BanditKir

Some buses have audio inputs and you can play the tape on the bus' speakers. In a pinch just borrow someone else's phone. Or just turn the phone's speakers as high as they go and find a quiet place to listen and remember the good old times gathered around the trusty boombox that ate D batteries like nobody's business.

The tapes are uploaded to a dropbox created for each corps (this was around last year, not sure about the year before). It's incredibly convenient because the entire staff can listen to the tapes on their smartphones on the following bus ride. I'm not sure what exact media they are using. A couple tapes I've listened to have some audio issues that sound like they might be using some type of minidisc that skips when moving.

He'll probably be more embarrassed when you yell it at finals.

Spirit 2004 - The Architecture of Life. Their highest scoring show since '88 and I think it deserves it. I still listen to the show often. Missing finals by 0.075 must have been a heartbreaker though the Glassmen had a fine show that year as well.

I'll admit I'm more of a new school guy so most of these are in the past 10 years or so... Also after writing this I realized just how hard it is to come up to pick only 10 moments, so this is more of the 10 that are most forefront in my mind. Bluecoats 2004 - So many good percussion moments... from the leitmotif to the drum break at the beginning of the closer to the rubber ducky at the ending of the first part of hunting wabbits. SCV 2003 - while 2004 was undeniably a great section, you can more than hear the beginnings of what they were going to be in 2003. A lot of very unique instrumentation used in the ballad, from taiko drums to a water chime. The rock out section before the closer is my favorite part. Cavaliers 2003 - Matt Jordan is probably one of the best timpani players the activity has seen and his part during terminal velocity is one of the hardest/coolest timpani parts I've heard put on the field. Bluecoats 2008 - Second to the bass feature has to be the underappreciated tenor feature that follows. Star of Indiana 1993 - What part of this show wouldn't make someone's top list of percussion moments? To pick one, I guess I'd have to go with the cocaine snorting tenor visual. Cavaliers 2011 - All the circus tricks were awesome, but for me I loved the writing even. I loved the creative use of hands and sounds from the pit. Overall some of the most effective use of sampling seen in drum corps yet. Glassmen 2009 - I've wanted to use glass blocks in a show since I saw this one. As you can probably tell, I love creativity. Madison Scouts 1998 - I don't even know what it is about Remembrance but when I get to the drum breaks in the closer I always get super excited. Crossmen 1992 - Puma!!! Also... CROSSMEN DRUMLINE!!! Blue Devils 2000 - Pit accelerando. Wanted to have one purely pit moment on here and I can't think of a more effective one.

Most corps end up filling one or two of the bass spots with cuts from the snareline. But if you have some monster talent coming out for the bassline early there is no reason not to go for six. It dilutes the individual parts just a tiny bit but adds one more level of musicality to the book. Spirit pulled off six really well in 2005, in my humble opinion, if you want an example in recent years. Also, you may see more than one line out there with six this year if you head up to Michigan City, just sayin'...

5 marimbas is not really for sound. It's so the marimbas have a true center. Because pits are spread over such large lengths it really helps to have someone undeniably in the center. I'm a fan of what Sandy Rennick has been doing by using a xylophone in place of the center marimba. This creates the easiest possible environment for doing runs: As far as depth of sound goes the dummy guide to pit arranging says everything doubled and everything in octaves so 4 is the number you need to achieve this.

Here's one for the new age. The former band director at my high school arranged some pretty spectacular drum corps shows. My show my freshman year was a show done by Spirit. I realized this when I found a recording of Spirit's show on napster. I wasn't quite hooked yet. Eventually I heard more about this drum corps thing and decided to look more into it. I googled (or rather, altavista'ed) and found out there was a corps in my state called the Cadets. A search on KaZaA returned the video for Cadets 2000. I remember watching it and being relatively unimpressed until I got to the drum feature (it took me longer to appreciate the stuff going on before then). Since then I've been nothing short of obsessed.

The Raiders are still looking for a couple of cymbal players. I can also confirm that Cadets2 will have a cymbal line (though no idea if they're still looking) and also that the Cadets are NOT marching a cymbal line. Those were pit auditionees holding cymbals for the ensemble piece they did (Jump by Van Halen).

Spirit didn't have a cymbal line 2006 and 2007. I marched with one of the cymbal cuts in 2006 and I know he was not very happy. It was quite a shame and I'm quite glad they brought them back!

My first thought was to see if they'd managed to come out with a decent set of vibes but I guess they don't even make them anymore?

To be honest I didn't notice the bass not breaking until just now. I did, however, notice the trumpet that comes in a beat early during the stabs before the 'fake' ending...

My response to this is you would be surprised at how fast your body adjusts to different sleeping environments. I'm 5'11" and 225 pounds so not small by any means and I can't sleep sitting up to save my life. I have never fallen asleep in class because of this and almost never fall asleep on airplane flights (managed to in shorts stints to and from London). On tour I had the inside seat and the floor was pretty much spoken for by vets. I always tell people my first night on the bus was the worst sleep I have ever gotten. I woke up pretty much anytime the bus changed speeds, even just slowing down or speeding up a little when changing lanes. That next rehearsal I was crazy sleep deprived and I have no idea how I made it through that day. When I hit that bus seat the next night I was out like a light and slept all the way to the next housing site and it stayed like that for the rest of tour. Never again did I have a problem sleeping in my seat. My body just figured it out somehow. I had an air mattress since my corps allowed them. Some corps don't allow members to take air mattresses with them (notably Caorlina Crown) and as I hear it the same thing happens. You just get used to it. Those I've spoken to from Crown will swear that there's no other way to sleep on a gym floor than on nothing but a blanket or, for maximum comfort, one of those camping pads.

For those wondering about the Cadets horns up and horns down the reason is basically in the 80's they had an excellent mellophone player and one of the best mello soloists in DCI history named Barbara Maroney who only had one arm. Because of this her fake left hand was somehow attached to the instrument but she couldn't do the quick snaps. They made the change so that they could all be in unison. Here's an interview with her: http://www.middlehornleader.com/Maroney%20Interview.htm For some nuances there are of course tons of pit stuff I could mention though my favorite is probably the unamped rubber ducky towards the end of 'Hunting Wabbits' in Bluecoats 2004. Another good one is the pitch bended chime in SCV's ballad in 2003 by hitting the chime and lowering it into a bucket of water. I'm planning on using this with my high school this year. My favorite nuance about the Cadets 2011 show that I didn't notice until the third time I watched it was when the hornline puts down their shakos and instruments the demons leave them in a mess while the angels leave them nice and orderly. This extends to when the put down their poles and the demons throw them into the end zone. Then there are of course tons of drumline visuals that you wouldn't want your mother to see... such as Star of Indiana 1993 tenors doing a line of coke.

I like the responses so far; it sounds like I'm not that only one who thought this was a great year for DCI. I thought of another - 2011 was probably the best year that I remember for open class corps. So much more talent than I was expecting.

So I'm curious what other people thing. Thanks to my fan network subscription I'm still listening to all the shows and in my opinion 2011 was the best year for music since 2005. I could listen to all of the top 12 shows on repeat all day. Any other opinions? In general I thought the show designs this year were top notch.

1. Madison Scouts (assuming they get the rights to their closer...) 2. Crossmen (I already get parts of this show stuck in my head) 3. Carolina Crown (I often play this now just to listen to the preshow) 4. Blue Devils (A house is not a home...) 5. Phantom (Mostly for Elsa'a) If I could choose one more it would probably be Blue Stars.

My biggest gripe about DCP is that we don't know how to argue. To me, drum corps is a sport. It might not technically be a sport, but I certainly treat it that way, and so many other people do. And in a sport there are statistics but still plenty of opinions out there. However, it seems like all arguments go the equivalent of: "Shaq was the greatest center of all time!" "No way. Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell were better." "LeBron James isn't even in the top 50! George Mikan was the best!" "Do you hate all black people or something?" "You're too young to know what a good basketball player is." I think if some people actually explained their reasoning occasionally, we would all get along better. To stick to the topic, I really do think Madison's closer this year is something special. I've been lucky enough to see it twice now and both times I've been moved. Having only been going to shows since 2003, I've definitely never seen a closer bring an audience to its feet like Madison with the exception of maybe Phantom 08 but I think Madison trumps it emotionally. Sure it doesn't have the technically wow'ing drill of say Star 91 and I'm a huge fan of Madison's '98 closer, Remembrance, but I can't say enough about the feeling I got when Madison finished and both my mom to my right and the guy I had just met to my left both had tears in their eyes and I felt glad to have shared the experience with both of them. I've dragged my mom to lots of shows but I don't think she had ever been more glad to have gone. Finally, because I'm a huge Alicia Keys Fan, there's an awesome video on that site of Alicia Keys with Arturo Sandoval that's amazing.

Just a couple of thoughts.... First of all, to be fair to the staff members at the soundboard, having been on several pit staffs often times during shows I wouldn't notice if a spaceship came and abducted half of the corps, and it's not because of electronics. I'm usually stressing quite a bit over what's going on with my pit kids. Are they playing well? Did they remember the changes? Are they overhyping or playing timidly? All of this while trying not to show it on my face because I know they will pick up on it. In fact, keeping focused on the board is a good way to make sure your members aren't thinking about your reactions to their playing. Especially with younger groups it's hard for them to get out of rehearsal mode and really perform, especially with your staff still right in front of you. That being said even if I did notice a hornline member I would probably hesitate before running out onto the field in the middle of a show. There's a bit of a mentality in drum corps teaching that you stick to your own sections and we don't really go over emergency situations such as this. If the show's still going (i.e. the drum major hasn't stopped the show) and I know the entire staff is there, my gut reaction would probably to at least look for an okay signal from someone higher up. Not saying I wouldn't have immediately run out there or that I would be punished for it. I wasn't there so I can't really know all of the details. Just trying to put a different perspective on it. I also wanted to mention that something very similar to this happened to Crossmen in Allentown in 2007. A color guard memeber struggled up to the sideline and then fainted. Nobody came to the field until the end of the show (and there was about a minute left). Finally two EMTs came over in a golf cart (who, by the way, were two of the most heavyset and slowest moving EMTs I have ever seen in my life) and took care of her. I texted someone I knew in the corps about it and it turned out that she had a known medical condition and this wasn't the first time she had passed out during a show. Not really saying that was right either but just highlighting that there's a lot we don't know and I think it's a bit much to call it everything that is wrong with drum corps today.

A. Guard can already be amped B. I'm not sure how much stimulating and provocative discussion is going on and C. Pancakes are better than waffles. And don't even get me started on crepes.

*SPOILERS* Well as I said, I didn't think the 9/11 references were subtle at all. The drum break begins with the horns playing "oh what a beautiful morning" with quite a bit of dissonance (9/11 happened during morning rush hour) and then the drill is a bunch of straight lines that then break down and chaotically merge ending with a siren and the entire corps looking at the sky shocked. And then the next section begins with the trumpets echoing taps back field woven with a melody that I assume is 'Requiem' going by the repertoire list. The only way I think they could have made it less subtle is if they had spoken dialogue. The rest of the closer is a reminder of all the reasons not only why we love New York, but why it's important to persevere through such tragedies.

I would definitely agree with all of those words... I just wouldn't add loud. I love the fact that the flugelhorns are back but it left me worried they had to sacrifice volume for them. Though it's certainly possible my expectations were too high. I'd been waiting to hear the Crossmen hornline since I heard the staff announcements and most of my expectations came from youtube comments...

Long day today but I wanted to get my thoughts down while they're all fresh in my mind. Probably leaving lots of spelling/grammar issues in this which I'll fix tomorrow. I'm an instructor for one of the earlier corps so I didn't get to really watch any of the shows until Spirit so I'll start there. Spirit of Atlanta I'm really disappointed in you, DCP. How has this hornline not been hyped? Really, really great sound. Not only that, but the writing gives you a sense that you're hearing something completely original. The dissonances and resolutions are worked in beautifully amongst the voices, particularly I think I remember the mellos getting some really cool moments. Oh yeah, I think there might have been some kind of story element? Seriously, the story feels like it almost just gets in the way of the brass writing. Anybody who might have been worried about the percussion section with the loss of Shane should not be. They are right at the level they should be. On a different night, I definitely could see them beating Boston, but we'll get there. My one issue with Spirit was their pit was a little over-amplified and I'd question the set up of having vibes integrated with the marimbas. I'm not saying the pit was too loud (especially when compared with that hornline) but the sound was about 95% coming from the speakers, and 5% from the pit which lends to very unblended and often thin sound. Crossmen Even after an excessive 25 minute intermission when Crossmen took started playing you couldn't help but feel disappointed by the hornline's sound after Spirit's. I'd heard so many things about how loud they were but they must have left that sound back in Texas. In essence, compared to Spirit the hornline was a sizeable step down. The percussion on the other hand... holy crap. These guys can play. I only hope they can keep the forward momentum up. They were easily the cleanest line tonight so I worry that they may plateau a bit as the summer goes on but if they don't... well, it's going to be quite a shame that a line playing on a level similar to blue stars of last year is in a corps that making finals would be quite a reach. I don't ever remember seeing such a dichotomy between the achievement levels of a percussion section and the rest of the corps. Best bass line of the night. My one complaint (and yet again, I return to the pit) was that this time the pit was probably under-amplified. I appreciate the more minimalist approach to amping but at the same time you can't expect things like 4 mallet arpeggios to project during big ensemble hits without some help. I could see lots of great technique going on in the pit that wasn't making it to the top of the stadium I was in and if that's true at the middle school the show was in tonight, there's no way it'll make it up however many levels in Indianapolis. Madison Scouts I don't cry. And I mean ever. In the last 12 years or so I've cried only once, and that was when my father died. The Madison Scouts left me choked up from the beginning of their closer to about 3 minutes into Boston's show. Probably the most emotional show I have ever seen on the field. For those who have been living in a box their show is about New York and they do an extended section about 9/11. Now, I've heard people say how it's very subtle and if you're not looking for it then you can choose to ignore but I didn't really think that was true. I won't spoil it but I will say it was still beautifully done. Now to gush about some random things about this show. Robert W. Smith is awesome. His experience was very evident in the writing and pacing of the music. One place he definitely shines is in his transitions. It feels like there's not a wasted note. Nothing is filler. Everything builds to something. There's a part that sounded really familiar and then I realized it was a transplant of a technique Robert W. Smith used in Twelve Seconds to the Moon that worked really well on the field (the solo tonguing that speeds up and slows down). 20 tubas! And these guys can play. There was one point where they stage the tubas with the euphoniums and I swear it looked like they had a full size 50 person hornline of tubas. Awesome! Drumline is producing an amazing sound. When they're on, they're on. The only probably downside is the middle movement where two of the snares switch to tenor drums is very clearly the weak point right now. Very dirty. And I feel it didn't set the drumline up very well going into the percussion feature which was also very dirty. That being said, they are attempting by far much more than and other percussion section there and they definitely deserve the credit for it. If they manage to clean that (which at this point is looking more like some fixes are in order) then it will be a killer section. The pit doesn't play mallets in the closer. And it works so amazingly well it's scary. How do you ask an entire drum corps to picture what it feels like to witness 9/11 in person and then reenact that every night? I have no idea but it's chilling. My gripe for Madison is why can't they wear white pants??? The corps really moves during this show but a lot of time it just looks like a wall of green. When I saw Boston coming I couldn't help but think that there was no way they could top that performance. Boston Crusaders And I was right. I'll start with a positive. The key words for Boston's show is "field coverage." However, halfway through the show I couldn't help but wonder if they spent more time covering the field than playing notes. This corps looks and sounds young. The drumline's book isn't nearly as bold as Crossmen's or Madison's and not as clean as Spirit's. Granted they had three snares fall during the closer, the percussion in general sounded like they have a ways to go. The amount of familiar tunes in the show was a bit of a treat and kept me entertained throughout. I will say this was probably the best show in terms of visual design. Alright, that's it. Time for me to get some sleep!

2007, Unbound. one of the few shows I couldn't resist buying the mp3 of so I can listen to it at work.