Marching While Playing

[Jeff Ream]

do you count do body work under playing in that, or just left right left rght marching?

[HockeyDad]

I have eleventy billion seconds for the cadets.

And negative five seconds for the cavaliers.

And nothing but sound snippets for blue devils.

And who is this carolina crown crashing the party? Who let them in?

[decompressed]

This is why DCI is now a collection of corps, who by the end of the season, all look the same. Its what the current system forces so by the time we hit finals week, there is less individuality form corps to corps as they have made adjustments to keep up with the Jones' so to speak.

I love early season drum corps, before the re-writes, changes because that is when you see and hear the uniqueness of each corps, before the true natre of competition sets in and designers and their teams are trying to get that leg up on the corps in front of them.

To contrast....this is why i am beginning to like WGI finals even more now than DCI because each group comes in with something so completely different that there is just greater variety. Of course, again, it is a different activity so that is also part of the allure.

I have watched many clips online and it seems to me that we are treading, once again, down the path of NO MELODY. Without melody, you don't have long phrases, without long phrases you have disjointed drill and it all proceeds from there. As for Marching and Playing, it used to be the MUSIC dictated the drill, but now it seems, many go the other route and this is why there are so many corps that look and sound the same to me.

Give me a show that I can hum walking to my car......NOT ONE THAT I CAN IMITATE BY USING MY CAR HORN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As a good friend of mine once said..."the day that the Crossmen start trying to be the cadets is the day we will see them out of finals" this was said in 2002 and he looks quite prophetic today. Corps need to retain their identity so we have that variety. A uniform alone doesn't create an identity....it is the totality of the vision from the top that matters.

For 7 years i taught corps that played mostly jazz and had music with melody and it was a joy to teach. Sadly, i watch corps now and we have sacrificed melody and form and function for a formulaic collection of short segments that build to impacts with loud major chords (or...for gosh sakes...sometimes even a minor chord or dominant 7th)

Again...i ramble...but these are my thoughts and frustrations with the activity. Now...back to that cup of coffee!

My 2 cents as always!

[Jeff Ream]

i dont know, in WGI percussion, it seems like it is mirroring what you feel about DCI.

[decompressed]

i dont know, in WGI percussion, it seems like it is mirroring what you feel about DCI.

Agreed...i was referring to WGI color guards actually. but you make an excellent point here.

[The Other Mike]

This is why DCI is now a collection of corps, who by the end of the season, all look the same. Its what the current system forces so by the time we hit finals week, there is less individuality form corps to corps as they have made adjustments to keep up with the Jones' so to speak.

I love early season drum corps, before the re-writes, changes because that is when you see and hear the uniqueness of each corps, before the true natre of competition sets in and designers and their teams are trying to get that leg up on the corps in front of them.

To contrast....this is why i am beginning to like WGI finals even more now than DCI because each group comes in with something so completely different that there is just greater variety. Of course, again, it is a different activity so that is also part of the allure.

I have watched many clips online and it seems to me that we are treading, once again, down the path of NO MELODY. Without melody, you don't have long phrases, without long phrases you have disjointed drill and it all proceeds from there. As for Marching and Playing, it used to be the MUSIC dictated the drill, but now it seems, many go the other route and this is why there are so many corps that look and sound the same to me.

Give me a show that I can hum walking to my car......NOT ONE THAT I CAN IMITATE BY USING MY CAR HORN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As a good friend of mine once said..."the day that the Crossmen start trying to be the cadets is the day we will see them out of finals" this was said in 2002 and he looks quite prophetic today. Corps need to retain their identity so we have that variety. A uniform alone doesn't create an identity....it is the totality of the vision from the top that matters.

For 7 years i taught corps that played mostly jazz and had music with melody and it was a joy to teach. Sadly, i watch corps now and we have sacrificed melody and form and function for a formulaic collection of short segments that build to impacts with loud major chords (or...for gosh sakes...sometimes even a minor chord or dominant 7th)

Again...i ramble...but these are my thoughts and frustrations with the activity. Now...back to that cup of coffee!

My 2 cents as always!

Ummmmm, are we related ?

That was NOT a ramble.

Perfect length for my ridlen suduced brain to keep up with and your articulations came out nice and clear, not needing to be covered by monkeys beating on the rim to cover a lack of technique. Your expression was delivered with an ebb and flow that enhanced your feelings in a dynamic manner, unlike so many who believe an exercise in the Arban book IS the performance.

(God Bless SCV)

You sell yourself short,

At least a 50 cent read, and not a Rico

The Other Mike

Authority on rants and rambles through experience

[rut-roh]

As a good friend of mine once said..."the day that the Crossmen start trying to be the cadets is the day we will see them out of finals" this was said in 2002 and he looks quite prophetic today. Corps need to retain their identity so we have that variety. A uniform alone doesn't create an identity....it is the totality of the vision from the top that matters.

To be fair, the reason a corps like the Crossmen stopped making finals is when they started playing poorly and marching poorly and drumming poorly and spinning/catching poorly. All more or less at the same time. That's usually how it works, and they have been no exception to the rule. Your friend is not as prophetic as you give him credit for.

[kagario]

This data is so subjective that I could never consider it valid.

I tried to recreate your results using the same parameters, but I couldn't.

For example,

Blue Devils:

Your Data: 257 seconds playing and marching

My Data : 352 seconds playing and marching

Cadets:

Your Data: 406 seconds playing and marching

My Data : 388 seconds playing and marching

I got close with the Cadets, not sure what you did with BD.

hmmmmm.

Edited July 24, 2009 by kagario

[Jeff Ream]

This data is so subjective that I could never consider it valid.

I tried to recreate your results using the same parameters, but I couldn't.

For example,

Blue Devils:

Your Data: 257 seconds playing and marching

My Data : 352 seconds playing and marching

Cadets:

Your Data: 406 seconds playing and marching

My Data : 388 seconds playing and marching

I got close with the Cadets, not sure what you did with BD.

hmmmmm.

maybe he doesnt consider going up and down onto the chairs as marching

[fifer]

Blue Devils:

Your Data: 257 seconds playing and marching

My Data : 352 seconds playing and marching

You probably shouldn't count "crossing and uncrossing your legs while seated and playing" as marching.