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2012 DCA Rules Congress - Baltimore, MD


Glen

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Worded that way, you have probably done the best job of explaining this perspective that I have yet seen. But it is still wrong.

You can orchestrate however you want in a DCA corps today. Use the same methods that hornline and battery have always used - choose the number of players in each section and on each part, and adjust their dynamics. All of those parameters are available to pit percussion. In 2014, amplification will merely provide the pit with a workaround to those methods.

I believe amplification finally makes those "same methods that hornline and battery have always used" available to front ensembles. It gives them a fair shot to balance properly within the ensemble sound without playing up to their ears. They keyboards in an average DCA pit are practically inaudible within the ensemble sound when playing below a solid mezzo-forte (depending on the corps' size), unless they're playing a unison rhythm of some kind. Amplification allows for a front ensemble arrangement to have as much depth and complexity as a horn book and still come across.

It's apparent that some people still consider the front ensemble to be a subordinate ensemble, and that's a personal preference that I can understand. The ever-changing and evolving landscape of drum corps creates division all the time (starting line, inspection, key, valves, every design element, amps, synths, etc.). I would simply ask those people to watch this short video of the front ensemble of the 2010 Sanford Trophy-winning Phantom Regiment percussion section waking the corps up with the opening and closing pit features of that year's show. If they played with that level of musicianship and touch without amplification, the thick texture, rich harmony, and rhythmic/melodic complexity would never come across that well. You would hear accents, glock, xylo, upper register of marimba and vibes, and auxiliary percussion. However, you would miss much of the phrasing of each line, and, lest we forget the venue for our activity, you would never get the same lush sound projected to the audience.

DCA front ensembles now have the capability to provide more to the overall music package than ever before. This is without even mentioning the possibilities for auxiliary percussion. Properly balanced small instruments ("toys" like tambourine, triangles, castanets, claves, wood blocks, etc.), effect cymbals, concert snare, drum set, timpani without the awful popping sound made when played too hard, and even clapping or snapping are just a few possibilities.

Yes, poorly-balanced amplification is atrocious, and I hope DCA takes the year before it kicks in to discuss how to reflect that on the sheets.

Edited by Tyler C.
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Ding. Wrong! :)

While there have been many opinions on this thread - mostly about amps in the pit... little has been said about the MAJOR decision on positioning of judges - all judges have been removed from the competition field...

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I believe amplification finally makes those "same methods that hornline and battery have always used" available to front ensembles. It gives them a fair shot to balance properly within the ensemble sound without playing up to their ears. They keyboards in an average DCA pit are practically inaudible within the ensemble sound when playing below a solid mezzo-forte (depending on the corps' size), unless they're playing a unison rhythm of some kind. Amplification allows for a front ensemble arrangement to have as much depth and complexity as a horn book and still come across.

It's apparent that some people still consider the front ensemble to be a subordinate ensemble, and that's a personal preference that I can understand. The ever-changing and evolving landscape of drum corps creates division all the time (starting line, inspection, key, valves, every design element, amps, synths, etc.). I would simply ask those people to watch this short video of the front ensemble of the 2010 Sanford Trophy-winning Phantom Regiment percussion section waking the corps up with the opening and closing pit features of that year's show. If they played with that level of musicianship and touch without amplification, the thick texture, rich harmony, and rhythmic/melodic complexity would never come across that well. You would hear accents, glock, xylo, upper register of marimba and vibes, and auxiliary percussion. However, you would miss much of the phrasing of each line, and, lest we forget the venue for our activity, you would never get the same lush sound projected to the audience.

DCA front ensembles now have the capability to provide more to the overall music package than ever before. This is without even mentioning the possibilities for auxiliary percussion. Properly balanced small instruments ("toys" like tambourine, triangles, castanets, claves, wood blocks, etc.), effect cymbals, concert snare, drum set, timpani without the awful popping sound made when played too hard, and even clapping or snapping are just a few possibilities.

Yes, poorly-balanced amplification is atrocious, and I hope DCA takes the year before it kicks in to discuss how to reflect that on the sheets.

in my day we used all the small instruments you talk about. and they could be heard. could it be they were used correctly in the drum corps environment? i think you all are trying to be an orchestra on the field in my opinion that is not what drum corps was all about. for over 30 years it has been basterdised into something else. so let me get this right you incorrectly used all the percussion in the pit so to solve it you want to use amps? well good luck with your activity. it aint what i or a lot of people want. in 7-8 years if you survive you will be doing a symphony on the field and it will be a cheap knock off at that. just my old timers opinion my friend.

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Ding. Wrong! :)

not the first time I've been wrong and won't be the last...

As a retired old fart, I only know what I'm told or read so I guess I was told wrong...

So Glen, was there any change to field positioning? How many judges? Where?

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The brass judge is now upstairs, the percussion judge remains on the field.

not the first time I've been wrong and won't be the last...

As a retired old fart, I only know what I'm told or read so I guess I was told wrong...

So Glen, was there any change to field positioning? How many judges? Where?

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I feel like the people who call all of these changes "progress" need to take a hard look at what made the Drum Corps activity what it is (or was). It was never meant to be "Marching Band". It was very different from "Marching Band" in many ways. Yes they were similar activities but the differences in instrumentation and performance styles are what made "Drum Corps" special. It used to be that "Marching Bands" wanted to be more like "Drum Corps", not the other way around. I will agree that some changes have been for the better (i.e. number of valves on a horn, maybe....maybe instrument keys, Asymmetrical drill) but trying to make "Drum Corps" more like "Marching Band" has, IMHO, reduced the "draw" of the activity to new members. There is nothing special about the activity anymore.

For everyones information I never marched DCI. Never had the opportunity. But I've marched DCA for almost 10 years. I have seen interest in the "Drum Corps" activity steadily decline in those 10 years. I'm sure it started long before then. I think we should be trying to generate uniqueness in the activity and try to sell that to today's youth (as well as some of us "old farts").

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in my day we used all the small instruments you talk about. and they could be heard. could it be they were used correctly in the drum corps environment? i think you all are trying to be an orchestra on the field in my opinion that is not what drum corps was all about. for over 30 years it has been basterdised into something else. so let me get this right you incorrectly used all the percussion in the pit so to solve it you want to use amps? well good luck with your activity. it aint what i or a lot of people want. in 7-8 years if you survive you will be doing a symphony on the field and it will be a cheap knock off at that. just my old timers opinion my friend.

Sure, you can use those instruments without amplification and have them heard. It's simply a personal preference that I don't like the sound quality. To me, it seems like those instruments have to be played up several dynamic levels in order to balance, and it sounds harsh to me. For example, I would much rather hear the amplified sound of a tambourine playing at piano than the sound of a tambourine being played at forte just to balance with an ensemble piano dynamic. They may achieve essentially the same volume, but with much different sound qualities. The same applies to every instrument up front.

I'm 20 years old. I first learned of drum corps in 2006 and went to my first show in 2007. Until marching CorpsVets 2011, CV and Alliance were the only all-age corps I had ever seen. I say that just to admit that I have never enjoyed the harsh quality of un-amplified front ensembles, whether watching a high school band, a college band, or a drum corps. I never liked it in high school, and I didn't like it when I started watching DCI shows from before pit mics. Several of my favorite shows are from the '80's and '90's, so it's definitely not a bias against the entire era. I often wish I had a chance to witness a bottle dance, a sunburst, the original Z-pull, SCV making a whole corps disappear, Phantom's "Bacchanale," Star's cross-to-cross ending, Blue Devils seducing everyone in '92, Star '93, and countless other classic moments. DCI was already mic'd by the time I found it, and that's the sound I fell in love with. I'm certainly not trying to bastardize anything. Thanks for the well-wishes, and I'm sorry the activity isn't what you knew and loved. I imagine the day will come when drum corps becomes something I feel has passed me by, but I'm going to love every minute until then.

To high notes and clean beats,

Tyler

Edited by Tyler C.
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The brass judge is now upstairs, the percussion judge remains on the field.

So someone can still get run over.... :rolleyes::devil:

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The brass judge is now upstairs, the percussion judge remains on the field.

So you could have said that the first time, but being a Jersey guy you couldn't. :tongue:

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The brass judge is now upstairs, the percussion judge remains on the field.

that's a shame...

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