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The Best Years  

102 members have voted

  1. 1. When exactly was drum corps at its artistic best?

    • Before 1965
      0
    • 1966-1970
      0
    • 1971-1975
      2
    • 1976-1980
      5
    • 1981-1985
      6
    • 1986-1990
      24
    • 1991-1995
      18
    • 1996-2000
      19
    • 2001-2005
      11
    • 2006-2010
      17


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Forgot to say what I voted for: 1981-85, purely because Garfield's groundbreaking show of 83 falls into that category. In my eyes, that show set the example that led to 20+ years of changes (and new traditions) in the visual/marching realm thanks to the brilliance of George Zingali.

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Hmmm... we started with a poll that referenceing "artistic" that was referred to in the 1st post as "creative" and I have seen references to many shows that were entertaining.

Been around since '77 and am having difficulty responding since I'm not clear what we are going after.

Artistic spans eras and is highly subjective.

You can go anywhere from the madness of the Bridgemen shows of tha late 70's to the dignity of the Suncoast Vietnam show to BAC's moving Red.

Creative asks me to look at change.

That being the case it's a hands down lock to what Zingali did with the Cadets from '82-

To my eyes and ears everything else since then is just polishing the apple.

Entertaining?

That's a whole different thread that has been beaten to death here far to many times...

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What do you mean by "rudimental elements"?

Visually, block meshes and rotations ..... Brubaker's geometric stuff was all first done from 86-90. Freeform's, add-on drill, asymmetrical, guard integration, co-ed guards (86 Spirit especially set the bar here), Reshapes, false fronts, double fronts, exploding fronts, hornline body movement ........ the list is much longer but NONE of those things existed prior to 84 that I'm aware of.

Musically, grounded pits were becoming more sophisticated and took on the orchestral approach to total percussive writing rather than a rudimental approach (Garfield and SCV pushed this envelope during this time period). Prime Jr and Klesch were truly refining their power cadence formula's that maxxed out the drum corps sound and style. Also keep in mind that notes like Eb, D, Db and Ab still had to be played on those 2 valve horns. The great arrangers of this time found ways to split melodies and harmonies in to other voices and pick up those notes in a higher register (IOW, lead baris might play a high Ab on an eighth note out of nowhere just so the melody line would be in the proper octave which was actually being played by the mellos). Yeah .. wrap your head around arranging that way!!!

Story telling, I think this was actually done BETTER during these 4 years than at any other time. Spartacus in 08 is the first in decades to even come close to what Sky Ryders were doing in 86, 87, 88............. And Suncoast 88 was DECADES ahead of it's time.

The things I speak of were HARD to make work. Hard to master. Hard to even fathom. The fact that most things mentioned were performed with no one being killed is a miracle. Nowadays ....... these things are MEH! Why? Because it's all been done before and seen before and it's almost like a required element of design .. or a RUDIMENTAL ELEMENT.

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Much debate has occurred surrounding the “state of drum corps”. The debate has further developed into the current state of drum corps vs “some other” time period. Much of what has been written or suggested is that if drum corps would change what they are (creatively) doing and go back to an earlier "style/approach" drum corps would be better, it would start growing again and we the drum corps fan would enjoy it more.

This discussion has led me to the following question:

When exactly was drum corps at its creative best?

It's really a tough question to poll, particularly when probably more than half the respondants to this poll never saw shows from probably more than half the choices on here from which to select. And I think we've all pretty much agreed that seeing a Corps on tape is nowhere near as good as seeing a Corps live.

ElmerFudd.... have you seen Corps perfomance live in each of the choices you've provided ? Just asking. What year did you see your first Corps performance live ?

Edited by BRASSO
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Hmmm... we started with a poll that referenceing "artistic" that was referred to in the 1st post as "creative" and I have seen references to many shows that were entertaining.

Been around since '77 and am having difficulty responding since I'm not clear what we are going after.

Artistic spans eras and is highly subjective.

You can go anywhere from the madness of the Bridgemen shows of tha late 70's to the dignity of the Suncoast Vietnam show to BAC's moving Red.

Creative asks me to look at change.

That being the case it's a hands down lock to what Zingali did with the Cadets from '82-

To my eyes and ears everything else since then is just polishing the apple.

Entertaining?

That's a whole different thread that has been beaten to death here far to many times...

The poll question was "Artsistic" Keep it simple, dont over think it

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86-90 for me ......... I look at it like this...

Today's corps has rudimental elements that weren't available before 1990. These rudimental elements were explored and developed from 84-90. I would say close to perfected most of those elements by 1993 and the rest is history.

Zingali, Brubaker, Sylvester, Prime, etc etc etc. This was the time when they were all turning the "art" of drum corps on it's ear. Not much new has come since ...... just different flavors and twists.

new sig: Pyware killed drumcorps

I agree with your comments however doesnt that refer to inovation. A leeter time periond could have evolved the method and been more artistic? Just a question

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I agree with your comments however doesnt that refer to inovation. A leeter time periond could have evolved the method and been more artistic? Just a question

What year did you see your first live Corps performance, EllmerFUDD ?

Edited by BRASSO
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