Someone FINALLY got the brass spread right!

[fsubone]

I'm glad it's not just me who felt that way - there's so much great material (and great for drum corps!) in that piece that I would've looooved to hear them do.

I mean, it's cool that they did Augurs of Spring and Spring Rounds, but there is sooo much music in that entire symphony, that they could have expanded a bit. Although it's only a 12 minute show, so they have to cut a lot, but there is nothing wrong with expanding and doing more of a great musical work.

[eric49]

I honestly don't think atonal music is that hard to play. And I much prefer their earlier atonal work, even from 2011, which was recent. Their 2011 show was great!

You are so @#$%%^& clueless!!!! And don't have any idea what you are talking about.

[CrownStarr]

I mean, it's cool that they did Augurs of Spring and Spring Rounds, but there is sooo much music in that entire symphony, that they could have expanded a bit. Although it's only a 12 minute show, so they have to cut a lot, but there is nothing wrong with expanding and doing more of a great musical work.

Augurs is probably the most recognizable, but I would've loved the last movement too (Sacrifcal Dance, I think it's called).

[Suviduvi]

best discussion all year...thank you all

[fsubone]

Augurs is probably the most recognizable, but I would've loved the last movement too (Sacrifcal Dance, I think it's called).

Yes it is. They quote it at the end, playing the last few chords, but they don't really hit much of the material from it.

[skywhopper]

BD is an amazing corps and I have no negative comments about them. They are amazing as well as there show. They may play many different types of chords but they are mostly dissonant. It's difficult to identify the variety.

I had a music teacher who explained some of this to me one time. I'd forgotten the details but I just looked it up: The staccato repeated eighth notes in the original anyway are two overlapping chords: Fb-major and Eb7, first inversion. Turns out this is every note of the A-flat harmonic minor scale, all played together.

Lots more RoS harmonic geekery here.

[Catan]

First off, I don't think we can compare brass books in a "this is better or this is harder" type of assessment. All of the top 3 corps have extremely difficult brass books.

I said last night that Crown uses mostly major tonality, articulations and arpeggios that utilize those major scales, and they use lots of double tonguing. There is some chromaticism, but not a ton. Does this make it hard? Yes, the way it's constructed it's incredibly demanding.

From a pure judging perspective (content, analysis, performance, GE) I'd say the Blue Devils utilize more techniques and demand. There is vastly more chromaticism, more utilization of range (especially for lead trumpet and lead baritones). Articulations, intonation, and control are much more difficult in the ranges BD uses, and BD runs through a wide range of keys, time sigs, tempo, and stylistic transitions than any other corps (Cadets are close some years). BD clearly has their fair share of double tonguing and fast runs, but they have more exposed sections, more solos; and yes their tonal palette is much wider with the use of various chordal textures, colors, and the like.

Now, does any of this mean that what Carolina has is not good composition/arrangement? Not at all. Their book is perfect for what they're doing. BD's book is perfect for what they're doing. Good composition is good composition! A few folks mentioned this to me last night in regard to a post I wrote, and I completely agree.

My point here is this: within the confines of a judged/competitive activity in which the brass performance, content, analysis, and music GE numbers are dependent on what's written on those judging sheets, USUALLY a book like BD is going to pay more dividends. Even if BD doesn't win brass, they often still do well in GE music, percussion, and analysis. And their musical palette allows them to do more with their visual design.

If Crown beats them tonight then I say CONGRATS to CROWN! They deserve it. But when we compare demand and content, and especially with regard to BD, I think the above is worth looking into.

Very well said. The top 3 are all doing very different things. When it comes to the brass books of Crown vs BD, I just think of it this way:

Crown is a scrumptious piece of cake. Very sweet and pleases the tastebuds, but ultimately not much nutritional or taste complexity - it all tastes quite similar.

BD is more like a a really great and hearty salad with lots of veggies, meat, cheese, toppings, and dressing - tons of variety in texture, taste, and content, and ultimately much more satisfying and filling from a nutritional standpoint.

I don't know if that makes any sense or not. I think both corps are amazing this year, and I do think Crown is executing the best from a brass perf standpoint. I am just astounded by how insanely difficult BD's entire production is (especially the brass book).

[skywhopper]

I'm glad it's not just me who felt that way - there's so much great material (and great for drum corps!) in that piece that I would've looooved to hear them do.

Oh gosh, yes, they missed a huge opportunity, IMO. I listened to Rite of Spring on the way home from seeing them live the second time this summer and there's SO MUCH material that would have been awesome. Of course, Rewrite of Spring is a pretty straight up arrangement (just in a jazz style), so all the same material is there. Just adapting Rewrite of Spring for the field would have been spectacular. But BD used too much of the Sebesky record, IMO.

[frachel]

Seriously? BD hardly plays anything! Non-major chords aren't impressive. I think it's BD's weakest book in years. They play the crap out it but there is simply not enough going on. Have you actually sat there and listened to the runs that are constantly coming throughout Crown's show? BD's horns are clean but not hard. I would put Cadet's book ahead of theirs and leave BD even with SCV. I literally can point out five places in Crown's show that I can't find anything similar in BD's. Best part is that Crown is moving when they play it!

I can't tell if you are trolling or not. Judging by your signature, I guess you aren't? Which is sad.

I did this last year and again this year. I'm a trumpet player, been playing for 30+ years. Last year there were a good amount of PoV youtube videos (and prior year). A few good trumpet ones from Cavaliers and BD, and some other instruments from Crown. Going through those and just listening and figuring out a lot of the trumpet parts on my own - he's basically right - BD is not playing all that much, and it's really not that difficult. Sure, sometimes the octave up notes can be hard to come in out of the blue on, but that's about it. I keep hearing how BD is playing the crap out of their show and how hard it is, but from my perspective, the trumpet parts are not really that difficult and they do not play a whole lot during the show.

Crown's and Cadet's brass are substantially more difficult (at least the trumpet parts) this year (and last) than BD's.

[skywhopper]

I mean, it's cool that they did Augurs of Spring and Spring Rounds, but there is sooo much music in that entire symphony, that they could have expanded a bit. Although it's only a 12 minute show, so they have to cut a lot, but there is nothing wrong with expanding and doing more of a great musical work.

Yep, Academy's arrangement of Rite last year covered a lot more musical ground.