Pit Dad
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Posts
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Posts posted by Pit Dad
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3 hours ago, wigwam said:
Understand you can't say the name of the songs. How about you tell us something about it like, does the music contain notes?
Ha! Lots and lots of notes. It even has tempo changes!
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53 minutes ago, Lance said:
mean
Ha! It may be mean but I have to follow the rules! :)
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1 hour ago, wigwam said:
How about a hint!!
Sorry! Wish I could!
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17 hours ago, corpsband said:
im positive Crown 2017 will continue that streak.
Once you hear the source music this year and listen to clips of it, you will know EXACTLY what Crown's brass will sound like. It has been amazing to listen to at camps so far.
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32 minutes ago, ibexpercussion said:
Everybody always talks about Crown's brass, for obvious reasons, but I feel like the percussion, battery especially, took a step in the right direction lat year. Not that they had been terrible, but closing the gap a bit more between them, and the upper echelon lines (BD, Coats, SCV, Cadets). The front started to sound better last year as well, as I believe the departure of Andrew Markworth to Crossmen hurt them in both composition and performance in regards to the front. that being said, I think last year was a positive year in starting to close that gap.
Lots of vets back in all sections of the percussion (especially battery) and from the sounds of the first 3 camps, seem very strong for this time of year.
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16 minutes ago, Tobias said:
Agreed but I saw early Cadets camps last year with brass n Percussion on fire and we saw how that worked out. All speculation at this point, you're correct but that's what DCP in February is all about!
Crown is always good, but staff exodus was unplanned. They left, they weren't fired so now we're in a situation of replacing people who were keeping Crown a top 3 corps for quite a long stretch. Not an easy task.
I agree that the staff that left was unplanned and there will be questions all winter until we see the product on the field. The only things you can say so far is that the talent is still coming, they are getting the same message from staff that is there, and with Jim Coates still running the corps, we will have to hope that the staff he has hired will continue the traditions that have been built and build new ones that will continue to make the corps a contender every year.
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2 minutes ago, Tobias said:
A. I'm not even sure who is replacing Keith Potter.
B. Drill probably no change. Jeff writes great drill but unless he adjusts his writing, probably no change here. Cadets were hardly getting accolades from the judging community in VA, GE Visual under Jeff and crew. So we'll see.
C. Guard will come out strong and score well in beginning of season due to membership talent and reputation BUT if design lacks in any capacity, mid season as other catch up performance wise, you'll see a drop in guard ranking.
None of A, B, C seem like an improvement. Maybe a draw or dip.
Positives:
Crown now attracts cream of the crop membership, will have an outstanding brass line and a good Percussion so even a 4-5th place design can still get them to place 3-4 at finals. Obviously also depends on competiton too. We'll have to see what year 1 of a new staff brings. Learning curve for sure leaving them vulnerable to BD, Bloo and a surging SCV.
Obviously it is so hard to tell in the winter months what is going to happen, but being at the first three camps, they are still attracting the cream of the crop in membership. Musically, at least, from what we have heard so far, brass sound is as impressive as usual and the percussion looks strong.
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24 minutes ago, BRASSO said:
Is Howard Weinstein still working with the Colts for 2017. He's a great guy.
Yes he is.
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According to their website and their February camp info, Colts still have openings in all sections of the brass line, some percussion openings, and guard as well.
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9 minutes ago, BoaDci said:
I dont think Crown has had any shows in the past decade that werent strong (You COULD argue 2010, but I thought it was pretty good).
Agreed! I'm going to be just a bit biased this year but I'm expecting good things after hearing from I've heard from the first 3 camps.
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1 hour ago, jimthetuba said:
Yeah I think in the next couple of years but I think Brasso makes an excellent point that Crown may struggle with staff shake ups but as long as crown doesn't implode due to them (which they won't) crown will continue to get stronger and will pull one out eventually.
From what I have seen and heard so far, there has been no implosion! It's going to be another strong show from them this year.
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12 hours ago, BoaDci said:
Im sure Its not impossible. I would actually argue that its BETTER to take younger guys. Im sure you know how hard it is to make SCV, but I recently heard a story about a guy who got a contract offer from Cadets. After he made Cadets he went to SCV to audition, and didnt even make callbacks...
It is the nature of the beast but my son knows a number of kids that got contracted at Cadets at their first camp in November but he also knows students that went to BD, Crown, and SCV that had to go through two rounds of callbacks before being offered contracts in January. I think it is getting much tougher to make it into the top 4 and they are willing to make you really work for it before offering a contract.
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46 minutes ago, BoaDci said:
Yep, I have heard similar lots of really talented people getting cut. I thought maybe more were getting in though, thats a little saddening.
It's getting tougher and tougher for these students every year! The talent level is just unbelievable at the top.
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1 hour ago, BoaDci said:
I could probably count on one hand how many under 19 they have in BD (if I was in the corps). It is more common for Crown and Bluecoats to take younger players. I dont think it is very common in those corps either though tbh.
All of this, is from what Ive heard. I I dont know anything about SCV.
From what I've heard about Crown this year, I would say it is about the same age range as BD.
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1 hour ago, BrassMom33 said:
What section are the 14 year olds in? My son is there and my husband is with him. My husband has not seen or heard about any 14 year olds. There is a 16 year old trumpet vet that already has a contract and a 15 year old baritone player that is there for his second callback.
This still worries me as a Madison fan about even a 15 year old or 16 year old competing against the higher tier. I'd love to know right now how many young students like this are in BD, Bloo, Crown, and Santa Clara. I know from listening to George Hopkins talk pre-audition that it is rare that Cadets will even take someone that young because they are concerned about what the young students bodies would be put through. They have done it but he said it would have to be an extremely talented individual.
I am definitely not bashing Madison because I'm a huge fan. I'd just love for them to get back to the upper tier where the older students want to come and stay there and compete with the "big boys' every year.
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4 minutes ago, Vance said:
When I marched 1991 BD, there were two 14 year olds in the group, and both of them marched all the way till 21 and they have 4 DCI rings. BD no longer allow that because they have no problem recruit from all over the world and they also have B and C corps.
It's actually quite common to have younger kids in world class group, you just see less now a days.I'm not trying to date you since I marched even before that, but that was 26 years ago. I agree that there are probably 14 year olds marching in world class corps, but I would bet the number is very small or none in the top 12 corps.
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7 minutes ago, Madcityscout said:
Still with all that I am hearing I like the direction they are going! They didn't just lay down after not making finals last year.
Now they just have to get buy in from the students that they are teaching that Madison is once again a destination and not a place to learn for a few years and then go to an upper tier corps. I want Madison to be considered in that upper tier again but they have to get the buy in from the students that are there and potential candidates in the future to stay and that is really hard to do in the environment created by DCI these days.
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1 hour ago, BRASSO said:
14 year olders is not that totally uncommon when you get below the top 6-7 Corps range in World Class Division however. That said, I do agee with you that , generally speaking, 18-22 year olders tend to be able to handle better the more difficult and physically demanding visuals and drill than the typical 14-16 year old H.S. students. Most athletes that are 18-22 tend to have more strength and endurance at this age than when they were in H.S. too. DCI has become much more drill demanding over the years now too, so even when a 14-16 year older might be able to play their musical instrument well standing still, its another thing entirely when we ask the typical H.S. Frosh, Sophmore to be challenged with a demanding drill. Coupled with the fact that oftentimes the top Corps with predominently the college aged are out on practice fields in late May, early June, while the 14-15 year olders are back in Frosh/ Soph biology class dissecting frogs or some such, means that all across the board the top Corps, with older, mature, marchers have a decided big edge each and every season in DCI.
Agree 100%. When my son was 15 and 16, and auditioning, he was told to go to the lower tier corps to gain the experience and then come back when he was older before he would even be considered. He's now done that and is reaping the benefits of that advice. I look back now and it would have been very difficult at that age to handle the rigors of a top 12 corps. This is my concern for Madison that if they are taking kids this young (along with low vet retention), are they really going to be among the elite top 12 or will they have to bide their time for a couple years until kids like this get their feet wet!
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5 hours ago, Vance said:
So I'm sitting in Indianapolis right now checking out Scout's camp this weekend. Friday night was all music, but basic stuff like cords, balancing and volume. There were using Xenos because my horns was been trucked out from Wisconsin and was delayed.
Today (Saturday) they'll spend most of the day time on marching and will work on music starting at 8 pm. I had a lengthy chat with the director and we have quite a few agreements. During their january camp, they had 24 of my Bb soprano and rehearsed with them back and forth with the Xeno so they can hear the difference, and they like what they heard; this weekend I also brought my latest production model of the Bb bugle "Jr." with the Kanstul powerbore flare bell, intended for their lead players. They will spend the evening with them. I was told my mellophone have surpassed Yamaha, and my baritone and Euphonium is just good and they love the sound, the question now is whether to bugle or not bugle.
The line is fairly young, I counted with 76 brass, only about 30 vets, but I explain to them that it is a good time to switch so these younger players can be trained properly. They even have some 14 year olds, something I haven't seen since my BD days. Lots of potential and plenty of kids with a eagerness to learn. Also I counted 4 or 5 new visual staffs from BD, so they are serious about cleaning the feet!
So I'm adding some icing to the cake....Their opener is from Bartok with some interesting Advant-Garde jazz. I like what I'm hearing so far.
For those who remembers the end of their 1997 show with that glorious 45 second FFFFFFFF hold, with the drum major picking up his camera and took bunch of photos of the audience jizzing all over themselves in the stadium??? I told them it's time to bring that back!!!!14 year olds? I know there are young students who are very talented but that would be a lot to ask of a 14 year old. I know that was the way things were back in the '70s and early '80s but trying to compete against the top level corps with students that young is just a little scary.
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Seemed like a pretty tepid crowd response.
Must be just as weird to them as almost everyone else.
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Of the corps around them (slots 13-15), I believe Troop is the dirtiest of the three. I can tell they are working on it, but at least looking at the high camera, they seem to really be lacking in visual cleanliness for August.
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They added some shiny material to the front of the boxes over the last couple of days and I think they will work well once they are inside again at Lucas Oil.
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Nice score jump for Colts tonight getting them back in the thick of things with Boston and Troop!
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When I marched back in the '80s (and I realize that was a long time ago) one of the things that kept us going each night was getting a huge crowd response along with the challenge of what we are doing on the field. I understand the demand that BK has, but with no crowd response (or very little), these members really have to believe in what they are doing because the crowd just doesn't appear to.
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Carolina Crown 2017
in DCI World Class Corps Discussions
Posted
Love that they put something out there for people to see and hear for 2017!