G-horns Posted August 10, 2008 Share Posted August 10, 2008 While I agree that all the screaming trumpets during "America..." gets annoying, ridiculous and (oftentimes) gross, I have to disagree a little. If this were being done with the National Anthem, I think there would be much more backlash. Even then, look at what all the pop singers have done when THEY sing the National Anthem--it's almost EXPECTED now that they're going to do those annoying American Idol-type riffs at the end. Is THAT considered offensive to you? Also, let's put it into perspective a bit. By the time the corps play "America the Beautiful," scores have already been announced, the kids (and YES, they ARE STILL KIDS) know that their season is absolutely finished and 8 months of HARD toiling are over. Many of the kids are just trying to enjoy their final moment of the season, and in some cases that means playing tastelessly to OUR ears but with joy in THEIR hearts. If we take the poor performance of "America" as a slap to the audience's face, then we as an audience need to be a little less spineless. ########! I don't usually post here but I couldn't keep quiet after reading this. As a musician, the first thing I learned about ensemble playing is that you play what is written and nothing else. As a musician, I learned that if you aren't sure of the notes, you DON'T PLAY. As a musician, I learned that every performance may be your last and you owe it to yourself, your fellow performers and the audience to make it your best performance ever - even if it is a concert B-flat major scale. If this is the best that DCI World Class Corps have to offer, that DCI and corps management allows it, and people make excuses for it, then the whole image of DCI is - and should be - tarnished. (And now I know why I don't even bother reading this forum most of the time.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dash Fieldpaint Posted August 10, 2008 Share Posted August 10, 2008 (edited) I played America/O'Canada about over 50 times during the '95 and '96 seasons. I played exactly what was written- until finals night 1996, my last retreat. I have to admit, I didn't care and I played the last few bars as loud as I possibly could. I remember feeling something pop and thinking I might have hurt myself. I've been there. They're kids, the season is over, and they were just letting loose. Keep in mind that I'm typing this without hearing what was going on last night. Edit- I just listened to it on #@$#ube. Not caring about tone quality and/or taking it up an octave is one thing, but this was way over the top. You can't tell where it came from on the video, even if BD was the corps right in front of the camera. Jack@sses, whoever they were. Edited August 10, 2008 by Dash Fieldpaint Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Schmitt Posted August 10, 2008 Share Posted August 10, 2008 Just listened to it... the guy at the end's cut. Other than that it wasn't overly ridiculous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NR_Ohiobando Posted August 10, 2008 Share Posted August 10, 2008 (edited) Just listened to it... the guy at the end's cut. Other than that it wasn't overly ridiculous. Theres a video front and center right in front of the Blue Devils, not sure if you've seen that yet. It's labeled "Blue Devils being sore losers". ...definitely overly ridiculous IMO. That was absolutely disgusting, my band director would rip us a new one in front of the crowd if he heard us play anything similar to that. Given you can't really prove it was only BD, but it looks probable right now considering what they went through + their reputation for doing that at retreats. Edited August 10, 2008 by NR_Ohiobando Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VKMello84 Posted August 10, 2008 Share Posted August 10, 2008 Full retreats are not coming back. The logistical advantages to the corps of not having these are too great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I play the baritone good Posted August 10, 2008 Share Posted August 10, 2008 This is nothing new... America sounds bad every year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HPUEuph Posted August 10, 2008 Share Posted August 10, 2008 I just listened to that...horrific. Yeah that one person(s) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCVsopAaron Posted August 10, 2008 Share Posted August 10, 2008 This is nothing new... America sounds bad every year. True, but this has got to be the worst I've ever heard it. Blatant wrong notes from the BD sops.... Totally dumb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmathis Posted August 10, 2008 Share Posted August 10, 2008 Just saw the "BD Sore losers" video... Wow. That just makes *them* look bad. Yeah, that's pretty bad.... If I were the director, I would have chewed their butts out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2000Cadet Posted August 10, 2008 Share Posted August 10, 2008 This is nothing new... America sounds bad every year. This... But also, I can't speak for other corps, but knowing Gino Cipriani with Cadets, he would have ripped us a new one if we had played the way the OP is describing. I don't know how it sounded last night because I wasn't there. I would hope it doesn't sound THAT bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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