Stu Posted August 27, 2011 Share Posted August 27, 2011 (edited) PS...THE EGOS OF STAFFS HAVE ALWAYS BEEN THERE. many of the greats, the ones who drove the direction in the past were huge talents but many had egos..come on its entertainment, performing in front of an audiance, an ego is a part of everyone involved. True; and ego in of itself is neither positive nor negative. It is what a person does with ego which defines respectful or disrespectful actions. The ego of Gale Royer, for example, propelled SCV to great heights; yet he did not allow his own ego to become condescending to the audience. In recent times, and maybe it is a reflection of the rest of our culture, many staff within certain corps have become rather self-righteous and allowed their egos to be extremely condescending to those they believe are beneath them in intellectual, academic, and artistic standards. Edited August 27, 2011 by Stu 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GUARDLING Posted August 27, 2011 Share Posted August 27, 2011 True; and ego in of itself is neither positive nor negative. It is what a person does with ego which defines respectful or disrespectful actions. The ego of Gale Royer, for example, propelled SCV to great heights; yet he did not allow his own ego to become condescending to the audience. very true...although i dont feel many are condecending at all..there may be a few individuals as always who look down on others Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted August 27, 2011 Share Posted August 27, 2011 (edited) very true...although i dont feel many are condecending at all..there may be a few individuals as always who look down on others Do not want to sway too far off topic, nor rehash old material, but the few individuals with condescending egos have actually been the driving force behind most changes within DCI (see those who authored the G7 proposal). This includes the topic at hand concerning soloing through Amplification and Electronics. Edited August 27, 2011 by Stu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GUARDLING Posted August 27, 2011 Share Posted August 27, 2011 Do not want to sway too far off topic, nor rehash old material, but the few individuals with condescending egos have actually been the driving force behind most changes within DCI (see those who authored the G7 proposal). This includes the topic at hand concerning soloing through Amplification and Electronics. well sometimes it takes that huge ego to progress....now we can agree or disagree if certain things are good or not for the activity..me personally..i happen to like alot of it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjeffeory Posted August 27, 2011 Share Posted August 27, 2011 Now that brass soloists are amplified, it could be really interesting to see a bit of variety on the sounds out there. A concert french horn solo or a trombone solo could add some new colors. I know it is a pain in the ### to haul extra horns around, and messes the embouchure to jump back and forth... but still could be cool. On the topic, I actually really dug Teal Sounds exploration of various instruments. I actually really liked how they are sort of carving our their own identity. It would be interesting to see more risks like this and a stronger sense of identity from corps throughout the range of placement. Mouth harp? Pan-flute? Penny whistle? There is an endless list of things that can be used to add different textures, and more interesting to add some of these with actual instruments, rather than just a sample. Also, it could be interesting to see some more exploration of of eastern and african percussion... tabla could be pretty cool, for example. What other possibilities are out there? BOA already does this. Drum corps could simply use marching french horns and tromboniums. Why reinvent what's already been done in BOA? Drum corps needs to be different from marching band in order to thrive, imho. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jocko the Wonder Llama Posted August 27, 2011 Share Posted August 27, 2011 GUARDLING: I think that you miss my points. First off, I didn't mention any particular type of horn or drum. That was your assumption. Second, the added expense involved with the electronics, props, synthisizers etc. were causing more and more problems for the individual corps bottom line. The activity has not grown in the past few years, it has contracted. Look at the number of corps in competition at the World Class level. To make the top 25 used to be a goal for a lot of corps, now there aren't 25 World Class corps. This is not growth. As I said before, I think that what the kids today are doing is amazing. The musicianship is top-notch, why do they need to be amped? Why do they need to have synthisized? Please God, Someone unleash the Blue Devils hornline and let them play! Show me what truly talented musicians that you are! Change can be a good thing, but how far do we "push the envelope" before we push it right off into the trash can? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjeffeory Posted August 27, 2011 Share Posted August 27, 2011 Should every single corps have exactly the same instrumentation? No they shouldn't, and they don't. Some corps have marching flugel lines, others don't. Some corps could add a marching french horn line into the mix. Others could go with different marching brass instruments. What you currently see on the field is NOT what is currently available. This current mix of brass instruments is what is being rewarded by the judges. Also, you don't need any of those other instruments. We have synths (yuk) to create those sounds.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjeffeory Posted August 27, 2011 Share Posted August 27, 2011 I have absolutely no problem with a drum corps doing the same thing, and I actually encourage it. Trombones and French horns would add a welcome sound to the current drum corps sound-palette. Actually, tromboniums and marching french horns would do the same thing and keep in the spirit of a drum corps... They also have the advantage of being used before in drum corps ( up until about '94) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjeffeory Posted August 27, 2011 Share Posted August 27, 2011 turn tables I've got two turn tables and a microphone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjeffeory Posted August 27, 2011 Share Posted August 27, 2011 Here we go again: If you are going to state that the subject of amplifying soloists, or allowing any non-bugle non-drum into the activity, is the final nail into the coffin where Drum & Bugle Corps are buried, you must (to be consistent with your reasoning) also state that: a) the beginning of the coffin was when a valve was added to a bugle (because it no longer was a bugle from that point forward); and b) the the inner-liner for that same coffin was instituted when bells/xylophones (i.e. non-drum percussion instruments) were allowed in a "Drum" & "Bugle" Corps. Otherwise, you will be inconsistent within your argument. Some may agree with you, but I think ( and have stated on here many times) that adding a valve or rotor to a bugle doesn't change the characteristic sound of the instruments, so it's fine. Yes, it adds notes that the instrument can play, but it doesn't change the overtone series of the instrument. The change to anykey has shifted this a bit, and the addition of synths has totally obliterated the fundamental sound of drum corps. We have lost the original sound characteristics; they are replaced with something else that is technically proficient and brassy. They are still more or less distinct from plain vanilla marching band ( some may argue about this one). Your argument about bells/xylophones is better, imho, but at least they are acoustical percussion instruments. That's at least something they have going for them. They've always been there for me, and they don't change the sound of the brass choir on the field. Now, the synth DOES change the overall blend. Of course, this is all my opinion everyone.... My main concern is that corps remain separate and distinct from marching band. We don't need to consolidate two activities into one. In order to do this, they need to sound different. They certainly do not look different. Quality is different, but that's not enough to call them separate things. For example, high School, College, & NFL all have different qualities, yet they are all still football. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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