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Dynasty of Brass


mrshowfan

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Just wondered if anyone has purchased BD's Dynasty of Brass. Is it worth the money? I am really thinking about buying it, but I think I'd like to see what other opinions people have about the product.

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  • 3 years later...

DVD is a great tool, and the warmups are awesome.

I agree that it is expensive, but worth it.

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I'm dying to have one but I don't have any money left for it and I don't have a credit card. Besides, I think they don't ship it here... :(

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I purchased this DVD when it initially came out and thought the price was a bit high. But having said that, the DVD also comes with .pdf files of many of the BD warmup exercises that are demonstrated on the video portion of the DVD. Seeing the corps demonstrate the various exercies regarding breathing, pedals, lip flexibility, articulations and chorale/chord voicings really give the music educator some ideas on what is made available by the product and what you can have your ensemble do in future years.

Keep in mind that the exercises may change (or be alterred) from year to year, but the concepts will still be solid in many ways. It is not very often that you get a chance to re-establish a sound concept in your head (much less through the eye) by the visual and aural aspects of this DVD. Plus, when you have materials that the BD staff have put together for your education, it will do nothing but help you and your program reach new levels. How many of you can say that Wayne Downey or John Meehan wrote your warm up routines, or chorales that you play for a season.

The DVD portion may be pricy, but coupling that with the 50 page Brass Technique and Warm-up Program is well worth the money invested in this product. Plus, don't think of the product as being costly, think of it as an investment in your career or potential career as an educator. The normal drum corps nut (which I am one of them) may/may not buy the DVD, but an educator will make the investment because it is an investment worth making. Plus, you can easily print out copies of these exercises and hand them to your students and use these time and time again.

Here is the other thing to consider. With any other DVD that is put out by other corps, there are no supplemental materials that you can walk away with and utilize with your band program or musical ensemble. The price of the Drum Corps DVD is high (in comparison to other DVDs on the market for mass consumption, i.e. movies, etc.) because the market is rather small. The target market for the 2006 Cavaliers Tour DVD is not as big as say the market for any movie that has come out in the recent past. Because the price is higher (between $20.00-$30.00) the corps has to reap some profits from their investment on the product. And, what do you really get from the DVD?

1. A few moments from rehearsals with the corps,

2. A few shots of the corps drumline, color guard, hornline in warmups at a show,

3. A run-through (via members perspective)

4. Three different camera angles of the DCI show from that season.

5. Post Finals Show commentary-possible stand still performance

6. A few interviews of the members on "A Day in the life of a member of (insert corps name here)"

7. An interview or two with some members of the instructional staff / design team.

8. Some "outtakes"

9. Possibly the Willie Nelson song "On the Road Again" video montage. (ahh those were the days...sniff)

There are no examples of warm up exercises or explanation of techniques given in the DVD. Which would be one of the things that would interest me in purchasing the materials.

I wish other corps would follow the trend of what the Blue Devils are doing and offer the general public a sample of their warmup and technique book. Cavaliers do (in a small way-via audition packet that is available at their souvie booth), Cadets have recently published a book on the warm up exercises via Gina Cipriani which is a very valuable source (but no audio-visual supportive materials to back the book). Outside of these three corps, I don't see much in terms of supplemental warm-up/technical materials for music educators.

Perhaps the tide will change?

Edited by trptjock
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Now you just gave us here a really good reason why we should have this DVD no matter what. ^_^

I absolutely think this can really improve the over all playing of our corps' brassline just as good as how it revolutionized BD's hornline and placed them on one of drum corps' best sounding lines as of today. :rolleyes:

May please somebody help me in getting hold of this awesome piece of multimedia? :rolleyes:

Edited by bbaritone_41
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If you are interested in purchasing the DVD, go to the Blue Devil website and look under merchandise, then under DVD/videos and look for Dynasty of Brass and purchase it.

Or you can go to the DCI website and click on shop DCI, then click on Corps merchandise, then click on the Blue Devils link and then click on Dynasty of Brass.

Good Luck

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