MikeN Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 Lee Beddis was Phantom's percussion caption head in '96 - he has experience in marrying good drumlines to great brasslines. (Not to mention some of the more innovative drum writing on the field today - been playing through a lot of DCI drum scores lately, and you can pick his out without seeing the name at the top.) Mike 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corbin Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 I have and am not questioning Mr. Beddis' ability to compose drum books for shows. I am wondering why his drum lines with Crown are simply average top 12 drum lines and whether his ability to teach and motivate are better left to others. I am asking the same of Leon May. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corpsband Posted July 20, 2011 Author Share Posted July 20, 2011 I did not want to start a new topic to discuss a couple of matters, but I think they are important so far this season. First, let me say that I marched Crown from 90-92 and I am thrilled that they are not a top contender in DCI and have been for a few years now. I am also thrilled beyond measure with their brass arranger and caption head, who has been producing some of the best brass lines in DCI for several years now. But, I now what to bring some realism into Crown and some of their staff. Why is Crown suffering in Drums, Color Guard, and Visual? Judges have been all over the place in their scoring of these captions, but seem to have come to the opinion that again this year Crown does not have a top notch wholistic product. I love their show this year, and I also love the fact that they have been fan favorites for the last few years and will be again this year. But, they need some staff changes. I cannot believe that it is the corps members that are unable to perform at championship caliber in this captions for this year, last year, and for the visual in 2009, which IMHO, cost them the title. I am and will continue to be a vocal critic of Leon May as I definitely see him to be the weak link in Crown getting a title. Please voice your constructive thoughts about the staff and let's have an honest conversation about what Crown can do to improve their changes to win the DCI title. Corbin I think your assessment may be a bit premature. I heard similar comments about Crown's brass being somehow "weaker" last season because of lower numbers on sheets. I don't think that was the case. They were being affected by design decisions that just weren't possible to fix without affecting too many other aspects of the program. 2010's brass line was every bit as strong as 09's yet you heard here on DCP just the opposite. "Look at the numbers. They don't lie". Maybe not -- but they certainly can be misinterpreted. Everyone says that had a "miss" but they ended in fourth. To me that speaks VOLUMES about where this program is right now. IMO the guard will be fine. They probably have more "what" than any other guard out there. As a result they're perhaps lagging a little bit on clean. You *will* see lots of variation in this caption because (quite frankly) it's the least consistently adjudicated caption in drum corps. IMHO If you look at "what" and "how" objectively, they're already one of the elite groups in DCI. The staff there is just fine. You see PR near them but already their numbers are upside down -- NOT a good thing to see this early in the season. Percussion: again I think the staff is just fine Last year was an unbelievably rocky road for them. The way they (staff and performers) overcame that was just incredible. Visual: In '09 I agree VP and VE were a weakness. They came out in '10 so much cleaner that I ceased to worry. They started this season at very high level as well. Quite frankly I'm not quite ready to panic. They're hanging within a point of the leader and the captions everyone's mentioning actually *can* be cleaned. And the staff there know how to do it. If Cavies are beating Crown mostly on cleanliness and Crown has way more room to clean, that might not be such an awful place to be. Rach On, Crown ! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corbin Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 Corpsband, Thank you for a great intelligent comment on my opinion. Not sure I complete agree, but your comment is very constructive. Corbin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCIbrassplaya Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 (edited) I did not want to start a new topic to discuss a couple of matters, but I think they are important so far this season. First, let me say that I marched Crown from 90-92 and I am thrilled that they are not a top contender in DCI and have been for a few years now. I am also thrilled beyond measure with their brass arranger and caption head, who has been producing some of the best brass lines in DCI for several years now. But, I now what to bring some realism into Crown and some of their staff. Why is Crown suffering in Drums, Color Guard, and Visual? Judges have been all over the place in their scoring of these captions, but seem to have come to the opinion that again this year Crown does not have a top notch wholistic product. I love their show this year, and I also love the fact that they have been fan favorites for the last few years and will be again this year. But, they need some staff changes. I cannot believe that it is the corps members that are unable to perform at championship caliber in this captions for this year, last year, and for the visual in 2009, which IMHO, cost them the title. I am and will continue to be a vocal critic of Leon May as I definitely see him to be the weak link in Crown getting a title. Please voice your constructive thoughts about the staff and let's have an honest conversation about what Crown can do to improve their changes to win the DCI title. Corbin I don't understand why you always call for staff changes.I'm as well a part of the family and I'm happy and content that crown has been on the right track and keeps putting out amazing shows.I think we can all agree that the brass program has been impressive year after year. I think that you are jumping the gun to call out the Drums and Color guard Captions. Every since the arrival of Lee Beddis in 07 you can't say that the drum caption at crown has been weak or suffering, it's considerably been running with the top 6 lines 07 - present. As for the Color guard it has for many years been the corps strongest caption. I know that crown has had a few different guard caption heads in the past. The guard has still been consistent near the top even thru the changes. As far as visual goes "if it aint broke dont fix it" if you want to change a visual program I'd say there are other corps with far more serious problems in that department. The visual program has been consistently strong the last thing you want to do is to completely shake up and change staff. Last,I think you don't appreciate some of the work Leon has produced on the field. I think think that every caption you want to change is in no need of change. Edited July 22, 2011 by DCIbrassplaya 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corbin Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 DCIbrassplay, In terms of winning a DCI championship, which is the context in which I speak, you comment does not address the intent or focus on my questions. I have never said that Crown has not achieved some great shows. I am questioning their ability with the current staff to win a DCI championship. On a side note, I could care less what Mr. May has done for BOA. There is still a difference between this organization and DCI. Fourth place captions do not win championships, and again the issue is NOT whether or not you or I like the shows, it is a question of why they have and continue to struggle in areas that end up hurting them at finals. Corbin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCIbrassplaya Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 (edited) DCIbrassplay, I am questioning their ability with the current staff to win a DCI championship. Corbin Yes. Edited July 20, 2011 by DCIbrassplaya 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corbin Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 Yes they do have the staff. The last two seasons do not support your opinion, nor does it support the opinion of the judging community with over half the season gone. Corbin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corpsband Posted July 20, 2011 Author Share Posted July 20, 2011 (edited) Corpsband, Thank you for a great intelligent comment on my opinion. Not sure I complete agree, but your comment is very constructive. Corbin And I know where you're coming from on the Leon thing. His stuff is *not* traditional -- it's kind of a hybrid. I might actually enjoy a bit more straight up drill as well BUT if you look at things hi-cam (like Minn) there's a pile of "real drill" on the field. And it's really tough stuff -- ask the hornline about ELP or the guard about PIB. I actually busted on my kid a little for the lack of covering down when the guard passes through that arc/block thing in Paint It Black . (Don't worry i wasnt mean -- she knows i cant help making drill comments) Then she said -- Dad -- look at the work we're doing there. And then I said OH. SO MANY other guards would (and do) go to present or do really simple up down work in that kind of move. Crown -- not so much. And the freaking hornline is backwards sliding in arcs. It's pretty much ridiculous. But if you don't look carefully it's -- oh that's a nice pass through moment. They never try to be "safe" -- and I love that. They just need to be careful that those moments are written in a way that can be effectively hosed if necessary. I think they're fine in that respect this year. Last year -- not so much. I also think you "blame" him unjustly for all the dance. Jim Moore actually comes in and writes all that -- not Leon. Personally I love that aspect of Crown -- it's what first attracted me to them. When I saw Angelus I was blown away by it. But I get that it's not everyone's cup of tea. (And that puts you as a FMM in a tough spot for sure). Edited July 20, 2011 by corpsband 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeN Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 For Crown's drumline last year, they lost their center snare midway through due to a knee injury. That *really* seemed to harsh their mello(w) afterwards - if you look at lot recordings, without her it didn't have quite as much ... I don't know... oomph ... to it. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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