Jeff Ream Posted October 28, 2010 Share Posted October 28, 2010 Teal Sound has a very concept on use of electronics, of course... But...You must have not heard Cavaliers, Bluecoats or Devils...at the top level electronics are used where they make the show BETTER. The bad part is as usual the lower corps dont have the budget to keep up with the equipment that is introduced and updated every year. saw em all. However in terms of balance and equipment used, still issues. Cavies had to mic soloists and you still had trouble hearing them, but you could hear low end synth over the entire corps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Bad Bari Posted October 28, 2010 Share Posted October 28, 2010 Ive not paid for a DCI show in a long time. Usually have someone give me tickets or get in on a wrist band. That said there have been some very entertaining shows the last 7 years but they are few and far between. 2009 was a very exciting year and there were more shows that touched my heart that year than many in the past. In 2010 I was completely bored for the most part and really hated the electronics issues. Other than Scouts it was pretty much a bust. On the DCA side of things I am seeing more and more that I do not like on the field. The shows where the only thing I have something good to say is "I see what it was they were trying convey to the music educators in the audience" are starting to become more prolific. There were very few DCA corps I really wanted to see live in 09. Even less in 2010. I hate to see DCA going that direction but its up to the directors to decide the fate of DCA. I guess we will revisit this topic here and there and see where DCA stands in the next few years. Guys, I say show design and instrumentation and alike have nothing to do with it... We are a dying breed... When I started (a far bit more recently than many of you folks) The only people doing DC at that time were HS Marching Band Geeks like me! Only Geeks were in HS Band and those were the only people doing corps at the time with a few exceptions that were close to aging out. So back 27 years ago this was OBSOLETE! We perpetuated the run of the dying monster by raiding the pocketbooks of the families of the MM's and the alumni... So now... since there are no longer hundreds of drum corps for the top to feed upon anymore... They will die off too! Since it is the only form of entertainment even close to what it is, I choose to embrace drum corps in whatever direction it takes and attend the last shows for the next few years until it completely dissapears... No spectacular show design is going to get the game controllers out of those kids hands and soon we will all be making fake drill on Miniature Marching Arts and complaining about other folks show designs! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Matczak Posted October 29, 2010 Share Posted October 29, 2010 Guys, I say show design and instrumentation and alike have nothing to do with it... We are a dying breed... When I started (a far bit more recently than many of you folks) The only people doing DC at that time were HS Marching Band Geeks like me! Only Geeks were in HS Band and those were the only people doing corps at the time with a few exceptions that were close to aging out. So back 27 years ago this was OBSOLETE! We perpetuated the run of the dying monster by raiding the pocketbooks of the families of the MM's and the alumni... So now... since there are no longer hundreds of drum corps for the top to feed upon anymore... They will die off too! Since it is the only form of entertainment even close to what it is, I choose to embrace drum corps in whatever direction it takes and attend the last shows for the next few years until it completely dissapears... No spectacular show design is going to get the game controllers out of those kids hands and soon we will all be making fake drill on Miniature Marching Arts and complaining about other folks show designs! wow.............sounds pretty apocalyptic,..............yet plausible,............. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Bad Bari Posted October 29, 2010 Share Posted October 29, 2010 wow.............sounds pretty apocalyptic,..............yet plausible,............. Well Gary... I really hope I am wrong! But I think the point I am trying to make is we can tweek things all we want but it is still headed in the same direction. And please someone tell me how to get Nintendo/Xbox/Wii addicted kids into The Marching Arts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donincardona Posted October 30, 2010 Share Posted October 30, 2010 Well Gary... I really hope I am wrong! But I think the point I am trying to make is we can tweek things all we want but it is still headed in the same direction. And please someone tell me how to get Nintendo/Xbox/Wii addicted kids into The Marching Arts? look when i was coming up in the 60's people knew about corps. just regular people. we had a column in the news paper about it. if you mentioned crusaders or cabs or brigs they knew what you were talking about. today nobody knows. in the general public nobody cares. now it's just people who did march, people who do march and corps families. the handwriting is on the wall. it's sad that it happened but it did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted October 30, 2010 Share Posted October 30, 2010 not really Mike. what it's done is caused them to turn the dial up to 11. This aint Spinal tap Yes, it really has improved things as I stated. so...as usual we disagree! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted October 30, 2010 Share Posted October 30, 2010 ....in your opinion.As for me, I find the sound of pit instruments piped through a PA speaker to be a poor substitute for the original acoustics. The distortion of a marimba's color by the best of speakers is more dramatic than the difference in mallet selection. A whole lot of expensive equipment purchase and lugging of heavy equipment that, in the end, makes my listening experience worse. But your mileage may vary.... IMO..nope, you are wrong. Miccing has been a huge improvement in the sound of the pit...esp marimba and vibes, for the reasons I mentioned. I've experienced it first hand with the band I teach. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted October 30, 2010 Share Posted October 30, 2010 agreed and that young man knows more about SOUND than any of us will ever learn... good point Ken Well, we disagree on this one Tom! I love what the use of mics and amps does for the sound of the marimba and vibes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HornsUp Posted October 30, 2010 Share Posted October 30, 2010 (edited) I find the sound of pit instruments piped through a PA speaker to be a poor substitute for the original acoustics. The distortion of a marimba's color by the best of speakers is more dramatic than the difference in mallet selection. Folks, this is THE current drumcorps audio specialist posting. Ken - - - how much of this do you attribute to the choice of mics and their placement? Edited October 30, 2010 by HornsUp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomPeashey Posted October 30, 2010 Share Posted October 30, 2010 (edited) Well, we disagree on this one Tom! I love what the use of mics and amps does for the sound of the marimba and vibes. everyone and anyone is welcome to disagree with me... but you are talking about the sound not my statement... and I have given no opinion on the subject matter. As Ken Norman just said... Ken Mason (audio db) is our foremost expert on drum corps audio... I stand by my statement that: "that young man knows more about SOUND than any of us will ever learn..." Sometimes we hide behind our monickers on here and maybe it's good to point out who is saying what... and while I have a great respect for what is said by MikeD and respect what he has done in drum corps... when it comes to audio - we have an expert among us and that expert is Ken Mason. If it comes to arranging and music or brass instruments... we have Ken Norman... (HornsUp) we are most fortunate... Edited October 30, 2010 by TomPeashey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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