Lance Posted November 17, 2010 Share Posted November 17, 2010 Blast was, in effect, an entire drum corps competition, not just a single corps-length performance. Just like each corps has it's own style and design, Blast created a number of 'scenes' on stage, each with a different design. true. the variety in blast is similar to what you see overall on finals night from 12 corps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted November 17, 2010 Share Posted November 17, 2010 true. the variety in blast is similar to what you see overall on finals night from 12 corps. i'll disagree. you dont see nearly the variety of musical choices or genres on finals night anymore Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted November 17, 2010 Share Posted November 17, 2010 (edited) i'll disagree. you dont see nearly the variety of musical choices or genres on finals night anymore I am with you in that the recent treatments and concepts might blend together, but I just did a quick read on corpsreps on your claim of lack of variety. Over the past five years top twelve DCI corps' have played Rock, Jazz, Latin, Classical, Romantic, Concert Band Literature, New Age, Original Compositions, Minimalism, and Movie Soundtracks. That is a lot of variety, correct? Edited November 17, 2010 by Stu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMichael1230 Posted November 17, 2010 Share Posted November 17, 2010 (edited) It's all marching band, Hroth.The people who are in it now are looking more towards selling their wares at a scholastic level to get ahold of those yummy tax dollars we pay and making their bones there. It's the reason why Poulan and others offer watered down versions of their corps arrangements, and why the band instruments are resold "cause those are the ones Crown used". The time of having a separate identity is over with. Drum corps exists in the shadow of scholastic marching band . . .and everyone left in drum corps . . .from Acheson on down . . .realize that the it's not about beating 'em, it's about joining 'em. That's what drum corps is now, and the path it's been on for the greater part of fifteen years. Ticheli and Hazo are the new Holsinger and Smith; MENC/NAMM and all the attendant music ed. cliques are all DCI has left to turn to for scholastic legitimacy, money and members. It is what it is. Acheson and others charted a path that they thought would enable the activity to stick around in some form for a while. So far, it's still here, so that's at least a partial barometer for success. My advice is to enjoy what you can from each year and just let whatever happens happen. You already see the beginnings of the activity trying to devour itself with near-yearly reshapes of its organizational structure, the whole G8 kerfuffle and the attempted olive branch to the fans now after summary dismissal as "legacy" castoffs just a few years previous. Hopefully, things will right themselves over the next few years. If not, then it's out of our hands anyway. I'm not going to waste energy trying to rage against the machine . . .or pretend that I have all of the answers. Go buy some legacy DVDs. Check out DCA. Go march an alumni corps and have fun. Find your passion again, even if it's not in the cards with the current product. DCI . . .that of the 30,000+ fans in Montreal, the G bugles and so forth . . .isn't coming back. It exists as a rose-colored memory now, anyway; for every Madison 1995, there was a Spirit 1989. There were just as many eye-rolling moments then as there are now. Granted, the new toys now increase the creative crutch factor, but that's true in the marching band world as well. Let it go. Otherwise, you're going to find yourself more and more disappointed as a fan and spectator, which defeats the purpose of what we're all here for. Lots of stuff to debate here, many though that seem more like raising the white flag than a true analysis. You say "It is what it is" and the fact is thats because it was deliberately made that way..the activity has been thrust into that collision/merge with the band world because a select few with way too much power forced the others to join in and put their ideas and visions above what is/was good / best for the drum corps activity. G Edited November 17, 2010 by GMichael1230 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMichael1230 Posted November 17, 2010 Share Posted November 17, 2010 It's all marching band, and it always has been to almost everybody in the country, even way back pre-DCI. No, it is not, no it hasnt, you alledge way too much insight and knowledge of what the "rest" of the world thinks...thankfully its all just opinion on a little website...not reality. G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMichael1230 Posted November 17, 2010 Share Posted November 17, 2010 My experience in London with "blast!" convinced me that what we do does translate to a mainstream audience. If an English/ European "got it"...well, that was enough proof for me. The key is playing music, melodies...stuff that anyone can relate to emotionally. NOT orchestrated sound effects, "ambichord" ostinatos, and lydian/octotonic scale fragments. What Mr. Dorritie refers to as boop-boop, beep-beep music... Entertainment folks. Bingo - now lets get the rest of the activity to adopt this stance..it will expand in no time. Sometimes the easiest things to do bring forth the most success G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted November 17, 2010 Share Posted November 17, 2010 (edited) My experience in London with "blast!" convinced me that what we do does translate to a mainstream audience. If an English/ European "got it"...well, that was enough proof for me. The key is playing music, melodies...stuff that anyone can relate to emotionally. NOT orchestrated sound effects, "ambichord" ostinatos, and lydian/octotonic scale fragments. What Mr. Dorritie refers to as boop-boop, beep-beep music... Entertainment folks. *Gasp* Sounds like Dinosaur thinking Amil.... Music people can enjoy without needing to understand a bunch o levels of deep ###ed meaning. Or without knowing enough music to catch what that quick snippet of music was from and how it relates to the theme, etc, etc. DCI might get away from that "Music Majors playing for other Music Majors" label some friends and I tagged DCI with decades ago. Sounds like my day when people might not have known what the Heck was being played on the field but could follow a melody enough to enjoy it. Much as Chuck Mangione gets brought up on these threads, when corps first started playing his stuff he was as unknown as any of the obscure names I read today. But the crowd could follow it well enough to like it and afterwards ol' CM was "known" in corps circles. Edited November 17, 2010 by JimF-LowBari Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted November 17, 2010 Share Posted November 17, 2010 I am with you in that the recent treatments and concepts might blend together, but I just did a quick read on corpsreps on your claim of lack of variety. Over the past five years top twelve DCI corps' have played Rock, Jazz, Latin, Classical, Romantic, Concert Band Literature, New Age, Original Compositions, Minimalism, and Movie Soundtracks. That is a lot of variety, correct? ok, i'll backtrack and amend. the current arranging trends do not allow that variety to shine thru Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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