How does this community feel about fielding cymbals?

[2000Cadet]

Yes and i appreciate it =D

just a few posts came off as trolling to me my bad.

No problem. My bad for unintentionally sounding that way.

[corpsband]

Well I wasn't trolling for a response. I was simply stating my opinion. The OP asked how people felt about fielding cymbals. I told you guys how I felt.

While I enjoy watching and listening to a good cymbal line (probably the only reason I'd go watch a percussion field rehearsal actually :) ) , they rarely make me watch them or listen to them during a performance. If you evaluate the decision (to march plates or not) on the basis of their contribution to the entire show vs. the resources they consume (quality cymbal writing and techs are not easy to find) it's not hard to understand why so few corps march a plate line. What's the return on the investment in terms of credit received from the judging panel?

I don't mind a corps marching plates -- but I understand why so few do.

[kac]

If you love cymbals and want to audition for the 2011 Crossmen Cymbal Line, please go register on the Crossmen website and register for the audition camp! They can't field a cymbal line without members, so go audition! Thanks everyone!

[Mello Dude]

There are 150 people now on the field...and they want to get rid of it to have it in the pit? Sorry, it's not the same. A cymbal played with mallets do NOT sound the same especially when run through that #### amp. BTW, I thought the idea of the synth and the amps were supposed to REDUCE pit size? Where did that go?

[MikeD]

There are 150 people now on the field...and they want to get rid of it to have it in the pit? Sorry, it's not the same. A cymbal played with mallets do NOT sound the same especially when run through that #### amp. BTW, I thought the idea of the synth and the amps were supposed to REDUCE pit size? Where did that go?

I don't recall seeing a mention of smaller pits in the proposal.

[soccerguy315]

Apples and oranges. Snare drummers do a lot more complicated stuff than what cymbal players do, and they also play A LOT more notes than cymbal players, am I right?

Exactly. Furthermore, trumpets do more complicated stuff and play a lot more notes than tuba players.*

*I realize part of the Tubas are already in the pit, thanks to the thunderous goo that apparently allows you to score oh so very high in music captions.

[Jeff Ream]

Yeah that may be true, but honestly I've never been a fan of cymbal lines. No disrespect to them, but I figure since we have the pit, they're better serving their purpose (although I have to say I have a lot of respect for SCV's cymbal line because they look ###### doing what they do).

That's usually how I feel about most of the cymbal lines currently out there (except SCVs).

expect in the pit, they can not add musically what they can on the field.

[MikeD]

I think it depends on the situation, and the reasons why they are on the field. In some cases, I've run into situations where I've considered adding a cymbal line because I had the lucky problem of not having enough instruments to add personnel to the battery or pit. Teaching in public school, I don't really believe in excluding people who want to work hard and learn, so if they're willing to pull their weight, I'm willing to find something for them to do. So far, I haven't had the need to march cymbals, but I'm staring down the decision next fall with a gigantic 8th grade class, and only one senior graduating.

I do think that a cymbal line can add a lot of color to the ensemble. Its not all crashes and impact if you look closely. There are thousands of sounds you can get out of a pair of hand held cymbals, may of which you wouldn't be able to get out of a group of suspended cymbals, or a single pair of crash cymbals in the pit. There is also the added dimension of split parts which allows for many of those sounds to repeat faster than otherwise possible with the long decay of large cymbals.

What I have done with the band I write for, at least twice, is to have the pit players pick up cymbals for the drum solo and march them, where we added a bunch of visuals and split parts. The pit kids loved having that chance, though they loved playing in the pit too.

[Jeff Ream]

That may be true but.

"Snare drummers do a lot more complicated stuff than what cymbal players do, and they also play A LOT more notes than cymbal players, am I right?"

That statement is true ignorance.

it does show a lack of education on the musicality required of a marching cymbal line. at times their split timing must be as accurate if not more than a bass drum lines. but you don't see anyone calling for basses to be cut

[Jeff Ream]

Explain to me how that's ignorance. Any snare drummers on here who want to explain this to me?

go read my first post in here. go to many websites. go read Hannums guide to marching cymbals.