Jeff Ream Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 I'll keep that in mind when (WHEN!) I get my DCA CDs and think the pit is too loud. #### now I owe you a cold one...... Who the Hell cares about the leads.... unless it's Ritchee Price or Joey. the problem with cd's is poor mic placement. If they want to do it right, the speakers should be put in front of the mics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 /thread Maybe this is a generational thing, but it seems like the senior members of DCA are used to the pit being a subordinate ensemble in the total musical package, because from my perspective, I don't see why pits shouldn't be used as they are today. well, i'm the oddball here...i liked it when those poor ######## did drill wearing them. I remember the small pits in the beginning,and the evolution of the pit to where we are today. I have no problem with how it's design. My consistent #####, in band, and in drum corps is balance issues not being addressed on the sheets. oh sure, you're 9.6 today may only go to 9.5 with bad balance. to me that's BS. I remember Crown i think in 09 at Allentown...I was 30 some rows up, and the pit covered up that hornline...which was ####### loud. they got a 19+ something in ensemble music? Really? I know people that sat on the 30's that said it was painfully loud. But they get a pass. No judge wants to be that guy that makes the serious statement. pray to God DCA never ends up in a dome 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyler C. Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 well, i'm the oddball here...i liked it when those poor ######## did drill wearing them. I remember the small pits in the beginning,and the evolution of the pit to where we are today. I have no problem with how it's design. My consistent #####, in band, and in drum corps is balance issues not being addressed on the sheets. oh sure, you're 9.6 today may only go to 9.5 with bad balance. to me that's BS. I remember Crown i think in 09 at Allentown...I was 30 some rows up, and the pit covered up that hornline...which was ####### loud. they got a 19+ something in ensemble music? Really? I know people that sat on the 30's that said it was painfully loud. But they get a pass. No judge wants to be that guy that makes the serious statement. pray to God DCA never ends up in a dome I hope DCA uses the extra year before amps are allowed to discuss how it can affect judging for music captions, because I agree, poorly balanced amps are horrible. I sat in the third row on the 35 in ATL a couple years ago, and I left with a terrible headache. As for domes, I've been told CV's pit is basically inaudible in the Georgia Dome unless it's exposed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted December 18, 2012 Author Share Posted December 18, 2012 (edited) The OP prefaces his post with "not trying to make this a generation gap argument..." and then proceeds to make a generation gap argument. How am I arguing? The reason for the OP is to ask a question and generate discussion. And my later posts are presenting my views on the matter as a horn player and "Sr member" <$1 to Tyler>. And I believe I AM being respectful toward views different from mine. Again, because I really would like a response, am I arguing? Maybe you need an explaination of arguing vs discussing differing opinions to understand both sides. Or maybe I need an explaination of why bother with someone who made this their first post? Or maybe... your word phrasing reminds me of another poster..... Edited December 18, 2012 by JimF-LowBari Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted December 18, 2012 Author Share Posted December 18, 2012 the problem with cd's is poor mic placement. If they want to do it right, the speakers should be put in front of the mics. LMAO, and during my day mic placement kept getting changed around. Part of the reason was the marching bells were picked up a lot better than the rest of the corps. Of course the drumline elevator drill in front of the mics didn't help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted December 18, 2012 Author Share Posted December 18, 2012 Maybe this is a generational thing, but it seems like the senior members of DCA are used to the pit being a subordinate ensemble in the total musical package, because from my perspective, I don't see why pits shouldn't be used as they are today. Agree.... well with the generational thing.. or at least me anyway.... For perspective I saw my first show in 1974 but am currently checking pre-1974 DC history. One source is http://historical-drum-corps-publications.blogspot.com/ which has scans of DC publications ca 1962-1967. Applies to this discussion as early 1960s new instrumentation was being added to DC which caused heartburn for some. Things called (1) contrabass and (2) Latin percussion..... Yep sounds change..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 LMAO, and during my day mic placement kept getting changed around. Part of the reason was the marching bells were picked up a lot better than the rest of the corps. Of course the drumline elevator drill in front of the mics didn't help. Well, back in the 70's, even placing the mics outside the stadium, inside a closed box, would have picked up the incessant clanging of marching bells. One great advantage of the grounded pit, IMO, is the ability to make use of bells sparingly, as they are intended to be used. Back when the player had to carry them, in order to maximize the PA score the player had to be playing all the time...a lot of notes! Basically bells were playing xylo parts, note-wise, only on metal bars with hard plastic mallets. Add to the bells the xylo parts...on what in effect is the top half of a xylophone, pitch-wise, and place them in front of the rest of the drumline doing their elevator drills, and you ended up with incessant clanging and 'flight-of-the-bumblebee' high pitched buzz throughout the show. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted December 18, 2012 Author Share Posted December 18, 2012 Well, back in the 70's, even placing the mics outside the stadium, inside a closed box, would have picked up the incessant clanging of marching bells. :tongue:/> One great advantage of the grounded pit, IMO, is the ability to make use of bells sparingly, as they are intended to be used. Back when the player had to carry them, in order to maximize the PA score the player had to be playing all the time...a lot of notes! Basically bells were playing xylo parts, note-wise, only on metal bars with hard plastic mallets. Add to the bells the xylo parts...on what in effect is the top half of a xylophone, pitch-wise, and place them in front of the rest of the drumline doing their elevator drills, and you ended up with incessant clanging and 'flight-of-the-bumblebee' high pitched buzz throughout the show. :smile:/> Or as a complaint letter to Drum Corps News had it: "drum and tink tink corps". Aways think of that when I read "that ain't Drum Corps". Wish I had saved the letter. Few years back bought 1970 DCA Finals CD and listening to Boys of 76 from Racine. In one of the drum solos there is a bit of bells being heard. Can't hear too much else of bells so either he was playing softer than what I am used to or someone was doing a lot of marching with out playing. (where's HornsUp when you need 'im) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomPeashey Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 Or as a complaint letter to Drum Corps News had it: "drum and tink tink corps". :tongue:/> Aways think of that when I read "that ain't Drum Corps". Wish I had saved the letter. Few years back bought 1970 DCA Finals CD and listening to Boys of 76 from Racine. In one of the drum solos there is a bit of bells being heard. Can't hear too much else of bells so either he was playing softer than what I am used to or someone was doing a lot of marching with out playing. (where's HornsUp when you need 'im) a lot of marching and playing is the answer Jim... recordings at the time couldn't possibly pick them up except for the few times they were featured front 50... remember, in 1970, we were even still playing backfield... Now there's an entirely different topic that we should start a new thread for... Let's call it "The beginning of the end" of the activity as many of us knew it... The huge change really began when we "outsmarted" ourselves and focused the entire show to the few GE judges in the press box. This ended the era when it was ok to watch a show from the 25 yard line and non-affecionados were totally satisfied to watch a show from those "great" seats on the back 50... 1968 DCA Championship at Aquinas Stadium in Rochester must have had 5000 people PAID to see the show and sitting on the back side... I see this as one of those inevitable but unfortunate changes we made - were I to live 20 more seasons, I would suspect I would put amplification in this same basket of issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UNCGQ Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 I'm just arriving to the thread, pardon my lateness . . . Q: "When did they get so big?" A: "When they stopped having to carry them?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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