xandandl

Yellow on white is very hard to read for us old timers. ("If it ain't seen in the box, is it worth doing on the field?") Just as bad as all those designers at Hallmark splattering silver against pink, gold against pink, gold against silver, and other vagueries when one tries as a senior citizen to buy a Mother's Day card (she'll be 92) or birthday for all us struggling with the bifocals and progressives. At least you didn't add sparkles and glitter like those Hallmarkers and guardsters.

Between the Stanley Cup playoff games last night, if you switched to see American Idol semi-finals you might have seen the hometown parade for Nick Fradiani at the Guilford green and seen the very short snippet of the parade led by the St. Mary's Catholic School fife and drum corps of Branford, Nick's alma mater for K-8. The unit is instructed by members of the faculty of the 7th Regt who have done wonders in the young unit's three years.

They use music never used before on the field. :-) Not breaking chops. I agree with you.

Quite nice and appropriate for their anniversary. I thought Alfred Newman was the guy on Mad magazine of my youth??? The video seems much more serious than that; it might be leased to Carolina Crown as well. Good luck.

Just imagining what the licensing costs of these very modern pieces are as a sum total. I didn't think Beatles was releasable. Fun pieces which in the hands of the right arranger can be very nice to listen and see. Hmm, color guard doing weapons headchoppers over surfboards, wave after wave of French angles coming to shore, lifeguards rescuing the stranded whom Velvet Knights forgot, great possibilities. That is, along as there is no poster of Bob Jacobs in his speedo, ha, ha.

If it is true that Crown is doing an Inferno based show, (and we still have several weeks to find out based on previous Crown announcements,) the question may be WHY? Well, a friend in Rome reminded me that yesterday (5/4) was Dante's 750th birthday! Buon compleanno, tanti auguri. (Surprised that Corpsband didn't beat me to this.)

I for one would be very surprised if the energy, enthusiasm, and education gleaned from last year's corpsmates marching with those of the previous decades in NYC last Thanksgiving didn't prosper some greater seriousness and sense of challenge amongst the returning vets and noobies. The training camps in Ramapo renewed much of that respect and demand for Madison excellence. With the faculty credentials and talent continuing to grow, upward movement may not be as difficult as in recent previous seasons.

The DATR stadiums have had more name changes over the years than Carolina Crown has had uniforms.

This by DCP standards in not a controversial thread by any means. In fact, it has opened a nice discussion of some factual and some educated opinions. For many years there was an annual DCP thread done by a fellow who loved Bruckner and spoke about competitive inertia (how the same named units usually never moved very far) and why the 42 years of DCI competition have seen so few world class champions. I've heard some of the backbiting and name calling also. I wonder how much is jealousy and how much is from fear that old groups who spawned some of the Bluecoats' staff now have to match Canton's creativity just to keep in place. Similar things happened with Crown.

Nope he sold them to Oprah and her fans for enough to pay this year's service charges and next. It's funding his "Move the corps office across the nation" plan. So far, from NJ to PA, now onto Ohio, ha, ha.

Thanks Neutnoobie, it certainly is interesting. re: "I mean it's not like I ever thought that the stuff DCI does is stuff I can do in my sleep..." As I was born with triple teeth which had their own echelons, my early music teachers insisted that brass instruments would never be my skillset. Well not when I am awake at least. But in my dreams... Hey, Garfield and all, When will DCI and a corps come up with the equivalent of a fantasy baseball camp drum corps style for wannabees and has-beens when we could pay to fulfill a dream of a horn arc or too or some basic drill forms? (No, I don't mean do DCA or Alumni corps stuff.) Just an idea...

scroll this down and enjoy the laugh as we anticipate what the Power of Ten will visualize on the field. https://twitter.com/TheCadets/status/595270536181248001/photo/1 https://www.facebook.com/cadets.org

The "kid" in question is not MM but staff, no? It's like wearing your wedding ring from your first wife after you have married the second.

Both Sides Now was done by L.I. Kingsmen in '71 and Crossmen in '04; very different but wonderfully musical arrangements each. I look forward to hearing this version and hope it is as light and lyrical as the two predecessors. Great mellophone solo in the first.

She is a age-out from Cadets guard '13 who was a CG tech with the corps for 2014, offered some very constructive suggestions during Spring training, was given more responsibility and chaired the direction of the Cadets (training) Winter Guard this past season.http://yea.org/programs/cadets/cadets/staff No strong corps in any caption has only one talented person/designer for that caption lest an injury, death or other circumstance handicap the corps/section. Zingali had several of the current known names as his techs back in the the day and were often heard "discussing" design points with the likes of them such as Sylvester, May, Sacktig, and Vanderkopff for instance. Percussion caption in most corps works similarly publicly. Brass, maybe not as publicly, BD probably the most public of them all brass wise that suggestions come from several notables.

I think Lauryn Heller had a big hand in that writing.

Your smile for today... https://www.facebook.com/FunTimesInDrumCorps/videos/877476338960455/

Note to self, "Pack right corps clothes for corps camp next time." https://www.facebook.com/carolinacrown/photos/pcb.10153268723377641/10153268720602641/?type=1&theater

Just in time for that looong bus ride to the Pacific and along those California freeways, one Regt. member is going to be verrry happy. https://gma.yahoo.com/seinfeld-episodes-coming-hulu-160008652--abc-news-tv.html

what you posted is of course a variation of the themes from Dies Irae, the 13th century Latin Sequence used in the Catholic funeral Masses from the Council of Trent (16th century) until 1972 when the funeral rite was adjusted in the United States. The main melody of the Latin piece has been used by many composers as a reference and for fantasia such as in Symphonie Fantastique (Berlioz) previously played by Phantom Regiment (1985) and other DCI corps and many marching bands during the decades. Many composers and arrangers quote the opening segment as a leit motif for other pieces. The genius of Sondheim is to use these known reference points for his own embellishment and creativity, a trait the BD design team will certainly imitate and expand.

what a great resource to share!

In many ways the comparison of BITD guards with today's guards is a case of apples and oranges. Different skills were emphasized and maximized, different parameters were used to measure. For instance in earlier days, every finger of each person was exactly held in the same spot for catches, releases, etc. Today simultaneous movement does not mean matching body types exactly, although the better guards do move in that direction. BITD, the military posturing was emphatic; today the movement and mood of the music calls for different body rhythms and performance skills. Yes, BITD, some of the work done would seem rather boring by today's standards. But today there are many different types of instructional aids to prosper the learning, critiquing, and improving of the work. A simple thing as a video of performers did not exist save for exceptional occasions like nationals, not day to day practice hours. What we have today could not have been without the foundation of the past. To say one is better than the other is a rhetorical argument that has no purpose or end.

Oh great, a smelly announcement! First the furniture, then the bird cages, now surround sound with aromas.

Very important point Guardling.

According to several vet MMs (proud of their new Holy Name Track team tee shirts*,) the corps had a 5 1/2 hour drill block one day and several hours on the field the next, knocking off the first 17 1/2 pages of drill, did some other work on opening production, and got to see the props (or at least, the early version.) General reaction was that the drill was very fast (and well liked.) *what the MMs for the past few seasons have been calling the off season individual and ensemble physical training at camps and while away from camps.