ThirdValvesAreForWimps

Spirit of Atlanta ‘78, ‘79, and ‘80; best mellophone parts ever! If you didn’t start moving when those four guys laid down the melody in Sweet Georgia Brown, check your pulse. No one wrote for mellophone like Jim Ott.

Tiger of San Pedro. Bill Watrous’ trombone solo is stupendous.

Waiting for scores.

Yes, we have both OMEA and BOA here in Kettering but OMEA has moved most of their local stuff to the University of Dayton Welcome Stadium. You took a good video from Roush Stadium in Kettering. That’s Beavercreek High School performing.

The Blue Devils had a five point increase from one competition to the next so it’s not like it can’t be done.

We need a YUGE increase; I’m talking three full points, not the three tenths we’ve been getting.

Call Phantom. They crushed it in ‘83.

Ohio State has multiple entrances. Just sayin’... OSU would be amazing for drum corps: No track, great acoustics, and tons of parking.

Mine either, Terri. I liked NIU in DeKalb for DCM Championships.

DCI North was in Ypsilanti. Is that EMU?

I meant Michigan. Sorry!

It’s like Centerville near me: Horrific site for a DCI competition. There’s a high school called Kettering Fairmont which would be perfect. There’s a BOA show there every fall and the place is comfortable. Also, there’s no track.

That place is ginormous. UM might be a good DCI Championship site. So would Ohio State or Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati.

How is my old corps sounding tonight? We need a YUGE brass score.

I went to Ohio State and I feel your pain!

Is it just me or does that field look far from the front of the seating area?

I’m not going along with the crowd on singers, narration, electronics, sound enhancements, mixing boards, or microphones. More members per corps are fine, the sounds of the Bb/F brass lines are high quality, and field percussion is better and more entertaining than ever.

They are. It started as a pit and now it’s a canyon.

If we rolled it back to 128 we could probably field five to ten more corps. There aren’t enough anymore. How many world class corps are there? Twenty? There used to be hundreds.

Here’s my problem with vocals: If a corps has a dedicated vocalist like the Bluecoats do this year, Carolina Crown did last year, and the Cadets did last year, it takes one or more spots in the corps from people who play a brass instrument, a percussion instrument, or someone with color guard talent. People forget vocalists and choir members count against the total number of members permitted on the field. Brass players, percussionists, and color guard specialists work hard to get good enough to make a world class corps all their teenage years and to be shoved aside to make room for a vocalist — or a choir — would be terrible. I don’t even like it when my old corps has their brass players sing!

Let’s make singing a “one and done.” This needs to be addressed seriously in the off season. I don’t care how good it is; I’m not a fan.

I remember shows in Minnesota. Their state bird is the mosquito.

Our brass and music analysis scores dropped. What?!?!?

It means either they’re waiting to compare against West Coast scores or someone’s calculator needs batteries.

Thank you for this. I’m hoping for at least a 76 for The Cavaliers because Carolina Crown and the Bluecoats are gaining an average of 2.5 points every time they appear. We’re not gaining by half that much.