Gaddabout Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 Gee, I wonder if those brilliant marching percussion peddlers at Pearl and Yamaha have considered making mallet instruments capable of withstanding the rigors of outdoor playing, just like all those marching drums that they have so brilliantly created for years? I wonder.... I wonder... Hmmmmm....... Oof. This is treading on dangerous ground. I have numerous friends that refuse to listen to DCI because Kevlar heads have made snares sound like table tops. If you're an old-school drummer, it's nails on a chalkboard. Changing the material keyboards are made of to withstand the rigors of outdoor playing would undoubtedly have the same affect on tone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
audiodb Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 it was always painful hearing cling, clang, crap, from the pit... So now, we have a louder and more distorted cling, clang, with other sounds (pop, buzz, hiss, feedback) added in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captncontra Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 So you can't listen to Dave Weckl, Chick Corea, Michel Camilo, Led Zzepplin, The Beatles or any other music besides some classical and ragtime? Wow, I feel bad for you! Apparently you've never been to a live performance. I CAN listen to all those acts because they're ALL mic'd. No acoustic sound clashing with electronic sounds. Mics in the pianos, mics in the guitars, entire orchestras miced for each section. Mic the brass and battery with the pit or don't mic anything. Technique in the pits has barely improved, so that arguement is null and void. Meanwhile the brass is being drowned out if they play anything lower than a forte. Having 80 brass blasting away at triple forte and being buried by one guy playing a run on bells is absurd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
audiodb Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 It's not a "trick," it's a technique. Why should brass overpower everything? Who said it should? What we have now is leaning in the other direction. The Blue Stars' ballad was one of my musical highlights of 2009, as it was one of the rare occasions where a pit stopped playing so that we could hear the effects the hornline generated with their backfield chords. Were it not for that, I'd conclude it is now compulsory that pits inundate us with 10 players x 4 mallets each, amped up to at least forte throughout all ballads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoonHill Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 Anyone who truly thinks that it's impossible for a non-amped pit to be anything like balanced with a very loud hornline and a very loud drumline has never listened to 1993 Star of Indiana. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldschooldbc Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 One of the common complaints I've seen here about synthesizers (or guitars, basses, samplers, etc) is that the volume can be turned up without any extra effort from the performer, as opposed to acoustic instruments. However, what about the micing of the keyboard instruments in the pit, or brass soloists? Sure, they can produce more sound through physical effort, but so can most electronic instruments/patches. Anything that's miced can be turned up quite a bit by just changing settings on a mixer. Why is this only considered a problem for purely electronic instruments?I'm not trying to make this a "gotcha" topic, I'm genuinely curious to hear what the critics think. It may just be that the people who've voiced this concern also want no amps at all, I dunno. I will give a simple, consistent, straightforward answer: Electronic keyboards, synthesizers, microphones, amplifiers, or any other electronic instrument or apparatus, should be banned from drum corps. They are not needed, and do not contribute to drum corps, in any significant or meaningful way. They are a distraction, and do more to take away from the listening experience, than add to it. The brass instrument do not need to be amplified. If your soprano solo can't be heard through the entire stadium, then get a different soloist, or cut it out completely. And I see no plausible reason to amplify the front ensemble (pit.) In my opinion, there are already too many instruments in the pit, to begin with. Do we really need 6 marimbas and 5 xylophones in a typical pit? And to amp them? On a number of DIC recordings I have heard, the sound of the pit has overwhelmed that of the brass line and battery. So we don't need to make the situation worse through amplification. And if the BOD tries to implement woodwinds this year, I will be equally adamant, in my opposition to this change. That may be the worst decision ever by the BOD, if it is approved. I strongly believe that there should be only 3 sounds heard on a drum corps field: brass, percussion, and the scores being read by the announcer. Anything else will challenge the fundamental integrity of drum corps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hrothgar15 Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 There seems to be such a high demand for a form of drum corps that isn't anything like what DCI has become today. It's strange that there isn't more of a push to start a new junior drum corps circuit with these demanded elements. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldschooldbc Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 There seems to be such a high demand for a form of drum corps that isn't anything like what DCI has become today. It's strange that there isn't more of a push to start a new junior drum corps circuit with these demanded elements. Some people would like to see it. If WWs are implemented next year - that may be the last straw. Of course, starting a new tour today would be tough. You would almost certainly need a big financial backer for such a trend to take place. And you would need at least some existing DCI corps to defect to you altnernate tour. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skewerz Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 Some people would like to see it. If WWs are implemented next year - that may be the last straw. Of course, starting a new tour today would be tough. You would almost certainly need a big financial backer for such a trend to take place. And you would need at least some existing DCI corps to defect to you altnernate tour. if I win the mega millions tonight, I would seriously consider it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShortAndFast Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 There seems to be such a high demand for a form of drum corps that isn't anything like what DCI has become today. It's strange that there isn't more of a push to start a new junior drum corps circuit with these demanded elements. I'm not sure there really is such a demand. A high percentage of DCP members maybe, but how many people is that in reality? The Top 6 certainly don't want a new circuit. DCI works for them, and the rule/instrumentation changes have largely been made at their request. The design & instructional staff want all of the changes so that DCI will become more like the WGI and BOA circuits that they also participate in. At the other end of the spectrum, we can assume that the management of groups like Pioneer are aware of alternatives like Open Class and DCA. As an economist would say, their revealed preference is to be a 20th place corps in DCI World Class rather than a more competitive group in a different circuit. DCI started because a significant number of corps wanted a different circuit, one run by and for the corps. Where's the evidence that any world class corps today want something different? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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