A New Direction in DCI Design - Is this an MJ moment?

[Calistar]

If Blue Devils can win with that CRAPPY show they had in 2007, They can win with this show.It all depends on what the judges like. I'm never counting out BD and their minimalistic approach to drum corps.

It funny how opinions vary. I personally thought Winged Victory was genius.

Especially the first 5 and half minutes. Every time I watch it, I am amazed.

Cali.

[MagicBobert]

Home town crowd won that one.

So, the same way that midwest hometown crowds have been winning it for midwest corps then?

Zing!

[NakedEye]

I think at most what will happen is some of their trendsetting "trick" elements will be picked up by other corps, like the examples you've mentioned - running to the set, moving drum feature, etc. Their design team has been together for so long and has usually approached things from such a cerebral, high-concept level, that their recent shows seem to me to be more a product of their creative evolution together than anything else.

If this style of show turns out to be such a hit that people just have to jump on the bandwagon, I think the only other corps who might be able to pull it off would be the Cavaliers, who have also taken a meticulously detailed concept approach for some time. With the rest of the upper pack, I just don't see it happening. They have too much traditionalism (or in some cases, not enough sophistication) woven into the fabric of their identities, even when they branch out into what they consider to be "new directions."

Some of the lower level corps would be more likely to try the Cirque-ish idea, and without the luxury of the top tier member talent that BD enjoys, it may be a tough road.

For the most part, the whole activity evolves at glacial speed and I think there is too much pressure from the fan base for anything too drastic to occur.

[Plan9]

Here's the question re-stated: BD is doing something different in their design, do you think that other corps will begin to follow them down this road or stick with traditional drill?

NOTE: I was hoping not to get into a "venting" thread here, where we bash a particular corp or their performance(s)......it's basically a straight forward question about design and trends.

[jpaul]

Here's the question re-stated: BD is doing something different in their design, do you think that other corps will begin to follow them down this road or stick with traditional drill?

NOTE: I was hoping not to get into a "venting" thread here, where we bash a particular corp or their performance(s)......it's basically a straight forward question about design and trends.

Yes, Blue Devils are doing some new things in their design approach. Good for them.

All corps (and musicians, artists, choreographers, etc.) borrow ideas from their peers and expand them in different directions.

So, yes, we'll most likely see some influence from this BD phase show up in other places.

[jwillis35]

I am not sure I totally get the gist of the OP's synopsis or theory perhaps. Maybe it's the Zig Zag story, much like Cadets in the 80s.

As for the MJ moment and whether or not something like that is happening, I do see a change, but I see this a bit differently.

In the 1970s the activity was a bit more unique. Corps didn't worry about copying other styles, at least not to the extent that we have seen in recent years. Each corps had a unique style of performance and rep selection, and if you wanted to win or place high, you had to do it within that framework.

In the 1980s, there was a drastic change in the activity. It started with some design shifts (SCV in 1980, 27th Lancers in 1979 and 80, and then Garfield in 1982). When Garfield won 3 titles in a row, there was a noticeable change in how other corps approached drill design, music arranging, and overall style. DCI became a copycat league, much like the NFL. Two other successful corps, in addition to Garfield, during the 80s managed to remain highly competitive, however, because they did what worked best for them (SCV, BD). Others did well, but not as well as those 3 corps. And in many cases they put themselves behind the 8-ball because they were trying to copy a formula for which they had not discovered, researched, or new anything about. They were 5 years behind the curve.

However, the 1980s, regardless of the visual changes, continued to be a wonderful decade for music. Sure, most corps didn't understand how Garfield did what it did, but the music continued to be thematic, melodic, powerful, in your face at times, and most importantly, the music had phrases that led to climaxes.

In the 1990s this changed to some extent. That change was most notable with the Blue Devils and the Cavaliers. The speed of the visuals were beginning to speed up dramatically. Three emerging styles resulted from this. One of them was a continuation of the Garfield style from the 80s. The other two were: the Popcorn effect and the Donut effect.

Corps like Garfield (Cadets), Star of Indiana, Phantom, Madison and others continued with solid musical arrangements, littered with theme and climax, etc. And they were pushing the speeds of their drills and the complexity at the same time.

The Cavaliers style began to come into play in 1990 and 1991, but not the visual style (one of geometrical visual design), but rather the musical style. Their geometric visual design was a product of 1984 and 1985 (Brubaker). The donut effect is what I am talking about here. This was the use of lots of chords, whole notes and half notes (donuts) in the musical book coupled with fast movement to create a sort of smoke and mirrors in demand. This is not to say that all their music was easy, but this effect did work and it was also adapted by corps like SCV (which I think led to their downturn for a while in the early to mid 90s--they lost their way), Glassmen, and others. In fact, a lot of corps would eventually use this style, even BD, to make it look as though they were really playing some hard stuff while flying around the field. Unfortunately, unless it was pulled off rather well (which the Cavaliers did very well), I ultimately left the crowds flat as shapes went flying by with no emotional or climactic content.

The popcorn style started to appear more in the mid 1990s. The Blue Devils were famous for this, and at times used it quite well. But often I found it overdone and meaningless. Again, the effect was lack of emotion and climactic build.

Perhaps this is just my opinion, but think about the 90s and who had the most entertaining shows. When I do I think of Madison, Cadets, Star (maybe with the exception of 93 -- which is a category to itself), Phantom, Bluecoats, and Crossmen. It wasn't until the late 90s that SCV started to find itself again, and even then that identity has been on and off. Their closer this year is the definition of that style.

Many, many corps jumped on board with that style of arranging, perhaps not thinking that this is what they were doing, but they followed suit because it was working for the Cavaliers and Blue Devils.

In the past few years I have seen BD go back to an older style of musical arranging but continue their pursuit of the modern visual look. They are doing it well this year. The Cavaliers retained much of their 90s style arranging in the 2000s, but with some modifications. The biggest is that their music was, in many ways (arrangement or composition) written to work very closely with the drill. They realized that you didn't have to have the most demanding musical book on the field in order to win. But you HAD to have the best connection between drill and music, and the GE of your show had to be clear and precise. That arranging style worked well for them, but for many that copied it, they didn't know what they were doing, and they found themselves years behind the Green Machine. Copying can get you in trouble in many ways.

This year I think the Cavaliers have a musical book similar to the year they won in 1992. It is more lyrical, beautiful, rich, and not a bad listen. My concerns for them is dramatic development, climax, and ability to bring the theme of the show to the top box. However, they are amazingly good and the musical book is much more enjoyable to listen to than say their 2001, 2002, or 2003 shows.

So, BD has begun to lose the popcorn effect over the years, at least to some degree, and the Cavaliers are less about donuts and lots of movement and seem to be heading back to melodic development with lots of wonderful moves. This will help, because the copycats are out there, and whatever they feel has a chance of getting them into the top 12 they will use, even when they have not fully researched such a style within the context of their show designs and teachings.

It also helps that the experiments of the 2000s are starting to mature or die. The Cadets have gone back to straight ahead drum corps, although with some synth effects and snippets of voice when needed. This is much better than the past 3 years, where voice, narration, and effects were taken to an extreme and they kind of lost their way. SCV seems to be finding a "soul" once again, the Bluecoats have showed us how to put great melody and theme on the field with some narration and vocal effects without killing a show, and Crown is bringing back memories of old Star and Garfield. This is all good.

Having said all this, my problem has never been with the corps defined some of these effects--BD and their musical arranging or the Cavaliers and their music-to-visual style--but my problem has always been with the copycats who couldn't think for themselves. There will inevitably be things that are copied from time to time, but as we see in drum corps, a lot of that stuff has a way of becoming old and over-used real quick. Playing great music with thematic development and climactic emphasis never gets old, and when shows focus more on the music I believe the activity is a better place. Visuals are important, I understand this, but I am one of these people that truly believe music (brass and drums) should = 60 percent of the score. Guard should get 10%, GE 20%, and drill 10%. Of course, part of the guard and GE would help the overall visual ensemble, but to me music drives this activity. Always will.

[TAFL]

Playing great music with thematic development and climactic emphasis never gets old, and when shows focus more on the music I believe the activity is a better place. Visuals are important, I understand this, but I am one of these people that truly believe music (brass and drums) should = 60 percent of the score. Guard should get 10%, GE 20%, and drill 10%. Of course, part of the guard and GE would help the overall visual ensemble, but to me music drives this activity. Always will.

[Creep]

tl;dr

[corpsband]

Agreed. Also, there was a great deal of negative (and some positive) comments on DCP last year about BD's "dashes" from formation and random movements then back into formation perfectly on time.... but this year towards the end of Crown's show they do the very same thing...only now, no comments. By the way, I love that feature in Crown's show.

Thematically that running scatter makes sense there. The show is returning full circle and departing to the arrival point !! And no need to credit to BD -- what BD did with there running was significantly different what CC is doing (much to BD's credit) .

[corpsband]

I think that DCI (and its family of followers) is in a pitched battle between the Cirque-ish, no holds barred, eye-candy, surprising and powerful design of BD and the newly re-emerging BIG power traditional drill of Cadets, Crown, SCV, Coats and even Cavaliers (who this year have seemed to lean more in the later direction).

I've started to reply to this 3 times and abandoned the reply. I'm not sure I can concur with this categorization:

BD = no holds barred, eye-candy, surprising and powerful

EVERYONE ($1 to she who cannot be named) else = traditional design

In fact reading it again makes is seem like it's flamebait. I know said that's not your intent but....seriously? I won't even go any further than this because....well..... I won't.

ps. This my first year "rooting" for 1 corps (felt obliged to since my kid is marching). In the past I've been just a fan of the activity. Kids at band camp are always all over me "Why do you wear so many different corps's shirts -- don't you have a favorite?" I've never minded BD winning so often-- who wouldn't want to sit through their encore? So this is not a knee-jerk response.

Edited June 29, 2009 by corpsband