gbass598

Having seen both Crown and Glassmen a couple of weeks ago, I find it hard to believe that Crown actually scored higher then Glassmen tonight. Other than the fact that Glassmen performed in the 11 spot and Crown got a middle of the pack draw, those 2 lines aren't even in the same ball park when it comes to quality and difficulty of their book.

Being a member of the Golden Lancers, I had the pleasure of seeing that '96 show probably 15 times that summer throughout the DCM tour and some DCI shows. It is defintiely one of my favorites. I'm glad I was there to see it in finals.

Glen Fugett must really like the Crossmen. GE music was their big swing of the night from last night. They went from being 1.1 down to Glassmen to beating them by .2

Anyone find it odd w/ all the talk about heat and water that the brass judge is named Amanda Drinkwater?

Its all about layering and depth in the music. Asking a group not to have 4 marimbas is like asking a brass arranger to only write 1 trumpet part instead of 3. Of course it can be done with one but the arrangement won't sound as full.

Last time I checked, I thought that is what everyone wore? Its not like corps are going out there with heavy wool uniforms like they used to back in the day.

There is enough time to consume plenty of water in the amount of time it takes you to go to the sidelines, drink, and get back on the field. Taking 1 15 minute water break does not benefit anyone more than 7 2 minute breaks. Frequency, not length.

I remember temperatures in Texas being about 110 in '98. I heard some corps changed their rehearsal schedule and slept during the day while rehearsing during the mornings and evenings. We (the Glassmen) did not change our rehearsal schedule at all but were doing "gush and go's" every 10 minutes without any heat related health issues that I can recall. I know I lost a good bit of weight that week though.

I was pretty partial to BK's guard in '98. '04 Vanguard was worth a mention too.

They just received new drums from Pearl this week. I believe Louisville was the first time they were used. The red to black fade and chrome hardware is very nice. Probably the best looking drums I've seen. The Silver Baldrics were on the uniforms last week in Dublin.

They are either playing a licensed store bought arrangement or are doing it illegally.

I have very cautious observations about the return of VK. While it is great to have the potential comeback, I'm also not expecting the 1992 corps to step on the field next year either. My question is: Is this group truly the Velvet Knights or another startup organization like Impulse originally was? To my knowledge, they can not use the Velvet Knights name due to the tax issues that still persist in the original corps. So what makes them any different? With that being said, any new corps is a great thing. Best of luck. I don't see James Bond being an option. Copywrite is virtually impossible for that music and the Cavaliers were very lucky to have been granted permission to use it. In fact, Copycat licensing that did the work for the Cavaliers won't even try to do it for anyone else again.

True. For every success, there are bound to be some failures. It is part of the trial and error process to breaking new ground. My beef is with people who seem closed minded and don't like it just because it is different. Part of the reason I didn't like BD last year because I thought the narration was too much. If it adds to the show, then great. More power to them. I think BD and everyone else in the activity learned that designing your show around the need for amplified voice is not as effective as they had hoped and takes away from the others aspects of the activity. I also was not a fan of Crown '04 and their use of singing to make the horn line nothing more than a back-up band. On the flip side, I thought Bluecoats and Cadets use of amplified voice was tasteful and appropriate to the show last season. I have not seen or heard Cadets yet this year so I can not judge their use of it. I may think it is excessive, or I may think that it truly adds to the show. I don't know. If you are doing it just to do it, then it probably gives no value to the show. If the integration of it helps the effect, then there is obviously a method to the madness. I guess my point is, through trial and error, show designers will figure out how to use it effectively, so we just need to be patient and not immediately dismiss it. Saying a show should be designed in a certain way is a limiting factor and a ridiculous idea. Even the original poster of the idea admits that there are exceptions to that rule. Heck the original post that this topic is based on is the idea that anything outside the norm is a fad that needs to stop.

Forgive me if this has already been addressed but I haven't read all 9 pages of this thread. You totally missed his point in his original post. His point was that if nobody broke out of the standards and norms of the 1970's. The 2000 Cadets show would never have existed. The year 2000 would have been filled with basic line drill, marching timpani, high mark time, and a stand still concert number. Since people chose to break those boundaries, we were treated to intense drill designs, fully stocked front ensembles using all kinds of concert percussion instruments, and intense drumming and horn parts. Arthur Koestler once quoted "The principal mark of a genius is not perfection but originality, the opening of new frontiers." I'm sure everyone who thought all of the stuff that happened in the evolution of drum corps during the 70's and 80's thought people were crazy too. They just didn't have the intenet to b*tch about it. Don't be afraid of change, change is natural and necessary in the evolution of anything, whether it be drum corps or auto making. Before you can say a ballad must follow a certain formula or a show must be designed a certain way, please understand where our activity came from. If everything followed a set of standards and nobody ever deviated from this, I would feel like I am trapped in the collective society described in Ayn Rand's Anthem. I stopped being interested in drum corps for a few years in the early 2000's because I felt it everything seemed the same every year. I regained interest in 2004 because I saw some new things that weren't happening when I marched. I may not like a particular show or song but I respect the boundaries that are being pushed and broken.

Milk was a bad choice.

Same here. I mean enough already!! Jeez!!!!!!!!!!!

Based on my impressions of Toledo and Dublin, it seems that they have added more steel drum stuff into the piece

I couldn't agree more. I was watching Capital Regiment last night thinking that their show would have easily been an 8-12 show 10 years ago but the competition from 12-15 seems so tight this year.

Wide Right????? I keed, I keed.

I took a bag of stuff to the Glassmen bass line last night. I got them some gatorade, fruit snack packs, a bag of miniature candy bars, and beef jerky.

I whole-heartedly agree. ^OO^ ^OO^ ^OO^ Tonight was a great night to see some old faces and drop off a bag of goodies to the 2006 edition of the G-Bass.

Nice call on that one. I played it in college and it is one of my favorite marimba pieces. I'm not sure of the length since it has been a few years but I'm thinking its about 3:30 to 4:00.

It seems to be clearing up a bit now, hopefully it holds out.

Rainy day in Columbus, hopefully the show tonight in Dublin does not get rained out. I'm pretty sure it is a turf field so hopefully it drains well and the bad stuff stays away.

I had already moved on to the Glassmen when I found out that the Golden Lancers had folded in '98. I remember being very sad about it when I heard it because that the memories of that summer of '96 were very good for me. I was really looking forward to seeing them on tour that summer. I had always hoped to go back there and teach the drumline there after I aged out.