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Changing the Game


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[-quote name=DRB' date='Jan 28 2010, 06:24 PM' post='2733123]

1979 Guardsmen quads (no, I was not in the line)

1980 SCV - 8 quads with 4 high pitch and 4 low pitch

1976 though early 80's - Phantom Regiment marching a 40" bass which I have never seen repeated

Bridgemen drums solos - the left handed 16th notes and the blindfolds - never seen this attempted again

1976 Blue Devils and the North tenors

1979-1980 Blue Devils with the accent drums mounted on the snares (tried previously by the Kilties with limited success)

A 40" bass drum? :blink: That's just mean. I can picture a 6'2" kid coming into audition camp only to end the season 5' 6" impacted spine and all. I suppose their arms would stay the same length so they would look kinda goofy. No offense to any 1976 through early '80's Phantom Regiment 40" bass drummers out there. I marched a 32" Stingray bass drum (synthetic drums, not wood) at Magic for the 1991 Christmas parade and decided that was not for me so my hats off to you select few. In hindsight.... I probably should have stopped at 'that's just mean.'

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All of these older ones are great. Here are some more recent ones:

Cadets 2003 - fully fleshed out "pre-show"

Carolina Crown - starting in 2004 and 2005 (and really by 2007) began playing with a more "opened up" brass sound, but still with the same musicality and blend of the other recent hornlines. Hopefully this has, and will influence other corps to do the same.

Cadets 2005 - changed the kind of things guards were doing (especially in the third movement).... also a new level of drumline integration (musically) into the full ensemble music

Cavaliers 2006 - bleeding a single concept for all its worth

Phantom Regiment 2008 - for storytelling, sans narration......... also, performing the instant they entered the stadium

Carolina Crown 2009 - a new level of hornline interpretive body movement

Edited by Tez
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All of these older ones are great. Here are some more recent ones:

Cadets 2003 - fully fleshed out "pre-show"

Carolina Crown - starting in 2004 and 2005 (and really by 2007) began playing with a more "opened up" brass sound, but still with the same musicality and blend of the other recent hornlines. Hopefully this has, and will influence other corps to do the same.

Cadets 2005 - changed the kind of things guards were doing (especially in the third movement).... also a new level of drumline integration (musically) into the full ensemble music

Cavaliers 2006 - bleeding a single concept for all its worth

Phantom Regiment 2008 - for storytelling, sans narration......... also, performing the instant they entered the stadium

Carolina Crown 2009 - a new level of hornline interpretive body movement

1982 Phantom Regiment did both your first example and fifth example...

G

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A 40" bass drum? That's just mean.

Adding insult to injury - Marty Hurley told me that the poor guy hit it only 7 times in the whole 13 minute show.

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Visually, Star '93 no doubt. Cavaliers 2002 took it to the next level with the high level of integration between visual and music. I think some people who have been moaning about how DCI is becoming a visual activity have Star '93 to blame.

Interestingly, the music program from Star '93 didn't influence drum corps nearly as much as the visual program. Music today is still highly accessible, and fans (well, at least DCP) don't seem to like it when corps try less accessible things. We still want loud and fast, we'd still be okay with Malaguena for 11 minutes, we want to cheer at the end of our shows. When corps play mezzo-forte, we get bored. Consider this: no one's going to give a standing ovation for a ballad if it doesn't hit at least double-forte. What incentive is there to innovate away from fast and loud?

I'm not convinced that there is an overwhelming request on the part of national audiences for " loud and fast" , as you think there is. We've had " fast " visually to the point of running pell mell in sprints into formations, and brass notes the last few years played about as fast as we've ever heard in the activity..... ever. And generally speaking, giving " a standing ovation for a ballad" whether it hits a double forte or not, has rarely prompted audiences to spring to their feet. Ballads don't typically generate standing ovations...... Ballads have been played by Corps since the dawn of Corps. And oftentimes were ( and still are ) loved by audiences. So I really don't know what you are referring to here, as it as not been my experience that audiences have not fallen in love with Music played in a slow, melodic fashion, or Corps that have ended their shows with a quiet and contemplative ending to their show have not received standing ovations. I can think of dozens and dozens of Corps over the years that received standing ovations at the end of shows with great ballads played in the middle, and with soft and quiet endings to their show. Ironically, you mention '93 Star. Their music was fast, furious and loud.... and their finale was fast and furious and loud too, but got just a so so response from audiences . So I'd just have to disagree with your assumptions here, as it hasn't been my personal experience with Drum Corps anyway.

Edited by BRASSO
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I agree with those who have mentioned that George Zingali's influence on the visual in Drum Corps was enormous and pure genius.

Also, I 'll put in a plug for the bold and difficult backward marching of Blue Devils in the last 2 minutes of their show in 2006, as highly risky, and demanding moves on the part of marchers that I believe hasn't gotten the degree of creative credit in the activity as it deserves. Marchers are marching backwards in a line at a high rate of speed. It is done blind. It is highly risky as the entire line can fall apart if just one of the marchers in back of the marchers in front slips, as those marchers in front will have no way of knowing this to avoid falling themselves as they march backwards, which in turn would lead to a collective mess of fall downs... a visual catastrophe. The final 1-2 minutes of their show, many of the marchers are required to do a LOT of backward marching and at an INCREDIBLY fast pace. I've seen Corps do backward marching before. But nothing like BD did the last 2 minutes of their show in 2006, and at those speeds and while PLAYING. It's remarkable in my opinion. It must have required enormous faith and confidence in one another to pull it off. I still marvel at BD in 2006 when I catch it on Fan Network. ( approx. last 1.5- 2 minutes to the end or so ) Incidentally, like most innovative Corps moves, BD did not win in 2006 either ( not that I'm saying they should have here)

Edited by BRASSO
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I'm not convinced that there is an overwhelming request on the part of national audiences for " loud and fast" , as you think there is. We've had " fast " visually to the point of running pell mell in sprints into formations, and brass notes the last few years played about as fast as we've ever heard in the activity..... ever. And generally speaking, giving " a standing ovation for a ballad" whether it hits a double forte or not, has rarely prompted audiences to spring to their feet. Ballads don't typically generate standing ovations...... Ballads have been played by Corps since the dawn of Corps. And oftentimes were ( and still are ) loved by audiences. So I really don't know what you are referring to here, as it as not been my experience that audiences have not fallen in love with Music played in a slow, melodic fashion, or Corps that have ended their shows with a quiet and contemplative ending to their show have not received standing ovations. I can think of dozens and dozens of Corps over the years that received standing ovations at the end of shows with great ballads played in the middle, and with soft and quiet endings to their show. Ironically, you mention '93 Star. Their music was fast, furious and loud.... and their finale was fast and furious and loud too, but got just a so so response from audiences . So I'd just have to disagree with your assumptions here, as it hasn't been my personal experience with Drum Corps anyway.

I am not too sure it is so much the desire for 'loud and fast' as it is just for the desire for some variety...There was a point in this activity (late 90's comes to mind) where in order to be competitive you HAD to do almost a templated show (with all the almost exact elements the judges and sheets wanted)..which led us to the uber-esoteric parade we saw for many years. Ironically, the same corps/writers that I would call the game-changer (Zingali and Garfield/Star) inadvertently pushed the activity into this pigeon-hole by their success usng the esoteric route.

Anything, and I mean ANYTHING...will get boring done the same way over and over again. DC got into that rut for awhile...and IMHO, iis now removing itself from that hole rather nicely. This past season is case in point...VARIETY, VARIETY, VARIETY!!!!!

Edited by prodigal bari
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I am not too sure it is so much the desire for 'loud and fast' as it is just for the desire for some variety...There was a point in this activity (late 90's comes to mind) where in order to be competitive you HAD to do almost a templated show (with all the almost exact elements the judges and sheets wanted)..which led us to the uber-esoteric parade we saw for many years. Ironically, the same corps/writers that I would call the game-changer (Zingali and Garfield/Star) inadvertently pushed the activity into this pigeon-hole by their success usng the esoteric route.

Anything, and I mean ANYTHING...will get boring done the same way over and over again. DC got into that rut for awhile...and IMHO, iis now removing itself from that hole rather nicely. This past season is case in point...VARIETY, VARIETY, VARIETY!!!!!

I hear you, but I wouldn't blame George Zingali for any of this. George Zingali and his visuals were ANYTHING but boring, lacking variety, or" esoteric". That said, I do think the Visual Age took place in his time frame, and much of that ( my opinion ) is because the Drum Corps activity lost through retirement, voluntary leaves ( or pushed aside ) too many prominent Drum Corps Music Arrangers that knew how to please an audience, coupled simultaneously with the change in the judging captions that weighted the Guard and the Visual side of shows, more than the Brass and Percussion side. Corps that won Championships in the late 90's, 2000 era did so primarily on the strength of the Visual and Guard Programs, not from their Musical side.( And this continues to this day, in my opinion)

Edited by BRASSO
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79 Blue Devils - Changed the way hornlines sounded forever IMHO

81 - Devils changed the way color guards looked on the field and performed

83 - Cadets..Zingali..nuff said

94 - Blue Devils - I thought they changed the look of uniforms with the new uni

2000 - Cavies really changed the whole visual game

04 - SCV Drumline

Edited by taters
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