bawker Posted October 16, 2008 Share Posted October 16, 2008 Ever since I saw a high school marching band with an electric violin soloist who stood behind some large prop the whole time while two of the pit members stood behind her and beatboxed while the rest of the band danced (aka pelvic thrusts) on the field a few years back, I've been completely turned off from electronics in marching band/drum corps. Sorry folks, but I will never be a fan of it, unless they somehow find a way to make it sound amazing...which I doubt.(And btw, what I just described was not exaggerated in any way. That's actually what I saw. ####### crazy.) Therein, folks on the pro-electronics side, is the problem in a nutshell. It's not people on the other side saying "Could electronics be okay in a drum corps show?", 'cause if they were used in certain ways, maybe they could. It's not people on the other side saying "I'm afraid of the creative aspects of electronics in drum corps 'cause I'm a crazy old dino - RAWRZ0RS!!!ELEVENTY!", 'cause there could be some ways that could be beneficial. It's because of what the quoted post above shows: what people do who are creatively tapped out . . .they press the "easy button". . . that leads to what turns people off to electronics in their entirety. We all know that drum corps, for the most part, is still paint-by-numbers: big hit, opener, ballad, drum break, closer. Almost every show follows the same forms and patterns and that makes it easy to just say "Meh. Put this in." for some people. Without a doubt, drum corps isn't immune to cheese, even before the advent of Bb and amps. Multiple corps playing "Children Of Sanchez". Body movement. Scatter drill. Insert another "follow the leader" corps meme here. . . .so, for every Cadets 1998 or Cavaliers 2002, there's multiple instances of someone else either trying to recapture that magic, or to outright ape it. Maybe the design teams won't phone electronics in by just looking at what they see in BOA and WGI this year . . .but, I guarantee you, it's going to be easy to tell when they do, and frustrating as hell to watch. There's been twenty odd years that I've seen electronics out on the field. I've yet to see a show that has changed my opinion of them. Your move, DCI. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
troon8 Posted October 16, 2008 Share Posted October 16, 2008 I heard the Scouts show will feature a girl playing synthesizer while reciting the Communist Manifesto into a microphone and strangling orphan puppies... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K-Swiss Posted October 16, 2008 Share Posted October 16, 2008 I heard the Scouts show will feature a girl playing synthesizer while reciting the Communist Manifesto into a microphone and strangling orphan puppies... ...with the entrails of baby seals Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
troon8 Posted October 16, 2008 Share Posted October 16, 2008 ...with the entrails of baby seals ...that were stabbed with a burning American flag. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
no_itsnotadash Posted October 16, 2008 Share Posted October 16, 2008 I hate to see this... however... If there is a corps I trust to do it tastefully it would be the Madison Scouts and Phantom Regiment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lindap Posted October 16, 2008 Share Posted October 16, 2008 Therein, folks on the pro-electronics side, is the problem in a nutshell.It's not people on the other side saying "Could electronics be okay in a drum corps show?", 'cause if they were used in certain ways, maybe they could. It's not people on the other side saying "I'm afraid of the creative aspects of electronics in drum corps 'cause I'm a crazy old dino - RAWRZ0RS!!!ELEVENTY!", 'cause there could be some ways that could be beneficial. It's because of what the quoted post above shows: what people do who are creatively tapped out . . .they press the "easy button". . . that leads to what turns people off to electronics in their entirety. We all know that drum corps, for the most part, is still paint-by-numbers: big hit, opener, ballad, drum break, closer. Almost every show follows the same forms and patterns and that makes it easy to just say "Meh. Put this in." for some people. Without a doubt, drum corps isn't immune to cheese, even before the advent of Bb and amps. Multiple corps playing "Children Of Sanchez". Body movement. Scatter drill. Insert another "follow the leader" corps meme here. . . .so, for every Cadets 1998 or Cavaliers 2002, there's multiple instances of someone else either trying to recapture that magic, or to outright ape it. Maybe the design teams won't phone electronics in by just looking at what they see in BOA and WGI this year . . .but, I guarantee you, it's going to be easy to tell when they do, and frustrating as hell to watch. There's been twenty odd years that I've seen electronics out on the field. I've yet to see a show that has changed my opinion of them. Your move, DCI. Much of what you wrote is intuitively right on...to me. I'll try to post an answer once I've caught up to 2000. The ladies (my sig 77-80) had synths on a recording from 1975, in an arena, intriguing after listening multiple times, pleasant, haunting, playing with the acoustics of the venue but outdoor synths doesn't make sense to me. My position on narration is intuitively, no, not for drum corps but I'll try to discover 2000-2008 and provide an informed opinion later :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrunchyTenor Posted October 16, 2008 Share Posted October 16, 2008 (edited) Now you get both in the same place...drum corps...the best choice of all. As usual, you miss the point, Mike. If they are merged there is NO choice. I honestly can't believe so many people are getting so worked up over this. We live in a world of constant change. Everything around us is constantly changing, and drum corps is part of that. The activity is constantly evolving and changing. I personally support trying out new things in the activity. Who knows, they may have some really cool ideas in store and we may all love it this time next year. But instead people are already getting mad and being as negative as a person can be about the idea. It saddens me that people can be so closed minded and not give new things a chance before bashing it. The problem is that once these things get introduced, even if they suck it's almost impossible to get them reversed. Case in point, Tim Kviz' attempt to overturn electronics and amplification last year. The instructors didn't even consider his proposals before summarily dismissing them. So, what if electronics suck? What then? IMO, they've never sounded good in marching band. Who's to think they'll really sound any better in drum corps? Garry in Vegas Edited October 16, 2008 by CrunchyTenor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted October 16, 2008 Share Posted October 16, 2008 THIS TOPIC IS ABOUT THE FACT THAT THE MADISON SCOUTS WILL BE USING A SYNTHESIZER IN THEIR SHOW NEXT SEASON. well sure they will unless they want to relive 2004-2007 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lindap Posted October 16, 2008 Share Posted October 16, 2008 well sure they will unless they want to relive 2004-2007 Could you paraphrase please? I don't understand the innuendo? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitedawn Posted October 16, 2008 Share Posted October 16, 2008 i love dcp scouts decide to use synth. dcp: "eh, we'll wait and see. it might be really cool!" cadets decide to use synth. dcp: "george hopkins is destroying the activity, and should resign immediately!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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