13strokeroll Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 DCI itself however tried to make that analogy first,... not me. They compared the heart rate of a drummer to that of an athlete, called it the " Major Leagues ", etc and pitched it to ESPN as a competitive sport with all sorts of info as to why it was "a sport ". I've never heard a symphony called " the Major Leagues of " anything at all. Athletic, yes. Sport, no. But that does not mean the model or financial mechanisms for success and growth are any less viable. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gak27 Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 ...Avian is anything but "silly"...well, except maybe for that little Jetson thing. But the music, the drill, the drumline and, for sure, the guard costumes were all perfectly in line with the the sci-fi story theme. Now, some people might call the guard's uniforms outlandish, but can someone tell me how a "traditional" (whatever that is) guard uniform could portray an alien bird-like species?... In this particular instance, I think the questions that come to the minds of many are: Why did the designers have to portray the alien, bird-like species so outlandishly (in the same way Cavies last year were outlandish)? Why did the designers have to use recorded/synth music for so long at the beginning of the show? As was stated earlier, "more" is the name of the game, and "more" has been leading, more often than not, to the OP's definition of "silly." FWIW, I loved the last half of the show. Agreed on the Jetson thing, and the original Star Trek blurb - why? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRASSO Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 (edited) I can't speak to most of the OP's post because, frankly, I don't have any kind of in-depth knowledge of Drum Corps from twenty years ago...or even two years ago. But I believe I can make a point about BK's show this year. Avian is anything but "silly"...well, except maybe for that little Jetson's thing. But the music, the drill, the drumline and, for sure, the guard costumes were all perfectly in line with the sci-fi story theme. Now, some people might call the guard's uniforms outlandish, but can someone tell me how a "traditional" (whatever that is) guard uniform could portray an alien bird-like species? I should probably add a point about the recorded singing and the synthetic sounds in BK's show. I found the lady's singing to be beautiful and the synthetic sounds were used perfectly as transitions and as other-worldly mood setters. None of it seemed out of place and none of it interfered with the excellent music of Firebird Suite. I can understand a person not liking BK's show because it's sci-fi. That genre is not everyone's cup of tea. But not everyone likes Las Vegas, environmentalism or Christmas either. Does that mean all of these shows are "silly"? I think not. I liked BK's show much better last year than this year. That said, your point is valid. I did not find anything silly at all about BK's show this year. I liked the fact that they took a risk with the show, and the show was very creative, innovative.. 'just not my particular cup of java, thats all. But so what. Others no doubt did like it, and why rain on their parade ? ..." silly " it was not, imo. Edited August 23, 2012 by BRASSO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ch1k3n Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 Histrionically over-produced recordings of young men and women speaking, “alone,” “scared,” “fragile,” “abused” interfering with a beautiful horn solo in the Bluecoats’ ballad. If the point of music is to convey emotions without entirely transparently speaking over a loudspeaker what those emotions are, then what’s the point of playing in the first place? This one in particular stood out to me as being entirely unprofessional and overly sentimental and crude, unrefined in the exact opposite way that an orchestral performance and well designed drum corps performance is refined. It made me very uncomfortable and embarrassed. Well personally I think the point of this was to actually convey the emotions that they're trying to get across. You can't get the feeling of "alone", "scared", "fragile", "abused", just from music right? I think the speaking was emphasized by the background music, therefore creating the emotional impact that they were aiming for. It's not just about the pre recorded tapes, or the music, it's the careful blend that creates the whole picture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuStu Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 (edited) Well personally I think the point of this was to actually convey the emotions that they're trying to get across. You can't get the feeling of "alone", "scared", "fragile", "abused", just from music right? I think the speaking was emphasized by the background music, therefore creating the emotional impact that they were aiming for. It's not just about the pre recorded tapes, or the music, it's the careful blend that creates the whole picture. I disagree on that one. For years drum corps was a non-verbal medium. The challenge was how to convey emotion without words. The first time I saw Bluecoats this year they did not use the electronics due to weather. Later, when I saw the full meal deal, I found the voice over was completely unnecessary, and actually was a distraction. I agree wholeheartedly with the OP. Most of this stuff is corny, hokey, cheesy, pretentious and distracting. In some cases it can be innocuous - Cadets were (thankfully) restrained with the clips this year. In other situations it ranges from cringe-worthy (Bluecoats) to incomprehensibly wretched (Cavaliers). Hopefully designers will get the idea and this type of voice over will fade into the distance. Edited August 23, 2012 by StuStu 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuStu Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 I really had an issue with the synthesized bass last night, and I'm not normally one to notice or care as much about it. But the fact that I sat in 540 and still felt it in my chest was awful. I feel bad for anyone in the first 10 rows of 140, because I can't imagine how something like, say, the Cavaliers ending was from just yards away cranked up to an 11. I sat in 140 row 19 in Prelims and it was bad enough that just about every contra line was indiscernable, but the fact it reached up to the 540 level at an uncomfortable level is just stupid. This touches on one of my biggest pet peeves with today's drum corps - artifical reinformcement of the brass through synthesized pedal tones. That's cheating. Go back and listen to the 1985 Blue Devils for an example of how it is supposed to be done. The contra entrance between Karn Evil 9 and the Emerson Piano Concerto may be my favorite musical moment in all of drum cops. Absolutely sublime. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockyGranite Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 (edited) In this particular instance, I think the questions that come to the minds of many are: Why did the designers have to portray the alien, bird-like species so outlandishly (in the same way Cavies last year were outlandish)? Why did the designers have to use recorded/synth music for so long at the beginning of the show? As was stated earlier, "more" is the name of the game, and "more" has been leading, more often than not, to the OP's definition of "silly." FWIW, I loved the last half of the show. Agreed on the Jetson thing, and the original Star Trek blurb - why? Think of a good sci-fi movie you've seen...say Avatar. Would those characters be believable if they didn't look so different? I think the Avian guard was trying to look believably like bird-like creatures...and they did. The beginning of the show...the part with the synth...was the setup. We got to see the Queen appear amongst her subjects. Then they all flocked around the field enjoying their world until, suddenly, the danger appeared. Now, I suppose the hornline could have been playing through all that, but it would have made the flocking effect dificult. The synth filled that period with sound...as well as the singing. I thought if fit quite well. The Star Trek thing fit, in my mind. Kind of a "where no Avian has gone before" thing. Now, there was one show that had electronic effects that I didn't like: The end of Jersey Surf's show where they so drastically altered the trio of brass. It wasn't bad, but I would have preferred less effects and more of a brass sound. Edited August 23, 2012 by RockyGranite Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danielray Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 You are comparing individual artists and musicians in their personal journey of change. This is far different than an activity to activity change. The notion that the Drum Corps change has been " glacial " is certainly an odd assessment of the degree of change in my opinion. If you believe that the Drum Corps of ( say ) 1965, appear and look remarkably like the Drum Corps of 2012, then we simply disagree. I don't believe the Drum Corps changes have been " glacial like " in the last 50 years at all. On the contrary. I believe that the changes have been " volcanic- like ". Theres been an explosion of changes since 1965.The changes been positively seismic and earth shattering. Oh well, people see and hear things differently, no question about it. Its cool. If this sort of change is like a volcano for you, your other hobbies must include observing grass growing, watching pots boil and statue gazing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maestro! Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 Firstly, I have had very similar feelings, confusion, concerns about the silliness you've mentioned in your topic. I've just never had the time to sit down and put it all together and you have. So props on that. Very well-put-together thought process. Secondly: I’m just not sure why “silliness” should be the norm in this art form but not the others (I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a “silly” symphony orchestra performance). Now you've seen some silliness elsewhere. We're talking VK type of silly, not everything else that's not purposely silly that you've mentioned lol. Enjoy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danielray Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 Men landed on the moon over 40 years ago, and we still limit the tour to just Earth? Do we? What about Voyager that has cruised beyond the solar system. Remote controlled robots we pilot like video games on ####### MARS!!!! There has been an absolutely radical amount of change and progress in space exploration in the past 40... so much that we no longer send humans. Not everything needs constant change. Need I remind you that soccer is still the world's most popular sport? Oh, guess I just did! And film is the world's most popular art. The amount of change in film in the past 40 years is astounding. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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