Who moved the most.......

[jake_the_hydra]

Who cares?

I'd rather see an interesting and well-written show with many nuances, effects, cool events, etc that was well-performed than a show with more "marching and playing" demand that simply wasn't as entertaining (at least, not as entertaining to my tastes).

Just because someone is marching and playing simultaneously doesn't make it interesting or effective. In fact, I've seen a lot of shows where all it seems the hornline does is march and play. Not necessarily anything interesting, not necessarily quick or well-developed drill, usually at a medium tempo (160-170ish) . . . it's boring. Then, another corps may march and play for a bit, then run around for a bit, then do some coreography, then march and play some more, etc . . . if THAT is written and performed well, then it's probably a lot more interesting.

To assume that a show is more demanding because there's more simultaneous marching and playing is silly and reflects a lack of understanding of what some corps are being asked to do.

Another thing to think about is tempo. Moving most of the show at tempos between 180-208 with a healthy balance of playing and not playing is at least as challenging than moving 160-ish for most of the show and playing more often-- especially when you're asked to do a variety of things in between, namely, coreography.

I know this because I've marched both kinds of shows in two different groups.

Also, when this discussion appears, it seems the people who are proponents of as much marching and playing as possible seem to think that running around at large step-sizes at 200 bpm is easy when not playing. Ever done a basics block? It's pretty difficult on its own. When you add playing to that- even playing not as often as other groups- well, it's pretty demanding.

In any case, I'll take less marching and playing for a more interesting package any day.

STAND STILL! Do it. You'll sound better. Running around and playing is an absurd and silly idea anyway- why do more than you have to?

Edited September 2, 2007 by jake_the_hydra

[ingenious]

Who cares?

I'd rather see an interesting and well-written show with many nuances, effects, cool events, etc that was well-performed than a show with more "marching and playing" demand that simply wasn't as entertaining (at least, not as entertaining to my tastes).

Just because someone is marching and playing simultaneously doesn't make it interesting or effective. In fact, I've seen a lot of shows where all it seems the hornline does is march and play. Not necessarily anything interesting, not necessarily quick or well-developed drill, usually at a medium tempo (160-170ish) . . . it's boring. Then, another corps may march and play for a bit, then run around for a bit, then do some coreography, then march and play some more, etc . . . if THAT is written and performed well, then it's probably a lot more interesting.

To assume that a show is more demanding because there's more simultaneous marching and playing is silly and reflects a lack of understanding of what some corps are being asked to do.

Another thing to think about is tempo. Moving most of the show at tempos between 180-208 with a healthy balance of playing and not playing is at least as challenging than moving 160-ish for most of the show and playing more often-- especially when you're asked to do a variety of things in between, namely, coreography.

I know this because I've marched both kinds of shows in two different groups.

In any case, I'll take less marching and playing for a more interesting package any day.

STAND STILL! Do it. You'll sound better. Running around and playing is an absurd and silly idea anyway- why do more than you have to?

Right... totally agree with you. However, the topic IS specifically about who marched and played the most and these forums clearly have too much pride (myself included) to just let it go.

Edited September 2, 2007 by ingenious

[Einstein On The Beach]

Jazz running at 180+ is easy

[JayM]

Jazz running at 180+ is easy

Agreed.

Executing direction changes is the hard part.

[DKracing]

I understand the point you are trying to make, but you went about it in the completely wrong way.

Yeap.

[LAMystreaux]

That's your opinion. :P People use "that's my opinion" only in defense when people like you attack them. Sorry if my opinion came off as abrasive and close-minded but I just want to make sure BD knows there are a few people out there that appreciate the demand of their shows and understand their uproach of making difficult things look simple.

Is this the opposite of downroach?

[DKracing]

Is this the opposite of downroach?

It's kind of like in-croach.

[mellodramatic]

Jazz running and playing is easier than marching standard technique at a big step size and playing.

[Einstein On The Beach]

Jazz running and playing is easier than marching standard technique at a big step size and playing.

Well sure, you could peg leg a 4-to-5 and play at the same time.......but why?

[raphael18]

STAND STILL! Do it. You'll sound better. Running around and playing is an absurd and silly idea anyway- why do more than you have to?

Maybe we can't all be [insert corps], and that's okay (believe it or not, some of us are happy not being that way). I see no reason why doing more than you have to is a bad thing, in fact I find that very admirable (something you may have a hard time understanding).

Personal taste plays a large part of this argument, and no - I've not marched in a group where we stood still whenever we played anything of significance, ran for a bit while the drums played, and then rolled around on the gr...I mean performed choreography. Oh wait, I was in a group that performed choreography, but we normally did it in large groups where it was obvious if we weren't together, and oh yeah, we played while we did it.

Does the music/visual suffer a bit because you're doing both at the same time? Sure, but that's part of what makes it marching music. If all you want to do is play, I'm sure there are some world-class wind ensembles out there, if you want to march, yes there are drill teams of sorts...but don't criticize those of with the **** to do both at the same time.

So, I will agree to disagree - you find my types of shows slow to develop and boring, and I find your types of shows cheesy and gimmicky. To each his own, as long as we agree that we love corps. :)