Some of these posts really make me laugh.
To the untrained ear, the Phantom Regiment brassline is wonderful. They play with raw emotion and a volume that is unmatched. They play loud...really loud.
What people don't hear is the balance issues, ensemble clarity issues, and lack of a true concept of sound from person to person. They do get some credit for what they do because frankly, it doesn't matter how much junk is in your sound, as long as the ENTIRE line sounds the same. I hope that makes sense.
The Cavaliers brass line, in MY opinion, has a far superior sound. The have a true ensemble balance from section to section. When they play loud, you hear all four voices evenly, which is what true balance is. I don't think the "BLEND" like some people say....they don't want to "blend", because if you think about it, BLENDING is just mixing everything up together, rather than matching and balancing. Their concept of sound is very pure, and they WILL NOT sacrifice quality of sound for volume. Listen to the big chords...you hear all voices. Listen to the first big part of the third tune...the articulation was amazing.
Regiment, when they play loud, have a tendency to have people sticking out. In the 80s and 90s, it was usually a baritone or euphonium that would stick out (usually because they used a few euphs for leads, and in my opinion, those horns were not meant for that and they could not handle it), but this year the stick outs tended more to be soprano and mellophone. Listen to when they do a quick crescendo....people come out of the ensemble sound when they do that, simply because they are not listening and balancing with the rest of the line. The first big crescendo in "wild nights" was a great example of that. Also, if you listen, they have attack and release issues. Even the very first note they played was not together. Pay special attention to the last big note (the unison) of that tune...the intonation is not very good....there are many different concepts of sound within the line.
Regiments line is very exciting to the general audience. Cavies line is very exciting to the higher end listener who is excited about a line that can do everything and do it well. Its all a matter of taste, but what the Cavies are doing is going to win as long as the judges really know what to listen for.
"The Matrix" was fast and entertaining, but in the long run, its not going to win an Oscar over "American Beauty".
