over60 Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 I attended the show in Rockford last night, my third show of the year. The following is part of an email I sent to a friend: "Well, now I've seen all the top 12. The Devils show will probably win because, once again, it is packed with the most overall content and done well. It's like a three ring circus, with something going on no matter where you look. It's as if they have a lot more people on the field than the others. Great writing, and execution. However, the opening few minutes is actually irritating to me because there's a recorded voice talking over the music---their magnificent music. And in general, all corps are using too much electronics. The Cadets (and others) actually use mics to enhance several soloists and it's too much, a very piercing sound. Also, I don't think any recorded voice or music should be allowed! Only live music/voice created by the members on the field should be allowed. And most corps use electronics to add bass, which does add a nice bottom, but it's artificial. The corps should be judged only on what the members do live on the field each performance. I suppose we'll soon be hearing recordings of well known artists backing up the corps, oh no, wait. They'd want a bazillion dollars for the use of their talent, so that's out, but only because of the finances. Hey, maybe Phantom could use some old symphonic classical recordings that are past the copyright time limit. Getting backed up by some old Fritz Reiner Chicago Symphony recordings from the 1960's wouldn't hurt. I'm only half jesting about that." I understand using electronic devices for producing sound effects, such as ocean waves or wind. But does anyone really believe performances should be enhanced with professional sounding (adult) narrators or pre-recorded music or adding bass? Come on. Let's hear from the crowd. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THeShadeOfNight Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 Sometimes I think the corps play too loud for my sensitive ears. They also move too fast for me sometimes, so they should slow down a bit. I know corps may oversaturate their show with electronics now but I feel corps are still in the "how much can we put in" phase. I have faith they will find a balance soon and it will pass. In the meantime I try to tune out the effects and listen to the incredibly clean hornline/drumlines. Such great sounds! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CLD Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 Do. Not. Want. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roark1 Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 I'm also not a fan of the pre-recorded stuff. I have yet to see where it actually adds something of value to a show. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkfdPRphan Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 most of it I can take or leave......the '15 minutes of fame' Cavies recording was a lot worse the first few shows has been toned down.....I have pretty much toned out the foreign voices during Blue Devils can't understand a lot of what is said because of thick accents but it fits the show theme so its OK....but towards the end of the Cadets show some child's voice is amped on the speakers and scares the #### out of me every time (and I know its coming as I've seen the show several times!) the Christmas voice montage does nothing for me because it is too loud and almost creepy. The rest of the smaller voices and sound effects dont bother me as much this year as last. Went to one show where the home corps did not set up their amps (Scouts maybe?)and it made the show sound weird.....missed the voices and sounds..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRASSO Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 (edited) Come on. Let's hear from the crowd. Who knows.. the next evolution stage will be amplified Corps receiving piped in hand applause from machines set in the stands. I 'm just kidding.... on a more serious note, I 've seen examples where a well placed mic can add appropriate volume and texture to a brass solo. The Bluecoats did this in a bari solo a couple of years ago. I might offend the Drum Corps purists here with this remark, but I liked it in this particular example of amplification. The Bluecoats mic'ed solo was done effectively in my personal opinion. I don't like the artificial creation of faux sound, nor synthetic introduction into the competing performance of faux sounds on the field. And the " Thunderous Goo " we sometimes hear is annoying, and I want to pull the plug on the narration bit too. But a well placed mic'ed solo won't find me all that annoyed with this feature anyway when its used aparingly and effectively as in the example cited. Edited July 16, 2012 by BRASSO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 it does at times getirritating to strain to hear music over narration. and to be honest, the lack of vocal inflection in BD's narration is sleep inducing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowtown Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 I The Cadets (and others) actually use mics to enhance several soloists On Friday, one side of the call back duo on Carol of the Bells didn’t make it out of the amp –crapped all over the opener I’m not sure if electronics improve shows but there is a case of it ruining a moment I don’t mind the foreign language stuff in Blue Devils, it’s the English stuff…if you have to tell me it’s art, explain the art…then the design failed and I say that without irony. It’s rather desperate What seems to be the biggest trend this year that I’m totality hating…horn lines sitting their horns on the field to do really bad dance routines to poorly composed synth music. Blue Knights being the most obvious case but Cadets and Madison are guilty too…and for a horn player this is educational how….for their run on So you Think You can Dance? Well you can’t…if anyone wants to know why Marching Band or DCI isn’t cool to the masses, just watch the first minute of Blue Knights And yeah – I saw this as someone that knows a lot about electronic music, the more corps try to play with it, the more they show how little they know about it. Great, a horn guy learned to program a sample but…just because I can figure out how to finger Fame on a trumpet (the single most high school pep-band needs to be killed musical moment in DCI this year) doesn’t mean I can write for a hornline or should even try to 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kamarag Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 if anyone wants to know why Marching Band or DCI isn’t cool to the masses, just watch the first minute of Blue Knights Ironically, the same things were said (and I agreed) in 1997 when the Cavaliers started their show in a similar way, but with chants. Oh, and they played....wait for it....Firebird. What is it about Stravinsky that makes designers lose their minds when corps try and play it? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluecoats88 Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 most of it I can take or leave......the '15 minutes of fame' Cavies recording was a lot worse the first few shows has been toned down.....I have pretty much toned out the foreign voices during Blue Devils can't understand a lot of what is said because of thick accents but it fits the show theme so its OK....but towards the end of the Cadets show some child's voice is amped on the speakers and scares the #### out of me every time (and I know its coming as I've seen the show several times!) the Christmas voice montage does nothing for me because it is too loud and almost creepy. The rest of the smaller voices and sound effects dont bother me as much this year as last. Went to one show where the home corps did not set up their amps (Scouts maybe?)and it made the show sound weird.....missed the voices and sounds..... Are you talking about when they use the snippet from the Charlie Brown Christmas with Linus talking? Why does that scare you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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