mchromik

Barber-School for Scandal. This needs to be done. But if they cover it, I just hope it doesn't get transformed beyond all recognition like they did with the theme elements from Medea a few years ago. Coherent melody is not a bad thing.

Well Jeff, we could have three tubas if you could convince a certain shadowy individual to come play with us. Those are some awesome videos. It was great of Dave to post them. Thanks.

Why not purchase the complete set of legacy series DVDs and knock yourself out. Leave the corps to break some new ground and create some new memories rather then keep sloshing along in a narrow ghetto of pre-conceived notions.

It was good to see you guys make it out to DCA. I hope you can build it up and keep coming back. It is indeed contagious. Maybe getting some grass under your feet in Class A? Best of wishes to my hometown team.

I will second that. Plenty of potential here in OH. Nearly a fourth of Star United is from OH, 4 members in Cincy alone. Sadly though there is little buzz for DCA despite not being able to swing dead cat around here without hitting an experienced former DCI corps member. Most from top12 programs. BTW DCA already has a Star, allbeit a mini one at this point. ;)

I think you are being a bit to literal here. Yes, a mellophone sounds like a mellophone. But that was often not very pretty and at times down right ugly. My point is that trying to achieve that dark haunting ethereal timbre that the mello is capable of on the lightweight two valve G mello, was a bit more challenging then on today's heavier F mello. It was (is) a concept of sound issue, not an arranging issue.

Well now, if money were not an option then I would have Ziggy build me a line with a some true 'marching' trumpets. Wrapped like a Powerbore with a more conical cornet like layout, the bell flare of the bugles, and a TAN slide. Then I would have him copy the Yamaha 204 mello except add a TAN slide. His Baris and Euphs would do, but I would indulge any improvements he might like to try. I would like him to redesign the 5/4 marching Tuba to something more K-90 like but with 4 valves please. The horns would be built with extra bracing and extra mass and be fitted with custom Pelican Cases. Dream Big.

Okay, I see what you are saying. I think there would be some debate here as to any such advantage being negated by the more idiosyncratic tuning of the G horns. Personally I think there is little if any tuning differences between the two keys. There are shakey notes on every horn design ever, and in any key. The concert pitch horns seem a little more forgiving for whatever reason. Maybe it is additional mass or quality of construction. Maybe the G horns edge makes tuning differences more apparent. For whatever reason tuning does seem a bit less of an issue with the concert pitch horns. In my minicorps this past season, I never had to move the slide of my Yama204 F mello once, the entire season until after I cleaned the horn completely polishing away the mark on the slide where it had be set all year. Granted we are seasoned players who blow through the center of the horn, know the idiosyncratic notes on our horns, and have been taught to listen down in all situations. Personally I think the debate should be about perceived quality of tone rather then tuning, though they are related. And how the benchmark of this has moved markedly in the past two decades. It was pretty easy to get a real nasty edge on those G horns. Not that you can't on the Bbs, but it was easy to turn a G mello into a Lazerphone and threaten harm to small children in the front rows. Again approach and technique was the answer then and still is now.

And what 'blending' issue is this? Any seasoned mello player will tell you that the F mello feels 'right' for it is finally a true middle voice. The G mello was more or less written in the same range as the second and third sopranos. We had to fight to produce a distinctive 'mello' tone. The key of the midvoices can be adjusted for in certain warm-up exercises and isn't a big deal at all. The blend with a true alto voice is superb. I fully understand folks missing the bright powerful sound of the G lines. There are times I miss it as well. But life for us middle horn guys has improved with the switch to Bb/F. I fully agree that training and approach is everything. Even a two valve G line can be taught to play in tune. I think the perceived differences in the sound between concert pitch and G has far more to do with approach then the key of the horns. The Bb/F lines of today are playing much more fully then when the switch was first made. All that being said, the concert pitch horns do seem to be a bit more forgiving in tuning and approach.

It is on the Star Anthology DVD if you can get access to a copy.

No matter the opinions of the pluses or minuses of either key, it just doesn't make financial sense to buy a line of G horns. The selection and resale options for concert pitch horns are substantially larger.

Crown and Blue Stars are also regular visitors to TL Brown. Various Blast and related casts also occasionally use the facility. Cook Financial Corps owns the property and rents it out for various uses. TL Brown was a surplus elementary school until being purchased for use as the StarBase in the fall of 84. It is not huge, but has room enough for a winter program with a small gym/dining room (guard) and various converted classrooms for everything else. The wall between two rooms has been removed to serve as an ensemble brass room. There is a kitchen and showers on site. Outside there are several acres to the property with three fields, two of which have towers and lights. Star/Blast/Cook/Mason have a great relationship with Indiana University and have traditionally used IU Stadium and the fieldhouse there at will. Combined it all adds up to a great place to get a program ready for the road. Currently TL Brown is empty and looking a bit forlorn, like a long empty and neglected house. But it is still essentially intact. For the Star Alums it is a special place, so many memories. There hasn't been a year gone by where there wasn't a rumor of it's sale or demolition. It is going to be awesome to have a corps back there regularly. Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined it would be Madison. I am sure there will be some Star Alums around to tell some stories and show them the ins and outs of the place. Maybe the guys can go on Gerbil Wheel hunting expeditions!

Actually the Madison name was covered with Star of Indiana, but in the green,gold, and red of the Madison paint scheme. It was disconcerting for us drum corps folks. In 88' we took those coaches to FL with the DCM All Star Corps. The Madison kids were mortified when they saw their buses. I have some pictures of them that I will have to scan.

Very nice. Another example of the 'Variety Pack' that Minicorps is becoming.

At high speed the timing breath is often expanded to two counts, if the music allows. It is possible for a for a line to take a timing breath at 180, but it only comes after a great deal of disciplined practice and in this case would be more of a timing rather then filling breath. There are even times were a pulsed double timing breath can be used when counting odd meters and the like. In time the timing breath becomes completely automatic regardless of tempo. You will not tick for you will not be thinking about it. Control of the upper body comes from other aspects of the breathing technique. The timing breath is purely and ensemble thing. It might not make sense and be best for every player, but it guarantees perfectly timed attacks and releases of the ensemble when used effectively. There are many other aspects of the breathing technique, from the diaphragm, cold spot on back of throat, ect. that also come into play. On one hand it is very simple, a least common denominator approach as stated previously, but challenging to do well as an ensemble. That pretty much describes the entire Breath-Dah technique in general. Lots of simple approaches, that can be challenging to get correct. Everyone has to buy in, and it will become second nature in time. Basically everybody knows most aspects of it. There isn't any special magic or groundbreakingly different approach. It is just a disciplined and consistent approach to a myriad of basic easy things. It works, and those who perfect it have the Jim Otts to prove it.

Keep up with Madison? Last time I looked they were beating Madison by more then a few points. Great moves by Madison in the off season, but I think it will be a few years before we see the epic battle of the Wisconsin Powers. Awesome to see so many familiar names coming back. Stability breeds success. Great to see Frank and Josh increasing their roles.

I think I can speak a bit for my group and say that we would be the first to shake the hands of anyone who knocks us off. No question.

Yes, I would bet if it has anything to do with visual, the buck will stop with Jonathan. It was a similar situation with Zingali, guard design was ultimately subordinate to the overall visual designer. Great choice of Bob Medworth as Visual Caption head. He is a teacher and a great guy. Perfect fit for a somewhat younger developing group. More of an old-school back to basics M&M guy in my estimation. Another very interesting name from the past.

You may be correct. But maybe the 'innovation' that Madison needs is something like Dennis' style. Lets face it, drumlines have become very very technical, and very very much alike. Dennis is pretty hip to alot of things beside drum corps and would surely bring a really fresh and musical style. Experts are people who thoroughly know about a given subject. There are alot of 'experts' in drum corps nowadays, particularly in percussion. But true innovation, breakthroughs, or expansion of a given subject comes when somebody brings in new ideas, or brings back some 'old' discarded, yet still relevant ideas. Madison hasn't gone anywhere trying to 'play the game'. They need to think outside the box, rediscover previous magic. Hiring Mason a crew was a great start.

This is just a design and consultation staff. Your tech staff hasn't been announced yet. They are not going to put together a good show and leave a bunch of yahoos behind to clean it. There is a good solid pool of there former students out there to choose from for staff. Old in the Tooth? What part of winning Tonys and touring multiple performance groups from broadway to Japan did you miss? Or the fact that they have tons of their former students teaching current top12 units? I wouldn't expect miracles out of the gate, but rather a solid quality gain at first followed by years of increasingly demanding and effective productions.

I cannot see in any way the Scouts moving. To much history and support in Madison. That said one could see them doing some or all of their winter program in B-town or Indy. It has worked well for the Blue Stars. Easy airport access, okay weather, decent facilities. The Star Hall is empty other then the occasional visit from Crown, Blue Stars, and the Star Alumni. Those fields really need some feet on them.

Dave, I'm not sure any deep pockets will be needed. Jim and crew have successful ventures outside of the drum corps. I cannot believe they would financial endanger the Scouts. It feels like this is about constructing a solid creative and instructional base on which a great old corps can regain some of it's former swagger. It will probably take a couple of years, but I predict great things ahead. What strange times we are living. The Scouts with a Jimmer book and a breath-dah technique hornline. My world is officially inverted. Okay I will throw one out. Lots of percussion speculation, but since so much of the old gang is getting involved in this project, what would it take to get Mr. Delucia to contribute some funky beats? I see him as a great fit for a Scout style book. Just thinking out loud....

I would hope that in a World Class drum corps that there is not a level where we say this is 'good enough' for a bunch of amateurs. The very nature of competition means to push beyond your own limits, to exceed the levels achieved by your competition, to move beyond what has been done before. To settle for 'good enough' is to defeated by those who will not settle. There are tons of amateur groups of musicians who achieve good enough and who's purpose is to get people cheering, there called marching bands. The competitive nature of drum corps means reaching for new heights of performance. It isn't an orchestra, or a jazz ensemble but if that is the highest form of a given music style what is wrong with trying to achieve that level of performance? Of course you are on a football field in less then optimal acoustics, but shouldn't your goal to be to play better then what anyone thinks is possible? To play better then your competition? To play better then what came before? Shouldn't your reach always exceed your grasp? Standards change with time. Groups come along from time to time and push what we think is possible forward. The judging community moves along with it. What is box 5 today will be box 3 tomorrow. You are free to program and perform anything you want, and approach it's performance any way you want. But if it is out of step with what your competition is doing, what the judging community expects, what the current audience expects, then you cannot expect the accolades of the fans or judges.

There have been a few others as well. This is more a matter of like minds wanting to work together. Each brings their own contribution to the table, but share a basic technique and approach. Nobody is trying to conscientiously recreate something that died a long time ago. But that hornline is starting to make some sounds that sure are 'there' in spirit. And it sure is great to hear.

That is not going to happen. Though Bill remains a huge fan of the activity.