Aug. 6 DCA Scores/Comments Thread

[Jeff Ream]

So what does this mean for the Buccaneers?

Olive

well, from what I could see, many of the members enjoyed DCI East

[BigW]

The field at Kingston was fine .i performed on it. Two of the corps,where not given a score that they deserved, one open and one class A were short changed.etting the exact same scores the week before/ and they both performed very well last night.

Could it be that the panel was just less generous? Or maybe they performed very well but weren't as good as last week?

It's not written in stone that corps get better from week to week. Things can happen. Show changes or additions, over-rehearsing parts of a show and allowing things in another section to deteriorate or backslide, People in a funk over something or another, someone in the hornline having an obviously bad night and not realizing it and keeps gunning away so the panel hears all of it... whatever. Seen it all at one time or another from many fine and not so fine organizations.

There really just seems to be an assumption from a lot of people that "the scores must go up" (repeat over and over as a mantra...) That simply ain't so.

I wasn't at Kingston, I don't know how better or worse anyone was. The answer would be to see if any of the Bucknell panel were at Kingston and see what numbers any corps that were at Bucknell got from them the week before and make the correlations.

[DCA1Fan]

Could it be that the panel was just less generous? Or maybe they performed very well but weren't as good as last week?

It's not written in stone that corps get better from week to week. Things can happen. Show changes or additions, over-rehearsing parts of a show and allowing things in another section to deteriorate or backslide, People in a funk over something or another, someone in the hornline having an obviously bad night and not realizing it and keeps gunning away so the panel hears all of it... whatever. Seen it all at one time or another from many fine and not so fine organizations.

There really just seems to be an assumption from a lot of people that "the scores must go up" (repeat over and over as a mantra...) That simply ain't so.

I wasn't at Kingston, I don't know how better or worse anyone was. The answer would be to see if any of the Bucknell panel were at Kingston and see what numbers any corps that were at Bucknell got from them the week before and make the correlations.

In a broad sense, your points are valid, that scores can go up or down from show to show depending on the conditions. However, from actually ATTENDING the show and WATCHING every corps, I can tell you that the initial question is valid.

Bush had an excellent show given their numbers and programming. The rain seemed to have little effect on them. Fusion absolutely threw down musically on Saturday. Even with the downpour around us, we in the crowd reacted enthusiastically to their performance.

The people around me in the stands who watched each show agreed with me that they were, quite simply, not rewarded for that performance. I'd love to hear from others that attended the show to see if they felt the same as the people that sat around me.

Edited August 8, 2011 by DCA1Fan

[Jeff Ream]

In a broad sense, your points are valid, that scores can go up or down from show to show depending on the conditions. However, from actually ATTENDING the show and WATCHING every corps, I can tell you that the initial question is valid.

Bush had an excellent show given their numbers and programming. The rain seemed to have little effect on them. Fusion absolutely threw down musically on Saturday. Even with the downpour around us, we in the crowd reacted enthusiastically to their performance.

The people around me in the stands who watched each show agreed with me that they were, quite simply, not rewarded for that performance. I'd love to hear from others that attended the show to see if they felt the same as the people that sat around me.

the crowd reacting strongly does not mean there weren't issues. Especially for Bush...if they worked new bodies in, that could have led to issues that were new, even if others were fixed.

[irishbugle]

Call me a negative Nancy if you want- but I just can't see how the Hurricanes horn line beat Cabs on Saturday. Hurcs have an excellent guard program this year and their percussion section is also performing at an above average level so I can see and understand that placement.... but Horns. No way.

I will chalk this one up to another reason why the Brass judge needs to be in the box instead of on the field. Ultimately, the brass trophy this year will go to the corps with the best individual players instead of the most cohesive, balanced, and technically proficient horn line. And from almost any standpoint- the Cabs horn line should be placing higher this year. Not saying they are the best, and I'm not saying they should be over Empire, MBI, or Bucs, but.... well I think you get what I'm saying by now.

Overall, Cabs have a competitive hornline and a visual program that is getting clean, FAST. If they can continue to get their percussion scores up, I think we could see them jump a placement by September.

Fusion is also having a great year! Very entertained by their show. I see them at the top of Class A for sure. They might even make Top 7 overall.

[DCA1Fan]

Call me a negative Nancy if you want- but I just can't see how the Hurricanes horn line beat Cabs on Saturday. Hurcs have an excellent guard program this year and their percussion section is also performing at an above average level so I can see and understand that placement.... but Horns. No way.

I will chalk this one up to another reason why the Brass judge needs to be in the box instead of on the field. Ultimately, the brass trophy this year will go to the corps with the best individual players instead of the most cohesive, balanced, and technically proficient horn line. And from almost any standpoint- the Cabs horn line should be placing higher this year. Not saying they are the best, and I'm not saying they should be over Empire, MBI, or Bucs, but.... well I think you get what I'm saying by now.

Overall, Cabs have a competitive hornline and a visual program that is getting clean, FAST. If they can continue to get their percussion scores up, I think we could see them jump a placement by September.

Fusion is also having a great year! Very entertained by their show. I see them at the top of Class A for sure. They might even make Top 7 overall.

I will CERTAINLY agree and echo your call to have the brass judge upstairs! For percussion, where they need to see stick/mallet heights and placements, etc, it makes sense to have a field judge, but for brass, the entire goal of the brass line is to have a balanced, cohesive sound at the audience/box level. If there is going to be only one brass judge, s/he should be in the box (or, preferably, OUTSIDE the box, since a box can cuase all sorts of sound distortions!) Hopefully, this is one of the adjustments DCA will make next year as it fine tunes the new judging system!

[Kamarag]

I will chalk this one up to another reason why the Brass judge needs to be in the box instead of on the field. Ultimately, the brass trophy this year will go to the corps with the best individual players instead of the most cohesive, balanced, and technically proficient horn line. And from almost any standpoint- the Cabs horn line should be placing higher this year. Not saying they are the best, and I'm not saying they should be over Empire, MBI, or Bucs, but.... well I think you get what I'm saying by now.

This is absolutely true, and DCA needs to make that change for 2012. DCI has done it this way for years, and it's a disaster.

Fusion is also having a great year! Very entertained by their show. I see them at the top of Class A for sure. They might even make Top 7 overall.

The thing about Fusion is that their members execute their program as well or better than any corps in DCA. The problem is that the design of the show is absolutely horrific, and I believe that is the reason their scores are as low as they are.

[camel lips]

This is absolutely true, and DCA needs to make that change for 2012. DCI has done it this way for years, and it's a disaster.

The thing about Fusion is that their members execute their program as well or better than any corps in DCA. The problem is that the design of the show is absolutely horrific, and I believe that is the reason their scores are as low as they are.

Can you define horrific a little better? It reads two ways. 1. The design of the show is horrible and will never develop due to poor planning and design. Or 2. The shows difficulty is above the ability of the members marching it.

Thanks in Advance.

[Kamarag]

Can you define horrific a little better? It reads two ways. 1. The design of the show is horrible and will never develop due to poor planning and design. Or 2. The shows difficulty is above the ability of the members marching it.

Thanks in Advance.

Certainly. It's the first choice you outlined.

Fusion Core, a corps I am a HUGE fan of, simply designed a terrible program for 2011. They did this in two ways.

1. It's far to easy given the talent level and training of the members and technical staff. I'm certainly not one to push for everything in a show being hard, but this show is incredibly easy.

2. For a show entitled "AfriCore Untamed: Survival, Savannah, & Stampede", there is absolutely nothing authentic African about it at all. Nothing. No authentic costuming, no authentic African melodies, no authentic African percussion grooves (this one really mystifies me). Instead they give you bad generic drum grooves, middle school musical guard costumes (sequins? really?), an off-the-internet marching band horn book, and "role-play" moments that are borderline offensive.

It's as if the design team agreed on a great concept (Africa) but confined their research to watching "Coming to America". You know, the Eddie Murphy/Arsenio Hall cinematic masterpiece. Or for the younger crowd, think the hilarious "African Child" music video from "Get him to the Greek". Same thing. I wish I was joking, but that's exactly what they threw out on the field, and I'm not the only one who thinks so.

The worst part is that some of the original source material by Robert Smith actually has some authentic grooves and melodies, but they don't actually play those sections.

I place the blame squarely on the shoulders of their program coordinator, whoever that is. Fusion is an organization that should be running away with the Class A title. They have an incredible administration, incredible membership base, even more incredible level of training by the staff, and it's all being wasted because the program design is so awful, and at times, cringe-worthy.

The sad part is that none of this is news to the corps. I know for a fact they are being told the same thing by others, I'm just willing to call them on it here on DCP. My Wildwood review kinda tore them up, and i was hoping they would have recognized the problems and made some effort to change them by Bridgeport and Lewisburg, but that didn't happen (which is why it's obviously all on the program coordinator).

With a little research and an effort to include some authenticity in the design, this could have been an amazing show that set a new standard in thematic design. Instead, it's just another average marching band show that would be lost in the morass of lame "original" programs you see in band circuits every fall.

Harsh? Maybe, but it's absolutely true.

Edited August 8, 2011 by Kamarag

[ShutUpAndPlayYerGuitar]

Certainly. It's the first choice you outlined.

Fusion Core, a corps I am a HUGE fan of, simply designed a terrible program for 2011. They did this in two ways.

1. It's far to easy given the talent level and training of the members and technical staff. I'm certainly not one to push for everything in a show being hard, but this show is incredibly easy.

2. For a show entitled "AfriCore Untamed: Survival, Savannah, & Stampede", there is absolutely nothing authentic African about it at all. Nothing. No authentic costuming, no authentic African melodies, no authentic African percussion grooves (this one really mystifies me). Instead they give you bad generic drum grooves, middle school musical guard costumes (sequins? really?), an off-the-internet marching band horn book, and "role-play" moments that are borderline offensive.

It's as if the design team agreed on a great concept (Africa) but confined their research to watching "Coming to America". You know, the Eddie Murphy/Arsenio Hall cinematic masterpiece. Or for the younger crowd, think the hilarious "African Child" music video from "Get him to the Greek". Same thing. I wish I was joking, but that's exactly what they threw out on the field, and I'm not the only one who thinks so.

The worst part is that some of the original source material by Robert Smith actually has some authentic grooves and melodies, but they don't actually play those sections.

I place the blame squarely on the shoulders of their program coordinator, whoever that is. Fusion is an organization that should be running away with the Class A title. They have an incredible administration, incredible membership base, even more incredible level of training by the staff, and it's all being wasted because the program design is so awful, and at times, cringe-worthy.

The sad part is that none of this is news to the corps. I know for a fact they are being told the same thing by others, I'm just willing to call them on it here on DCP. My Wildwood review kinda tore them up, and i was hoping they would have recognized the problems and made some effort to change them by Bridgeport and Lewisburg, but that didn't happen (which is why it's obviously all on the program coordinator).

With a little research and an effort to include some authenticity in the design, this could have been an amazing show that set a new standard in thematic design. Instead, it's just another average marching band show that would be lost in the morass of lame "original" programs you see in band circuits every fall.

Harsh? Maybe, but it's absolutely true.

Please ... tell us how you really feel.