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Phantom's Percussions future....


Winds of Change  

106 members have voted

  1. 1. Will Phantom make changes at the top?



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I WOULD LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to see Jeff Prosperie take the reins again! Hmmmm... Lee Beddis? He wroe that great 96 book... but, everyone knows, Regiment hierarchy is a tough sell, and it is often one way and that is it. I ope (no, I PRAY as a PR homer) that they look at this really intently in the off season.. and look at the WHOLE picture! They have a distinct identity to uphold and traditions just as strong -- and having a staff member formerly associated would certainly help! Once they figure out the direction of the percussion section .... PLEASE PLEASE, PLEASE rethink the brass strategy!

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David Reeves anyone?

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Ah yes, we are sure to have a "just like crown does" comment in every thread from here on out now. :thumbdown:/>/>

Well, you have to admit: going from 16th place to World Champion in just 11 years is pretty damm impressive. Thats the type of success nearly EVERYONE should be trying to copy - not from a design standpoint, but from an organizational and logistical standpoint.

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As I understand it, almost if not all of the tech staff was replaced this past season.

I'm not sure if that includes the front ensemble but there seems to have been some discord between Shane Gwaltney and the techs who spend all summer on tour. Shane ended up replacing them for this season. Ultimately, it was the drum caption that cost them 5th place so hindsight can ask if the director made the right choice in keeping Shane or allowing him to replace all of the techs after last season.

Shane is the visual designer for MCM but not a part of the day to day teaching staff for the battery. In fact, after last season, he replaced at least 1 member of MCM's staff at regiment.

There were two he had to replace at the request of administration. The rest of the techs came back. Shane's also the battery arranger at MCM. At Regiment he has been teaching, which has been the problem. That's why the two new co-caption heads were brought in this year. The line always started scoring better when it was just one of them teaching.

Gwaltney is not able to pull in the talent to his line that a top 5 corps needs. His third year and they still have an all rookie snare line? really?

I've been biting my tongue through the season because I know the corps members read all this stuff and I don't want to bring them down while they are trying to pop out good shows, but now that the season is over...

It's just not a good fit, and they need someone who will be able to bring in some talent. Who is available? I'd LOVE to see Erik Johnson with the pit, but he may never do anything outisde of cavaliers for corps. Ellis Hampton was pretty much co caption head in Rennicks later years with PR, and his lines at boston were great, and their tuning is great (like Rennicks). Maybe bringing him back in, with someone else writing the book (Bret Kuhn?). There is always casella as well, but not sure he wants to come back to drum corps. .... Jeff prosperie? I love that guy as a person, and his knowledge of percussion, and he has strong PR roots. Not sure he has the time to be a caption head though, and have we really seen any lines under his direction? And of course, Tom Rarick is a PR alum I think... he always writes a great book for bluecoats...

They need to bring in someone who is PROVEN.

See reason below:

From what I understand, neither Ellis nor the Rennicks are eager to be back in the PR organization. I could be wrong, though.

And Prosperie actually was caption head at PR in the 90's for a few years, so he does indeed have a link there.

No, you're quite correct.

Edited by chaos001
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None of what I have heard so far gives me any reason to reconsider Gwaltney. One also has to consider changes at the top outside of Caption heads. Decisions almost always trickle down. Gwaltney doesn't seem to have the team building skills necessary to build a championship line or pit. Again this is an outside view looking in.

One thing that really sticks in my mind when comparing Rennick's lines and pit to Gwaltney's is that, to me, Rennick's lines were an extension of him and Gwaltney's seems to be a separate entity all together.

Edited by Phantombari1
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Instruction staff simply isn't doing enough. The judges liked the book, but unfortunately the members couldn't perform it to the level expected of them.

I really do believe that any student, with proper instruction, can excel to and beyond what is expected of them. Especially past 11th in this case.

I have to take issue with one statement, The judge liked content better than performance but still not with the top 5. Lower on Friday. I think Fergussion formally at Glassmen and director at matrix would be a great choice. The brass arrangements over the past couple of years have been mediocre at best. Need a change there too

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