TastyWaves Posted September 1, 2011 Share Posted September 1, 2011 I find the half-skirt neither offending nor appealing. I think calling it a "scrap of fabric" or a "drop sash" a little disingenuous. IMO it's much too large to call it either of those. I suppose it could be called a half-tail. Anyway... I don't discern the reason for it -- but that's ok. Aesthetics don't *have* to have reasons. Right you are sir. I was going with the trend. lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Boo Posted September 1, 2011 Share Posted September 1, 2011 (edited) lol. See post #24. Apparently, a few people don't like math (or fun). Edited September 1, 2011 by Michael Boo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
audiodb Posted September 1, 2011 Share Posted September 1, 2011 haha... oh my god. The plain ole idiocy of people who think a little scrap of fabric is gonna "hide dirt". These arguments get funnier everytime. Lets just face it though.... no matter what the Blue Devils do, there is a negative reason behind it. If they change plume colors, it will be "to hide dirt" because Blue Devils are always SOOOOOO dirty, they just disguise it well. Shoe color... Hides the dirt. One year they even went black and grey. You know why? It hid all of that AWFUL dirt! I heard their food truck is serving applesauce next summer. You know why? because it hides dirt. I dont know how intelligent grown up human beings can be this narrow and shortsighted just because of their corps allegiances. I wasnt a huge Crown fan this summer, but I am not making ridiculous posts about how Flame graphics on drums are just there to distract your attention from all of that dirt. Right dude... because the Judging community is that easy to fool that all you have to do is hide a little dirt but adding a scrab of fabric. Why would one of the best, cleanest and most consistent corps BEFORE they added the tails be the one to do it? They still have the same staff, talent level and designers. They just felt like taking some time off? And why arent all of the other designers and instructors out there who are desperate to crack into the top tier do it if its that easy? Hey.. the judges are all apparently stupid! All you have to do is add some fabric and you no longer need to worry about marching clean! There is a difference between some flapping of a fabric scrap and "hiding" something. Thats like saying that hanging a flag that can blow in the wind will hide a tree or wall. Yes, it may cover it for fleeting moments, but you can still see the tree back there. If thats all it took to get around marching clean, a lot more groups would be doing it right now. Meanwhile, this is obviously some corps rivalry showing its face in the discussion. No, I am not a member of the blue devils, nor do I think they should have won this year. lol. I just think this whole discussion is ridiculous. Makes me silly for getting in it i know, but hey! its too late now Give it up. We all know your posts are just another tactic to try and hide the dirt. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
audiodb Posted September 1, 2011 Share Posted September 1, 2011 Remember the commercial success of Bocook's "Pictures at an Exhibition"? It opened up with two trumpets playing the "Promenade" theme. It was played so many times during the prelims of the Illinois State prelims that the audience started booing when bands later in the event that started playing it. I was marching back then....that rings a long-repressed bell. Out East, we actually had one more ubiquitous arrangement, "Espana". Half the bands in my area used it as their opener circa 1980. Was it an epidemic in the Midwest too? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
euponitone Posted September 1, 2011 Share Posted September 1, 2011 Right dude... because the Judging community is that easy to fool that all you have to do is hide a little dirt but adding a scrab of fabric. Why would one of the best, cleanest and most consistent corps BEFORE they added the tails be the one to do it? They still have the same staff, talent level and designers. They just felt like taking some time off? And why arent all of the other designers and instructors out there who are desperate to crack into the top tier do it if its that easy? Hey.. the judges are all apparently stupid! All you have to do is add some fabric and you no longer need to worry about marching clean! There is a difference between some flapping of a fabric scrap and "hiding" something. Thats like saying that hanging a flag that can blow in the wind will hide a tree or wall. Yes, it may cover it for fleeting moments, but you can still see the tree back there. If thats all it took to get around marching clean, a lot more groups would be doing it right now. Meanwhile, this is obviously some corps rivalry showing its face in the discussion. No, I am not a member of the blue devils, nor do I think they should have won this year. lol. I just think this whole discussion is ridiculous. Makes me silly for getting in it i know, but hey! its too late now Wow - did you actually read what I wrote, or did you just lump me into the 'you disagree with me a little bit so you're a moron crowd'? I said in my post that BD has been the best marching corps since they've added that bit to their uniform, and i never accused them of hiding behind it, or using it to gain a competitive advantage. The fact that i compared them to my own corps history, and gave a bit of factual knowledge for a similar uniform change (going the other direction) proves that this has nothing to do with so-called "intercorps rivalry". It is a fact that one reason the cadets shortened their sash is because they felt it looked bad billowing behind them as they marched faster and faster drill in the 80s and 90's. 15-20 years later, BD added a similar (not the same) type of design back IN to their uniform because they thought it looked cool. No conspiracy, just something i found interesting. And seriously, i expected something a little more intelligent from you in response...oh well... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
euponitone Posted September 1, 2011 Share Posted September 1, 2011 Oh, and funny story. My uniform for work is usually black pants and a blue uniform shirt. It's pretty cold inside, so i also amd usually wearing a blue jacket...of course when i go outside its pretty hot, so i take it off. Just so happened that the day after finals, i decided to tie the jacket around my waist and it hung down on one side about to my knees. I was walking by some full length windows and just started laughing when i saw my reflection. People around me must have thought i was losing it.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluecoats88 Posted September 1, 2011 Share Posted September 1, 2011 I think they need a completely new design. Honestly, I think the skewed A-frame jacket design (now 17 years old, BTW) has been played out. I'd love to see them create a new perspective on dressy "night"/formal wear - I think that's really the image that the old open coats projected. And based on the short-lived 2004-2005 design (with the suit lapel and pinstripes), I think that's what they were aiming for as well. Mike I think Academy beat them to the evening formal wear look 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeN Posted September 1, 2011 Share Posted September 1, 2011 Yeah, I don't think BD should go for a coat with tails or something - I was thinking more along the lines of a stylized suit, or maybe something akin to what Empire Statesmen use that conjures images of the coat and vest? I guess more of a classic formal/jazz-nightclub look. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Boo Posted September 1, 2011 Share Posted September 1, 2011 I was marching back then....that rings a long-repressed bell. Out East, we actually had one more ubiquitous arrangement, "Espana". Half the bands in my area used it as their opener circa 1980. Was it an epidemic in the Midwest too? More like a pandemic. I wasn't complaining, though. I picked up arranging for a few bands because their directors decided they didn't want to be playing the same arrangements as so many other bands. For the record, the company that first introduced corps-style marching band arrangements to the world on a big scale was McCormick's in the late 1970s, a few years before Jensen. McCormick's hired drum corps arrangers like Cliff Colnot to produce the arrangements. Each purchased set included just one part per instrument with permission to photocopy as many parts were needed by each band. Then Art Jensen came along and got ahold of Jay Bocook, who had developed a magnificent small program in Traveler's Rest, South Carolina. (I saw the band live in its last performance at the exhibition at the National Band Association convention in Knoxville, a show put together by A.R. Casavant, who was famous for writing a series of drill evolution books that thousands of band directors had in their libraries.) Jay retired from teaching to write for Jensen full-time and brought along his brother-in-law, Bob Cotter, Jr., whose father founded Suncoast Sound. Jensen then hired Wayne Downey to create the "State of the Art" series of arrangements, which were generally more challenging than the typical published fare. For a few years, Jensen and a handful of other (such as Jay Dawson's Arrangers' Publishing Company) were the only source many bands had for music that was written to exploit what was then known as the "corps style" sound, as opposed to the "Sound Power" series of Bill Moffit that primarily didn't exploit the woodwinds and was the omnipresent marching band series available through the late 1960s and most of the 1970s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nilla Posted September 1, 2011 Share Posted September 1, 2011 I'm cool with whatever they decide to do. I personally love the skirts (I think they're technically called "panels") because they add so much attitude. But I've loved their uniforms every year since I first saw them. I don't know what next year's uniforms will look like, but in the end it's not the uniform that determines how great a corps moves and sounds. Once the show is announced, I think it'll be an indicator of what the uniform will look like. BD & Crown... and even Phantom have modified their uniforms over the past couple of seasons to reflect their show concepts. Who knows?! I'm just excited to see what's going to be out there next season. If this year was any indication of what's to come-- next season is going to be incredible! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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