Beyond Chop n' Bop - The Evolution of Drum Corps Arranging

[mad_scotty]

One thing I think people miss all the time about the choppy arrangement that frustrates so many people---it isn't really modern. Listen to old school drum corps shows from the early 70's----the arrangement was super choppy then, too. Half the corps threw medleys into their shows back then, they would spend 30 seconds on one song then shift to another. If you can't find the recordings just go to corpsReps and look at any show repertoires from 70-75, you'll see song lists that go 10-12 deep regularly. I used to have a recording of an old Madison chart that had some stuff from the Wizard of Oz in it that must have been 8 songs in 2 minutes, seriously. The diference now isn't the lack of exposition, its the lack of lyrical quality to the music. Drum corps have their hornlines do a lot more percussive stuff, using brass to describe visual moves instead of emoting a theme. Audio recordings of modern corps make no sense, the music is more like a film score now, punctuating and enhancing the visual, rarely offering much that can stand alone on its own merits as pure music.

[mfrontz]

Mad Scotty, that is a good point. How much do you think this kind of arranging was due to the constraints of having either prescribed or traditional "compulsories" such as an off-the-line, drum solo, concert, color presentation, exit, etc.?

While this may not have been true after 1972, I think it took DCI corps a few years at least to begin to stretch themselves after having been in a VFW/AL artistic straitjacket for years. But then again, I am not familiar with the VFW/AL rules.

Edited April 28, 2009 by mfrontz

[mad_scotty]

Mad Scotty, that is a good point. How much do you think this kind of arranging was due to the constraints of having either prescribed or traditional "compulsories" such as an off-the-line, drum solo, concert, color presentation, exit, etc.?

Not at all. I think medleys were just really popular in the 60's and 70's. they were a staple on variety shows and i believe a couple of them also made the pop charts. Back then the "impact moment" in drum corps was the payoff of the familar chorus of a popular hit, and arrangers generated audience impact by splicing together a bunch of payoff moments.

[mad_scotty]

Mad Scotty, that is a good point. How much do you think this kind of arranging was due to the constraints of having either prescribed or traditional "compulsories" such as an off-the-line, drum solo, concert, color presentation, exit, etc.?

I would add that I think the modern arranging style is completely a response to a judge-friendly dominated creative process that has seen a lot of corps trying to produce winterguard shows to please the visual and ge judges, as opposed to the old style where music/brass execution/brass marching was judged first, last and middle, and percussion and guard were considered "auxillaries".

[mfrontz]

Not at all. I think medleys were just really popular in the 60's and 70's. they were a staple on variety shows and i believe a couple of them also made the pop charts. Back then the "impact moment" in drum corps was the payoff of the familar chorus of a popular hit, and arrangers generated audience impact by splicing together a bunch of payoff moments.

And what you're saying is, that's exactly what they do today as well - except the payoff moments are loud angry staccato bursts, virtuoso ensemble drumming, rifles throwing fours, etc. So maybe the 1970s and 1980s - attempts to make a drum corps sound like an orchestra or jazz band - were the aberration?

That's heavy.

[mad_scotty]

And what you're saying is, that's exactly what they do today as well - except the payoff moments are loud angry staccato bursts, virtuoso ensemble drumming, rifles throwing fours, etc. So maybe the 1970s and 1980s - attempts to make a drum corps sound like an orchestra or jazz band - were the aberration?

That's heavy.

maybe an aberration, or maybe the pendulum just swings back and forth on this. at some point people got sick of all the choppy medleys and repeating the same stock songs in the 70's and wanted drum corps to tell a story, become more of a long form lyrical poetry or broadway type presentation. then people got sick of the drama and wanted more quick hits in the late 90's. now you see shows like 07 crown and 08 pr and it looks like shows that try to do more storytelling and present more melodic themes are getting popular again. and honestly, i can't really speak to the 40's and 50's, so no telling if this is cyclical or evolutionary, at least from my perspective. maybe a little of both would be my guess, though.