mfrontz Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 So I was reading the 2009 BD Show Announcement thread, and some very interesting statements were being made there. Some were decrying the Blue Devils' recent "chop and bop" arranging and others were saying (unbelievably, to my thinking) that there is no discernible difference between arranging of the past and arranging today. Rather than simply fling a statement out there, I thought I would create something systematic and analyze two BD shows from different eras: 1988 and 2007. These represent perhaps the absolute extremes - most BD shows would probably end up somewhere in the middle. But I would hope that the content of any show could be analyzed using this system and perhaps there would be a way to more accurately define "what it is" that is changing or not changing with regard to musical arranging in drum corps. Please feel free to make comments or suggestions to improve the system. The basic concept is this: watch a show from the Fan Network video. For a time block (0:00 to 0:25, for example), describe the musical actions that are happening. For example, Brass is playing melody, Field and Sideline Percussion are playing rhythmic accompaniment. Note also which is the musical focus (for example, brass might be playing harmony, but field percussion might have a technical feature, and that would be the musical focus.) After having completed the entire show in this way, we note the time (both in seconds and percentage of the show) for melodic content, technical exposition, mood effect, solos, vocals, break, etc. One could also break down amount of time brass is playing, field perc. is playing, etc. There are probably endless variations. When you do this for multiple shows, you get a sense of the difference between shows and arrangers. You may also be able to verify whether your impressions are correct or not about melodic content, "choppy" arranging, etc. Over time, and doing enough shows, one might be able to discern patterns as to whether arranging is changing over time, or whether the difference is simply between each individual show. As I said, 1988 BD and 2007 BD are pretty much the opposite end of the spectrum. 1991 BD, while being chronologically nearer to 1988, is probably typologically nearer to 2007. However, I cannot be sure of this. On to the "musical actions," which are the descriptions of what the musicians are doing on the field. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfrontz Posted April 23, 2009 Author Share Posted April 23, 2009 OK, this may take longer than I thought since it looks like I may have to retype everything instead of just pasting from MS Word. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfrontz Posted April 23, 2009 Author Share Posted April 23, 2009 MUSICAL ACTIONS: BCad - Brass:Cadence BHmnc - Brass: Harmonic Development BMldy - Brass: Melodic Statement - Ensemble BMood - Brass: Mood Effect (space chords, etc.) BOst - Brass: Ostinato BSolo - Brass: Melodic Statement - Instrumental Solo BRhythm - Brass: Rhythmic Accents (staccato attacks or primarily rhythmic motif) BTech - Brass: Technical Exposition (runs, double-tonguing, etc.) FRhythm - Field Perc: Rhythmic Accompaniment (not primarily tech. exposition) FOst - Field Perc: Ostinato FSolo - Field Perc: Solo Exposition FTech - Field Perc: Technical Exposition SMldy - Sideline Perc: Melodic Statement SMood - Sideline Perc: Mood Effect SOst - Sideline Perc: Ostinato SRhythm - Sideline Perc: Rhythmic Accompaniment STech - Sideline Perc: Technical Exposition Break - Break between songs or movements SDrl - Silent Drill VoxMldy - Melody is sung by voice VoxSpk - Spoken voice is main focus with music in background The first breakdown will be 1988 Blue Devils (3rd place, 96.3). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfrontz Posted April 23, 2009 Author Share Posted April 23, 2009 Blue Devils 1988 Time Musical Actions (primary musical focus in bold type) 00:00 BSolo, SRhythm 00:51 BCad, SRhythm 01:00 BCad, SRhythm 01:02 BMldy, FS Rhythm 01:31 BCad, FS Rhythm 01:36 Break 01:41 FRhythm, SMdy 01:58 BMdy, FS Rhythm 02:00 BMdy, FS Rhythm 02:58 BSolo, FS Rhythm 03:00 BSolo, FS Rhythm 03:05 BMldy, FS Rhythm 03:20 BSolo, FS Rhythm 03:33 BMldy, FS Rhythm 03:47 BHrmy, FS Rhythm 03:53 BCad. FSRhythm 04:00 BCad, FSRhythm 04:07 Break 04:22 SHrmy, 04:28 BSolo, FS Rhythm 04:55 BMldy, FS Rhythm 05:00 BMldy, FS Rhythm 05:16 BSolo, FS Rhythm 05:26 BMldy, FS Rhythm 06:00 BMldy, FSRhythm 06:16 FTech 07:00 FTech 07:04 BHmny, FTech 07:17 BMldy, FS Rhythm 07:43 BCad, FS Rhythm 07:50 Break 08:00 Break 08:10 SMldy 08:44 BSolo, SRhythm 09:00 BSolo, SRhythm 09:05 BMldy, FS Rhythm 09:27 BSolo, S Rhythm 09:46 BMldy, FS Rhythm 10:00 BMldy, FS Rhythm 10:06 BCad, FS Rhythm 10:21 Break 10:30 F Rhythm 10:35 BMldy, FS Rhythm 10:47 BSolo, FS Rhythm 11:00 BSolo 11:08 End of show BREAKDOWN (individual captions will not add up to 100%): Melodic Exposition – 7'54'' 70.7% Technical Exposition – 1'01'' 9.1% Mood Expression – 0'00'' 0.0% Break – 0'49'' 7.3% Vocals – 0'00'' 0.0% Other – 1'24'' 12.6% Total: 11'08'' 100.0% # of Solo Sections: 8 Total Solo Time: 2'52'' 25.7% Number of changes in musical focus: 29 Avg. # of musical focus changes/minute based on 11 minutes: 2.64 Max # of musical focus changes per minute: 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfrontz Posted April 23, 2009 Author Share Posted April 23, 2009 The next analysis is Blue Devils 2007 (1st place, 98.0). Time Musical Actions (primary musical focus in bold type) 00:00 SMood 00:31 FS Rhythm 00:46 BHmnc, FTech, SOst 00:58 BOst, FS Rhythm 01:00 BOst, FS Rhythm 01:05 BHmnc, FS Rhythm 01:20 BRhythm, FS Tech 01:36 BMldy (Pegasus), FS Rhythm 01:51 BFS Rhythm 01:57 BCad, FSRhythm 02:00 BMldy (Pegasus), FS Rhythm 02:09 BCad, FS Rhythm 02:13 BFS Rhythm 02:17 FRhythm, SOst 02:32 STech 02:35 BMood, FTech, SMood 02:56 BCad, FTech, SRhythm 03:00 BCad, FTech, SRhythm 03:13 FTech 03:45 BTech 04:00 BTech 04:03 STech 04:13 BFS Ost (actually a simple diminution) 04:27 BCad 04:32 BHmnc, FRhythm, SOst 04:45 FS Inter 04:51 BOst, FS Rhythm 05:00 BOst, FS Rhythm 05:03 BHmnc, FS Rhythm 05:20 BCad, FS Rhythm 05:23 Break 05:34 SMood 06:00 SMood 06:04 BHmnc, SMood (you could make a case for melody, but it is not a "tune") 06:53 BHmnc, SMood 07:00 BHmnc, SMood 07:05 BMldy, SMood 07:47 BHmnc, FRhythm, SMood 08:00 BHmnc, FRhythm, SMood 08:18 BCad, FSRhythm 08:32 SOst 08:37 BHmnc, FRhythm, SMood 09:00 BHmnc, FRhythm, SMood 09:01 SOst 09:07 BRhythm, FRhythm 09:22 BMldy, FSRhythm 09:35 BHmnc, FSRhythm 09:43 BCad, FSRhythm 09:51 FTech, SRhythm 10:00 FTech, SRhythm 10:09 BMldy, FRhythm, FMdy/Rhythm 10:52 FRhythm, SMood 10:56 BCad, FSRhythm 11:00 BCad, FSRhythm 11:02 FRhythm 11:05 BOst, FSRhythm, SOst 11:16 BMldy (Ode to Joy) FSRhythm 11:23 BCad, FSRhythm 11:32 End of show BREAKDOWN (individual captions will not add up to 100%): Melodic Exposition – 2'09'' 18.6% Technical Exposition – 2'28'' 21.4% Mood Expression – 2'02'' 17.6% Break – 0'11'' 1.5% Vocals – 0'00'' 0.0% Other – 4'42'' 40.7% Total: 11'32'' # of Solo Sections: 0 Total Solo Time: 0:00 0.0% Number of changes in musical focus: 47 Avg. # of musical focus changes/minute based on 11 minutes: 4.27 Max # of musical focus changes per full/partial minute: 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FTNK Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 I like the way you think, sir. I expect good things. This reminds me of my "marching and playing percentage analysis" last summer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triple Forte Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 So I was reading the 2009 BD Show Announcement thread, and some very interesting statements were being made there. Some were decrying the Blue Devils' recent "chop and bop" arranging and others were saying (unbelievably, to my thinking) that there is no discernible difference between arranging of the past and arranging today. Rather than simply fling a statement out there, I thought I would create something systematic and analyze two BD shows from different eras: 1988 and 2007. These represent perhaps the absolute extremes - most BD shows would probably end up somewhere in the middle. But I would hope that the content of any show could be analyzed using this system and perhaps there would be a way to more accurately define "what it is" that is changing or not changing with regard to musical arranging in drum corps. Please feel free to make comments or suggestions to improve the system. The basic concept is this: watch a show from the Fan Network video. For a time block (0:00 to 0:25, for example), describe the musical actions that are happening. For example, Brass is playing melody, Field and Sideline Percussion are playing rhythmic accompaniment. Note also which is the musical focus (for example, brass might be playing harmony, but field percussion might have a technical feature, and that would be the musical focus.) After having completed the entire show in this way, we note the time (both in seconds and percentage of the show) for melodic content, technical exposition, mood effect, solos, vocals, break, etc. One could also break down amount of time brass is playing, field perc. is playing, etc. There are probably endless variations. When you do this for multiple shows, you get a sense of the difference between shows and arrangers. You may also be able to verify whether your impressions are correct or not about melodic content, "choppy" arranging, etc. Over time, and doing enough shows, one might be able to discern patterns as to whether arranging is changing over time, or whether the difference is simply between each individual show. As I said, 1988 BD and 2007 BD are pretty much the opposite end of the spectrum. 1991 BD, while being chronologically nearer to 1988, is probably typologically nearer to 2007. However, I cannot be sure of this. On to the "musical actions," which are the descriptions of what the musicians are doing on the field. Interesting idea.....and because I also became involved in the BD 2009 Show thread I performed a study of my own tonight comparing 1988 BD to 2008 BD. What I did is to time (With a stop watch) the amount of time the brassline played throughout the show. If a solo was being played by a brass player with no accompanying brass section....I did not count the time towards total brass play time. Results: 1988 brass time 7 minutes 25 seconds 2008 brass time 7 minutes 22 seconds As you can see..basically the same. One note though..in the 1988 show...there are two significant pit features. One at the beginning of the show and one at the beginning of the ballad. Maybe that accounts for a minute of time. So.....the real trick is....the study you wish to conduct. How long are the brassline phrases before interruption ? One final thought.....I have been around drum corps for quite sometime. I remember attending a BD practice in 1994 and remember thinking during their ensemble and final run-through..."Gee....there are quite a number of percussion breaks in this show". That's the first time I felt a change in musical choppiness Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfrontz Posted April 23, 2009 Author Share Posted April 23, 2009 Comparison of the two shows side by side: Melodic Exposition: 1988 - 7'54'' 70.7% 2007 - 2'09'' 18.6% Technical Exposition: 1988 - 1'01'' 9.1% 2007 - 2'28'' 21.4% Mood Expression – 1988 - 0'00'' 0.0% 2007 - 2'02'' 17.6% Break – 1988 - 0'49'' 7.3% 2007 - 0'11'' 1.5% Vocals – 0'00'' both years 0.0% Other – 1988 - 1'24'' 12.6% 2007 - 4'42'' 40.7% Total: 1988 - 11'08'' 2007 - 11'32'' # of Solo Sections: 1988 - 8 2007 - 0 Total Solo Time: 1988 - 2'52'' 25.7% 2007 - 0:00 0.0% Number of changes in musical focus: 1988 - 29 2007 - 47 Avg. # of musical focus changes/minute based on 11 minutes: 1988 - 2.64 2007 - 4.27 Max # of musical focus changes per full/partial minute: 1988 - 5 2007 - 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfrontz Posted April 23, 2009 Author Share Posted April 23, 2009 Based on the above statistics, we can say several things for certain (not simply how we feel) about the difference between the 1988 and 2007 Blue Devils shows. The 1988 show is almost three-quarters exposition of the melody of the songs which are played. You might quibble a little bit with my analysis and what I count as "melody," but I think I am pretty close. The 2007 show is not even one-fifth melodic exposition, and I think I was pretty generous with my granting of that category. The 2007 show has more than twice the amount of sections which are primarily technical exposition. If you go back into the categories, you will see that this counts brass, field perc. and sideline perc. technical exposition. I only noted field perc. technical exposition in the 1988 show. The 2007 show contains nearly 20% of what I call "mood expression." This would be primarily sideline percussion, but also brass, simply playing non-melodic or barely melodic content in order to paint a musical "picture" or provide an effect. I noted none of this in the 1988 show, although one could make an argument for some of the pit intros. to the different songs. These I counted as melody in the 1988 show. The 2007 Devils were at rest only 1.5% of the show time. The 1988 Devils were comparatively lazy ;) at 7.3%. Neither show had vocals or silent drill sections. There were 8 extended solo sections in 1988; zero in 2007 (Is that a BD first?) Over 40% of the 2007 show, according to my calculations, is either ostinato, rhythmic motifs, cadences, or harmonic development leading to a cadence point. Only 12.6% of the 1988 show falls into the same category. The audience needed to change musical focus 29 times during the 1988 show, an average of 2.64 times per minute based on an eleven-minute show, and 5 times during the most diverse minute of the show. By comparison, the audience needed to change musical focus 47 times during the 2007 show, an average of 4.27 times per minute based on an eleven-minute show, and 7 times during the most diverse minute of the show. Thus, in summary: Melody was predominant in 1988; rhythm and "mood" in 2007. Raw technical achievement and its exposition was more valued in 2007. The 2007 show required more mental effort of an audience in that it demanded more changes in attention. I believe that some of these changes can be attributed to changes in instrumentation and in the ability of the musicians to achieve technical brilliance. But in that, I have moved out of reporting the facts to interpreting them. I also think both shows are absolutely incredible, although if you had to ask me which I'd take to a desert island, I'd take 1988 every time. Comments and suggestions, again, are welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traveller30 Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 I am not really buying that this systems analysis is all that scientific. Maybe I am the only one though. Other systematic approaches Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts