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I know there was discussion about the Cadets 12.25 Carol of the Bells, but does anyone know where Mr. Bocook took inspriration for the various arrangements in that show? Thanks!

Simple question. Do the directors of corps take into consideration the viewpoints of their alumni, history, etc. when making their decision. I was thinking about the whole Hopkins thing, and I wonder if it is simply his view, or that of the people that elevated him to ED of Yea! For example, since 2007, the Madison organization has been very forthcoming with choices and ideas, and have been very receptive to listening to other views. There was a post in the Madison Stan Kenton/Don Ellis show where someone asked if the choice to not participate in the Tour of Champions show was a "Stewart era" middle finger to the activity. Chris Komnick sent a note to alums explaining why that decision was made, and as an alum the viewpoint makes sense and I fully support it. So back to my question, what do the supporters of the various corps feel about their particulars corps leadership and their decisions. I'm sure every director is different, but I just hope that all of the decision made for each organization are not left up to one person, although it does seem as though some go rogue from their corps' philosophies, histories, and values.

Good points.

There are 2 things I have been searching for, and can't recall where I read them, if someone could help that would be great. 1. Hopkins has said recently that corps/staff's are not intended to be used for educational purposes. Anyone know where I would have read that? 2. Hopkins is now saying that there are too few corps, and not serving enough members. Wasn't he one of the people who wnated to move away from the 128 to 135, then finally to 150? Which is definately one of the reasons there are fewer corps. I find it incredibly interesting that many of the Div. 2/3 or open class as they are called now started vanishing when corps got larger, which then led to the "circuits" going away. Seems to me that many of Mr. Hopkins' current complaints and views are completely contradictory to his views as recently as 10 years ago. It also seems that he is using his position as ED of YEA as a pulpit to push his personal agenda, rather than the views of his staff, alumni, members, etc. Just some questions/thoughts.

THey have to do this, but are they doing it well?

Are we incorporating in our estimates the cost of caring for and maintaining the woodwind instruments if they are used. Also, WW instruments, at least quality instruments that MIGHT make it through a tour would be much more than trumpets and mellophones, and some saxophones, at least something that sounds good are comparable to the cost of bari's, euph's, and tubas. At least in the catalogs I order from for my band. If it rains, the instrument will need to be repadded. Also, if it rains, you probably won't hear the instrument in the first place. Springs pop on those instruments all the time. If we have a domino effect fall as we have all seen in shows, it's not just a few dents that need to be removed, the instrument may very well need to be replaced. If we put the estimated 50 woodwinds on the field do we honestly think we would hear them if we have a 72 person hornline. So do we reduce the number of brass? We could for balance reasons, but then we lose a major portion of the sound. We also will have to hire more tech's to work with the woodwinds. Also, are there enough quality WW players out there to be able to march and play at the level of a top 12 corps on the types of instruments they use. I assume they'll use similar leveled instruments that the brass use. Also, granted we are talking summer months, but extreme temp. changes will have a greater impact on tuning and care of the instruments, as they are not as resilient. I wonder of Mr. Hopkins has done this research. It's easy to dream of change, it's a little harder when factors are in play. If he has, and still wants to use them with a summer schedule as DCI uses, I'm shocked, if he hasn't, he may change his mind. Not sure if this is the answer to help move DCI forward.

No, it's not another Stewart era move to buck the establishment, very far from that actually. Email the corps directly for true information, otherwise it will be simply rumors and speculation. ckomnick@madisonscouts.org The music of Don Ellis and Stan Kenton will be amazing for those that see the show this summer!

This is a great question. In the fall of 2000, after a slip in placements the BOD of the Madison Scouts fired Scott Stewart, and at a meeting in October, the board was replaced, and Scott brought back in as director. This did have to do with the way non-profits are run in Wisconsin. I am sure that in the corps by-laws and/or the state mandates on non-profits would provide a vehicle for alumni and supporters to move away from the current BOD.

Awesome! If you are looking to sell, let me know what your price is and what they are, and we can talk! Any others would be great!

Yup, just an english/music teacher that just started on here. And I apologize if I seem long winded, it's what I teach my students when they want to make a point.

Does anyone have/know where to find DCI vinyl records. I realize that DCI as an organization has not produced them in quite a number of years, but I am looking to add more my collection and am willing to pay quite a bit of money. I recently found a DCI champions record put out in 1978 and need more. Thanks!

Does anyone have/know where to find DCI vinyl records. I realize that DCI as an organization has not produced them in quite a number of years, but I am looking to add more my collection and am willing to pay quite a bit of money. I recently found a DCI champions record put out in 1978 and need more. Thanks!

I see. I am not sure it is a paradox as you say, however. By definition, as paradox is a statement that apparently contradicts itself and yet might be true. My comment "When I hear a corps is going to play a particularly difficult piece of music, such as Crown did this past year, I rate things on how close to the original score they are as far as the design goes, as well as of course adding certain music to the arrangement, and Crown never disappoints." So as my statement states I look at two things, the difficulty of the source material, as well as what is added to make it an arrangement. Is it a paradox to look at multiple levels of the music to make a decision? I would understand your point had I written it this way: Statement 1- When I hear a corps is going to play a particularly difficult piece of music, such as Crown did this past year, I rate things on how close to the original score they are as far as the design goes. Statement 2- When I think of a show as difficult the thing I look at is what is added to make the arrangement sound the way it does. Not trying to start anything here, but my original statement was anything but a paradox, that is of course if we are going to use the true definition of a paradox.. Anyway, back to the thread-Crown's music as of late is more difficult than most others.

Sorry, it's early, I'm confused by what you mean? If it's that we shouldn't look at the original source material to think about difficulty and only use the corps arrangements as the basis, I would still stand by what I am saying.

While I am happy for the Cavaliers picking up some strong names, are they really "all that." I understand what the Martin's have done in the activity, but as of late, why haven't the hornlines they have worked with been closer to the Ott award, just my thought. It was like when Thom Hannum worked with Madison in 2010 and 2011, people thought he would make their drumline as good as the 80's Cadets and Star drumlines he made so wonderful, but that didn't happen. Granted, the talent may not have been there, but that's besides the point. A good instructor can make weaker players better. So at this point, I remain skeptical.

As has been pointed out multiple times on this thread, and others, those pieces, as well as Malaguena will not be in the Scouts show.

I would say that this statement does have some truth to it. When I hear a corps is going to play a particularly difficult piece of music, such as Crown did this past year, I rate things on how close to the original score they are as far as the design goes, as well as of course adding certain music to the arrangement, and Crown never disappoints. Other corps utilize music that in its original form is also on the same level of difficulty, but take many things out to make the music more successful. For example, if you took a look at the original score to Medea by Samuel Barber, it is a fact that Bocook left out a great deal of difficulty from the original source material. This is not to say that these arrangements are not good and do not work, but if we are talking about difficult music, and we're going to discuss this, I believe there needs to be a certain amount of time given to the original source material, and if we do that, then Mr. Klesch is not off-base in my opinion. Now if we look at things from an arrangement only stanard, well then everyone will have a different opinion simply based on what we hear. I would also go as far as to say this is true now, but not true always. I think the Wayne Downey used to write much more challenging brass books than he does now. Take a look at 1991 and 1993 Blue Devils. Harmonically, melodically, and rhythmically light years more demanding than recent. The only exception to that would be the City of Glass "Through a Glass Darkly" program. On paper that was insanely ridiculous, problem is when I look at the original Graettinger score, which I have, the most difficult parts have been watered or taken out to the point where it's hard to say they played the piece at all. Just my thoughts.