Jeff Ream

ok allow me to quote: "After aging out in 1980, I was a huge fan for several years and drove to many contests. I've not see a drum & brass band (what they really are now) for at least 20 years. I propose that the activity needs to go back to it's roots. Drop the Bb stuff and go back to G bugles. Dump the pit with maybe the exception of timpani and go back to marching percussion. Keep the limit at 128 on the field. Encourage the development/growth of smaller local corps to re-experience the days of 2-day prelims at larger shows. And most of all, everyone in the activity should go back to a more military presence and stop this running around the field with random drills." well i did skip a few years live, but not 20. G, Bb i'm not losing sleep ether way. keep the pit. i think 135 was better, but 150 is too much encourage the growth of small corps, but help grow the open class. drill as it is is fine by me. wait...gasp.....i'm not agreeing with all the so called dinosaurs. how dare i not tow the company line! (sarcasm off....like electronics should be)

it shows

then be prepared to lose money. i know i rail at YEA's prices for small shows, but they have to be at least breaking even.....and thats with $20 being the cheap seats

i wouldnt really call the perc book easy, front or battery

i doubt it. it seems looking backwards is evil

there is no written requirement. thats the genius of it. remember, like a guy who was winning titles said..."you dont want to be competing with one hand tied behind your back" perception is reality. when in Rome, do what the Romans do

yes guard does factor in. but, it should be 50/50...drum corps shuld be a perfect mix of visual and music. right now, based on whats required to discuss on tapes, regardless of the scoring weight, visuals emphasis can be as high as 70%

certain years of mine were "borrowed". i wish i could find just individual years

i think a big issue is that book determines too much, coupled with visual emphasis is now greater than music despite the scoring reflecting 50/50. if you dont reference visual demands on music tapes, you get skewered. if you reference music demands on the visual, you get skewered. ge music has become more about the staging and the color of the flags than the actual music

great to hear she's back on the road to dealing with you Tony!

true. one thing i like in WGI is that performance on the PA sheet outweighs the book number.

yeah...but do the new toys really need to be there to be competitive? drum corps did just fine competitively without them for years even with the key change, grounding the pit, etc.

modualtion of sound/pitch to be determined later

it wasnt as widespread til recently, especially in the last 7/8 years

is it possible that some of these shows may have one or more alumni corps or dci corps that may not be up todate on the dca site? that may account for ticket prices being where they are

but it all depends on what you plan to write for. a synth will not give you a good roll.

wasnt all that long ago either

i think he has a few times

and more shows in the area deplete the pool of available corps for the shows, especially with fewer NE corps than in the past

i'd like to see nothing for a while too. and if want to see the few things dci doesnt have yet, i'll go to BOA

honestly....i dont see that synths will affect tymps that much because you can only do so much on a synth to replace a tympanist.

well if Mike couldn't split hairs into the atomic levels, he'd be no fun

thats why i like debating with you...you dont feel they should. too many others do feel that way.

remember Tom, what you call as choice of using these new toys is also perceived by many in the activity as competitive suicide if you dont use them. or, as SCV's new head honcho said when he ran the green team, he didnt want to "compete with one arm tied behind his back"

many people will read Mike's words like that, and while we all love to bust Mike's balls about..well...everything he says, it's just how he is perceived. he's really not trying to dismiss anyone's opinion, its just at times some words or phrases he uses come out that way. unless he uses the word irrelevant. then usually anything he says comes across as dismissive even to me, and i've been arguing with him online for 12 years