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original score vs. music we know


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I will probably take a beating for this post but so be it! I have been involved in/fan of Drum Corps for 40 years and I have always embraced change in the activity with enthusiasm and patience. But I cannot seem to embrace the "original scores" that are written for specific shows, and to which I have (and I believe a large part of the audience has) a hard time relating to.

Having been a soprano player I can appreciate the musical complexities and all that neat stuff but I don't feel any emotion towards the music at all.

Examples are good: Saturday I streamed on Fan Network the Denver show, the two corps who received the greatest audience response were the Troopers, who played music that captured the audience's emotions, and Santa Clara with their Les Mis production that the audience knew and could feel and relate to. BD received a luke warm audience response, Crown a bit better but it was obvious they did not elicit the same emotion from the audience as did Troopers and Santa Clara, even though their members have worked just as hard and deserve just as much applause.

Each year it seems at least one Corps (Madison comes to mind) seems to play to the audience at the expense of their judges score, and plays music that the audience feels and appreciates, even if the judges don't.

Although this is my opinion, I am just wondering how others feel, because to me a company front at the climax of Battle Hymn of the Republic or Can you Hear the People Sing makes my spine tingle, the hair on the back of my neck stand up and might even elicit a tear, and that is the feeling I want to get when I watch Drum Corps.

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I agree somewhat to the subject of the topic, but the examples you provided aren't original scores. When I think of original music, of course my first thought is early 2000's Cavaliers. None of that elicits an emotional reaction, but sure people loved it when they performed. Also, not all shows are going for the same response.

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I agree somewhat to the subject of the topic, but the examples you provided aren't original scores. When I think of original music, of course my first thought is early 2000's Cavaliers. None of that elicits an emotional reaction, but sure people loved it when they performed. Also, not all shows are going for the same response.

if you are referring to my Troopers and Santa Clara examples I know they are not original scores, that is kinda my point the audience can relate to them because they know the music, whereas when the score is written specifically for the show often times the audience does not have the same emotional reaction

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if you are referring to my Troopers and Santa Clara examples I know they are not original scores, that is kinda my point the audience can relate to them because they know the music, whereas when the score is written specifically for the show often times the audience does not have the same emotional reaction

No, I was stating that both BD and Crown's shows are not original scores.

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Although this is my opinion, I am just wondering how others feel, because to me a company front at the climax of Battle Hymn of the Republic or Can you Hear the People Sing makes my spine tingle, the hair on the back of my neck stand up and might even elicit a tear, and that is the feeling I want to get when I watch Drum Corps.

Recently, Phantom might be the only one to feed your need.

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ok maybe I should have said music the majority of the audience cannot relate to, as opposed to original music

i guess i had original music stuck in my head because in watching Saturday's show the repertoire was listed at the beginning of each corps and I remember seeing "original music" and it stuck with me

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Familiar music doesn't do it for me if I don't like it.

And original music does it for me if I do like it.

I enjoyed 2002 Cavies immensely regardless of how unrecognizable it was. And I didn't enjoy 2010 BD regardless of how truly the arrangers stuck to the original Kenton. For me, I can't paint with a broad brush.

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...

For me, I can't paint with a broad brush.

We'll be taking a vote on whether you'll be allowed to stay here. :tongue:

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I will probably take a beating for this post but so be it! I have been involved in/fan of Drum Corps for 40 years and I have always embraced change in the activity with enthusiasm and patience. But I cannot seem to embrace the "original scores" that are written for specific shows, and to which I have (and I believe a large part of the audience has) a hard time relating to.

Having been a soprano player I can appreciate the musical complexities and all that neat stuff but I don't feel any emotion towards the music at all.

Examples are good: Saturday I streamed on Fan Network the Denver show, the two corps who received the greatest audience response were the Troopers, who played music that captured the audience's emotions, and Santa Clara with their Les Mis production that the audience knew and could feel and relate to. BD received a luke warm audience response, Crown a bit better but it was obvious they did not elicit the same emotion from the audience as did Troopers and Santa Clara, even though their members have worked just as hard and deserve just as much applause.

Each year it seems at least one Corps (Madison comes to mind) seems to play to the audience at the expense of their judges score, and plays music that the audience feels and appreciates, even if the judges don't.

Although this is my opinion, I am just wondering how others feel, because to me a company front at the climax of Battle Hymn of the Republic or Can you Hear the People Sing makes my spine tingle, the hair on the back of my neck stand up and might even elicit a tear, and that is the feeling I want to get when I watch Drum Corps.

I'm 100% OK with the corps getting the most applause not winning; is that what you're asking? Or are you look for us to somehow quantify whom we think is getting more applause based off an internet feed: that would be kind of silly.

Yes, it seems each year there are some shows the crowd loves, and some years those shows do not rank super high (whatever ones opinion of "high" might be). Last year Crown seemed to be a HUGE crowd favorite, and they came in 2nd: not too shabby at all.

Madison Scouts don't get the points because frankly they are often not as clean as they need to be to score higher. As far as "audience friendly music," I think that is kind of irrelevant to an extent. I think it would be fairly inarguable to say that Phantom Regiment 2008 is one of the more popular shows of the last decade. They achieved this massive crowd support by playing music that most people would not recognize if they heard it on the radio (certainly not the "mainstream audience, i.e. not drum corps fans):

Spartacus by Khachaturian, Aram on Khachaturian / Jarvi / Scottish National Orchestra Spartacus Ballet Suites 1-3

Ein Heldenleben by Strauss, Richard

Battlefield (from KA) by Dupere, Rene on Cirque Du Soleil

Dance of Ecstasy from (Danses Fantastiques) by Tjeknavorian, Loris

Toccata (from Piano Concerto No. 1) by Ginastera, Alberto

not exactly pops music, is it.

There's no accounting for taste, and it's fairly difficult to predict what an audience will love or dislike. Star of Indiana did a show that their designers believed was purposefully audience-friendly and they got boo'ed at shows, and at the time were generally no where near as beloved as designers thought they would be. As has been said before MANY times on DCP, plenty of music was discovered because of drum corps programming, many of it beloved not just because of its melody but because of a visual design, arrangements, and performance level. It's all about overall programming, and corps design with different styles from each other, and there's nothing wrong with that.

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I will probably take a beating for this post but so be it! I have been involved in/fan of Drum Corps for 40 years and I have always embraced change in the activity with enthusiasm and patience. But I cannot seem to embrace the "original scores" that are written for specific shows, and to which I have (and I believe a large part of the audience has) a hard time relating to.

Having been a soprano player I can appreciate the musical complexities and all that neat stuff but I don't feel any emotion towards the music at all.

Examples are good: Saturday I streamed on Fan Network the Denver show, the two corps who received the greatest audience response were the Troopers, who played music that captured the audience's emotions, and Santa Clara with their Les Mis production that the audience knew and could feel and relate to. BD received a luke warm audience response, Crown a bit better but it was obvious they did not elicit the same emotion from the audience as did Troopers and Santa Clara, even though their members have worked just as hard and deserve just as much applause.

Each year it seems at least one Corps (Madison comes to mind) seems to play to the audience at the expense of their judges score, and plays music that the audience feels and appreciates, even if the judges don't.

Although this is my opinion, I am just wondering how others feel, because to me a company front at the climax of Battle Hymn of the Republic or Can you Hear the People Sing makes my spine tingle, the hair on the back of my neck stand up and might even elicit a tear, and that is the feeling I want to get when I watch Drum Corps.

I was at the Denver show and I don't think Troopers and SCV got their enthusiastic crowd reactions because their music was familiar...rather, because they played it so ###### well. Troopers had some impact moments that were awesome and SCV just played beautifully and their section when the soloist and the guard were the only ones on the field, but the rest of the corps was playing behind the city skyline, was great. On the other hand, BD got a decidedly bad reaction from my son because he didn't like the way they "rewrote" Rite of Spring. I'm not as much of a purist as he is about music, so I liked their performance. In regard to BD's crowd reaction, I suspect a lot of people just don't get the show all that well.

I guess what I'm saying is that there is more to audience reaction than familiarity with the music.

Edited by Granite
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