Jump to content

boilerman_05

Members
  • Posts

    3,983
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by boilerman_05

  1. Trust me, some corps do (or did) take the visual audition pretty serious. I finished top 5 in my music audition and was cut due to my visual audition. First camp. And yes, it was that bad. I had no clue how to march the corps technique. They had an instruction block before hand, but when you have marched a certain way for years, learning a VERY different technique can take time. And it was my first time auditioning for drum corps.

    *Cut as in I didn't make the line. I was asked back though.

    Similar story here. Did great on my music audition and bombed my marching audition. I actually was asked to jazz run for my audition... and from a dead stop at that. I was ###### at myself because marching is my strong area. I just didn't have it that day, I guess. I do think however someone new to corps would be cut a bit more slack on the marching audition than someone like me who had 2 years of corps under their belt.

  2. Wouldn't be very fair to the corps who would pick shows from earlier in the decade compared to corps who would pick shows from the last year or two.

    Next year BD will still have plenty of members who originally marched 1930. The Cavaliers will have 0 members who marched Frameworks.

    A "Best of the 90's" year would solve the returning member problem. Also, I think you could alleviate some of the talent problem by heavy advertising of the concept before people audition. Top players would be more likely to go to, say, Boston if they knew they could march their 2000 show, or Glassmen if they knew they could march their 2001 show. Sure people would still flock to shows like Frameworks and Spartacus, but I think it would be a more even playing field than your average year.

    Shows I would suggest:

    Blue Devils 2003 - Phenomenom of Cool

    Crown 2009 - The Grass is Always Greener

    HNC 2005 - The Zone: Dreamscapes in Four Parts with a Door

    Cavaliers 2002 - Frameworks

    SCV 2004 - Scheherazade

    Bluecoats 2007 - Criminal

    Boston Crusaders 2000 - Red

    Phantom Regiment 2008 - Spartacus

    Blue Stars 2008 - Le Tour: Every Second Counts

    Glassmen 2001 - Imago

    Blue Knights 2006 - Dark Knights (or 2001 - Blue Tunes :doh: )

    Troopers 2009 - Western Side Story

    Colts 2001 - Chivalry (or 2009, it's a tough choice)

    The Academy 2009 - The Ascent

    Madison Scouts 2005 - The Carmen Project

    Crossmen 2001 - Late Night Jazz

    Spirit 2002 - Darkness Into Light

    Mandarins 2006 - Rhythm Nation

    Pacific Crest 2007 - What Happens in Vegas

    Jersey Surf 2009 - Mozart Effect

    Pioneer 2000 - Dances of Brigadoon

    Seattle Cascades 2002 - City Riffs: The Music of Leonard Bernstein

    Southwind 2000 (maybe this time they can break into finals?)

    It would be interesting to see 16 finalist shows trying for 12 finals spots.

  3. I think there would be problems with phasing. If the electric drummer were at the back corner of the field and the sound were emanating at the front center, he wouldn't be able to listen to people around him and people around him wouldn't be able to listen to him because he would have to play with the pit (who he of course isn't supposed to listen to). But even playing with the DM would create problems. Kinda neat technology, but I see it being impractical for the high level playing of a drum corps. I guess that wouldn't stop Georgie though. :doh:

  4. When I went to Southeastern Louisiana University back in the early '80's, the music majors could play circles around the non-music majors. They just did not have the work ethic and skills that the "majors" had. Marching and playing was their greatest challenge. They just could not get that big sound and put the air through the horns like we could. Seeing all the different corps jackets at band practice was also a hype. Saginaires, Crossmen, Regiment, Colts, Southernaires, Suncoast Sound, Sky Ryders, Troopers et al. Oddly, the non music majors that marched corps kept right up with the "majors". We had a really cool thing happening until Will Rapp decided to leave, after recruiting us all down there. The younger ones left and went home to college, the older ones finished up. It was never the same and I really loved SE LA and the area.
    Did they not have the work ethic, or did they not have the time? I found it difficult to practice even an hour each day because music had to take a back seat to my professional studies. Skills, well, I agree there. Obviously a music major - in general - should be more skilled than a non-music major. Just as an econ major should know more about Keynesian economic theory than a music major.
  5. Marched 4 years Div I/WC. Majored in Industrial Management and now work as a QC Engineer for a food manufacturer. I don't play my horn anymore, but I've recently picked up guitar. I find that playing a little John Mayer on guitar attracts the ladies better than Horovitz's Euphonium Concerto.

  6. for DCI to not allow Crown to win would involve a conspiracy between DCI executive staff and the judges. Do you really have that little faith in the legitimacy of the activity that you think this would happen? This isn't a Mexican wrestling competition, well, except for Madison.

  7. Anytime someone questions the athleticism of drum corps I always point them to an old picture of me from high school. When I graduated, I was 6'1" and 250lbs. After 4 years of drum corps I was still 6'1" but had lost over 80lbs. Now I run regularly (training for the NYC marathon now), eat healthier, and have managed to keep my weight off for the 5 years since I aged out. A trend I hope to continue. I just want to thank DCI, Pioneer, and Glassmen for what I have accomplished. I truly believe drum corps has saved my life.

    4884_815237660168_13716252_47301534_1871046_n.jpg

    Do you have before and after pics? If so, post them here. The "drum corps diet" really works.

  8. I'm not the bulkiest guy out there but I loved marching Euph. No ones arms are up to it from the get go you just learn to deal with it over time not to mention it's more apparent when not on the move i.e. horn arc.

    I like that you say you learn to deal with it rather than it's easy after a while. So true. It's never an easy horn to hold, but I still love it.

    More on topic: Audition for what ever corps you want. If you don't make it, don't worry, try somewhere else. But whatever you do, if you want to march corps, march. Too many people audition for a top 3 corps and if they don't make it they stay home. I guarantee you will not regret your experience even if you are in last place all summer.

  9. While I was out for a run I got to thinking about this article and how reporters are never very good with the details. This report for example calls them bands, and refers to the Phantom DM as a member of the guard. Sure, it's understandable since this is a pretty low key article and a very niche activity. However, I notice the same thing in reports about my profession. I work in the food manufacturing industry, and it's almost scary how often reporters for major news outlets mess up the details. I'm not talking about bias here, but facts that should - with minimal research - be easy to discern... like which agencies are responsible for different kinds of products (USDA = meat, FDA = everything else). It really makes me skeptical when I read articles about things I am not intimately familiar with. Can I really trust what they are saying as correct? I understand they are human and prone to mistakes, but it seems like people have a very high image of reporters (at least for outlets like the NYT, WSJ, TIME, etc) that isn't necessarily warranted.

    Sorry for the diversion. Back to complaining about complaining.

  10. I think you can argue for a different top 10, but hey, they never call it marching bands, get all of the instruments right, and even throw in some old timers. Pretty cool!

    http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages...1914707,00.html

    Huh? They call them bands all the time in the writeups. The link to the article is called "Battle of the Bands". I really don't mind though. I'll sell out that bit of integrity for national exposure to the activity.

×
×
  • Create New...