ShutUpAndPlayYerGuitar

Edited my long-winded floor/ceiling predictions and made it even longer. Some overall analysis and predictions ... - I'm confident that every corps in last year's top 10 (BAC and above) stays in finals. - It gets really interesting among Madison, Crossmen, Colts, Troopers, BDB, Academy, and Spirit. Do you take programmatic risks (like the Colts did last year and will likely do this year), or do you play it relatively safe (like Crossmen did ... which isn't a knock at all ... the staff was smart about their program and they finished 12th with a show that a lot of people liked)? I think Madison ultimately stays in finals. They have learned too much from 2007 and 2009. They have enough returning staff. Their brass staff is great at what they do, and Boerma's return will help things too. Their visual and guard staff seem decent enough as well. Mason laid a pretty solid blueprint for this staff to follow. - Were the high finishes by BDB and SCVC a fluke? Can there be another lower division finalist for the first time since 2002?

Listed by last year's final placements with some fundamental questions and a floor/ceiling prediction. I kept the remaining corps after 18th blank, just because I haven't seen enough/any to make a judgement. Feel free to add floor/ceiling analysis to these groups if you want. 1) Blue Devils - Will this year's literary show inspire the same crowd-pleasing moments AND competitive dominance? Floor - 3rd (By the slimmest of margins) Ceiling - 1st (2 points over the runner-up) 2) Bluecoats - Will bloo maintain their strengths (music performance captions) while improving their weaknesses (guard)? Floor - 6th (I think the design staff learns from past mistakes and won't drop out of the top 6 for a while) Ceiling - 1st (If the guard doesn't improve, they must win a caption or two) 3) Cadets - Has GH and company come up with a focused concept that shows the corps strengths? Floor - 4th Ceiling - 1st (No matter what, this has potential to be a favorite Cadets show for many ... best since 2011) 4) SCV - Will a non-percussion caption step up? Floor - 7th (Rennick and a decent core staff will keep them from placing lower) Ceiling - 1st (Not likely, but it's possible with the right show) 5) Crown - Will they rebound from last year's inspired yet cluttered show? Floor - 5th (brass and competent visual program are too good to go any lower) Ceiling - 1st (I think they'll at least rebound into medal contention) 6) Cavaliers - Does the post-2012 upward trajectory continue? Floor - 8th (I think only Phantom and BK have a shot at passing them, and that's only if the design staff lays an egg) Ceiling - 3rd (Too dense up there to get any higher, but the show sounds fun and focused enough to be top 3 material) 7) Phantom - Will the "City of Light" be the vehicle that gets them back into the top 5? Floor - 9th (The instructional staff is too good to let them fall any further) Ceiling - 3rd (Same as Cavaliers ... the talent is there to medal. They just need the right show) 8) Blue Knights - Can their design staff improve on last year's memorable, emotional show? Floor - 11th (strong GE and music performance captions will keep them in finals) Ceiling - 6th (They're capable of repeating their 2000 finish, but a major player like SCV and/or Cavies need to fall) 9) Blue Stars - Can the corps improve in other areas other than GE and Shapiro's incredible guard? Floor - 11th (Scouts are capable of passing them, but they're staying in finals) Ceiling - 6th (I'm reluctant to give them this high of a ceiling, but their elite guard can drag them upward) 10) Boston Crusaders - Will BAC perform a more conventional show for year 75? Floor - 11th ("Animal Farm" is one of my all-time favorites. The visual staff took tons of risks, which ultimately warranted a lower placement) Ceiling - 5th (Yes, I'm giving them a higher ceiling than Blue Stars and BK. It's an anniversary year and this underrated staff is capable of coming up with something inspired) 11) Madison Scouts - Will Madison rise above the stereotypical "transition year" blues and produce something that both the fans/alumni AND judges like? Floor - 14th (It's unlikely they'll fall this far, but it's possible. I'm certain it won't be as bad as 2007 or 2009, but a fundamentally different design staff raises some questions) Ceiling - 8th (Like Phantom and Boston -- corps that are going in different directions from the prior year -- Madison's placement range is hard to gauge. You can say whatever about the Mason years, but one thing is clear: his shows kept them in finals. I love that Boerma is back, and I'm excited to see something fresh, but the show needs to be a focused concept that everyone can buy into. They can't afford to make a bunch of mid-season changes again) 12) Crossmen - Will this balanced corps (fairly equal contribution across all captions) stay rooted as a perennial finalist again? Floor - 15th (Design miscalculations and/or rising competition can knock them out of finals again ... see 2013) Ceiling - 10th (I feel a tad guilty giving them this ceiling, but I'm pretty confident they will at least be back in finals. Last year, they waltzed into finals with 1 point penalty and a so-so -- in my opinion -- show concept. I think this will be a really cool show ... Jubal Step is going to bring some old-school Bones sizzle. Besides that, this staff is good at getting the most out of its performers. They push their members without overwriting -- at least in the music captions) 13) Colts - Will another unique, narrative-heavy show launch them into finals again ... or will music performance issues keep them out again? Floor - 15th (I predicted in another thread that the red team would make finals this year ... but after looking at the competition above, I'm not so sure. The drum staff was new last year, so I think they'll improve in that region, but the other music performance captions need to improve. Sub-captions went as high as 9th and as low as 17th. The combination of Sylvester, Naffier, and staff retention will give them a higher floor) Ceiling - 11th (This corps' strengths are visual performance and GE, which will help them at least stay in finals contention ... and maybe, maybe cement a Saturday performance. The X-factor is where Madison ends up. I honestly don't see Colts passing Crossmen) 14) Troopers - Can the staff figure out the right visual elements to go with a phenomenal music ensemble? Floor - 17th (I doubt the mistakes from 2012's show will happen again) Ceiling - 11th (Troopers are the exact inverse of Colts: strong music performance, safe visually. I know nothing about "Wild Horses." It sounds like a decent, focused concept ... and people have a soft spot for horses -- remember 2007 Crown? If the design team takes some more calculated visual risks, I think it's capable of being a memorable year. Similar scenario as Colts ... Madison needs to fall) 15) Blue Devils B - How far can Meehan, Karlin, and the instructional staff push these kids? Floor - 20th (Last year was the first time I ever saw BDB live. Simply incredible. I think corps like The Academy, Spirit, and PC have extra incentive to up their game this year) Ceiling - 13th (As cool as it would be to see BDB in finals, it would require some insane shake-up up top. No idea if last year's finish is indicative of a long-term trend) 16) The Academy - Can this corps find something extra to get them back into finals contention? Floor - 20th Ceiling - 13th (Returning design staff is very promising. Like BDB's ceiling prediction, though, there needs to be some serious shake-up to be able to pass both Troopers and Colts) 17) Spirit of Atlanta - Will visual/design improvements get this corps "Out of The Ashes" and back into finals? Floor - 18th (They pretty much hit the floor last year. I doubt they'll go any lower) Ceiling - 12th (I think they'll miss finals, but I'm willing to give them a higher ceiling than the above two. It's a returning staff coming back to a corps that isn't that far removed from 11th place. Again, serious help is needed to get in) 18) Vanguard Cadets - Like their Bay Area rivals, can SCVC leave some more World Class groups in their wake? Floor - 21st Ceiling - 15th (From what I've seen, finals contention is pretty out-of-sight, but I'm really excited to see what the top Open Class corps can do) 19) Oregon Crusaders - 20) Pacific Crest - 21) Mandarins - 22) Jersey Surf - 23) Genesis - 24) Spartans - 25) 7th Regiment - 26) Cascades - 27) Music City - 28) Gold - 29) Legends - 30) Pioneer - 31) Raiders - 32) Colt Cadets - 33) Coastal Surge - 34) Les Stentors - 35) Racine Scouts - 36) Blue Saints - New Corps Coming to Indy River City Rhythm (not listed on dci.org yet) - Jubal - Yokohama Scouts - ... Any one else?

A few disclaimers ... - Yeah, this is very long. - This topic is centered around some old threads from 2006/2007 involving an inactive corps called Jester. There is a bunch of hearsay, conjecture, trolling, and accusation hurling that mentions people by name. It gets pretty ugly, but there's also a lot of "espirit de corps" among members and fans. I won't link it, but it's not hard to find. - The last thing I want this topic to do is to dig up old gossip. The "juicy details" surrounding this group are no different than any other group that's inactive or that has had its share of struggles in the changing landscape. Rather, I'd like to get a discussion going on what it takes to field a start-up unit in 2015 vs 2006. Moving on ... I don't spend my time lurking old forums, but I had an insanely slow work-day and kept thinking about this group with a weird name. I know nothing about Jester Drum and Bugle Corps, other than it was a small corps from Arizona that competed at some DCI events during the mid-2000s. It was the only other corps from Arizona besides The Academy (which, at the time, was a rising star that performed as an exhibition-only group for five years before competing in DCI in 2006). Both groups started at the same time, but Jester always seemed to be in The Academy's shadow. For whatever reason, Jester inspired some heated threads during the competitive season. To sum up the debate in my own words ... One side argued that this corps was too small and under-trained to even take the field as a DCI Division III corps. In their view, DCI (and drum corps in general) was better off not having another underfunded and understaffed corps. As long as the corps passed its DCI evaluation and had the minimum 30 members, they had as much right to perform as the bigger groups. A lot of moral support came from Renegades, SoCal Dream, and other small corps people. Obviously, there was much more to the discussion and I'm probably oversimplifying it, but that was essentially the conversation. This was back when DCI was three "divisions," as opposed to Open/World Class. One poster named "musicdesign" argued the DCI evaluation process wasn't strict enough and allowed mismanaged corps to compete. Throughout the thread, this poster makes a bunch of dumb, insulting, and snobbish remarks (saying that he/she has a bunch of experience with corps administration without elaborating where or when). There was one post from "musicdesign" that resonated though, emphasis mine: Posted 11 July 2006 - 02:11 PM Yes I have watched this corps perform and rehearse many times. your posting proves my point! In your own positing you are making my point!!!! If I have to tell you why it is embarassing then you must not have been involved in the activity for long and seen many corps! Yes there should be a place for these corps like these to perform and grow but not in the heat of competition. Maybe DCI needs to form a non-competitive and or evaluation division for corps like these with a totally different evaluation/scoring system. Again I give all the kids props for what they are doing. And Now The Point of This Needlessly Long Anecdote ... As much as I hate this person's snobbery and overuse of exclamation points, they basically highlighted the reason for SoundSport to exist. There's finally a tier of drum corps where a group isn't summed up by a low score at a major show and forced to play an impossible game of catch-up against more established groups. To see a corps like Southwind come back to DCI via SoundSport makes me incredibly optimistic for the future. I'm not going to say something saccharine like "who know's ... maybe we'll see Jester again ..." or anything like that. But maybe Arizona will have some more options for people that want to perform. A few questions ... - Since the arrival of SoundSport, has DCI's evaluation process changed at all? - Are there any issues with SoundSport that you think need to be addressed and vetted? Is there a long way to go before we see more groups using it as a gateway into Open Class? Go Jester

I meant local businesses and places to eat outside the stadium, but I suppose I'm being a little unfair to Annapolis. The surrounding campus was very nice. The issue with nearby residential homes is unfortunate. I miss the post-finals "blow-downs" or whatever people called them.

Not at all, but stadium officials would probably use that against us. The old "they'll scuff up our field" excuse has been used by college/high school athletic directors for a long time. Knowing how protective soccer teams are of natural pitches, this would be a red flag. The Red Bull stadium is gorgeous and would be a great area to have championships though. Did anyone on here go to the Chester, PA show at PPL Park last year? Was that a good venue for drum corps?

That's too bad. I hope the city comes out of this okay. I still like Rochester better than Annapolis as a host, especially in regard to the stadium. More appropriate-sized stadium for DCA that doesn't swallow up sound. I have a soft spot for drum corps in soccer stadiums (i.e. Columbus). Also, say what you will about the neighborhood, but at least Sahlen is surrounded by more than just a giant lot.

I thought the show was going to be about all the bad drum corps tattoos people get. Also, when I saw the words "Blue" and "Ink," I immediately thought of this ...

If you don't have a marching horn, find a workout that's part-cardio, part-light weights with high repetitions. Do upper body/back workouts. That'll at least help. Also, yoga. Do that regardless. Assuming that you do have a marching tuba/contra ... - If you have access to a large mirror, utilize it when you practice music. Always practice as if you're at a rehearsal (standing, marking time with a metronome, etc). As McLovin mentioned, posture is fundamental. You always want to look tall and lifted, with your lower abs engaged. It doesn't matter if your horn is down at a carry (or at "chop") or if it's at a playing position: your posture should be straight and your shoulders should be relaxed yet your upper-body should overall look "big." Using a mirror is the best way to be honest with yourself on how you look. You can catch a lot of things you would've never noticed (crooked head, bad posture, etc). The ultimate goal is to 1) look big and have big presence, and 2) remove tension. - You will need to be able to do horn manuals as fast as all the other instruments. Spend a bunch of time going from parade rest (bell on the ground) to chop to horns up. See how fast you can manuever the instrument with as little motion as possible (without dropping it, of course). - Work on your tone and overall quality of sound. Technical abilities mean nothing if your sound is weak or inconsistent. I've known some otherwise great tuba players who didn't do well in drum corps because they allowed tension to kill their sound quality. - Hype everything you do and have fun.

Someone needs to do a World Cup show. There’s so many things you can do with it: - Most/every member has their own soccer ball. Use that to create a static form (like the Phantom 93 helmet thing). - Play music representing certain countries and their style of play (individual flair of South American teams, slow-build strategy of European teams. - Tons of emotional moments, just like the other great sports shows like Crown 07, Blue Stars 08, Bluecoats 08 (Tough training, Agony of Defeat, Thrill of Victory, etc) - Get the audience to do some orgnanized chants - If the group is big enough, and with an insane budget, maybe there can be some Tifos ...

/not a lawyer From what I've read, it differs from MN's RFRA law in that it specifically states that anyone who feels their religion has been burdened can find legal protection "regardless of whether the state or any other governmental entity is a party to the proceeding." That appears to be the language that concerns people. That being said, DCI isn't going to move venues this year ... nor should it. Money quote from Madison's director via Facebook: "Indiana is not a state full of homophobes and hatred. If you want to make your voice heard, use the most powerful vote you have -- your dollar. Support the businesses that support your views."

Drum corps is insanely challenging and physically/mentally/emotionally exhausting, regardless of what the rehearsal philosophy is, so take that as you will. That said, based on watching rehearsals and talking to members/staff, I'd say Blue Devils and Cavaliers walk-the-walk when it comes to the "Work Smarter, Not Harder" mantra. All the alums I know from each corps had great experiences with how rehearsals were run.

Sorry if this has already been asked: Can a corps mic/amplify brass instruments (like some DCI corps do with soloists)?

Fixed it.

A couple more items ... - The reason I think there will be at least a DCI regional can be found here (see seventh bullet). The city and state are aggressively trying to get events into this stadium, and I can't think of anything that would conflict with a DCI show. Again, I think hosting DCI finals would be a tall order -- at least when you compare versus Indianapolis -- mainly because of warm-up spots, parking, school/public support (it's there but doesn't compare to Indy), but who knows. - Below is another view of the stadium (north-facing cut-out). On the left side, you can see the main entrance doors. They're 90 feet high and are (supposedly) able to remain open on nice days. Not sure if this will help acoustically. Might not even be used anyway, like the Oil Can's sliding windows. - Below is a shot of Forsythe Barr Stadium in New Zealand. The roof is all ETFE. Any drum corps willing to take a road trip to test this bad boy out? Another interesting tid-bit: it's the world's only fully enclosed stadium that uses natural grass.

As much as I hate publicly-funded stadiums, I've been geeking out about the new Minnesota Vikings stadium that's being built in downtown Minneapolis. One of the more fascinating aspects is that the enclosed roof will be made of something called ethylene-tetraflouroethylene (ETFE). In my downtime, I've been researching as much as I can about the material. I initially thought it was something like plexi-glass, but it's actually more of a film-like substance that's capable of stretching. The roof will use layered panels (each of which will be inflated). I found a fascinating presentation on YouTube featuring Ben Morris, an architect with a company that installs ETFE. He describes various buildings he's worked on that have utilized it. It's a great video, even if you're not into architecture. That said, go to about the 6:50 minute mark for an interesting anecdote about the noise reduction capabilities of ETFE. Basically, it allows more sound to escape compared to other materials like polycarbonate. TL;DR ... Getting to the point ... I'm pretty confident the stadium will eventually host a drum corps show. Probably not DCI finals (lack of parking/warm up space in downtown Minneapolis), but definitely something. "Marching Band competitions" is mentioned in one of the official press releases. Will there finally be an indoor stadium that doesn't completely suck acoustically? Or am I completely overestimating the stadium design/roof material (is this Metrodome 2.0)? Any architect/engineering minds around to weigh in?

*Awakens from off-season hibernation* *Gets out from under rock* - Jim Rome isn't as relevant as he used to be. The backlash got more attention than his original tweet. That's a victory. - The petition is a nice gesture and I will eventually sign it. At the very least, it raises DCI's profile. But ... - Having DCI on CBS daytime/CBS Sports won't happen and shouldn't happen. I'm glad the ESPN experiment happened, but my god ... those broadcasts were awful. Too much dumbed-down filler ("this is a tuba" ... "this is a rifle" ... "this is dutting"), too little performances. Don't forget the copryright headaches. It would be the same or worse with CBS. - Rome spending "a day in the life" of a DCI member will never happen. He likes the comfy confines of his studio (learned from the Rush Limbaugh school of media). - If DCI wants to get back into the television game, they should raise money for a 2+ hour documentary ... something in the vein of MTV's "True Life," HBO's "Hard Knocks" or PBS's "Broadway or Bust." Have it be testimonials/video diary's from 3-5 people from various corps through out a DCI season. It's ultimately the touring aspect that sells the activity, otherwise people wouldn't commit to it. There's not as many copyright headaches and there's zero live production headaches. - As much as I hate college marching band, it's good to see drum corps peeps involved in this. That said ... - Don't call it the "marching arts." I know people are looking for a uniform term for all of the activities, but "marching arts" is almost self-parody. I'd almost rather call it "Music In Motion."

Not for nothing, but BD pretty much does arrangements by committee. Basically, Dave Glyde does a lot of it and Wayne Downey/Scott Johnson work on their respective sections. A buddy on staff explained their arrangement process in detail, but my head started to hurt.

<unnecessary prediction>Colts will make finals in 2015</unnecessary prediction>

Step 1: eliminate "easy" from your vocabulary. Even if you make a competitive World Class guard, you'll be setting yourself (and your peers) up for a rough summer with that mind-set. Step 2: go to a fall audition camp for a finalist group that you really like. Don't be afraid to aim high. You'll gain valuable knowledge and know what you need to work on. Step3a: IF you're offered a contract ... congrats, but keep working progressively hard each month. Don't give the staff any reason to doubt your skills. That was always my mantra. Step3b: IF you're not offered a contract ... that's fine, if not better. In some cases, you can even continue to attend winter camps (depending on the group's schedule), but start looking for other options. They include lower ranked World Class corps, Open Class corps, all-age DCA corps (if you live out east or in the upper midwest ... there's some great all-age corps that have phenomenal instructors). Email the guard caption heads and tell them your experience. Be honest with them. They'll either tell you what to expect for their upcoming camps, or refer you to another group if they're full (which will be doubtful ... a lot of guards wait until April to set numbers). Step 4: no matter what ... find a winterguard. It is incredibly helpful for development and great for networking (it's easier to make a corps when you know people). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ If you simply want to "make" a finalist-caliber group, it's not very difficult. There's numbers to fill and many groups have openings during spring, as well as holes to fill during the summer. But if you say you're not "very good," that likely means you'll have a rough summer. You'll maybe get better, but you might get taken out of the show too. Guard instructors can be the biggest ######## sometimes, especially to rookies. TLDR: Don't make it about "making" a top-12 group. Make it about improving yourself as a performer first. It never gets easy ... even during the late season. But if you do it right and allow yourself to grow, it gets to be incredibly fun.

If I was Dan Acheson, I would've responded to John Blair's emails differently (inspired by this): Dear Mr. Blair, Attached is an email that we received on Aug 26, 2014, at 1:52 PM. I feel that you should be aware that some ######## is signing your name to stupid emails. Very truly yours, Drum Corps International

Why not have another mini-corps go on? Or have some sort of I&E showcase like DCI used to have? Not telling you how to do your job DCA, but having 12th place go on last (after Star, no less) is just weird. And I'm still bitter about the Heartliner snub last year. *It should go without saying, but this isn't a slam on any non-finalist exhibition groups. It's a slam on DCA's odd sense of scheduling.

Cool link ... thanks. Considering this newest incarnation of Southwind still has the involvement of some of the original founders (not to mention lots of alumni support), however, I think this ship is the same as it ever was.

The "corps" is the same, and has the blessing/involvement of many key people from its history. The non-profit organization running the corps is different. All I had to do was check SW's Wikipedia page. Not that hard.

35 is the cut-off limit. EDIT: See Spandy's response below for more accurate explanation. If I can take a moment to defend Class A: I know having a 5-corps Class A "field" is kind of a bummer, but it fluctuates every year. Last year there were 11 competing small corps. Year before had 8. DCA's Class A model has mostly been a success. It encourages corps designers to program within their means and has been stepping stone for several quality groups that made the transition to Open Class (Fusion Core ... need I say more). *shrug* I guess it comes down to personal preference. I'd rather see a two-tier system where the lower tier corps don't have to over-extend themselves in order to be deemed "competitive." Having one giant field of corps all clawing at each other just doesn't seem as interesting to me.

Same questions, different year: Which hotels/schools are the competing corps staying at this year? Anyone have a master list?