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rut-roh

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Everything posted by rut-roh

  1. That particular response was mainly for one reason....it meant that Star of Indiana (who was in 1st place at quarterfinals and dropped down to 2nd at semis) couldn't win the show. Add in the fact that it probably meant the Cavaliers would win their first DCI title, and you have sort of the perfect storm for crowd response. The Cadets had a great show that year, but in terms of all the audience machinations of that evening, I think they were kind of caught in the middle of larger events having to do with other corps.
  2. Star of Indiana won their title with seven snares. IMO, you can win and be competitive at the highest levels with 7 snares, but no less. They better wrap those remaining snare players in bubble wrap or something after every rehearsal. If another one goes down, they'll be in serious trouble.
  3. There were moments in that show where they were as loud as anything I ever heard. They just didn't play loud all the time, and sported a pretty nice dynamic range. They may not have been as loud as BD that year, but they could open it up with the best of them.
  4. Really?? Their scores were HIGHER than when they actually added the drill? Wow. Sweet!
  5. If you insist. You must know better than me what my experience has been in this activity. I've only been teaching drum corps for the past 20 years. Sorry for relating my experience, I didn't mean to ruin your blame game. You may resume your witch hunt.
  6. Or taught... Sometimes, even the best plans to be ahead of the game with show preparation go awry and there's nothing you can do about it. It happens.
  7. At least I can hope you see I'm just joshing and trying to have a bit of fun. Others, I fear, are not.
  8. That would be disappointing, wouldn't it? If all this angst was simply about hypotheticals. Speaking of pointless penalties (huh?), if it were up to me, I would penalize corps for bad visual transitions, ugly flags, and parking the drumline on the back sideline during the ballad.
  9. No need for penalties, financial or otherwise, as there is no edict in the rules that states a show must have x amount of time marching drill. Nor should there be. If the totality of the audio/visual presentation lacks in quality in comparison to other corps who may be presenting more, then that should be reflected in the score, but don't automatically expect it to be a massive point differential. Like SCV losing to Troopers or something because they stood still for 30 seconds at the end of their show due to incomplete drill.
  10. Why add filler? Get to a certain part of the show where you no longer feel comfortable marching recently learned drill or whatever, stand still in a certain drill set and then play the rest of the show in that set. I've seen corps do it before many times. No timing penalties, and the audience gets a COMPLETE musical performance. As far as visual scores being affected, yeah, they might be to an extent, based on the quality of the rest of the visual program that was already presented. Nine and a half minutes of decent visual followed by a standstill might still be better than ten and a half minutes of mediocre to not so good visual.
  11. You assume every single corps is dealing with identical circumstances. Same rehearsal facilities, same weather, same membership move-in availability, same talent, same staff. I know we would all like to see the most complete shows possible at these first shows. I got news for you, the corps themselves want to be as complete as possible as well. And sometimes, well, it just doesn't work out that way. Even if you plan with certain obstacles in mind.
  12. A couple years ago, someone went on and on about how "offensive" it was that shows were incomplete in June. To them, it was "a slap in the face" to the fans. I posted this as a response. Reposted it last year. I suppose I will keep on reposting it every year. I stand by it. Here's a bit of fun for all you fans of hypotheticals and "drawing the lines"... Only this isn't really hypothetical. In 1991 or 1992 (someone please correct me on the specific year), the Cadets of Bergen County came out of the gate in June with several blanks in their drill. Apparently, many members of the corps got food poisoning. Of course, nobody in the stands knew that. They just saw a world class corps with a whole bunch of blanks. Some of them may have even been offended and taken it as a slap in the face. Who knows? Now, anyone with half a brain would look at that situation in its proper context and say, well, #### happens and it wasn't their fault and I hope everyone gets better soon. They would not be offended. Certainly, I would hope they wouldn't want kids who were not physically able to perform to try and do so. They would understand the situation, hopefully sympathize with it, and appreciate that the corps would carry on to try and entertain the audience in spite of the circumstances they were forced to deal with. So... A corps TODAY plans their production schedule around being complete for their first show on, let's say, June 20th. They're a moderately young corps with many high school kids. As such, they have it worked out so that they will finish learning the drill on June 15th and have five days of nothing but cleaning to get ready for that first show. Seems like a reasonable schedule to me, and to them, as they know they will have 95% of their corps moved in by a certain date. They worked it out on paper and it looked like June 15th was the most reasonable and realistic date for them. Even if it rained a few days, they had five days to spare to get finished. I live in the northeast. For whatever reason, there has been an awful lot of rain and thunderstorms here lately. Sometimes, for several days in a row. A freak meteorlogic occurance? Perhaps. Do the fans in the stands on June 20th know that? Do they care? Or do they just want their 11 and half minutes no matter what? I don't know. Anyway, back to our intrepid corps. They're in the middle of training, and they've already lost four days to the rain, and the forecast for the follwing week looks like much of the same. They've been getting outside as much as possible to get whatever they can onto the field, but they are clearly behind despite their very best efforts and planning. A few more problems arise. The sheer volume of rain has saturated their rehearsal fields. Large sections of mud cover the center portion of the field where much of the drill takes place. Kids are getting injured, and the situation at times is not safe, even when the rain stops. The administration of the corps sets out to find a replacement facility nearby to rectify the situation. Every place they call is asking for a fee that the corps simply cannot afford. Finally, the weather starts to break their way, they get out to the field and manage to finish learning their drill on June 19th. The end of the show is simply a mess. The kids don't feel comfortable with it. The staff doesn't feel comfortable with it. But it has to be learned. It is decided at the end of the day that the corps will get to a certain part of the closer, halt in their set and perform the music portion of the show til the end. In all, about 35 seconds of drill will not be seen by the audience. This corps did everything they could to deal with the circumstances they were dealt with, the overwhelming majority of which was out of their control. The fans in the stands know nothing about any of this, of course. And here we are... Do we get upset at this corps and demand our money back? Do we boo? Do we sit in the stands and refuse to applaud because their show is incomplete (even though we're getting a full musical performance)? I know what my answer is. Afterwards, if we're upset, we find the corps director of that corps and make our feelings known that we don't appreciate being disrespected as a fan like that. He proceeds to explain the circumstances surrounding their training period. All the stuff that we in the stands don't always get a chance to learn about. Do we remain upset? Do we change our minds and realize that they did what they had to do with what they had? Do we DRAW A LINE? If so, why? Would we draw a line with the Cadets situation from back in the day and not this one? Why? Just some more food for thought. When I think of what I expect with the ticket I buy as a fan, I expect each corps to go out there and do their best for me. If their best is 9 minutes of audio/visual and a minute and a half of just music, then I appreciate that...because I know how things go in drum corps, and more often than not, I think these corps deserve (and have earned) the benefit of the doubt. But that's me.
  13. You ain't breaking nothin to me. I know they're basically representations of those military looks and not actual uniforms in the military sense. I even acknowledged that. I just think that the current Cadets look and some of the previous Troopers looks (not last year's, to be clear) are more authentic *looking*, and therefore more in keeping with what I expect and like seeing from those two corps more than any other. The Cadets went back to that authentic look and I like it. The Troopers did not, and I think it's wretched.
  14. The Madison Scouts Persecution Complex needs to be given a rest here. Not everyone here siding with the kid (or at the very least sympathizing with him) hate the Madison Scouts. And when you and others leap to your feet to advise someone like him that his words and actions might be making the corps look bad, be prepared to take that advice yourself.
  15. You've missed the point. It's not about cutting the cymbal line.
  16. When the corps decides to cut the entire soprano/trumpet line, get back to me with this nonsense. The pride he's speaking about comes from knowingly being a part of what is largely considered a dying breed in DCI. And something the Scouts have historically, with very few exceptions, been known for in this area. It's easy for you to say get over it, but you're not in his shoes. If you were told there would be no cymbal line and then you go and see **color guard members** picking up cymbals in the show, if you were to tell me you'd be happy with that, then I'd think you weren't being entirely honest. He's more than entitled to feel the way he does. His feelings are entirely legitimate and valid. Nobody's mind is going to be changed here. The corps made its decision. He accepts it but just doesn't agree with how it was handled. He still loves the Scouts, and I'm sure he will recover and move on from this. Perhaps some here can try to be more understanding of what he's going through. When you're at that age, you only get so many chances at this DCI thing. And when you're a cymbal player who loves that craft, your opportunities are fewer and further between. What bugs me the most about it is that when I heard Thom Hannum was going to be writing the book, it never occurred to me that there WOULDN'T be a cymbal line. More than just about any other arranger, he actually knows how to write for that voice and incorporate it into the musical ensemble in a way that really enhances the overall musical product. I'm disappointed in this turn of events. So, ggab704, I'm with you man. I totally understand your feelings about this, and I wish it could have been handled differently.
  17. I honestly don't like any of them. And I usually dig at least a few when corps make changes like this. I don't even like what Cavaliers did with minor alterations. I guess the only one I don't really have any strong feelings about either way is Bluecoats. Very minor, hardly noticeable. But Crown, Madison, Blue Stars, Spirit, Troopers....my goodness, just awful, the lot of them. Most disappointed in the Troopers. Like the Cadets, the Troopers are one corps I expect to see wearing authentic (as authentic as drum corps practicality will allow) military style UNIFORMS. That's the whole point to the Troopers look, historically speaking. What they're wearing now is a costume. Playing dress up like Halloween in something that's trying to look like that classic Troopers uniform, but failing miserably IMO. Very much like the gauntleted Cadets look from a few years back. Fortunately, the Cadets were smart enough to go back. I hope one day the Troopers will do the same. Don't over-think a classic. No need to re-invent the wheel. It's the Troopers.
  18. It's a general vibe I'm getting. I mean it's a minute and 30 seconds in and I'm already bored. There's not a lot going on. That's just not what I expected out of them with this show. We'll see how it all turns out.
  19. If Madison doesn't have a cymbal line, that would really disappoint me considering Mr Hannum's involvement. He's one of the few percussion arrangers who actually knows how to use them properly.
  20. Ugh! Color me concerned if this is true.
  21. I sure hope so. It's not what I would call attention-grabbing the way I would expect the beginning of their show to be.
  22. "What is that, velvet??" The streak continues...I have officially never liked a Carolina Crown uniform EVER.
  23. Hey, whatever it takes to win, right? Sad, but unfortunately not surprising.
  24. In the words of our great "big toe," Sergeant Hulka.... "Lighten up, Francis."
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