Room_101 Posted August 13, 2010 Share Posted August 13, 2010 (edited) Highly illuminating response, as ever. A question from the ignorant: which is "high F": the one just below or just above middle C? He's mentioning the one just below middle C. And Bruckner, that's a VERY good point. Those Yamaha tuba high F's are awful! Crown's line does ride sharp on them (and flat on the B-flats...yikes, perfect fifth!), but it IS in tune within the line! Edited August 13, 2010 by Room_101 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luvah Posted August 13, 2010 Share Posted August 13, 2010 In my opinion, the guy that started this thread is probably a Bluecoats fan and wanted to draw attention to how much butt the Bluecoats tubas kick. And its obvious that the Bluecoats have the best tubas, and most exposure, coolest feature. If you wanted a catagory that is a total blowout for the Bluecoats, its the tubas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
contrajedi8 Posted August 13, 2010 Share Posted August 13, 2010 surprised so ,any Madison votes. the tuba line is NOY good.very muddy. also too many , you can not hear the baritone voice at all. bad choice. Not sure it's a tuba line issue. When I saw Madison, I thought they had a very middle- heavy, muddy overall brass sound. I dig the cut of their jib this year but the brass performance bothered me on this one front. Also, 20 tubas carries with it built-in problems. 20 dudes trying to match tone and intonation and project as an ensemble on such a large horn is a daunting task. But to come right out and say "Madison's tuba line is NOT good" is a pretty foolish thing to say, IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMusicLives Posted August 13, 2010 Author Share Posted August 13, 2010 In my opinion, the guy that started this thread is probably a Bluecoats fan and wanted to draw attention to how much butt the Bluecoats tubas kick. And its obvious that the Bluecoats have the best tubas, and most exposure, coolest feature. If you wanted a catagory that is a total blowout for the Bluecoats, its the tubas. If you look at the first post in the thread, you'll see that my vote went to Crown. I'm not a Bluecoats fan per se, just a drum corps fan. The Bluecoats tuba line does sound very good - I don't mean to take anything away from them - but their tuba feature takes place in a line on the 50 yard line. Crown's Mahler intro takes place spread literally endzone to endzone. The timing responsibilities are so much greater, and anyone who's marched before knows how hard that makes it. THAT'S exposure. Not drill that largely stays within the 30s. If the topic was "Who has the best featured tuba section?" the answer would be Bluecoats, hands down. If the topic was "Who has the best utilized tuba section?" I'd again say Crown. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jplattSCV Posted August 13, 2010 Share Posted August 13, 2010 If you look at the first post in the thread, you'll see that my vote went to Crown. I'm not a Bluecoats fan per se, just a drum corps fan. The Bluecoats tuba line does sound very good - I don't mean to take anything away from them - but their tuba feature takes place in a line on the 50 yard line. Crown's Mahler intro takes place spread literally endzone to endzone. The timing responsibilities are so much greater, and anyone who's marched before knows how hard that makes it. THAT'S exposure. Not drill that largely stays within the 30s. If the topic was "Who has the best featured tuba section?" the answer would be Bluecoats, hands down. If the topic was "Who has the best utilized tuba section?" I'd again say Crown. Crown's intro is amazing for sure. After seeing everyone in Dallas, that was one of the 4-5 top moments that made impressions on me. But, its still pretty subtle. I aged out in 1992. My parents have been to finals most years even since I aged out (This year included). But, I still have to point them to some things that they would never have noted are amazing and difficult. That intro is a perfect example of that. They would likely never have noticed that it was that difficult. I'd still say that Bluecoats are the best utilized too. They realized how good they are and staged them in such a way that even noobs can tell they are great. Staging is important. Look at any of the years where Cadets won and you will see what great staging will do for you. Look at many years where SCV struggled during the 90's and you will see some awful staging. Don't get me wrong. I am not saying that Crown has poor staging. Not at all. I am just saying that sometimes making thnigs obvious is a good thing. Bluecoats make it obvious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMusicLives Posted August 14, 2010 Author Share Posted August 14, 2010 Staging is important. Look at any of the years where Cadets won and you will see what great staging will do for you. Look at many years where SCV struggled during the 90's and you will see some awful staging. Don't get me wrong. I am not saying that Crown has poor staging. Not at all. I am just saying that sometimes making thnigs obvious is a good thing. Bluecoats make it obvious. I would actually say Crown's staging IS poor, and it's costing them competitively. All of their impact moments are in large, spread out forms that leave individual members of the brassline very exposed. Because of this, judges are able to nitpick about individual inconsistencies much easier than a corps who hides its errors in compact drill forms. I really respect the risks Crown takes in doing this. Very few - if any - corps attempt what Crown does, and it's nice to see that. But they have to realize that taking those risks without being absolutely perfect will cost them in terms of the numbers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PR_ducky Posted August 14, 2010 Share Posted August 14, 2010 The best Tuba lines are the ones not using a synth to boost their tone and output and there are SEVERAL who do that. Including, amazingly enough... Madison. Its fine if they feel the need just try not to be SOOOOOOO obvious about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MetalTones2012 Posted August 14, 2010 Share Posted August 14, 2010 (edited) Madison has 20 tubas. 20! The Bluecoats may have a history of awesome solos but this year Madison recruited their tuba line with the number 1 in mind. And their solo was pretty bad### too. Edited August 14, 2010 by MetalTones2012 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chasgroh Posted August 14, 2010 Share Posted August 14, 2010 I agree with most that Bluecoats and Crown are probably the best. Really enjoyed Madison's 20 tubas! But I was very impressed with the Blue Knights tubas in Allentown. Their 12 tuba's projected very well; beautiful tone, full rich sound. Great Job Blue Knights! ...I've been on the sideline in front of Denver's...also been on the practice field with them. They PLAY! Knocked me out! cg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kickhaltsforlife Posted August 14, 2010 Share Posted August 14, 2010 Madison's show... awesome... loud? sure... great brass sound??? NO. The tubas mess A LOT up( too many, sloppy sounding, not a great "ensemble" tuba sound). The were in much need of more baritone and trumpet sound. The baritones project the best out of any instrument in the line (especially a yamaha line). Of course without the support from the low end it would be nothing.. but much of the volume from a brass line comes from that tenor voice. And to add that punch, if you have a great soprano and tenor voice with an awesome support system down low in the bass (CROWN 09) you have everything you need. The mellos.. well, they add some pretty sweet stuff color wise, and a horn line would not be complete without them. But honestly, your best horn lines are going to have great bari/euph sections. Crown '09... Cadets '07(SO MUCH SOUND), Phantom '05-'08, And many many more. Oh yeah.. best tuba section.. Crown for ensemble playing. I would tie bluecoats though. They have had a stellar tuba line since 07... GREAT writing.. GREAT brass books all together. Many drum corps' arrangers could learn a lot from how bluecoats and crown's books are orchestrated (I feel like my english is dropping off, time for bed). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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