Candid Insight

In your post you state : "amplification amongst a very few and very talented few, with micing certain people that can handle the lines of difficulty in the music while the other brass line players play supporting roles, making it appear to the naked ear that an entire section or the illusion, unless you listen closely, of the full section of entire section of brass, playing the difficult lines. Auditory illusion! " A few points: 1) It is not intended as an illusion. The 'small ensemble' wears gray uniforms, so they are highlighting them, not trying to fool anyone. 2) The high brass feature of the Blue Devils uses a similar technique, amplifying a subset of their high brass players. In fact, the Blue Devils place 6 microphones along the front sideline and amplify various segments of their brass line during their show. 3) Most of the top corps use amplification. You can tell by the extra microphones placed along the front sidelines that are in addition to the recording microphones used by FloMarching. One of the interesting things to note in this regard is how well these corps are maintaining balance while doing this - noticeable LIVE, but not apparent on the FloMarching streams. 4) If you attended an SCV rehearsal or have watched SCV on a You Tube video that features SCV's brass line you would recognize that the entire SCV brass line plays some very difficult passages and many of them are on the move, not stationary. While their 'small ensemble' plays some of the most difficult passages, the entire brass line does play a considerable amount as well while moving. If you want to contrast that against the Blue Devils you might notice that nearly all of the difficult passages the Devils play (note: Flight of the Bumblebee in particular) are played while stationary or moving very little. This is not to diminish the Devils - they are phenomenal. But to imply that SCV's brass line is devoid of difficult content is not accurate. 5) Amplification, like any key instruments, dance, and corps changing uniforms annually is probably here to stay. What should be scrutinized is the difference between corps that use RECORDED vocals (singing), versus LIVE vocals. Corps should be rewarded for achievement. Performing live exemplifies achievement, Hitting a button that plays a vocal does not. From people in DCI's inner circle, there will be some discussion about how to differentiate live versus recorded, but it is unlikely they will hit the brakes on amplification of live performance content.

It is true that there is no caption for 'costumes', however the visual appearance that can be created with uniforms (color/design) is certainly a factor in General Effect. The Bluecoats 2016 uniforms had an impact in this regard.

I agree that SCV has a more challenging and complex show. Blue Devils have a more accessible show. What impresses me the most about SCV is the difficult brass book that they play on the move, and they move a LOT. The Blue Devils high brass is incredible (but their low brass have very little prominence). I agree that most of Blue Devils moments are created while stationary. Both corps are fantastic. If SCV wins it will be because they perform their complex show to near perfection. If Blue Devils win it will be due to the 'in your face' entertainment factor and near flawless performance.

For those who are not fans of amplifying brass, be aware that many of the top corps are doing it, but approaching it differently. For example, SCV amplifies their 'small brass ensemble' while the Blue Devils have 6 mics spread across the front sideline to amplify various sections of their show. In the Blue Devils' high brass feature on side B they are amplifying that section very effectively. If you watch closely, other corps also have microphone across the front sideline placed strategically to allow them to amplify certain brass sections and/or part of their show. This amplification trend has been adopted quickly after the success the Bluecoats have had with it. I expect we will see more of it.

A 'group tick' as you describe it was referred to as a 'unit penalty'. And unit penalties - the number of tics assigned to perceived errors occurring within a very short time frame - was quite subjective.

This phenomenon - which has been prevalent for decades - is commonly known as 'slotting'. Look at some of the recaps from Allentown this year and you will see that in effect for many of the corps.

Intonation (exact pitch) was never evaluated by the tic system. And although there was some subjectivity, many errors were quite obvious and were evaluated uniformly by all judges. Examples would be a false start, a late release, a improper method attack, or an echelon that was clearly out of alignment. There were judging clinics held back then to minimize subjectivity and increase uniformity in how the tic system was utilized. There was some subjectivity, but it was far less subjective than you state in your post.

I notice numerous posts citing intonation as being evaluated by the 'tic' system. Intonation was never evaluated by the tic system. It fell under Musical Analysis under the Intonation and Tone Quality subcaption.

If corps get rewarded for not marching they won't change the rules, but you will see fewer corps marching. Why take on all that extra exposure and difficulty if you can park and play?

You state: "The previous "tick" system basically scored by adding up achievements throughout a show. This, however, created an environment in which the wining show was nothing more than a series of compulsories." This statement is inaccurate. The 'tick' system that was discontinued in the early 80's did not 'add up achievements'. That system was designed to DECREASE a caption score based on the number of errors a judge detected. For example, in brass execution every corps started out with 15 points. For every error the brass execution judge detected one 'tick' or tenth of a point was deducted. The problem with that system was that a corps who played a less challenging book could score higher by attempting less. Less exposure could result in a higher execution score. The Musical Analysis caption (10 points) included consideration for difficulty (to a degree) but it still did not offset the advantage of a corps that played a less challenging book. You are correct that the current system has created an environment with more compelling performances and that has encouraged more dynamic programs.

I agree - but they also need to get Elmer Fudd on the field with his big wabbit gun. Academy is technically better than last year, but for me the show does not go far enough to really sell the theme. I really enjoy the show, but it does not have as much impact for me as 'Drum Corpse Bride' even though the performance levels are higher in most captions.

Is anyone else having a degraded video during Spirit?? Only reloaded once but is not a clear as during previous corps.

Picture has degraded on Flo using Roku during Spirit, unfortunately for me here.

I can understand how it is 'hard to recollect any of the key visual moments' in SCV's show. That might be because of the complexity. Here are some of the visual highlights (with the time they occur in the show): 1) 0:49 Formation of O around snake props (blind set) 2) 1:48 Snake props remove people from company front - turn them into small snakes. 3) 2:00 Low brass plays while emulating the heads of snakes 4) 2:30 Entire brass line is eaten by snakes and disappears in 10 seconds 5) 3:05 Ingenious flow into > pattern - fast development 6) 3:15 Flags 'answer each other' as brass does 'call and answer' 7) 5:08 Rolling drill pattern right using 4 files followed by guard effect 8) 5:45 Snake effect 9) 5:55 Huge rifle toss (7 rotations?) brass running left - files into echelons 10) 7:00 Snake movements 11) 7:10 Snake flag, eventually becomes separate flags as they peel off (snake shedding skin) 12) 7:58 - 8:02 Form a single line within 4 counts - clever transition, blind set, no recovery time 13) 8:35 Almost kaleidoscopic effect into a blind file set 14) 9:45 Blind transition to circles - no recovery time 15) 10:10 Kaleidoscopic effect center stage 16) 10:15 Weaving movement through center (including guard) - very intricate 17) 10:58 to the end tremendous amount of motion while playing – very complex. If you view the You tube video that is posted online from the North Texas show the timing should match up. SCV has performance problems and they will need to clean those if they want to catch Devils. But the visual show is impressive.

Anyone who thinks the Blue Devils 'pick higher levels of difficulty' while the other top 5 corps are displaying 'basic high school skillsets' is clearly watching through Blue Devil colored glasses. Just check out the last 90 seconds of Santa Clara's program. Every one of the top World Class corps is performing high levels of difficulty. The fact that - as many people have pointed out - the Blue Devils are winning the Visual Analysis (Comp) caption is of concern. I really like the Blue Devils program and it is fine with me if they 'park and play', casually walk to their next set, etc. And I agree that there are visual effects you can create while in place and those movements deserve credit. However, if 80 members (more than half the corps) spends too much time in one place it does not create as much effect as another corps that offers more visual content. In my opinion, SCV should be scoring higher in Visual Analysis (Comp) than the Blue Devils. Their visual program is superior in that caption.

Although the talent level is much higher in this year's version of the Troopers, the Wild Horses show was very effective. It was written right to the level of the performers. And the show was very accessible. This show has more difficult content, but for me not enough effect.

I don't understand why they wouldn't find a way to have a flat finish on those tarps. The glossy finish washes them out with any significant lighting.

Colts performance levels have improved dramatically over the last time I viewed them.

I am on a hardwired laptop and the app froze during Mandarins. I had to refresh. The audio continued while it was frozen.

I think you have to be careful assuming scores from different contests with totally different sets of judges can be considered equivalent. There are too many variables. While it appears DCI judging calibrates scoring - you can see how scores have risen historically during every season - you cannot rely on scores from disparate judging panels translating perfectly. Head to head competition is the only true assessment of where corps stand in relation to one another. In addition, the actual performance levels matter a lot. If a corps had a particularly tough travel day, hard rehearsal schedule, made changes to its show, etc. etc. those factors all play into the mix. One thing is for sure. Once we get down the home stretch, with consecutive head to head match ups, we will get the real placements and scores.

It appears they will be streaming two events Saturday night. One in DeCalb and the other in Denver. Wondering if this might present a problem for Flo as it requires two crews. Different time zones, so it looks like you can watch the DeCalb feed and switch over to Denver for the last few corps. I had no problems with FloMarching (Smart TV, wifi, Roku, FloMarching app) for the first few events. But last weekend my feed kept reloading on multi cam, no as bad on high cam. At one point, the feed reloaded back to 3 previous corps (weird) and then went back to live. For SCV there were times it was reloading every 15 seconds. Frustrating!!!! This week I think I might cat 5 directly into the device to minimize any lag on my end and hope for a smooth feed.

I judged brass, taught and arranged for a corps that won a DCI title and swept the brass captions. However, I do not believe my credentials give any more weight to my opinions than anyone else on this forum. Nor do I think anyone posting in this forum should think their opinions or views are superior to any others.

When people compare apples to oranges, those who prefer oranges will always score oranges higher. There is no way to reconcile subjective tastes. On the plus side, the activity provides oranges, apples, pears, grapes, nectarines, etc. And if you do not like oranges, pay more attention to your fruit of choice. Getting too hung up on scoring is frustrating. I try to avoid it.

My post was not relative to their overall scoring. It was citing specific captions.