living and cannot for the life of me figure out what that sentence means.
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So aside form corps members "sucking it up" and being the bigger person here, what could high school band directors and guard instructors do better to deal with the situation of a returning corps member in their band?
I marched in a Div II corps freshman through junior year and the summer before senior year marched in a top 12 open class corps. The drill writer actually sat me down prior to that summer and spoke with me about making certain that I wasn't going to be burnt out before band camp. Him coming to me and recognizing what I was doing with my summer and what he expected from me upon my return really helped me adjust my attitude to what it needed to be for the band season. It really was as simple as that.
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You just need to be mature enough to recognize that HS isn't the same beast as drumcorps. It can be difficult but if you do your best to be a leader by example as opposed to someone who constantly calls out other members ticks you will fair much better. It can be fun as long as you don't let stupid things bother you. You can't expect other marching band members to devote as much intensity to the activity that you do. Anyway I say this mostly because its the direct opposite of how I approached it until my senior year. I had fun that year because I didn't have high expectations for anybody but myself.
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BlueStainGlass, just curious. Do you believe a drum corps hornline can be sucessful with a caption head that has no drum corps brass marching experience. I don't really know.
Christian Charicner the brass caption head a Phantom never marched to the best of my knowledge. They sounded pretty good to me last year. I don;t think you need marching experience to teach a hornline to play. There may be some new challenges, but it's sort of silly to think that it's a prerequisite.
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Im not sure the Black Page would be all that thrilling on the field, at least not for me. But I do think there is tons of usable material on the GrandWazoo, Waka Jawaka and Hot Rats. It would really be a cool show especially if the Blue Devils did it.
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I would like to know who the brass arranger will be before picking music I would like them to play.
Really? It's not like you have any influence anyway.
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jbeatty89,
I am not trying to be difficult or a bum, but what it takes nowadays is money.
So if the Crossmen had more money they would have a better drumline? I'm not sure I buy into your premise. Yes people want to get paid, and gas costs money. That doesn't change anything about how hard kids work and how hard staffs work. Nobody is getting rich doing this activity. Back to my original gripe, the 2014 Crossmen were about as consistent across the board as they come. I marched during the years of the corps where the guard and the drumline were consistently a step or two above the hornline. I really didn't see that this year. Btw we were pretty broke the years I marched. Also in 1992 where they drumline placed 2nd in field percussion they were driving around in old Philadelphia city buses. You can state the case that things are totally different now, but in my opinion the differences aren't that great. Most drumcorps don't have giant piles of money and most instructors aren't paid that much . Very little has changed other than the price of food, gas and tour fees.
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What would your panacea be for the Crossmen then? I can tell you their entire administration is waiting on pins and needles for your response.One could say the same about their percussion.
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I have no way to back this up, but I would think that not a ton of kids from NY march (compared to the population of the state), as it doesn't have a very competitive marching band scene. CA, FL, TX, and IL all do.
I can't attest to the current condition of the marching band scene there now but when I marched in the early - late 90's it was fairly competitive. My highschool alone had several member of drumcorps from 1992-1999: two in Cadets, one in Bluecoats, two in Crossmen one in Phantom and >30 who marched in DivII and III corps Spectrum, Patriots, East Coast Jazz. When I marched Crossmen we probably had around 20 kids from NY which is a fairly significant chunk of the corps.
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That's a bummer, I have enjoyed the brass books he has written for the corps over the years. In the history of the Crossmen there have only been 3 brass arrangers that have written for them for an extended period of time Matt Krempasky, Michael Klesch and Chuck Naffier. I hope that there is a solid replacement waiting in the wings (Matt or Michael?). Good luck with the Colts next season Chuck!
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I think On Day One by Pat Metheny would be a killer opener or closer for the Crossmen to attempt next year. It's something new, challenging, interesting and could potentially propel them back to top 8 next year.
http://grooveshark.com/#!/profile/Pat+Metheny+Unity+Group/26481899
There are other tunes on that album that would round out the show, but I would love to hear this song put on the field by them. I know Michael Klesch has other obligations but I wouldn't mind if they had him arrange it.
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In no particular order other than Crossmen 1992 1st:
Crossmen 1992
Blue Devils 1993
Star 1993
Cadets 1997
Magic 1994
Bluecoats 2014
Cavaliers 2002
Glassmen 1994
Crossmen 1998
Santa Clara 1997
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Hey, to each his own. But I wonder how "bland" a show is when the crowd is on its feet before the show is even over.
To be fair the moment where the crowd stands is particularly effective. It's without a doubt the most exciting part of the show. I think their cologuard is really fun to watch as well. I just find parts of the show especially the start just a bit slow. I don't think the design or perfomance is ahead of Crossmen, However I fully expect them to beat Colts tonight.
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Marie Czapiniski seemed to go against the grain a little bit yesterday. She had the Crossmen in 14th when the other three GE judges had them in 12th. She had Academy in 13th when the others had them in 17th and 18th. For an encore she put Spirit in 20th when the others had them in 15th and 16th. Maybe she had a bad Hotdog?
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There seems to be a feeling that some judges in DCI have reached their limit of usefulness and be put out to pasture or retire. Would be nice to see how people feel about this issue. Also how can DCI replace these supposed " Ageing-Out" judges with equally experienced people so that the activity does not suffer.
What a stupid concept. I really don't understand why you would feel that somebody with the upper limits of experience should somehow be forced out of their position based on how old they are. In Korea the older you are the more respected you become. Maybe we should start adopting that culture here.
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I don't know a single school system that pays for the marching band's show design. They are usually paid for by booster clubs through fund raising and student "fair shares".
I taught one year at a HS in New York and we were paid by the distict. We had to submit a background check and fingerprinting if we wanted to get paid. I do recall there being some cash from the boosters as well to help pay for the techs but the main positions were cut actual checks from the district.
As far as salaries go in this activity I can tell you our highest paid people on staff were the bringing in $5000/year for composing and drill writing each. Without any sort of teaching. The drum arranger made the same but also taught the entire season. I really don't know what drumcorps salaries are but I can imagine they are in the same ballpark. Also this was 10 years ago, so it's probably bumped up a little by now.
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91.5 is a pretty good score for 8th place. The fact that Crossmen were 2nd in field percussion and 4th overall percussion propelled them into 6th. Phantom was 9th in percussion that year. Blue Knights had a pretty good line that edged them out. They were only .7 from tying for 6th though. Still pretty respectable.
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Hi all! I am super excited because I am able to attend the Allentown shows for only the second time in my life! I was able to attend the 2008 Allentown shows and they were hands down the two best live shows I ever saw (other than Finals that same year in Bloomington). I live in Minnesota so it's not always easy to get out there. But I found a (relatively) cheap flight to Washington, DC and will be driving the 3.5 hour drive to Allentown on Friday.
I have all day Saturday to do anything up until showtime. What are the things one MUST DO (other than watch corps practice) in the Allentown/Bethlehem/Lehigh Valley area if you have a day? I could look up the standard things to do on the internets, but I would rather pick the brains of like-minded individuals. Best things to do? Best places to eat?
Thanks! I'm really excited!
Funnel cakes at the stadium and Yocco's Hotdog on Hamilton. Other than that...Watch DC.
Cavaliers 2015
in DCI World Class Corps Discussions
Posted
Nobody looks or sounds particularly good in May. I just enjoy getting a glimpse of what is to come.