booboo Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 I went back and read the Star of Indiana recollections today from their website (I have read them before, but it has been a while). If you have not read these, please do...some cool stuff from Bill Cook about the history of Star and Blast!. Anyway, it got me thinking, and excuse me if this has been discussed, but were Jim Mason in DCI today, and more importantly head of a corps, what would it be like? He was innovative during Star's run...of course 1993 Medea. Then, he left DCI to begin Brass Theater, according to the recollections: "electronic amplification and synthesis are used as well as thetrical lighting, back screen projections, and other props to enhance the performance." Would amplification have come sooner with him? And would Star be what many view the Cadets as today? Kinda seems like Mason and Hop could have been long-lost brothers. Thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerriTroop Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 Ergh!!! Do we really need a parallel "I hate amps and narration and stages and big props and and and" thread based on this hypothetical?!?!?! RUN AWAYYYYY!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scerpella Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 Ergh!!! Do we really need a parallel "I hate amps and narration and stages and big props and and and" thread based on this hypothetical?!?!?! RUN AWAYYYYY!!!! What would Jim Mason do? Well he realized that what he wanted for his corps was no longer in line with the activity. So he left. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kekkles Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 What would Jim Mason do? Well he realized that what he wanted for his corps was no longer in line with the activity. So he left. this post made me lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRASSO Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 I went back and read the Star of Indiana recollections today from their website (I have read them before, but it has been a while). If you have not read these, please do...some cool stuff from Bill Cook about the history of Star and Blast!. Anyway, it got me thinking, and excuse me if this has been discussed, but were Jim Mason in DCI today, and more importantly head of a corps, what would it be like? He was innovative during Star's run...of course 1993 Medea. Then, he left DCI to begin Brass Theater, according to the recollections: "electronic amplification and synthesis are used as well as thetrical lighting, back screen projections, and other props to enhance the performance." Would amplification have come sooner with him? And would Star be what many view the Cadets as today? Kinda seems like Mason and Hop could have been long-lost brothers. Thoughts? Jim Mason's comments referred to an indoor show designed on a relatively small stage with a small number of performers and an audience sitting closely nearby. He was not referring to DCI Competitions outdoors on a large football field with over 100 performers in several corps competing in a stadium and with much larger audiences sitting further away. Jim Mason left DCI. There is no evidence that he would support electronic amplification in Drum Corps. He never did so when he was in DCI. That much is clear. And the issue is mute and irrelevent anyway, because he left DCI years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
booboo Posted July 14, 2008 Author Share Posted July 14, 2008 Nice how there are all these other hypotheticals that people harp on day in and out, and I wrote something I read and was thinking about, and you all are d!cks about it. Every post on here is irrelevant, if you want to look at it that way. This was not a narration/amplification bashing post, just something I saw as interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Austin Stars Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 (edited) Nice how there are all these other hypotheticals that people harp on day in and out, and I wrote something I read and was thinking about, and you all are d!cks about it. Every post on here is irrelevant, if you want to look at it that way. This was not a narration/amplification bashing post, just something I saw as interesting. As an alumnus of Star of Indiana, I'd have to say that most likely Jim Mason would be completely in favor of all the changes that have come about in DCI including Bb horns and amplification. If Star of Indiana were still around today, I have no doubts they would continue to be consistently in the top 3 or top 5 at minimum. However, the torch has been passed on by Star alums serving on the staffs of todays corps. You can see and hear it in corps like Carolina Crown and Blue Stars. Edited July 14, 2008 by Austin Stars Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skewerz Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 Nice how there are all these other hypotheticals that people harp on day in and out, and I wrote something I read and was thinking about, and you all are d!cks about it. Every post on here is irrelevant, if you want to look at it that way. This was not a narration/amplification bashing post, just something I saw as interesting. who has said anything about narration on this thread besides you and the one sarcastic joke? Brasso made the comment that JM never supported electronics while he was in drum corps...Kekkles comment is dead on...JM wanted something different, so he went out and did something different, without changing drum corps... One person makes a joke about narration/props, etc, and the whole thread is instantly elevated to dickdom? go have a jagerbomb...or 10... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Medeabrass Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 ugh...Unfortunately, I think he would've been pro-amplification. Personally, I've gotten to where I like/don't mind amped pit but voice...mmm yeah less is more IMO...As far as all of his "innovations," I would say he was great at identifying and acquiring talented staff (thanks Bill), but was usually smart enough to get out of their way and allow them to be as creative as they wanted to be. Maybe he was best at facilitating and not imposing boundaries on the creative process. It's kind of funny to me in retrospect that the corps that got cheered so voraciously for beating us in '93 are the same ones who are vilified now. I imagine the Cadet hate would be much more diluted with Star around to hate on as well. A part of me is glad that my corps isn't here to be the "narration punching bag." My gut tells me that we probably would've used voice in much the same way as Hoppie. That would've been a very hard pill for me to swallow as an alum. Hopefully the design staff would've found a way to use it more tastefully and effectively. On a side note, the Cadets current use of amped voice reminds me of how many corps tried to incorporate "expressive movement" after '93. Granted, there were many instances of "EM" before '93, but I noticed a concerted effort by almost every corps to try and incorporate it from '94 on. I was very disappointed with its use about 95% of the time to the point that I really began to wish that we didn't push the issue so hard in '93. It took about 8-10 years for design teams to "own" this new "toy" and start using it effectively instead of an ingredient that was to be arbitrarily thrown in without intent or purpose. I don't think a show has to have EM at all to be effective. It's important for designers to think of it as something that should be used with a purpose in mind or not at all in the same way that one show may need cow bell while another may not (I know. I see you cow bell honks out there...time to come back to reality and realize everything isn't better with cow bell.) I think Cavies were the first to discover less is more and their success has caused many others to follow suit in this area. Already, many corps have learned how to use amplified voice effectively while others like the Cadets seem to be treating it like a new caption that should be put on an equal footing with brass, percussion, and guard. It will be interesting to see which school of thought wins the day. I just hope it doesn't take another 10 years for "good taste" to be acquired. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notelvis Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 I really, really enjoyed Blast and have seen it three times. Much of the fun for me is that the music used in Blast has been done a number of times by some of my favorite drum corps going back over 30 years. A good bit of the score to Blast is music that even the casual theater subscription series purchaser is going to recognize. So.......I see Jim Mason as someone who abandoned increasingly obscure, minimalist DCI shows (and 'Medea' on a football field was obscure) and moved back to the mainstream of proven effective, recognizeable music when Blast became a commercial venture who's success or failure was determined by it's appeal and box office sales. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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