Dissonant Music in Shows

[Joe Salvatore]

How about we all celebrate a variety of music on the field and try to appreciate it for what it is!

By the way, thanks to Bruckner8 for holding a workshop....excellent!

Agreed!

As a drummer that did not continue music education in college my head hurts but am thankful for the great discussion.

I really am interested in finding resources online that can illustrate many of the discussion concepts via audio samples.

Can anyone assist?

[Triple Forte]

As someone who has developed somewhat of a taste for that kind of music I personally find it fresh and actually enjoy picking out the intricacies.

It's definitely something you have to develop a taste for if you're not at all used to hearing it; so I would strongly encourage anyone finding some music difficult to enjoy to expand your boundaries and just keep giving it time.

Well than here is the million dollar question.......is it a good idea for corps staffs/creators to pick music that takes getting used to or better yet music you need to develop an ear for ? My answer would be definitely not. Someone should not have to work to hard to enjoy themselves at a drum corps show (from a music standpoint). Unless you want only certain types of folks in your listening audience.

[BRASSO]

People who need things to be recognizable, or who need shows to be classical, or jazz, or dark, or happy, or whatever to enjoy them are doing a disservice to themselves and the activity, IMO. Branch out.

But these thousands, upon thousands, of fans DID " branch out ".

They " branched out " to spending their leisurely time and disposable incomes elsewhere.

That's just the reality, here. We've had upwards of 40,000 fans ( Montreal for one ) in attendance at DCI Finals. What do you think the Finals paid attendance will be in Indy ? 40,000 ?

There is no further need to be critical of the fans. The ones that you re describing don't read DCP.... and dont go to shows anymore. They have " branched out ", and no longer are they " doing a disservive to themselves and the activity " ( as you said ) They are long gone.

Edited July 5, 2010 by BRASSO

[Plan9]

But these thousands, upon thousands, of fans DID " branch out ".

They " branched out " to spending their leisurely time and disposable incomes elsewhere.

That's just the reality, here. We've had upwards of 40,000 fans ( Montreal for one ) in attendance at DCI Finals. What do you think the Finals paid attendance will be in Indy ? 40,000 ?

There is no further need to be critical of the fans. The ones that you re describing don't read DCP.... and dont go to shows anymore. They have " branched out ", and no longer are they " doing a disservive to themselves and the activity " ( as you said ) They are long gone.

It's obvious you're passionate about this subject Brasso, but I have one question for you: how many corps can you name this year that are playing this "so called" (and IMO incorrectly described) dark, dissonant, choppy music? I suggest there aren't that many. And just for the record, you may want to recall Pasadena 07 for crowd count. Maybe not as many as Montreal, but just about sold out from where I was sitting (32 to 35K is my guess).

[drumbi]

hey ol cabby, remember when the skyliners did "traffic jam? this created great excitment for the fans musically educated or not.

personally i'm amazed how evolved drum corps have become.

while the skyliners might have been given four notes to jam with the blue devil's play their space chord exersize as pure as a synthesizer with the clusters , swipes, double diminished etc.

on the other hand the blue stars did a warm up at san antononio in 07 that could send you on a magic carpet ride , i think it was a french composer.

then the cadets with " this i believe" played an opening fanfare to go to war with. whew!

the american public has been in touch with dissonance as long as televison and movies have been around, think about the mystery, horror and drama subjects.

dci gimme all you got!

Edited July 19, 2010 by drumbi

[geluf]

Well than here is the million dollar question.......is it a good idea for corps staffs/creators to pick music that takes getting used to or better yet music you need to develop an ear for ? My answer would be definitely not. Someone should not have to work to hard to enjoy themselves at a drum corps show (from a music standpoint).

You have to "develop and ear" for *every* type of music. Most of the time this is done at a young age. This is why you have some people who like, say, Rock, while others like Country, with some overlap, etc.

Dissonance is no different. It can be overused, yes, but I see nothing wrong with challenging the audience here and there with something outside their "I only listen to music that follows A-A-B-A and never strays from I-IV-V-I with the occasional ii or V7/V and has a melody simplistic enough for me to whistle on the way out of the stadium" comfort zone.

[Plan9]

I'm aware of the skill it takes to truly play a dissonant chord in tune. My main point is that it would not kill some of these corps to play a song with a melody once and a while. Sometimes I think corps these days are SO focused on technique that they forget that most people just want to hear something that is recognizable and audience accessible. Sure, you can spend all day referencing various performances from the past that disprove my point...but by and large I think most people would rather see a show that is somewhat familiar and memorable.

But that's the beauty of having so many different corps and productions (musical and visual). Some will do WSS, some will do classical, some will do jazz, some will do avante guard jazz, and some will do rock/pop; and...some will use props, some will do stories, some will do purely visual maneuvers with a title (that may or may not make any sense) some will do kaleidoscopic drill, some more guard heavy, some with individual guard members playing roles/dancing, etc. It's all good. If you don't like what you're hearing or seeing, there will certainly be other corps that suit your fancy. No one is right or wrong and there is no trend that I can see. Just some corps trying new things, and thank God for that!

Edited July 19, 2010 by Plan9

[luvs me sum mello!]

Triple Forte- I get where you're coming from. I can pretty much guarantee you that drum corps composers use dissonant chords to cover up tuning issues and bad musicianship in general. I think this trend really picked up around '07 and has only gotten worse. Frankly, I'm sick of it and can barely stand to watch drum corps shows these days. I've always been a music first guy myself and a traditionalist overall. There is so much great music out there that hasn't even been touched in the past that has the potential to make great drum corps shows, but year after year every show sounds basically the same. It got so bad for me that I don't even go to drum corps shows anymore. Every once and a while I'll look up some clips of recent shows on youtube, but that's about it. Seems like more of the same this year as well.

False. Any musical judge worth his stuff, or any musician who knows their chords can pick out tuning issues in a m2 or a tri tone just as easily as a major or perfect interval/chord.

As far as musicianship? Bad tone and sticking out of the ensemble is easy to identify no matter what notes are being played.

So how exactly do you guarantee this?

[TrumpetJ]

But that's the beauty of having so many different corps and productions (musical and visual). Some will do WSS, some will do classical, some will do jazz, some will do avante guard jazz, and some will do rock/pop; and...some will use props, some will do stories, some will do purely visual maneuvers with a title (that may or may not make any sense) some will do kaleidoscopic drill, some more guard heavy, some with individual guard members playing roles/dancing, etc. It's all good. If you don't like what you're hearing or seeing, there will certainly be other corps that suit your fancy. No one is right or wrong and there is no trend that I can see. Just some corps trying new things, and thank God for that!

We have ourselves a winner. Very well put!

[BRASSO]

You have to "develop and ear" for *every* type of music. Most of the time this is done at a young age. This is why you have some people who like, say, Rock, while others like Country, with some overlap, etc.

I'm all for diversity in music. So what top 12 Corps this year are playing " Country music " ? What Corps are playing " Rock Music " ?

Whether we know it or not, some of this music genre is being played by some of the best symphony orchestra's in the entire world...... oftentimes with the Rock Star or Country Star performing on stage together with the popular artist and the symphony orchestra. It's being done all the time with Internationally acclaimed symphony orchestras...throughout the world too..

Arthur Fieldler, the Boston Symphony Orchestra Conductor was no dummy. He specifically created the Boston Pops ( for " POPular ) Orchestra as a vehicle to reach out to mainstream music audiences. He played POPULAR music for these crowds. Country music ? You bet . Rock music ? You bet. Whatever THEY liked. Not what HE might like. The crowds grew exponentially over the years.... HUGE crowds were developed. Some of these crowds spilled over to appreciating the more eclectic classical compositions that he conducted and played in his Boston Symphony Orchestra performances too.

But the notion of playing " Country "or " Rock " Music with DCI music arrangers this year you'd think must be like asking them to take a cyanide capsule with their morning cheerios and milk, for heaven's sake. So when I hear that DCI shows this year are offering a " diverse " genre of music, my response is that the " diversity " of which they are referring to, is a much narrower definiton of " diversity " than mine is. My musical tastes apparently run much broader and deeper than some others on here off of what I'm hearing from Corps this year, that meets with seemingly more musical satisfaction from these fans.

Edited July 19, 2010 by BRASSO