The Marching Revolution

[FTNK]

I came in to make the point about upper bodies. As has been pointed out, even the best-marching Cadets corps pre-2000s had pretty blah upper bodies in terms of presence and arms. The alignment was there for the most part but the arms/shoulders thing just wasn't taught, wasn't on the radar. Comparing 1998 and 2000 Cadets in upper body is pretty striking. I suppose they got it from SCV as some have noted. Going back even further and I've seen some videos of Cadets horn warmups from the 80s and the upper body posture, not just arms and presence but alignment as well (leaning back) would make today's visual staff puke. So things have definitely evolved in stages to where we are today. Some corps still don't emphasize the upper body presence with the big arms (Cavaliers).

They don't march very complex drill but I'd say that in both feet and upper body Blue Devils are the best out there today. Their upper bodies are solid but not tense and everyone seems to know exactly how the technique works and how to execute it.

[ContrasAreFun]

27th Lancers were doing asymmetrical drill before any other corps, unless I'm sorely mistaken. I do know that 27th Lancers was George Zingali's first drum corps job as a drill writer.

I know for certain that SCV was the first. This is unless 27 did it before DCI was even created; they were founded in '68 and '72 respectively.

[StickTrick]

Each corps kind of their own bread and butter.

For the Cavaliers, they do a fantastic job of foot timing and going at high tempos. Their uniforms can hide a lot of inconsistincies in feet as well as make everyone look tall. If you watch them practice, their is not a great upper body presence, but they do their thing and it works for them.

Cadets always appear to be the strongest hornlines every year. They don't do a great job of keeping their horns still on the move, but their upper bodies are strong... if that makes sense. They always appear like they want to be the last corps standing and nobody is going to take it from them. Military precision is the name of the game with the lower body.

Blue Devils use a technique closest to natural walking. There is a slight knee bend, but it isn't really a "lead with the knee" style. What gets me from these guys is the upper body projection. NOBODY projects to the box with the upper bodies like them.

Phantom is kind of a mix between Cadets and Blue Devils for me. Their foot timing this year was insane good, as well as upper body definition. However, I'm still not really clear on what the lower body technique is.

Crown of late seems like a quasi Blue Devils technique. They have some great upper bodies and crazy high toes (I think a lot of that has to do with the cream shoes), but I don't think the lower body technique is quite as defined as BD.

SCV were masters of the upper bodies in the late 90's. I always thought of them as the ideal group for how I wanted to move my horn and give off presence. I think they are in a transition lately with the switch to more "Cavalier-esque" style. I think this could be a major visual power in a few years.

I think that was the top 6... Boston obviously does their thing as well as Blue Knights, but most other corps in World class are kind of based off these corps, I believe. Anyway, each corps definitely does their own thing that has really continued to make corps (and bands for that matter!) continue to strive to look better every year.

[prodigal bari]

I think there was an evolution taking place in the 80's due to the increased demand and velocity that drills exhibited. In general, it was the transtition from the military marching techniques that were used in the earlier eras of DC and the marching activity into the more ergonomic and athletic movement techniques..and a lot of it was trial and error. Remember, one of the most important rules changes that almost noone talks about is the adaptation of the football grid for performance fields in the late 70's (remember just one middle line and a big X?) and the removal of the entrance/exits lines at the inception of DCI. This loosened up drill designs (the lines made a world of difference...no more guideons and pics!) and allowed writers to become more adventurous. As normal, movement styles had to change with the change of movement demand...and within that transition, you had some style differences..and some that just did not work. Organic design finally took over; and you get the styles you have now that are somewhat related.

I need a rest..I am sounding like a college professor...Piled high and Deep!

Edited February 7, 2009 by prodigal bari

[BRASSO]

Who and/or what organization(s) brought about change in regards to the importance of marching technique and posture? And when or over what period of time?

Watching some 80s drum corps recently, I was struck at the relative lack of marching style demonstrated by most corps. Feet were generally in time, but toe-height was not emphasized at all, and the technique was more of a trudge than anything. In addition, horn players had a tendency to lean back a little, seemingly dependent upon the size of the instrument they wielded.

I'm not trying to put down 80s drum corps or start another then/now/soon war; we have enough of those as it is. I'd just love to hear about the driving forces that led to the creation/evolution of the nuanced visual technique programs we find in corps today. Humor me?

I've found equipment positioning in some Corps of late to be lacking uniformity compared to earlier decade Corps.

For example, I've noticed lots of Corps with marchers that when they bring their Horns down to be at different levels. Some at eye level, some clearly visible as much lower. Also, some are in a tilt position, others not so, and the hand positioning is likewise not uniform.. These defiencies would have resulted in tics in years past due to " lack of uniformity ", and thus Corps payed more attention to things of this sort, that today is not considered important.

That said, modern Corps emphasize more movement and physicality than ever before. Corps members today to their credit are able to move faster on the field than ever before, no matter their signature marching style technique utilized.

Edited February 7, 2009 by BRASSO

[memphomello08]

I know for certain that SCV was the first. This is unless 27 did it before DCI was even created; they were founded in '68 and '72 respectively.

Thanks for clearing that up for me

[JayM]

For the Cavaliers, they do a fantastic job of foot timing and going at high tempos.

Which is really kind of surprising considering how much more they're moving their feet than anyone else. I'm not referring to tempo here, just the actual motion required by the leg/foot for each step.

Blue Devils use a technique closest to natural walking. There is a slight knee bend, but it isn't really a "lead with the knee" style. What gets me from these guys is the upper body projection. NOBODY projects to the box with the upper bodies like them.

Agreed on upper body projection. They've got that mastered.

As for the technique closest to natural walking, I get you on the forward march, but how many people do you know who stay up on their toes when walking backward? :) I consider the similar techniques employed by the Blue Knights and the Cavaliers to be the most natural when it comes to marching backward.

Where does BD initiate movement from? In the style I marched, knee movement was a by-product of rolling the foot off of the ground from the heel all the way through to the toe. I would assume a corps marching relaxed straight-leg would have to allow the heel to come up a little bit off of the ground on the initiation. Is this height defined? Or am I thinking about this the completely wrong way? Forgive me—while I marched "straight-leg" in high school and college, it was never thoroughly defined.

SCV were masters of the upper bodies in the late 90's. I always thought of them as the ideal group for how I wanted to move my horn and give off presence. I think they are in a transition lately with the switch to more "Cavalier-esque" style. I think this could be a major visual power in a few years.

Does anyone know who's leading the technique program over there? I'm 90% sure it's not Sly, and as xenophobic as Vanguard has been known to be, I can't imagine anyone from the "old" Vanguard is around to teach the new marching style.

[ssgt94]

It's always interesting to see the different means by which individuals - from varied backgrounds - analyze BD's marching technique. I can only speak for my time period, but I was there during the threshold from one style to another.

During 1992-1993, the Blue Devils still marched the "glide" technique, emphasis with the knee that is. It looked great at low to mid-tempos, but wasn't very practical at high tempos, unfortunately. I believe that most of you would identify that style from the 80s and early 90s, and I would largely attribute that to Dave Gibbs during his time as the visual instructor there (it was a very effective technique for its period). As a side note, in 1992, Pete Emmons taught marching during his last year as a visual instructor, before he eventually took over full time managment of the A Corps.

In 1994, Todd Ryan arrived fresh at a January Camp in Concord. In our very first basic block, he pointedly told us to eliminate all style and technique from our march (ok, maybe it was the circle drill of death, its been a few years). In fact, his explicit instruction was to move naturally, and in a way that allowed the upper body to be as free and relaxed as possible so that one job (marching) never affected the other job (playing). Having marched under his tutelage for a few years, and performed rather well during the years in question (if I'm allowed to say so), I would say that the secret to Todd Ryan's Blue Devil marching technique...is a lack of one. That is to say, the technique is not a forced one such as Garfield or say Cavaliers (easy does it flamers, no offense intended), it simply doesn't have a specific pattern required to be applied during specified situations. I believe it has been of considerable value in allowing horn (and drumline) members to play and project better, particularly at faster tempos.

Two other quick points (perhaps controversial, perhaps not); Yes, the Corps has usually slowed down or stopped to play extremely difficult passages. I have no doubt that this was purposed designed so by Jay Murphy and Wayne Downey. Why, as Dave Carico used to say, "...if it doesn't sound good, what's the point." Running your ### off and playing difficult passages may prove that you are immensely talented, but, there's little chance in the passage actually sounding good. Just my opinion though.

Oh, and the last of several thousand thoughts about the black pants (note to briefer, they've had big fat white lines running down their pants during the last few years, which you can see really, really well). The Blue Devils have been marching with black pants since the beginning. Starting with the advent of the new uniform, the black pants were clean, with no reflective stripes excetera (except during the early 2000s when the stripe was readded to the uniform). If you think that the black pants are that effective at hiding dirt, and that over the course of some 14 years or so, the marching judges have never caught on, you're really not giving the judges enough credit...I know they're much smarter than that.

Again, just my opinion though.

[liebot]

Phantom is kind of a mix between Cadets and Blue Devils for me. Their foot timing this year was insane good, as well as upper body definition.

Were we watching the same show? The opener was still kicking their ### during finals week. Were they marching with technique? I'm not sure. I couldn't tell what it was supposed to be.

As for the technique closest to natural walking, I get you on the forward march, but how many people do you know who stay up on their toes when walking backward? :) I consider the similar techniques employed by the Blue Knights and the Cavaliers to be the most natural when it comes to marching backward.

How many people (besides tour guides) do you know that spend a lot of time walking backwards? And FWIW, when I walk backwards I use "a straight leg technique."

Where does BD initiate movement from? In the style I marched, knee movement was a by-product of rolling the foot off of the ground from the heel all the way through to the toe. I would assume a corps marching relaxed straight-leg would have to allow the heel to come up a little bit off of the ground on the initiation. Is this height defined? Or am I thinking about this the completely wrong way? Forgive me—while I marched "straight-leg" in high school and college, it was never thoroughly defined.

I've been taught almost entirely by ex-Cadets, but most of them are ex-Cadets that ripped as much from BD's technique book as they could. The heel stays as close to the ground as possible. There is no defined height. That's pretty much the whole secret to "straight-leg" marching - keeping the heel as close to the ground as possible while allowing for a slight bend of the knee so your hips stay parallel to the ground at all times. "Straight-leg" doesn't really mean completely straight legs, and that's one thing a lot of people that bounce while attempting straight-leg technique mess up -- if you try to keep your legs straight all the way through the and count the alignment of your hips will move from parallel, your weight will shift unequally and it'll be #### near impossible to keep the ground out of the sound. Kind of like what happens when drummers mark time. Not good.

But that really has nothing to do with initiation. The visualization I've always preferred is to imagine you have a string tied to your heel and your leg (and weight) is pulled forward by it. Getting people to not initiate with the knee (or roll their heel off the ground. . . pretty much the same thing) is one of the most difficult things about teaching straight-leg technique, but one of the most impressive things to see done well. I guess, more than anything, the initiation starts with a push from the right (or left, if you're the Cadets) platform (roughly the ball of the foot); the left foot movement is just a byproduct of that motivation. You just flex your toe on the initiation so you can hit count one with the back edge of your heel and decent toe height. In reality, your heels (on the forward march) should never really be more than half an inch of the ground. Basically, just enough clearance so that you're not scraping the grass/turf/whatever. Some people teach it where there's a slight flex to the toe as it's coming through the and count, while others will just tell you to you to relax the foot while keeping the heel down.

It should be no surprise - I love straight-leg technique. And there's no technique I hate more than Cavies/Blue Knights. Actually, I don't think there's much in drum corps I hate more than Cavies and BK's (and now SCV's) marching technique. It makes me cringe. It makes me angry. It makes me want to puke. I really can't watch the Cavaliers without getting really upset. Their technique makes me depressed. Sorry, I know I'll offend some people by saying that, and I know it's extremely trivial, but marching technique is really the only thing I watch when I watch a corps so it's kind of a big deal to me.

To me, any discussion of technique begins and ends with BD. Crown's been decent since 07 (they were a mess before that), and Cadets' lower bodies are usually pretty good (though I saw a couple shows from the side last year and was pretty depressed with their "straight legs"), but their upper bodies are usually pretty bad. Phantom is pretty not great, though they've improved light-years since the abomination that was 2003. And like a previous poster said, I think the rest of the corps are pretty much just variations on the top 6. Boston's unique with their whole upper body deal, and they usually have pretty straight legs, but once you get down below the top 6 technique is usually not very clearly defined (from a performance, not instructional standpoint) so it's hard to really make any judgments on a whole corps just from watching a show. Likewise, I'm sure there are plenty of people in the corps I just bagged on that are amazing marchers. As a whole, however, you can kind of tell what certain corps harp on and what they let slide.

And for the record, I prefer whole-count initiations, at any tempo. None of this and-count BS. Nothing's more bad*** than a unison whole-count initiation out of a halt at 80 bpm (bonus points if it's backward). The body control and internal pulse required to do that well is something a lot of people will never understand. I also prefer a straight-up backwards marching technique at any tempo, although having marched the rollback technique for a couple of years, I do understand that it is much, much, much easier to perform well. Again, though, nothing is more impressive than seeing a corps back up in unison at around 80 bpm, heels off the ground, perfect crossing counts, balance, etc. BD '07 - the part in the ballad where the bari line is backing up on a slide across the field in unison. I nearly blew a load every time I saw that part of the show. Insane how mechanical their tempo control was, but how fluid and effortless their motion was. Unfortunately, I think that moment went over 95% of the audience's heads. . . but I think that most of the great things about drum corps go over about 95% of the audience's heads. Like good releases, well-blended hornline sounds, quality direction changes, seamless tempo changes, crazy ensemble listening/watching situations, good maintenance of form and spacing through curvilinear reshapes, etc. I could go on.

Edited February 9, 2009 by TSRTS13

[idontwan2know]

I've been taught almost entirely by ex-Cadets, but most of them are ex-Cadets that ripped as much from BD's technique book as they could. The heel stays as close to the ground as possible. There is no defined height. That's pretty much the whole secret to "straight-leg" marching - keeping the heel as close to the ground as possible while allowing for a slight bend of the knee so your hips stay parallel to the ground at all times. "Straight-leg" doesn't really mean completely straight legs, and that's one thing a lot of people that bounce while attempting straight-leg technique mess up -- if you try to keep your legs straight all the way through the and count the alignment of your hips will move from parallel, your weight will shift unequally and it'll be #### near impossible to keep the ground out of the sound. Kind of like what happens when drummers mark time. Not good.

Interesting comments. I've been taught by, and taught with several BD alums who have explicitly taught a very slight rolling, side to side, motion of the hips as an essential part of the technique.