Yes, you hate electronics, but...

[WOOHOO]

i doubtit. that show was loved by many more than just the right coats and middle coast

You must not have been in Pasadena then. So obviously west coast bias, but that's fine.

[Jeff Ream]

with the shows that year, can yo blame them? hell the cadets didnt rave reviews in their home area.

[WOOHOO]

with the shows that year, can yo blame them? hell the cadets didnt rave reviews in their home area.

So, you weren't there?

[Jeff Ream]

in Cali? No. But I sure heard Cadets heckled in their home town, and saw BD get a good reaction. Actually a better reaction than they have gotten there the last 3 years.

and let's be honest...Spartacus was one of those once in a life time shows. I saw plenty of people in BD gear chant along with the rest of us

[WOOHOO]

in Cali? No. But I sure heard Cadets heckled in their home town, and saw BD get a good reaction. Actually a better reaction than they have gotten there the last 3 years.

and let's be honest...Spartacus was one of those once in a life time shows. I saw plenty of people in BD gear chant along with the rest of us

Well, since you weren't there, you don't really know how a California crowd would react then. Sorry.

[supersop]

In another thread, Boo suggested:

Sounds great to me! So I'm a big detractor of synths and electronics in general. I prefer my drum corps 100% acoustic. However, it ain't all bad. What electronics/synth/voice/amp/samples have you liked, despite yourself? Or, if you've been in favor of A&E all along, that's cool, too. What have been your favorite uses of the new toys?

* Boston 2009: the atmospheric sitar (I think?) and falling bass hits in the pre-show

* Bluecoats 2010: I ended up liking the distorted brass solos way more than I wanted to

* Crown 2007: one of the most fun and charming uses of amplified voice I've seen, perfectly compliments and supplements the action

* Cavaliers 2009: "HELLO! ... hello! hello! hello!" "Is anybody in there?! ... no!"

* Cadets 2005: the drumline dut-diddle-ddddrut-dut-voicing their parts into the mic

So what did you like, without wanting to?

I can only think of one show where I thought it was effective and not a crutch .. and that was Boston 2009.

While I enjoyed, "And Down the Stretch They Come!" and "In the RED corner!!!" I think they both could have been done without amplified Voice. Same said for, "Drop Your Weapons". Coats and Crown have done some interesting/sparsely used versions of voice and amplification that were done tastefully, but the same thing could have been done with a non amplified megaphone (check Renegades, they have a few lying around). It seems that Coats took their positive feedback from the past couple of years and went off the deep end in 2010 ... way over the top. All use of Electronics other than what Boston did in 09 .. has been an insult to my ears.

Amping of pits ...... while I understood the initial arguments ..... "Now they can use the mallets that were intended to be used on the instruments and use proper technique without having to beat on them like they have hammers in their hands" ..... yeah ok I get it. But the sound level is WAY overdone. If the pits dropped their dB output by 90% it would be back to the balance of pre-amps ... while using proper technique and proper mallets .............. AFTER ALL WASN'T THAT THE POINT OF THE RULE ANYWAY? I'm just flat out sick of pits overpowering hornlines at MF and lower dynamic levels ... even F and FF get's drown out by some pits ...... either dial it back or unplug and put 50 people in the pit in order to get the balance you want (enjoy those 2 extra semi's to carry the stuff).

[supersop]

in Cali? No. But I sure heard Cadets heckled in their home town, and saw BD get a good reaction. Actually a better reaction than they have gotten there the last 3 years.

and let's be honest...Spartacus was one of those once in a life time shows. I saw plenty of people in BD gear chant along with the rest of us

Jeff cmon ... it's not a once in a lifetime show dude. It was a flashback to the Golden Age. Pick a year from 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93 ..... name one that didn't have at least one (and usually 3 or 4) Spartacus caliber shows?

not trying to derail the thread here ........ but while Spartacus was superb ... it just showed how far we've gotten away from what it was that made us great.

[ducttapedgerbil]

Not a single thing, I genuinely and truly believe that it has all been distracting and takes away, rather than adds to, the Drum Corps experience.

Ditto

[ChwyNiblet]

Of course the crowd heard them. I was not saying that it was impossible to hear screamers with the corps behind them. What I was saying was what these guys this year were being asked to do (play an ascending melody that sequences upwards) with the whole corps parked right behind them was not gonna happen.

Also, Cavaliers and Cadets marched 16 less horns those years than the corps do now.

Well now lets not give the hornline that much credit for covering up the soloists. I mean the Cavies "full out" sound might be a mezzo forte plus.

[dcialumni1989]

Well now lets not give the hornline that much credit for covering up the soloists. I mean the Cavies "full out" sound might be a mezzo forte plus.

Yes, they have been that way for years, but not this past year. They changed horn staffs this past season and there was a noticeable difference in volume and sound.