CrunchyTenor
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Posts posted by CrunchyTenor
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Members moved around even pre-DCI. Lots of Garden State Circuit class 'B' members moved up to class 'A' corps like Blessed Sac, Garfield, St Lucy's, Hawthorne, Bayonne, etc...It was done all the time. One reason the town of Garfield did not support the Cadets all that much was that very few local kids actually marched...the Epochs GSC corps was started, as I understand it, because few of the Garfield Plebes at the time were moving up, as more experienced members came into the corps. When I tlhink about our 71 drumline...of the 4 timpani, 4 snares and 3 tri-toms, only one snare came up through the Plebes. The rest came from various GSC corps in North Jersey.
You're talking about a pretty small geographic region. There was a little movement among SoCal corps, too, but it was pretty rare for a kid from Florida to march in Seattle. (The whole 2-7 tenor line in 1972 was all ex-VK, though. They were an exception.)
Sure they could, if arrangements were in the same style and the staffs wanted the horn lines to produce the same sort of sound as produced back then. Those things have a lot more impact on volume than the hardware, IMO.OK, if you say so. Have you seen an audiologist lately? :-)
Is this somehow a bad thing? That we now have such amazing shows created and performed by staffs and members today? Using far better equipment that in the distant past, be it Yamaha or some other company.This was a quantum leap in many people's opinions. The plethora of threads, including this one, is proof of that. I've seen lots of amazing shows performed on G bugles and without amplification or electronics. If Yamaha wanted to be a major player in drum corps, why couldn't they build a better G bugle? Because lobbying for rule changes is cheaper.
I too am a drummer, who played one year on horn in 72. I never thought about those sorts of things as a member. Horns just were what they were. I don't EVER recall thinking..."gee, it is cool that I am playing this P/R Olds Ultratone baritone" in 1972. Don Angelica handed me a horn and I started to play it.That's because you ARE a drummer. But think about it from a brass player's perspective. It was a challenge. But, yeah, little Johnny from the block didn't know the difference. It was what it was. I still thought it was cool. So, it's a IMO moment. :-)
Corps members absolutely respect and maintain their equipment today. But..why should corps keep a set of horns and/or percussion until it is useless as far as resale is concerned, when there are 25K+ HS bands and thousands of colleges that are a market for their slightly used stuff, so they can keep current and on top of the latest and greatest improvements in equipment?I didn't say play it until it's useless. But let's talk again about Star's one set of 2V G bugles. I'm sure there were some replacements along the way. But I'll bet the transition to Bb killed more than one corps' budget, and the corps along with it. At least those without a sweetheart deal. I'd bet a lot of money that Our Lady of Perpetual Motion D&BC paid more that BD or Cadets did.
What is the point? Though I do still hear the term "contra" used, more so than "soprano".(In my best Topol voice)
"Tradition!"
Seriously, I see it as another way to stomp out those pesky drum corps traditions and assimilating something unique into something generic. Call it bandification.
Never a bad thing, Garry!:smile:/>/>
Never one to shy away from that, are we Mike?
:smile:/>/>
Garry in Vegas
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I have no doubt that you are correct in that assertion.
But...in this day and age, a lot of how school activities are managed are by setting across-the-board policies, so bias and favoritism can't be alleged by parents. What if a child has a conflict due to, say, a Science camp, Model UN, or other non-music activity...or even a music activity not related to drum corps (e.g. Interlochen or another music camp)? If the drum corps member is permitted to miss camp and march, you can be darn sure the parents of the other kid will march on up to the admin and raise holy heck if their child is not permitted to belong because of a different outside conflict. Getting the administration PO'd is not the best way to engender warm feelings about the music program.
I understand what you're saying, and the potential for problems. But I would separate Model UN or other non-music activities from another music-related activity (especially a marching music activity coming into marching band season). But I guess that comes down to opinion.
A kid representing Zambia for a week of Model UN doesn't compare to a baritone player from Bluecoats in preparation and ability to produce for the band program.
Garry in Vegas
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Major Hooters brings me to attention every time!
Back on topic, yes, that is one smokin' soprano line, as well as the rest of the brass.
Gimme another BD show like this. Please, Wayne? Maybe have Dave take a year off from freaky designs and concepts? Just go out and flatten some grandstands?
Please?
Garry in Vegas
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A couple of other things to consider...
1) More corps BITD meant the good and great players were spread out over more corps, especially before corps-hopping and ring-chasing became popular. Now they're concentrated in fewer (and fewer) corps.
2) Corps used to have a limit of 128 members. Most upper-tier corps had 60-64 brass. Now, with a 150 member limit, brass lines of 80 or more are common. (Still, IMO, 80 Bb players still can't match 60 G players for volume.)
3) Corps are now together for 6+ weeks after move-in. BITD, there was no "move-in". You lived in town, or close to it. Rehearsals were not all day, every day until the last three weeks or so of the season.
4) What was the only thing Yamaha didn't make for drum corps before 2000? G bugles. They made marching percussion (though when I asked them about it in 1978 they weren't interested), Bb/F brass, and amplification equipment and electronic instruments and emulators. Can you see how this happened, and where it has gone since?
5) Like an earlier poster, I wonder what would happen if a top-tier brassline switched to a matched set of G brass AND DIDN'T TELL ANYONE? Would the audience, and more importantly the judges, know and fairly adjudicate? Say they're scoring relatively well in brass and music ensemble, then revealed the change, would they still be competitive? Or would there suddenly be a bias? Wish I had the funds and opportunity to test the theory.
6) I'm a drummer, but I still thought it was cool that our brass players used bugles with a piston and rotor, and that we were the first corps to use G/F p/r bugles. We were also the first to use 2V sopranos by special permission from DCI to field test them for American Heritage (King). (BTW, an interesting side note: The bells were stamped "Benge".)
7) I challenge any modern corps to use the same set of brass (in any key) and percussion for 5 consecutive years. That's another lesson learned BITD. Respect for your equipment, and maintaining it.
8) The voicing of a trumpet is soprano in the brass choir. The tuba is the contrabass voice. Why not maintain the voice designation instead of trumpet and tuba? Shouldn't it still make sense to a bunch of music majors?
Just more fuel for the discussion.
Garry in Vegas
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Rumor has it that Hugo Stiglitz will be the percussion caption head at Crown next year. :thumbup:/>
Darn. I was hoping it was Jonathan Goldsmith.
Garry in Vegas
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Maybe this would help jumpstart some discussion on the OC forum. Wanna cross post?
Garry in Vegas
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Here's the official announcement. I'd say they're in pretty good hands. (Thanks, Shane, for all you did.)
http://www.regiment.org/story.cfm?ID=1324
Garry in Vegas
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Awese, c'mon you guys. It was pretty funny, and if the BD staff doesn't get a laugh out if it I'd be surprised.
Garry in Vegas
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No, I just read something about spiders and moths. Then I realized I had better things to do thn trying to understand what the heck is going on.
Too easy. Must resist urge for smart-### response.
Garry in Vegas
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I agree with the concept of separating the financial side (BoD) from the performance side (director, captions and staff) as far as their focus and responsibilities to the organization.
Garry in Vegas
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Part of the reason DCI may be shrinking is the demand of some high school band programs to be at Band Camp and all year school.
This is the case in programs where the band director demands full camp attendance. But it's been my experience that the drum corps kids coming off tour are in better shape, are used to rehearsing effectively, and learn on the fly better than the NDC kids who spent much of the summer glued to their gaming system.
JMO
And the majority of DCI corps that have folded fell victim to management issues, including but not limited to adapting to the touring model, loss of sponsorship, etc.
Garry in Vegas
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I think it should be called "Paws For Effect".
Garry in Vegas
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Part of it may be that DCA membership has been growing in recent years, and are still close to their all-time highest participation. Much this is due to expansion into markets outside the NE. It has to be noted, though, that many of the all-age corps outside the NE rely on a relationship with DCI to provide competition in their area.
On the flip side, DCI have not been sustaining their membership quite as well. Compare DCA competing corps attendance with DCI competing corps attendance in, say, 1980. DCI has shrunk considerably while DCA has expanded, as noted above.
Recent years have shown more cooperation between the two organizations than in the past, which can only be good for both. Does there need to be a merger? Not in my opinion, but cooperation on joint concerns isn't a bad idea.
Garry in Vegas
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Hi, Tim,
Glad to hear of another start-up in the works. Having started two corps before (one out of existence, one still competing in all-age), I think the idea of performing in exhibition in 2014 is the smart path.
In addition to your contacts at Scouts, and the other Open Class directors Dave recommended, please allow me to make one more suggestion: The Academy. It was a full five-year development program of brass and percussion ensembles, as well as a color guard program, before the three were unified for competition.
Best of luck!
Garry in Vegas
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Yes every time they would buy new supplies like mirror, PVC pipe etc to do renovation the new products ended up on the field....
And chairs. You forgot the chairs. Little old chain-smoking ladies need a place to sit.
Garry in Vegas
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A virtual high-five to the author. He/She truly gets it.
Any chance of staying on in a staff position to share the love?
Garry in Vegas
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Nothing here, nothing on the DCA site. What gives?
Garry in Vegas
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Perfectly timed, during their very patriotic show (ref: 9/11) at a quiet and contemplative moment, a fire (or ambulance) siren was heard in the background outside the stadium. It couldn't have been better timed to blend in with the moment of the show. You can hear it clearly on the recordings.
The tin-foil hat crowd immediately speculated that George Hopkins had arranged for it to be done.
Heard in the background? Just passing by? Actually, it was more than one emergency vehicle, and they were just sitting in the driveway of the station across, and in view, from the stadium. If for some reason they were just testing their lights and siren, wouldn't it seem unusual for them to test them all simultaneously?
And my hat is not tin foil. It's fabricated from military-grade aluminum.
Garry in Vegas
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I don't know if you mentioned this last summer, Matt. The reason the Moonlight Classic moved to Sacramento State is because Stagg Stadium at UOP is being torn down. They cancelled football several years ago, and decided the upkeep (as bad as it got the last few years) wasn't worth it.
Garry in Vegas
PS The show here in Vegas a few years ago was at UNLV's Sam Boyd Stadium. Nice venue for drum corps if it wasn't so @$%*€ hot!
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That would make for a pretty short finals night, Fran.
Garry in Vegas
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With all the complaints about drum judges running all over the field this year, I doubt they're snare-centric.
Garry in Vegas
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I went in a completely different direction. Even though I started teaching more, I also got a horse on a whim (he was a yearling, and free) and ended up riding competitively. Did that for a couple of years. And I can tell you that waiting for the final jump-off at a National horse show has the same adrenaline rush as being on the starting line at DCI finals. It's just over quicker, and I didn't have to carry a set of tenors!
Oddly enough, it was the horse show tour that got me back into drum corps. I had been riding all over the Southern California circuit, then went on a three-week tour of Oklahoma City, Memphis and Nashville. When everyone else went home to SoCal, I stuck around in TN to meet up with VK to help volunteer and drive. I was offered a staff position the next year and got to be on the staff that took them from 33rd to finalist.
Oh, and I "retired" from the horse show circuit that last tour. I rode once more after DCI finals, at Santa Barbara, for the California Professional Horseman's Association's Championships. We won the Novice Jumper Class, and the horse was sold to the Japanese Olympic equestrian team.
Garry in Vegas
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I'm 27. Marched in 2005, and first live show was in 2003 (Blue Devils / Cavaliers / Madison Scouts / others I don't remember) Enid,
Wednesday July 16, 2003
Enid OK Festival of Drum Corps STADIUM: D. Bruce Selby Stadium DCI
Position Corps Score
1 Cavaliers 89.950
2 Blue Devils 89.650
3 Madison Scouts 81.750
4 Southwind 70.200
5 Kiwanis Kavaliers 69.800
6 Capital Regiment 68.650
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As the high school marching band scene slowly improves in the northwest, so too will the drum corps scene. The area has never been a hotbed of musical activity, with only a handful of competitive music programs spread out over an enormous amount of physical space.
But, BOA is co-hosting a show in Hillsboro, OR this fall in preparation for a full-fledged, stand-alone BOA Regional in 2014, the region's first BOA show in almost 30 years.
By "never" i assume you mean not in the recent past. I remember going to a show hosted by the Columbians in Pasco back in 1972, and there were 18 corps competing in three divisions. Three came from California, one from Edmonton, Alta., and the other 14 were from WA and OR. Here's a link to the corps and scores. Check out Black Watch. They won Class A a few years later. And you can see the precursors to today's Columbians and Oregon Crusaders. (OC was a C Class corps then!) Too bad Imperials didn't come out.
Garry in Vegas
Ohio State University
in DCI World Class Corps Discussions
Posted
Can you guys take this to Marching Band Planet? This thread made me throw up in my mouth a little. Especially the comparison to VK part.
Garry in Vegas