BX5CM Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 (edited) Shows must be understandable to their audience. Part of the way General Effect works is by using "Asthetic" qualities inheirent in the music and visual... qualities causing the audience to identify and recognize. There are ways for designers to "explain" themselves through the choices they make. If they choose not to explain something that is lost on most of the audience then they probably could have done a stronger job designing that aspect of the show that is not understood. A really easy example of using costuming and design to explain a concept was Cavaliers 1995. As most probably know, "The Planets" is a piece, not actually about the planets in the solar system, but about the Gods they represented. So how did the designers of that show choose to explain this through the visual program they put out? What choices did they make and did they successfully get the message across to the audience who may not have known that? Edited June 25, 2008 by BX5CM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melligene Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 Just to add to the commentary.......put the corps on the field and allow me to "get it". If I do, it worked for me. I think the EQ (entertainment quotient) should combine and consider all facets of the production to insure that they are "readable" meaning "understandable" by the majority of the audience.Just my 2 lira Joe Could go with amps and mics like DCI.......that way you get a "play-by-play".........NOT !!!!!!! How many hot dogs can YOU eat during a show? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LegalEagle50 Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 (edited) without drum corps i wouldn't be aware of many pieces of music or who composed them. i didn't go into watching certain shows with an awareness of those things. so seeing them did help me learn new things. not because it was handed to me inside a program, but because the pieces were played and designed in such a way i was interested and wanted to learn more. every show is an experiment IMO. some turn out good, and some don't. some on paper look great and in person, eh? being a "drum corps enthusiast" as the original poster mentions shouldn't have to mean you have a degree in arts, literature or music BUT it also shouldn't mean that the audience member requires the corps to limit themselves to the same old same old either. having a play by play in the program isn't going to help some enthusiasts ~ someone already said that if it has to be that way it's not worth getting and i disagree on that point too. what's wrong with taking a moment to educate and open the fans up to new things? i don't like the idea that thinking outside the box is automatically bad. it's a shame that so many people are afraid to do exactly that for how some fans might just react . . . Edited June 25, 2008 by LegalEagle50 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drumlaw80 Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 understood,..............the first sparticus libretto used by Phantom I thought was kinda cool,............but I really have enough to think about, and don't want to be "educated"...............it just gives me the sense of being educated by some freakin' know-it-all,...........that has their own sense of "I know better than you, so I need to educate you" mindset,...............now that's a turn off I thought Phantom's Sparticus libretto in 1982 was cool too. I don't remember it as being needed to appreciate the show at all ... it was really just part of the Phantom mystique, and that they were doing a serious classical show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Matczak Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 I thought Phantom's Sparticus libretto in 1982 was cool too. I don't remember it as being needed to appreciate the show at all ... it was really just part of the Phantom mystique, and that they were doing a serious classical show. true,..............that's prolly why I never read it,.....................however, I got 10 bucks for it on ebay,................ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis Argul Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 Did I miss a meeting? El Camino Real, Spanish Fantasy, My Spanish Heart and Malaguena......... that needs a libretto? I love the summer!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martybucs Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 Yeah, that's the ticket...go buy a hot dog. Hopefully you're open-minded there - maybe some ketchup and onions this time instead of mustard? Expand the old taste palette one way or the other. That was fine "back in the day". We called them "Hot Dog Cadets", corps or shows we didn't like, but now it has evolved, This is modern drum corps. Now you should go for your weinerwurst du jour, with the condiments and a la carte items of your choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ech2os Posted June 25, 2008 Author Share Posted June 25, 2008 (edited) Did I miss a meeting?El Camino Real, Spanish Fantasy, My Spanish Heart and Malaguena......... that needs a libretto? I love the summer!! It didn't used to. Does it now ? You're the expert :) I would say that if you are playing Verdi's Requiem and Shaft in the same show you don't need a libretto. But with the advent of the "concept" show a lot of people are left out in the cold because as Gary alluded to earlier "they aren't smart enough" to get it. My Dad just told me a story about watching Reading in 1973 and listening to people around him say during Requiem that "this sounds like something you would hear at a funeral". These folks really wanted to hear Alexander's Ragtime Band. But hey, that's now what I am saying. I am simply suggesting that a corps could drop the "geek ego" a little and reach out to the fan more to help the fan enjoy more than just the music they are hearing. I am not saying spoon feed the audience to the point you are leading them to your own conclusion, but I think people tend to dislike things they don't understand. Nobody likes to feel stupid and unfortunately, for whatever reason, there is a lot of ego and condescension in music. Most likely due to its subjective nature. I am a Cisco Network Engineer by day. I remember what it was like to know nothing about computer networks when I first started out. I now try to keep in mind that not everybody knows that the internet is not something you have "on your computer". I think people appreciate that sensitivity when I help them through their issues. I think drum corps could help itself by taking that same attitude with its a lot of its fans. Will there always be people who will not like your show or who will not get it.........sure......but I think that number would decrease (which I think is a good thing) if more care were taken to include the audience. That doesn't mean you have to have mics and it doesn't mean you have to "dumb down" the show. It seems that drum corps isn't totally about the music anymore....its about the concept and the design and the visual flow the "package" etc etc.....with that being the case the audience may well be scratching their heads when the scores are read because the show really wasn't for them. "Accessible" doesn't have to mean inferior, maybe it means the audience is better prepare to receive your creation. Maybe a little effort on the part of the corps to drag the audience along for their ride if necessary would help cutback on the number of "I wish drum corps was the way it was in 68" debates we see on this forum all the time. Maybe not. Just a thought. Edited June 25, 2008 by ech2os Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Matczak Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 That was fine "back in the day". We called them "Hot Dog Cadets", corps or shows we didn't like, but now it has evolved, This is modern drum corps.Now you should go for your weinerwurst du jour, with the condiments and a la carte items of your choice. you guys aren't listening at all,.................FAMOUS DAVE"S is now being served at Paetec Park! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Kidd Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 "I wish drum corps was the way it was in 68" debates we see on this forum all the time. Maybe not. Just a thought. A very wise man once told me that most drum corps people do NOT accept improvements in drum corps past the day they aged out. This adage is proven time and time again in here. It's a shame since it alienates those folks who perform in the present in either DCI or DCA all age, leaving them asking "if it ain't drum corps, what am I doing?" The really unfortunate part is age-outs then don't age out - they retire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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