Jeff Ream Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 Wow. Are you this condescending to everyone? Get out of your cloistered little band/corps world and see how far your definition of excellence gets you. I would reiterate my points to clarify, but they fall on deaf ears. oh please. he was nice to you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corpsband Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 (edited) "Marching" can be defined in several ways. I can accept your particular definition here, although to be sure, " moving in unison WHILE PLAYING, but be a bit of a reach, but I'm willing to accept such a liberal definition. That said, are you likewise prepared that the conventional understanding of " marching"... particulary for the earlier generation marchers... has a defintion a little bit different ? ( and no less accurate, imo ). .....I'm only pointing out that " excellence " is a very subjective term,... as is what consitutes " marching ", and what constitutes " excellence " in marching as a result of looking at the product a bit differently. I get it -- and fwiw I agree with the "out of step is out of step". My response would just be tempered by the situation in which it occurs. I wouldn't just knee-jerk *that mellophone is out of step! kids today can't march!" See the difference. FWIW I think excellence is pretty well-defined in our activity. It sort of has to be -- otherwise we'd never manage to get any numbers that make sense. Edited May 16, 2012 by corpsband Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corpsband Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 oh please. he was nice to you Thank you TIACHAPTER06 :-) (I should add the rest so more spambots pick it up !! ) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRASSO Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 (edited) I get it -- and fwiw I agree with the "out of step is out of step". My response would just be tempered by the situation in which it occurs. I wouldn't just knee-jerk *that mellophone is out of step! kids today can't march!" See the difference. FWIW I think excellence is pretty well-defined in our activity. It sort of has to be -- otherwise we'd never manage to get any numbers that make sense. I agree that anyone at a show that sees a single marcher out of step and then concludes from this " that kids can't march today" is painting with a very broad brush, and the comment would be unfair to make that leap. Also, what is "excellence " in Drum Corps, insofar as the judging community is concerned, seems to have some degree of agreement. However, Judges judging ( for example) Finals in the same captions often disagree on levels of " excellence ". And we all probably know that fans disagree on the levels of excellence by even a wider margin. Edited May 16, 2012 by BRASSO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 ...Thats because, as I said " excellence" " is a highly subjective term. What defines " excellence " for some is mere " popularity " to others. And I " get " that. Excellent.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garfield's_kid Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 The only tradition worth having, is a tradition of excellence? Why or why not? Absolutely. What's the point in having a tradition if it's not excellent? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarimbasaurusRex Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 OK, if that was being nice, one good turn deserves another... It serves no purpose to keep redefining excellence to the point where it just becomes "taste". Webster - Excellence / Excellent: very good of its kind : eminently good : first-class Good IS a matter of taste to a point. But, you can execute very well and still miss the mark of what the music was intended to do on an emotional level. To limit the definition of good or excellent to execution alone is far more narrow than the actual meaning of the word. The dictionary is your friend. So, nice try but, bzzzt. So I'll stick to my OP -- if you're complaining about "what is played" it's just content. Again, I'm not talking about content. tap tap tap, is this thing on?? If you're complaining about style, I still think there are objective standards like timing, intonation, balance, blend, uniformity of approach, rhythmic accuracy, etc... that can be applied to any style. This doesn't preclude brass lines from having different characteristic styles. Not complaining about style either. You still don't get that I'm talking about performance and not content. If you don't begin to understand what I'm saying, then why do you feel a need to respond with anything but a question of clarification? I'm happy to walk you through it if you can refrain from characterizing it as something it's not. You started off by assuming I don't like george Hopkins. Wrong. But, thanks for playing. I would put a smily face here but that would be disingenuous LOL. There are no "objective standards" in art. I know that makes some people crazy because you can't put it in a little box, but it's true. This is my point. Of course, any time you have multiple players on a part, you want them to play together. But, only to a point. In an orchestral string section, for instance, slight variations of tremolo, phrasing, etc. are what makes it sound fuller, better, more excellent. In the professional recording studio a great deal of effort actually goes into making things less perfect, more natural, more excellent. The most sought after amplifiers are those that add a little almost imperceptible distortion. Chorus is applied to a voice to detune it so that it seems sweeter and less sterile. The only "objective standard" is, does it sound good? And there is nothing objective nor standard about it. In any case your comment clearly makes no reference to any of this and instead talks about garbage. If that's not a reference to "What" then perhaps you need re-examine your statement's clarity. That's right. Because a well executed performance is not necessarily a good or excellent one. I know it's subtle, but stick with me here. Music is a form of communication, expression of thought and feeling. Playing the notes on the page accurately does not necessarily convey the composer's intent. It's about reading between the lines and making that performance come alive as something that touches people. If it doesn't touch people, then it has not succeeded as an artistic expression and becomes useless or, garbage. Lol -- another cryptic quote. Anyhow since you're apparently talking about kids moving from one corps to another -- yep some kids move from corps to corps. Certainly not all do. Some corps are more difficult to make than other corps and a kid might march a 2nd tier corps to get enough experience to make his first choice. It's the way things are and it's probably different than when you marched. Yes, it's very different than when I marched. Such cannibalism has gone unchecked for so long that it's become part of the culture. That doesn't make it a good thing. What either of these two cryptograms had to with the OT, I haven't a clue. But thanks for playing :-) It's only cryptic because you don't understand. And we agree on one thing. You haven't a clue. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRASSO Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 (edited) nm Edited May 17, 2012 by BRASSO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRASSO Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 (edited) Bingo. " technical profiency " by inself does not constitute " excellence " of performance. As this poster mentioned, the key ingredient is the level of communication that is attained with an audience with the performer(s) performance. Lots of well played notes, or well performed dance steps ( even with high levels of demand, complexity, difficulty, etc ) can be sterile. It is the ability of the performer(s) to capture the heart and mind of a large segment of the audience that truly defines the " excellence " of the performance ( at least with most people ).... and not the high level of proficient playing, marching, etc that leaves a feeling of emptiness, despite the acknowledgment that the performance was " very well played, very well done ". Edited May 17, 2012 by BRASSO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GUARDLING Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 Absolutely. What's the point in having a tradition if it's not excellent? depends on what traditions are being talked about...many go beyond the field Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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