Bari-Nice

I do believe that Court of Honor is not coming back since they sold all of there equiment. Sadly enough... I was really looking to see what they were going to do after such a good year in 04

I am a drum corps parent, like it or not, that’s what I am. My son marches with Teal Sound and is very proud to be a part of that organization. These kids are tremendous, and I couldn’t ask for a better organization for my son. Like a family, good or bad, he is there for them first and foremost. He gives 100% of himself on and off the field. For this, I’m very thankful that he’s such a wonderful, caring human being. His dream is to pursue music as a career, and marching in drum corps is one of the more ambitious undertakings he and his fellow members willingly do, why I’m not sure, but they love it. I supported him when he marched for Court of Honor, which, by the way, was a major undertaking on his part to convince me to let him participate in drum corps. He now marches for Teal Sound, and I’m sure, God willing, he’s going to march division one someday. I offered my assistance to help Teal Sound in any way possible. This includes helping to keep the books for them, raising money and food donations, and just about anything else the board of directors would have me do in order to make sure my son’s dreams, and those of the other members can be realized by making it to finals, which apparently is a big to do with drum corps and fans alike. I’ve noticed since the previous post I made, a few have chosen to read between the lines, establish motive, and worse have gone to the extent to state the egos of the staff has had something to do with this unfortunate request for a change in division. The board of directors is currently on the road with the corps, and have kept them fully informed of all developments. The staff is there too, but they were not the ones asking for the change, it was in fact the board of directors making the request. The intent of this corps was never to steal anything from anyone, let alone another drum corps. For the outsiders looking in, I’m sure it’s easy to speculate about the rationales and motivations, especially when they are not privileged with all the facts. Shooting from the hip, and not being fully informed can be very dangerous to say the least, and at worst lends itself to a lynch mob mentality. I for one, am very sorry that any postings made by me as an individual would have led to such wild and unanticipated speculation about Teal Sound: however, my efforts were well intended and not without appropriate direction and approval of those empowered to make such decisions. Suffice it to say, Teal Sound will continue to perform, and participate as a Division II corps. Please, put away your guns, and don’t shoot me just yet, I’m still learning. John Pittman, thank you for all your efforts, and your continued work as the President of the Board of Directors for Teal Sound. A special thank you to the members of the steering committee, JW, and Dan for allowing Teal to stay in Division II. And my biggest thanks to my son, for being so wonderful, and allowing me to be apart of your musical life, good luck at finals, and I love you very much.

We had parents pick up their kids after the Houston show and take them home.

In these uncertain times for drum corps, it is truly amazing how many corps are suffering hardship throughout this season. Financial concerns are wide spread, and I’m sure everyone is panicked when financial viability is in question. Whether it’s Memphis Sound, Fever, or any number of corps, the number one concern is financial viability, and survivability. Much has been said about Teal Sound’s decision to request a change in Division in order to maintain competitiveness within the drum corps arena. We definitely did not want to ruffle any feathers so to speak. Our understanding was that there is a marching members requirement in order to march any one of the three division of DCI. It’s our understanding that the division requirements are in place so as not to have an unfair competitive advantage, which would surely be the case in an instance were a Div III corps ever expected to compete against an organization like the Blue Devils, or the Cavaliers. As explained in the press release for Teal, we have suffered not only member loses due to heat related injuries, but mechanical failure of transportation equipment which has plagued us from the beginning and is directly attributable to the unseasonable hot weather we are all having to endure. All of this has certainly created unexpected hardship on the corps as a whole. We are hard pressed at this time to recruit new members and teach the show to them in time for finals. Our numbers have dwindled to a point that we are at the upper limits of the marching member requirement for Division III. In an effort to appease the critics, we are not opposed to marching Division II or III. We thought our request to be reasonable in that the requirement is in place for the accepted number or marching members per division. My only recommendation at this time is waive the number of players required for division II, and let Teal compete without penalty for not being able to take the field with the minimum number of marching members required in that division.

this is straight from the DCI website, Division II corps have memberships of no less than 80 and no more than 135 members. Division III units have memberships of no less than 30 and no more than 70. Corps with 71 to 79 members have a choice between Division II or III distinction. These size mandates are designed to offer more performance opportunities for more members without forcing any of the corps to expand beyond their financial means or competitive capabilities.

If you're between the ages of 14 and 21, and are seriously trying to get in a corps, I have a few questions and then a few comments. How long have you played low brass, specifically which instrument? If you are betwen 14 and 21, are you currently involved in any music program through school, such as symphonic band, jazz band, etc.? Most of the music being played is from about the grade 4 level on up to professional level play. If you're serious about playing Soprano, getting all the books in world will not help if you don't have immediate feedback on your playing like you would get in private lessons, recommendation #1. Playing trumpet is not somthing that can easily be picked up in a few months, no matter how good you are at music, it takes time to develop a quality sound, not to mention embouchure to sustain throughout the gruelly rehearsal and shows. Putting a weak embouchure on the field, and trying to march, I mean run, is next to impossible to maintain a quality sound. And, developing bad habits with your playing through self instruction, you run the risk of seriously limiting range, quality of sound, poor and improper embouchure development, poor technical dexterity (fingering). Your playing has to be second nature, and knowing when to change up to alternate fingerings for temperature variations in the horn, as well as being able to lip up or down, phrasing, lyrical vs. technical, etc. the list is pretty extensive. If you're a low brass player stick with it, learn the trumpet on the side, and attempt audition with trumpet after about a year or two of some serious playing and private lessons. Switching now is like going back to the beginning and you will be more frustrated than rewarded if your playing ability on the horn is not instinctive.