Drum line body movement and strutting

[sarnia sam]

Really, what do we drummers know about dance?

That just may be the problem. It used to be about the drumming.

Regards,

John

[Gaddabout]

That just may be the problem. It used to be about the drumming.

Regards,

John

Save that for the parking lot, man. Drum corps is about playing and moving, and the demands on movement have never been higher for the most competitive corps. It's only going one direction, and no one's going to slow down to play a 32nd-note passage of inverted flam taps with cheese.

You and I can debate the merits of the kind of movement the kids are doing these days, but the days of moving the battery around the field in one lump block are loooooong over. Battery is now part of the general ensemble, participating in the show individually as much as a unit.

Cats and dogs living together end of the world kind of revelations. I know, bro. I know. It's a different world!

Edited August 11, 2009 by Gaddabout

[Kansan]

This is no different than the hornline attempting plies, lunges, tondus, etc. There are only so many movements one can do carrying a thirty pound drum! I don't understand why it is OK for the hornline but not the drumline. Bluecoats were at least musical.

It's not OK for the Hornline either. This stuff may have been cool the 1st time it was done but it's old hat now.

[Kansan]

Hey Garry, I don't have a problem with body movement during a drum break so much but what I do find annoying is exactly what you mentioned here, all the posturing and strutting about after playing a particular lick. I can accept it if the lick is played cleanly and is performed well (although I'd prefer that the notes speak for themselves) but what is annoying is when a lick is trashed and sounds like garbage and the the players still posture and strut about. What is that? If you want to strut fine but play the lick correctly for crying out loud!

Greg (who sometimes fly's over Vegas)

I always like it when a really good line just plays the music and has no reaction to their success in nailing their parts. No ensemble reaction says to me, we do this all the time and it's no suprise to us that we are awsome.

On the other hand todays lines look a lot like a bunch of gang members celebrating after they just "got over" on "the man".

Edited August 13, 2009 by Kansan

[atlvalet]

Yeah, I remember that from the 70's-90's too!

That stuff (stopping, putting out your legs and playing) is OLD HAT! Somewhere along the line a designer decided to make it interesting by adding body movement that compliments the rhythmic construction of the music. It might LOOK the same from line to line, but it more than likely is different and 'modified' to match the music. When that was added to the visual vocabulary, other drumlines who just stand and play do not get the same scores as drumlines who play while doing body movement (because it's more difficult).

Sure, Banished Beyond guy does it great. ANYONE can sound good/clean when not having to clean to eight other snares, five tenors and five basses. It's actually pretty difficult to clean due to the unnatural body movement (add simultaneous demand to the performer).

MEH!!!

Old hat? Cadets did that in 2000. Anything you can do I can do better, right? They threw down and took names.

Devs in '07 did all this movement and only played roll patterns for their solo. I suppose that is more impressive?

[atlvalet]

Those drums probably sound awful. Wood only, please.

The old Remo FIBERGLASS snares that Freelancers used back in the 90's sounded like ### in my opinion. I agree that, from what I have experienced, wood is better. Doesn't mean they can't make titanium/aluminum hardware, though.

EDIT: Not CF, but fiberglass. I must be getting old. Oi.

Edited August 12, 2009 by atlvalet

[Jeff Ream]

Save that for the parking lot, man. Drum corps is about playing and moving, and the demands on movement have never been higher for the most competitive corps. It's only going one direction, and no one's going to slow down to play a 32nd-note passage of inverted flam taps with cheese.

You and I can debate the merits of the kind of movement the kids are doing these days, but the days of moving the battery around the field in one lump block are loooooong over. Battery is now part of the general ensemble, participating in the show individually as much as a unit.

Cats and dogs living together end of the world kind of revelations. I know, bro. I know. It's a different world!

drills were not all that crazier 10 years ago, yet the books seemed fuller with more meat. you had a lot less bodystuff then too.

as for the lot..shame is, some corps spend so much time in the lot on #### they'll never play on the field that the field product suffers.

hey great...in the lot you played "inverted flam cheese curls with a huerta feel" at 160.

yet you #### out 16th rolls on the move.

hmmmmm

[Gaddabout]

as for the lot..shame is, some corps spend so much time in the lot on #### they'll never play on the field that the field product suffers.

That's another thread right there and so bloody true. Not going to name names, but I sometimes wonder if those lot exercises are really just camera muggings for YouTube to help promote a caption head's individual effort to sell copyrighted, exclusive exercises (i.e. the same check patterns as before, just in a different order).

I've actually seen eight on a hand for sale as an ensemble exercise. Eight on freakin' hand.

Edited August 11, 2009 by Gaddabout

[hughesmr]

I always like it when a really good line just plays the music and has no reaction to their success in nailing their parts. No ensemble reaction says to me, we do this all the time and it's no suprise to us that we are awsome.

On the other hand todays lines look a lot like a bunch of gang members celebrating after they just "got over" on "the man".

LOL.

I think lines should build in tepid reactions after their solos ... you know, grimaced faces, hanging their heads in shame, dropping their shoulders, throwing sticks to the ground, etc.

"Aww, crap, blew that release AGAIN!" ...or... "######! We had that in ensemble this afternoon!"

Wouldn't that be cool? Certainly would be groundbreaking.

[Cavie74]

OK, I guess this stuff started in WGI, and I don't have a problem with that. What bothers me is that everyone is doing it, and they're all doing the same things. Squat, stand, turn right, center, turn left. rock back and forth on each leg...face it, there's not much more to it than that.

Is this part of the "vocabulary" for visual now? If so, I'm over it. It's repetitive, and does nothing to enhance anybody's show if they're all doing the same thing.

Also, the drum lines that finish a lick, accent the release with a drop-hand duble-stop, then strut? What are you strutting about? You're supposed to play it clean. If you play it dirty, are you going to slink off and hide?

Please, I don't need an "in your face". I need you to act like you're supposed to be good. You don't see Yoyo Ma strutting around after he nails a cello solo.

Garry in Vegas

I agree. And color guards are all the same. Toss a rifle in the air. Toss a saber in the air. Spin a flag. Run around with your toes pointed and a concerned look on your face. It's been done for years and years now. It's redundant and repetitive and does nothing to enhance anybody's show if they're all doing the same thing.

Thank goodness for ladders, chairs, picnic tables, sewing machines and a door.

Seriously though, does anything make you happy? Perhaps a theatrical representation of slave girls being pulled by the hair and thrown to the ground on a football field is what you'd like to see.

If you don't need "in your face" drum corps I bet you don't like company fronts. They're not original. Perhaps a battery of 9 snares, 5 quads, 5 bass drums lacks originality. That big exciting emotional finish from corps after corps must drive you to distraction. I bet you're a fan of INT because they do things no other corps does.