Inside the Arc - "The Dut Must Die"

[ripper]

I love it when I go to a concert and hear the conductor dutting for the musicians to keep them in time lol

[Michael Boo]

I love it when I go to a concert and hear the conductor dutting for the musicians to keep them in time lol

That only happens when the orchestra members turn around and can't see him.

[Blackstar]

I don't know what this guy does, it sounds like he has very strong musical credentials though. It does not sound like he is aware that often times when you are marching your show, you cannot actually see a drum major. Then he suggests the drummers supply the 8th notes... so while I am facing backfield, can't see the DM, and 40 yards away from the drum line, I should listen to their 8th notes to help me come in one time? Doubtful. Using those around you is a fair idea, but if the horn line is power chord-ing it on the move and you can't see the drum major, what tempo are you going to get from the other people? Everyone has to have the tempo internally, and that is what running the Dr. Beat excessively during rehearsal does.

wow between you and FRan of the night you folkks really show your ignorance. Goggle him and see what type of "musical credentials" he actually has. Probably one trillion times more them both of you combined.

[DrillmanSop06]

What seem to have here is a fundamental kind of disagreement about "music" in drum corps.

Drum corps is a mechanical process. The music isn't created, it's assembled and as a result, it is performed so well that it makes you forget that it isn't emotion but mechanics dictating how that perfect release is so magical on an emotional level.

Dutting exposes the mechanics and thus, causes dissonance with those who do not want exposure to the mechanics inside of the artistic product, as is true with nearly all over forms of art and music.

"Ars est celare artem."

[JimF-LowBari]

Dutting exposes the mechanics and thus, causes dissonance with those who do not want exposure to the mechanics inside of the artistic product, as is true with nearly all over forms of art and music.

Believe the discussion is about dutting that is loud enough to be heard by the audience. Examples I can think of were not helping keep the 1/32th of a beat but as something to be heard as part of the show. IOW, how precise of time can a group keep when they are half yelling DUT DUT DUT DUT?

[BozzlyB]

Raising some interesting points about the interpretation of time. I once had a student who came in late on an attack. Asked why it was late and he said, "I was feeling it later than that." I reminded him that feeling your way around is something you do when you're blind.

Players can learn to agree on silent time without audible or visual cues if they try. But, why make the effort when you can just listen to the dut? One of my favorite practice drills is to have players stand at a distance of 10-20 feet between with everyone facing away from everyone else. Start playing and see what happens, no conductor, no duts. When players can do that together, they'll be dangerous.

Movement definitely interferes, so if they need a few duts, why not just write them in and have one guy play it? I think drummers are just into the bravado of dutting.

And yes, if students are going to have to rehearse with a click, then I think students should learn how to play humanly with it. It's not measuring microseconds. It's learning how to feel the music in relation to consistent time. Making it feel like it's forging ahead (rushing) when it's not, or making it feel like it's laying back when it's actually right on the money. That's just an element of good musicianship. Or they can rush it like Coltrane. Will that sound good? Maybe if it's Coltrane.

Aside from odd tempo changes and insane movement, the time of the next note is determined by those that came before it. When everyone fully gets that concept, the rest takes care of itself. It's measuring more than interpreting. When our "interpretation" of that measurement agrees, we are together. People are way better at measuring time than they give themselves credit for. But, it needs to be cultivated.

The pocket exists independant of tempo constraints, it's just a matter of staying in it.

Edited October 14, 2010 by BozzlyB

[Lance]

It does not sound like he is aware that often times when you are marching your show, you cannot actually see a drum major.

that's really the only time that I like our drumline to dut because, yeah, it does happen.

[Cavie74]

dut dut dut dut

Kids these days, I blame the parents!

[pearlsnaredrummer77]

Believe the discussion is about dutting that is loud enough to be heard by the audience. Examples I can think of were not helping keep the 1/32th of a beat but as something to be heard as part of the show. IOW, how precise of time can a group keep when they are half yelling DUT DUT DUT DUT?

Yes, the DUT DUT DUT ing is just annoying-I get the sense that it now has become more of a ritual than actual aid. It's a annoying ritual that needs to go away.

[JimF-LowBari]

Yes, the DUT DUT DUT ing is just annoying-I get the sense that it now has become more of a ritual than actual aid. It's a annoying ritual that needs to go away.

Plea for attention... ooops wrong thread....

Seriously after reading your post I'm thinking it's more of a way for the drumline to call the audiences attention to it when they are not playing. And the only time I notice the dutting it is when the drumline isn't playing or doing much. (Usually checking the horns.)