Santa Clara Vanguard - GE Music and Brass Scores

[Blackie Nevada]

What should the Vanguard do??

Keep hiring and firing directors?

And Vanguard has had how many directors in how many years??

[badoo]

I guess you can't have winners without losers.

Indeed. Sometimes, you can be a winner and a loser at the same time.

Sometimes, you can win DCI with an atrocious brass line (2001 Cavaliers, 1998 Cadets, 1999 SCV). Does winning whitewash your flaws? Some people seem to think so.

[scvjesse]

atrocious brass line (2001 Cavaliers, 1998 Cadets, 1999 SCV).

O.o

At first, I was only semi-certain that badoo was a troll. Now I'm sure of it. I'd suggest no more responses to his comments.

[badoo]

O.o

At first, I was only semi-certain that badoo was a troll. Now I'm sure of it. I'd suggest no more responses to his comments.

Not trolling. Obviously, I didn't care for the sound of 1999 SCV. I was more making a point about winning as an end all, be all. It is hard to hear criticism of the years you march, for sure. I know.

Plus, I DID say I loved SCV's show this year. In my Atlanta review, I said it was my favorite show of the year, and it still is. So......

Edited August 14, 2011 by badoo

[TRacer]

I'm a little late to the comment party, but I just returned home yesterday from a 6,500 mile motorcycle road trip in which Allentown was one of my destinations. Having seen SCV at all the CA shows I was interested to see the difference in PA, so I sought out their horn warmup arc.

I noticed some improvement, but not the shocking amount I had hoped for. At one point when they were running bits and pieces of their show, several individuals were starting to overblow and I thought, "Whoa! Easy there guys!" Afterward, they took a few moments and ran through Clowns; it was pretty good. No offense to the current DM, but I sure wish Rick South (or Andriese, or Sierra) were around to give conducting lessons.

With regard to "young brass line"...1984 was a very young corps (age 17) and that group still found the moxie to tie two other top programs in brass that year. Yes, different time, different demands, different key...but still, anything is possible, and the sight of the Jim Ott Trophy at the SCV bingo hall occupies a special place in my heart.

Finally, a quick comment on the Q-Finals cinecast: I was able to catch the show in Westminster (Denver) on my return trip and the crowd reaction for SCV was very enthusiastic, particularly when the camera focused in on a young lady named Loren in the front ensemble just as she started jamming away. I heard the brass and timing issues and knew SCV had a tall hole to climb, but the crowd was rooting for them nonetheless. By way of contrast, when Devs came on it was silence interrupted by muted golf claps; then again, it was tough to follow Cavs, Cadets and especially Crown. In our theater, Crown was by far the crowd favorite, with comments like, "LOOK how much FUN they're having out there!" permeating the audience.

Edited August 14, 2011 by TRacer

[fsubone]

What should the Vanguard do??

Keep hiring and firing directors?

And Vanguard has had how many directors in how many years??

Since G.R. left the corps following the '92 season, they've had 5 directors in the last 18 years (Len '93-'95, J.W. '96-99, Rick V. '00-'05, Jeff P. '06-08, Jeff F. '09-)

It seems like people just want to can the staff every time they don't win, but that's the wrong way to look at it. The brass staff is brand new, and I've been recently connected with the corps, so I know what's been going on with the brass line. Retention has been a problem since '09, when they had the massive age-out class in the brass line. Since then, they've been trying to re-build, and that takes time, especially with a brand new staff. Sure, the percussion was good right off the bat, but a lot of those kids followed Rennick over. In the actual drumline, (excluding cymbals), there were 2 returning SCV members, the rest were new kids, mostly from Phantom. It's much easier to turn a line around quickly like that. But the brass line didn't have that, they didn't have a bunch of Cavalier kids coming over to be with the brass staff. And with the economic issues, there were lots of returning kids that could have marched, but couldn't afford it, so more rookies came in to fill the spots. Just try not to have some knee-jerk reaction everybody, and give them a year to re-start the program.

As much as everyone loved the man, Gail is not coming back. I know he's always watching over the corps, but he's not sitting behind the desk, making the calls. Santa Clara is what it is, until people either join the staff, or find some perfect solution to make the corps win every year, it's just needless conjecture. But it's always fun to talk about how the past eras were better. I for one, am happy to see Santa Clara be the VANGUARD again, pushing new music, and new ideas onto the field. I hope they continue doing it, and have success with it. Remember, the experience is the most important part of why we all marched DCI.

[oldskl3rings]

What should the Vanguard do??

Keep hiring and firing directors?

And Vanguard has had how many directors in how many years??

Being the director of any WC corps is a difficult job. It’s not just about putting a group of 100 + musicians on the football field. It’s about scheduling, travel, working with volunteers, fundraising and a plethora of other jobs to numerous to mention. Being the director of SCV also adds the responsibility of maintaining the traditions of class, integrity and a winning attitude. All of the directors that followed GR were successful, to a certain extent, in two of the three requirements. A couple were even successful in fulfilling all three. What SCV has lacked, for the most part, since GR retired has been a winning attitude. Realistically, you can’t win every year, but that should the goal every year. That winning attitude emanates from the director and trickles down to the parent bingo volunteer. Winning attitude means every decision; every move is made with the thought, “is this going to help us win?”

In SCV’s forty-four years of existence the corps has had six directors. Here’s a few interesting facts. Five of the six directors were hired on a part time basis and held other full time jobs. Gail was a school teacher. Len worked as a physiologist. JW and Rick both worked in the hi-tech industry. Jeff P. is a business owner. Jeff F. is the corps first full time director. I would also like to note that GR never received a salary. He was a volunteer. Rick lived in Auburn, CA, which is a two to three hour drive (depending on traffic) from Santa Clara.

As an alumnus I’m tired of the excuses. We had a lot of turnover in this line or that. Because of school issues we started later than everyone else. We have new staff members or caption heads. It’s all about the experience or educational opportunity. BS! It’s all about winning! It’s time for the corps to man up and recapture the winning attitude! If the current director of staff are unable to achieve this goal, than yes it’s time to find people who can.

[fsubone]

As an alumnus I’m tired of the excuses. We had a lot of turnover in this line or that. Because of school issues we started later than everyone else. We have new staff members or caption heads. It’s all about the experience or educational opportunity. BS! It’s all about winning! It’s time for the corps to man up and recapture the winning attitude! If the current director of staff are unable to achieve this goal, than yes it’s time to find people who can.

So, you going to take over? You going to go volunteer to be on staff or run the corps, to "put them right?" If not, stop complaining. Unless you're willing to actually do something about it, you're just playing armchair quarterback on the Internet. I'm going to be marching, what are you going to be doing to help the corps?

[actucker]

Being the director of any WC corps is a difficult job. It’s not just about putting a group of 100 + musicians on the football field. It’s about scheduling, travel, working with volunteers, fundraising and a plethora of other jobs to numerous to mention. Being the director of SCV also adds the responsibility of maintaining the traditions of class, integrity and a winning attitude. All of the directors that followed GR were successful, to a certain extent, in two of the three requirements. A couple were even successful in fulfilling all three. What SCV has lacked, for the most part, since GR retired has been a winning attitude. Realistically, you can’t win every year, but that should the goal every year. That winning attitude emanates from the director and trickles down to the parent bingo volunteer. Winning attitude means every decision; every move is made with the thought, “is this going to help us win?”

In SCV’s forty-four years of existence the corps has had six directors. Here’s a few interesting facts. Five of the six directors were hired on a part time basis and held other full time jobs. Gail was a school teacher. Len worked as a physiologist. JW and Rick both worked in the hi-tech industry. Jeff P. is a business owner. Jeff F. is the corps first full time director. I would also like to note that GR never received a salary. He was a volunteer. Rick lived in Auburn, CA, which is a two to three hour drive (depending on traffic) from Santa Clara.

As an alumnus I’m tired of the excuses. We had a lot of turnover in this line or that. Because of school issues we started later than everyone else. We have new staff members or caption heads. It’s all about the experience or educational opportunity. BS! It’s all about winning! It’s time for the corps to man up and recapture the winning attitude! If the current director of staff are unable to achieve this goal, than yes it’s time to find people who can.

Really? Are you kidding me? Its all about winning? Man I hope you're not a music educator. Like it or not, this is an educational activity now. Maybe it wasn't 30 years ago, but that's been part of the evolution of the activity. Is it great to win, and have success as a goal? Absolutely. But the activity is about so much more than that. Its about learning how to work as a team, how to produce under pressure, how to really work for something you care about. The fact is, drum corps is a breeding ground for the music educators of the future. I definitely wouldn't want my kids to be taught by someone who thinks it should be all about winning and nothing else.

[IMcomguy]

Really? Are you kidding me? Its all about winning? Man I hope you're not a music educator. Like it or not, this is an educational activity now. Maybe it wasn't 30 years ago, but that's been part of the evolution of the activity. Is it great to win, and have success as a goal? Absolutely. But the activity is about so much more than that. Its about learning how to work as a team, how to produce under pressure, how to really work for something you care about. The fact is, drum corps is a breeding ground for the music educators of the future. I definitely wouldn't want my kids to be taught by someone who thinks it should be all about winning and nothing else.

I don't think it's about winning. But I think at this stage/level in the game it's about not sucking. Can we call that a fair, albeit harsh assessment?