Dr. Beat

[DITD]

Ensemble tears during a show with younger groups tend to happen because they are a younger group not so much because of a Dr. Beat. If they are tearing chances are they have much larger problems then just being too relient on the db.

I know you know this being a drummer but we as American musicians and educators we don't focus enough on using metronomes and tuners with our students. Close enough to correct is still kind of correct right lol.

Exactly. Even in grad school, I was checking my etude studies in the practice room against a metronome and discovering massive disparities at times.

[Jeff Ream]

I'm with you on that, and early season it's always obvious to me which groups are that way.

It's unfortunate, because often the groups that are the worst offends of this have problems because the staff does not know how to rehearse properly: yet after the show the staff is usually quick to blame the kids for ensemble tears.

I didn't mean to imply that I was disagreeing or anything, I just wanted to point out that what we both agree sucks is 100% the fault of the staff. I think in the DCI World, the top groups have staffs that know how to rehearse (using the met to solidify things + knowing when to ween the members off the met/not use the met at times), and thus there isn't really any issue other than potentially some naive people in this thread who may not really know what they are talking about (kind of like Andy Rooney, where often he gives the appearance of the cantankerous old man saying things like, "these kids and their loud rock music bother me: why can't they listen to cowboy songs from the 20's?!").

early season doesn't bother me nearly as much as late in the season. What's worse is this thinking trickles down to the band world, and there you have the i-can't-take-a-####-without-the-met mentality

[Jeff Ream]

Ensemble tears during a show with younger groups tend to happen because they are a younger group not so much because of a Dr. Beat. If they are tearing chances are they have much larger problems then just being too relient on the db.

I know you know this being a drummer but we as American musicians and educators we don't focus enough on using metronomes and tuners with our students. Close enough to correct is still kind of correct right lol.

i'm not talking just younger corps. But no, we did a test where i taught a few years ago, and this is a band that does pretty well every year. you get reliant on the met no matter what level if you do everything with it, and when you take it away, well, God help you

[corpsband]

i'm not talking just younger corps. But no, we did a test where i taught a few years ago, and this is a band that does pretty well every year. you get reliant on the met no matter what level if you do everything with it, and when you take it away, well, God help you

Weaning off the met is as important as using it. As the season ages, the met becomes an occasional reminder or reinforcer. I think many people go watch a corps rehearse, see the amp'd DB , and go home to their band and "plug in" without ever learning how to properly use it. Like any tool it can be used and abused.

[Big Adam]

i'm not talking just younger corps. But no, we did a test where i taught a few years ago, and this is a band that does pretty well every year. you get reliant on the met no matter what level if you do everything with it, and when you take it away, well, God help you

I agree.

really it comes down to the staff's approach to teaching with and without the met... there's almost an evolution to how it's used over the season. I found that towards the end of the season, I as a staff member really on the met to tighten up things more than the membership. I'll use it right up to championship day, not every rep but I'll certainly use it to check where we're at.

It just seems to me like we constantly have to defend using the met and the only valid argument any one can ever come up with against it is that it's "loud and annoying". And it has become such a part of the 'winning formula' to do anything other than support it's use during rehearsals would be silly.

Edited May 18, 2011 by Big Adam

[perc2100]

I agree.

really it comes down to the staff's approach to teaching with and without the met... there's almost an evolution to how it's used over the season. I found that towards the end of the season, I as a staff member really on the met to tighten up things more than the membership. I'll use it right up to championship day, not every rep but I'll certainly use it to check where we're at.

That is the key right there: it's all about the staff being competent enough to know when and when not to use the met. The met (wether it's Dr Beat, the vastly superior yet out-of-production Yamaha Clickstation, or other type of metronome) is an essential teaching tool and not using it for the majority of a season is just as bad as using it too much. There is a reason why the best session musicians in the world CONSTANTLY practice to a met, recording with a click track, etc; ignore it's value completely because of some staff incompetence is VERY short sighted and naive.

[Big Adam]

What I think you took the wrong message from his post. The idiom that is "drum corps" is a completely different beast than teaching a concert band the importance of "feeling" and "emotion" of the music they're playing. Having 150 marching musicians spread from 20 to 20, it is hard to keep EVERYONE together in a measure that fluctuates tempo just a few clicks. A perfect example that I can pull from my own marching experience is 'Clair de Lune' from my 2008 season with Crown. That was such a wonderful piece to put together, but with all the rallentando and multi-tempo moments, it was always an intense rehearsal.

The Dr. Beat is a wonderful tool, and it has it's place in this activity. A corps can be only as good as the staff and members choose to be regarding approach to tempo!

Watching Evan take control of that piece was a real treat. I agree with you, I just felt like opening up another discussion about what we perceive as "emotional" or "musical"... I've heard stuff that has come from midi recordings that I could consider emotional.

And just to repeat from earlier having great tempo and timing does not make something less musical. The point of a db is to help ensure that an ensemble plays together whatever they do, tempo changes, rallentandos or accellerandos included. Ensembles that play together are ensembles that are musical, ensembles that don't play together take away from that musicality and emotion. Thank you doctor beats and metronomes for all that you do.

[perc2100]

That being said, the Dr. Beat is unfortunately killing the use of any rehearsal sites many corps have used for years. I feel we need to focus on how to maintain these standards of practice within the activity without annoying the *** out of non musicians who want to enjoy their weekends, work at night, just thing this stuff is stupid, etc.... so for this topic I will start a new thread. Please look for it if you would like to stop complaining about something which makes us better and want to start solving the real problem (how to maintain it's use without losing use of facilities).

Eric

I would say that this is a gross overstatement of the problem. What is in actuality "killing the use of any rehearsal sites many corps have used for years" is admin policy being stricter letting young adult-aged groups use facilities, and schools charing corps money for facility use. A metronome has a little bit to do with it, but lets be honest: if someone is complaining that the met is too loud, they're also likely complaining that the drum line is also too loud. In my experiences as a band teacher, corps instructor, member, and an Asst. Director of an independent WGI group CONSTANTLY scrambling for facilities, the biggest factor in not getting facilities is either the district is charging too much money and making it not financially viable for the group, or the school admin (or band director) just doesn't want to put their reputation (and sometimes job) on the line in hopes that there is no damage or liability. It's as simple as that, and the noise of an amplified met is marginal compared to the other 'noise' that a drum corps produces.

[Big Adam]

That is the key right there: it's all about the staff being competent enough to know when and when not to use the met. The met (wether it's Dr Beat, the vastly superior yet out-of-production Yamaha Clickstation, or other type of metronome) is an essential teaching tool and not using it for the majority of a season is just as bad as using it too much. There is a reason why the best session musicians in the world CONSTANTLY practice to a met, recording with a click track, etc; ignore it's value completely because of some staff incompetence is VERY short sighted and naive.

God I miss the Clickstation.... it truly was vastly superior and made with the marching arts in mind. We need to start a campaign to get Yamaha to bring them back. haha.

sigh... for five years I've never posted so much on one topic, lol. I'm really passionate about time lol.

[Big Adam]

I would say that this is a gross overstatement of the problem. What is in actuality "killing the use of any rehearsal sites many corps have used for years" is admin policy being stricter letting young adult-aged groups use facilities, and schools charing corps money for facility use. A metronome has a little bit to do with it, but lets be honest: if someone is complaining that the met is too loud, they're also likely complaining that the drum line is also too loud. In my experiences as a band teacher, corps instructor, member, and an Asst. Director of an independent WGI group CONSTANTLY scrambling for facilities, the biggest factor in not getting facilities is either the district is charging too much money and making it not financially viable for the group, or the school admin (or band director) just doesn't want to put their reputation (and sometimes job) on the line in hopes that there is no damage or liability. It's as simple as that, and the noise of an amplified met is marginal compared to the other 'noise' that a drum corps produces.

True it's a much broader issue that stems from where the arts perceived within the hierarchy of education needs. How loud the drum line is or the met is just a catalyst for some one in the school community to prove their ignorance to the benefits of the arts. I've seen hs football teams do more damage to their equipment and locker rooms more than any band could.