billj

I think the lighter the uniform/costume color, the more exposure to marching errors. #1: White shoes/spats, #2: white/light pants, #3: light overall uniforms/costumes,

Love this, and I am with you! To address the glass half empty posters: I'm wondering what group of people are allowed to be outraged and demand wholesale changes of leadership and design staff? Do you have to be a former marching member? That seems to be the trend for passionate fan bases or three former world champion corps not doing as well as some expect. Maybe this is why (didn't march a big corps) I don't understand such outrage, nor would I ever consider demanding people working for a corps get fired.

Um, I seriously think that most, strike that, ALL, corps try to produce an entertaining (to the audience), challenging (for the members) and creative product (that resonates with the judges) each year. To think that corps leadership or design staff has lengthy discussions, when designing a show, about "boy I hope we just make finals'' is silly. The focus of corps is having each member and the corps as a whole be the best they can be. Every corps can have that "high expectation" and they themselves are in control of whether or not they meet it, regardless of how other corps are doing.

From early July to San Antonio, drillwise the major change seemed to be almost an entire new drill for the closer. Were there other major changes besides this in the drill?

This talk of performing early being such a disadvantage to some corps (it's mentioned in a few corps' threads) seems like a new, recent complaint/excuse. BITD the small corps I marched in was always one of the first few to perform (I.e. sun glaring on our eyes many times) and we weren't saying to ourselves what an unfair advantage all the corps that went on later had.

Huh? Day to day what? This is based on one score I assume. Any way, "season may be a bust" doesn't seem very appropriate. The show's cleaning up and improving, and crowds are loving it. Keep it up Regiment!

I'm really likely the characterizations, choreography and posing for the brass in black. It reads so well on the field and there's just a clear,and cool "bad guy" vibe coming across. Keep it up Regiment!

I think it's a cool idea. No different that corps that have encouraged clapping or singing along in the past. Ideally, the female vocals and the groups vocals would all be live.

Oops:

I think 2 corps have shown this (Bridge) isn't a good song for drum corps .

Come on, now. Who here looks forward to each corps' props? And to say that corps X would place higher if they had 'better' props or corps Y would place higher if they added props doesn't make sense to. I look forward to good music, drill and guardwork, performed well. Regiment is delivering on that. SUTA!

Hypothetical question: should a corps adding some "thing" mid season (tarps, drums, 1800's hats with a giant eagle and a plume stuck to, new props, girl popping out of a book, etc.) really impact a score in a measurable way? I know the Devil's example is different, but if 2 SCV performances were exactly the same, with the exact same judges, except performance 1 had the "old" drums and no tarps and performance 2 had the new drums and the tarps, should the scores be different? How much? Is there anything on the score sheets that would indicate a higher score is warranted?

Trust me, I don't have time or energy to research corps shows. Most design staff's description of a show go right over my head, any way; nor do I always "get" shows when watching them even if I do know the theme (was Crown's championship show about physics or a love story, or both? I don't really care, and I loved that show). And we shouldn't have to do research. On first viewing for an audience member, all shows should just entertain. While the top corps are all very, very good, there's a homogenization creeping in that concerns me.

I assume we can all agree that a kick halt or a chevron form, regardless of when done, will not make make or break a show? There are so few traditions and even recognizability of corps these days given the annual, throw-away costumes, I like the nod to the corps history. Crown has done quite well the last 10 years, and while I don't know with certainty, I'll assume they've had a crown form every year. In how many of their shows does a crown form "make sense"? Triple Crown, maybe, sorta and that was 2007 (I looked this up, don't have it all memorized). Are people upset about Crown's use of this every year? Even if so, the judges seem to be OK it. And actually, after 2 minutes of internet research: Joan of Arc, in French Jeanne d'Arc (6 January 1412 – 30 May 1431) Chevron: First appearing in English in the 14th century, chevron derives via Middle English and Anglo-French Maybe it make more sense this year than we knew?

I'm not so sure about that. Some HS bands have dabbled with some of this already (lighting, stages and curtains). And designers seem to be continually pushing boundaries. Props, "choreography" and the current state of electronics and amplification will be evolving along with other boundaries being pushed. P.S. I don't like it. Put your #### uniforms and hats on, and march some cool drill!

I'm ok with EVERY corps not upping the ante on the props arms race. The stationary props allow them to manipulate the stage plenty. I'm getting dizzy with all the props. SCV is another long time favorite of mine, and I've been very happy to see them at the top the last few years, but I'm disappointed that they had to outdo Devils at their own game in order to win (come out with the best props, greatly reduce the big drill moves, increase the "individual, stylized movement"/scatters). Seems like Devils and Coats have the best props props this year. If they finish 1 and 2 I can only imagine what's in store for next year with props. Actually, I can't. How much worse can it get?

Serious question: do many people purchase and listen to audio recordings from finals? I have a hard time imagining there's a good balance across brass, percussion, pit and amplification/electronics. Or are there standstill recordings?

I'm hoping to see a video of a recent Regiment competition performance (July 12-14). I can't find one online but if anyone knows of a link, I'd appreciate a PM. Sorry if I'm breaking any forum rules with my request. Go Regiment!

Ah, yes, the chrome domes! Back when DCM was DCM. Dekalb actually had a very DCM-like lineup yesterday.

Well,.everyone has their own unique mics, speakers, amps, and mixers, so.... What I really object to is the "cheating" of using amplification of the entire brassline. Hornline's unamplified volume levels used to generate plenty of excitement and were a certain measure of comparison for us to discuss. There's no way to know who has the loudest hornline anymore, and the audio engineer just needs to dial it up to 11 whenever they want, for a little extra music GE. And I think can all agree that amping the pits, while not without some benefits, is overdone a lot during the season. Some of us see only a show or two early in the season and it would be nice is corps weren't still figuring out how to not deafen the audience with the pit volume level.

Those aren't necessarily two mutually exclusive things. For the sake of discussion, would you be willing to share your criteria for "relevance" as well as which corps currently meet that criteria right now?

This design is in no way "just the basics" . It has some nice ties to Regiment's history, and in a good way IMO. And there are some cool effects (guard in corps proper uniforms, trumpets switching between 2 instruments) And from the early July video I'm guessing we might be seeing a chevron at/near the ending drill. Appropriate for the theme AND the corps history. I dont want to continue to bash other designs, but have you seen a higher scoring corps' slow motion version of their circle to box drill? And pretty sure it will end with a slow motion version of the letter after Y -pull. Zzzzzzz Talking about scores and placements, as asked, what's good enough versus not good enough when it comes to scores and placements? I stopped caring about scores a long time ago. I usually disagree w the judges. (Fyi, some 'supporters' of a corps likely to be in the 7 or 8 slot are also complaining about their show, despite decent scores and placings) The one knock I'll agree with is the initial dirtiness in the first few performances compared to others, but they seem to be cleaning up and tweaking the design nicely.

I don't know. The elements people are complaining about here are in most other shows I've seen this year. And as for complaint about the props not moving around, I'm very ok with that. They serve their purpose for hiding performers as needed. Many corps' props become too much of the visual focus (i.e. a distraction - have you see the 4 giant, white spaceships/tanks?).

There have been some very memorable vocalizations in drum corps over the years, most of them unplugged. I think there might have been some vocals in Regiment's last championship show?

I'm not a general fan of electronics or amplification, but I like Regiment's use of it this year. The vocals help clearly tell the story, while also adding variety and pacing. Does anyone know: is the opening vocal sung live? I can't tell from the video.