leadsoplove

#1. The standing ovation for us in Allentown after the first hit in the closer. #2. All the standing ovations we received all season long without giving a crap about the scores. The crowd makes everything worth it. ...the pain of losing and the joy of winning and all with a smile... -Thank you Lord

From a corps member's perspective that has not had the opportunity to perfrom in finals, yes we do get to watch the top drum corps perform somewhat often. SCV was by far the best overall show in my opinion... at semifinals that was the only show I cared to watch. Also, come finals night many div. II/III corps come to finals to check stuff out too. I find that the longer I am in the activity though, the harder I am to please and the less I am interested in watching many shows. This is just me though, I'm sure there are others out there that are just the opposite.

I don't care if I catch any crap for this, but after seeing Phantom's show many times, I never really got to like it. Thankfully for them they revamped their show mid-season, or else they couldn't have beaten BD or possibly even Bluecoats. They did however perform the crap out of that show finals night and I respect that a lot, so they deserved the 3rd place. I think they could have won it all if they would have thrown in a couple more chevrons and a leg kick at the end... anyone who saw that show enough will know what I am talking about haha. I think that they just felt the need to remind everyone that they are still indeed Phantom Regiment despite the mojo-ing and whatnot. They received a standing ovation because they performed their show well and because it was easily understood and enjoyed. DCI will inevitably NOT be heading in that direction IMO though because the judges don't care about the crowd buying into it at all. It's all about being clean and having contrast.. otherwise SCV and Phantom would have been the top contenders. The Cadets show finally grew on me come Boston, but as soon as I felt I had enjoyed it they scored a 99.15, a full point higher than the night before, and I didn't think they deserved it at all. They did well, but I saw two drops in the guard and once or twice I heard some tuning issues in the hornline AND from my vantage high up and off to the side, they were not clean enough to receive an almost perfect score. Oh, and I loved the Cavies baseball game in the show.... go Cubbies.

I can't believe anyone would vote for Gillette stadium! That was by far the worst stadium I have ever performed in... not because of the field itself, but because of all the other drama. The stadium would not let any cook trucks into the parking lot, so it was either stadium food ($6.75 for pizza, $3.50 for water) or walking at least a mile down the road to find somewhere else to eat. Some friends of mine and I started calling finals "the purple wristband persecution" because of how poorly the members of each drum corps were treated by stadium personnel. I know that the fire department was "acting with caution" due to the information they had about the weather... but I seem to remember that pretty much everyone at least got drizzled on (with exception to the Madison Scouts, props to them) in 1993. The stadium staff evacuated everyone from their seats starting in the MIDDLE of... I believe Blue Knights performance? Then they kept pushing the fans back further and further towards the ramps... unless they happened to be a big spender and were sitting in a certain area- then they didn't have to move any further. I don't know about other drum corps kids, but I personally would not mind if DCI never went to that venue ever again.

I have this sneaky suspicion that the Dynasty horns (at least the soprano) would be a lot better if they were... I dunno if this is the right term... bored out more. Similar to how Bach used to do it back in the day. They "used" to make horns with random metal crap inside... making the tone a little stuffier, etc. I have this strange feeling that these horns may very well be similar. On another note, I hear ya man, double C is just a beeeotch on the dynasty. We'll see if my newer embouchure will help out with that at all. I hear a lot of junk about upstream and downstream.... but really your lips aren't the things that should be doing the work. Ideally it's all on the inside... your air and the whole system working together. The prof that I am going to be working with can hit a double C loud as heck one handed with his kid in his left arm... his face doesn't move at all, no matter what register. So! In conclusion, the Dynasty sucks, and I know that you probably aren't in the position to change horns.... it's mostly the horn, but I also wonder if it's just more susceptible to a different technique.

Well, let me just say that Madison, whom I happen to love, wasn't nearly as loud as they usually are, and the reason is that they went to Dynasty Bbs. I played on the trumpet at Finals a couple times and was tempted to throw it under a moving vehicle. I don't like theh way my soprano plays all that much, I love the sound though... I didn't like the way the Bb played OR the sound. But that's just my opinion. <**>

I played on a Dynasty G.... well, I like the sound for the most part, how dark it is. But man, I would much rather play on a trumpet. Not a big fan of the way my horn played... this season or last.

Man, contra players are becoming endangered I think! Pioneer's hornline is full in all the sections EXCEPT that one. Maybe we can get a few sops to play it eh? haha

Man, I think that there is just a shortage on contra players! Pioneer is lackin a couple of those as well, though the rest of the brass line is pretty full.

Haha... well, I chose to create this topic just based on a curiousity I have in it, and because I thought it would probably draw some interesting discussion. So! What would you rather have/be: a screamer only adding to certain chords/etc., or a solid, we'll say lead player that plays the whole show solidly? Personally I am very torn on this subject. Screaming is fun, and gets a lot of hype from a lot of people. But there is also a lot of personal accomplishment in getting say the lead part down and just playing the tar out of it. I think that part of me wanted to post this because I know that doing both can be near impossible. Well... post away I guess...

I play on a Shilke 15B... I used to play on a 3C, but I feel that I can blow out alot more on the 15B, and that it gives me a darker tone, more room to work with in the mouthpiece. I also have a 14A4A.... collecting dust in my room.... I can't stand to play that shallow thing! I like to play high, but I can play higher much stronger on the 15B than I can sqeak out sharply on a cheater. Thinkin about getting a 1 1/2 C as well.

I agree with most that the horn is the hardest brass instrument, but when it comes to marching and playing, I think that changes things a lot. I know that with those crazy awesome runs and all that mello can't be easy, but I guess I'm probably a little bias to saying that the lead sop role is probably one of the toughest. Let alone the size of the mouthpiece and all (I don't approve of cheaters!!!!), the sheer air pressure needed for some of that stuff is pretty crazy. I'm open to arguments on this one, I don't want anyone to take offense or anything!!

I think it's unfair to make it so general, it really depends on the year. I must say that I really miss that in your face sound that drum corps used to have... even sitting in front of BD's arch just isn't quite there. Everyone went to Bb, and the sound was really lost overall I think. BD this past season was good, don't get me wrong, but Phantom probably had the best sound and emotional content.

I think that for just playing I would probably like the Kanstuls better, though I haven't played on one. But I really love the sound quality that you get froma horn line in G... much better than Bb actually. I challenge you to compare some newer Blue Devils stuff, for instance 2003, to... 1997? 1995? 1992? Any of those years... I really enjoy that sound. Now that Madison is going to Bb, it will be hard to get into their music again probabyl, since I love to listen to their 95, 96, 98, 99 shows... or what about 88? I'm not real sure... I like to play on my Bb better, I can play with more control, but I definitely like the sound overall of G... and I guess all I can associate that with is Dynasty. I'm young, I'm not REAL versed in this stuff. But... that's the way it is.

Pioneer - Lead Soprano/Hopeful Soloist, but nothing is set in stone

I must say that When a Man Loves a Woman has been a huge hype for me for some time... oh, and also in 92, the end of SCV's show.. that horn line was rockin... chills...

I'm a lead sop over at Pioneer for the second season, and I play on a Shilke 15B. I like it a lot, it's wider and deeper than a 3C, and allows for a very open tone. If you have decent chops it's also good for high range too. I can get up to a double C on my Bb horn with that, I can't even get near that on a smaller mouthpiece/cheater. I would suggest just to give it a shot...

But besides us I would have to say Madison Scouts... flashback to 95? 96? They were a lot more successful this past season and probably have attracted that many more people. I would love to see them top 5.. along with SCV, Phantom, Cadets and... Blue Devils too, of which I'm a big fan, but for some reason I just don't see it happening for them or Cavaliers this season... no real reason, just a feeling.

It's true that Pioneer only had 28-33 horns at the New Orleans camp, but a lot of our members are still in high school and had a hard time with missing school, etc. Besides, most of us live in those upper midwest states, so that was quite the treck for being in February. Our hornline is looking to increase by nearly 20 this season, and our music is much more... exciting? We are definitely hyping it, and it helps that there are probably 60% more returning vets from last year than last season. Our average age and experience level has gone up, there have been some very positive staff changes, and this show is more of a traditional Pioneer repertoire. I'm looking for success similar to 97... though I know that we have a long ways to go.