Pieces that shouldn't be done by smaller corps/groups

[84BDsop]

It's not the peice anyway. It is how it is written and arranged.

It could be arranged by God Himself, but if it's performed by people playing like a bunch of first year players, it ain't gonna sound too good.

[BRASSO]

It could be arranged by God Himself, but if it's performed by people playing like a bunch of first year players, it ain't gonna sound too good.

I don't disagree that inexperienced Corps should not be given difficult and/or obtuse music pieces. But why single out the inexperienced Corps and beat them up on this thread ? I listen to some of the World Clas Corps and sometimes wonder what the heck was the Music arranger thinking when he wrote a piece of music whose charts should have been left in the trunk of his car in a box beside the battery jump start cables, instead of having a Drum Corps butcher the piece that was never inteded to be played by brass instruments in a Drum Corps in a football stadium...... and certainly not with the choppy, sloppy rendition arrangement it was given. There are pieces ( for instance ) the original composer designed principally for a piano. Not for brass. Sometimes the piece sucks when it is distorted in this fashion by arrangers with marching bands ( or Corps ).

Edited April 26, 2010 by BRASSO

[84BDsop]

I don't disagree that inexperienced Corps should not be given difficult and/or obtuse music pieces. But why single out the inexperienced Corps and beat them up on this thread ? I listen to some of the World Clas Corps and sometimes wonder what the heck was the Music arranger thinking when he wrote a piece of music whose charts should have been left in the trunk of his car in a box beside the battery jump start cables, instead of having a Drum Corps butcher the piece that was never inteded to be played by a Drum Corps in a football stadium...... and certainly not in ther choppy, sloppy rendition arrangement it was given.

You're talking about poor arranging...I've been talking about poor pieces to perform....the arrangement for the 11 man line I first mentioned was a good one, but the PLAYERS couldn't pull it off....that different than having a minicorps of BD alums being given an arrangement that sucks.

[BRASSO]

You're talking about poor arranging...I've been talking about poor pieces to perform....the arrangement for the 11 man line I first mentioned was a good one, but the PLAYERS couldn't pull it off....that different than having a minicorps of BD alums being given an arrangement that sucks.

I'd agree that any piece that is A) too dificult for marchers to perform and/ or b) leaves audiences yawning, or looking at their watch when played, is a disaster, and should never have been attempted. I do not disagree that some marchers are incapable of playing music that is clearly over their head in their abilty to effectively play it. Nor that such Drum Corps arrangers are idiots for giving them such music to attempt to play.

But the same is true of drill writers. Not to pick on the Crossmen ( as I usually ike his Corps ) but the drill they were given last year was WAY over the ability of this Corps to effectively execute AND play their music with. It was too difficult for their marchers to execute. As a result, they had no chance in moving up last year. They were dead in the water by July 4th, and most experienced observers coud see this. So it's not just he inexperienced Corps being given music that is over their heads. Marchers have been given drill that is over the head of that Corps and should have been given something that matches their marching ability level as well. But wern't.

Edited April 26, 2010 by BRASSO

[Grumpy]

IMO, it's the talent level of the group that determines whether they should be playing what they're playing. Just take a look at Star United! Not to be overly critical of OC corps, more often than not they are given something that is beyond their capabilities and as previoulsy mentioned, is obscure enough that many are bored by it. I feel bad for the corps members when I am watching a performance that their staff should have known is beyond them.

[Jocko the Wonder Llama]

Having marched in that (infamous) 11 man horn line that Sam mentioned, I have to agree with him. The arangement was good...just not for our line.

Had we had the 17 man line that we did in 2006, or bigger, I think that the results would have been markedly different. I just tried to listen to our last show, and it was...well, painfull. Had the line been bigger (2 baritones didn't cut it.) the results would much better.

[shostahoosier]

I marched in a Div III corps that had 14 horns (4S/3M/4B/3C) and our hornline consistently outscored most Div II corps and even beat an Open class corps a few times.

Like everyone else has said, the size of the corps is not as important as the talent and the arrangement.

So I would say there are NO pieces that a small corps should not attempt if they have the sufficient talent and music arrangement.

[Triple Forte]

I agree with most of what you are saying. I have been to the OC semi's and finals shows the last couple of years and I really can't understand why the staff's of these corps pick such obscure music to present. I really hate to sound like Simon from American Idol but......smaller corps who don't have the chops to play what the staff's have given them....end up being forgettable.....

Staff's of OC.....check your ego's and big idea's at the door...be realistic....and give your membership a real chance to succeed, perform.....and engage the crowd. Let go....and put the complex themes and obscure music back on the shelf.

In my opinion, a Corps should play any piece it wants. That there be no restriction whatsoever to any musical piece.

It's not the peice anyway. It is how it is written and arranged. A Corps could have the front battery play some of the more challenging parts if the brass line could not handle it.

That said, it is kind of silly to hear some lower level Corp attempt obtuse music that is way over the marchers ability to perform it adequately. This is nothing less than sheer stupidity on the part of those in charge of such Corps. Unfortunately, I 've seen this a lot over the years. It is one thing to play obtuse music that the Corps can't handle as it is written too difficult and thus gets clobbered in placement. But it is even worse to play obtuse music, get clobbered AND be boring to 90% of the people in the stands. I feel sorry for such Corps. They're usually about to enter the Dead Corps Museum, sooner rather than later.

[Jeffreelancer]

Having marched in that (infamous) 11 man horn line that Sam mentioned, I have to agree with him. The arangement was good...just not for our line.

Had we had the 17 man line that we did in 2006, or bigger, I think that the results would have been markedly different. I just tried to listen to our last show, and it was...well, painfull. Had the line been bigger (2 baritones didn't cut it.) the results would much better.

I agree with Brian and Sam to a point. The other part of this was the lack of rehearsal time to ensure the corps was prepared for the show. Even with 11 brass we did okay when playing at a standstill, but the lack of scheduled rehearsals led to the corps not being confident with the drill so overall the show suffered. We did not have the power needed to pull off the music as intended, but I don't think the skill level was the primary reason for the poor performance.

I believe the 2006 show is a good example of what can be done effectively with a small line.