fsubone Posted September 11, 2013 Share Posted September 11, 2013 I really liked the 2000 drill, with the big tower form that moved across the field, and peeled off the ranks and replaced them at the top. That was really cool Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emc2 Posted September 12, 2013 Share Posted September 12, 2013 http://bluedevils.or...amID=1&cID=6264 "Jay Murphy is graduate of Marquette University and the University of Massachusetts, and has been an instructor with The Blue Devils "A" Corps since 1981. After serving in the position of Color Guard instructor from 1981 through 1985, Jay assumed the role of Visual Designer in 1986. Through his work with the San Jose Raiders and The Blue Devils Winter Guards, Jay instructed the Winter Guard International World Class Champions every year from 1990 through 1998. 2003 marked another WGI championship year for Jay with the San Jose Raiders. In recognition of his outstanding contribution to the winter guard activity, Jay was awarded Winter Guard International's prestigious Laurel Award in 1995. Jay's additional visual design credits include: St. Joseph's Winter Guard of Medford, MA; St. Anthony's Imperials Winter Guard of Everett, MA; St. John's of Beverly, MA; Fairfield High School of Fairfield, CA; and Clovis West High School of Fresno, CA . Jay is currently visual designer for Mission Viejo High School (CA), Cheshire High School (CT), Sierra Vista High School (NV), and numerous other winter guards and marching bands throughout the United States and Canada." Jay was also with Boston. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Boo Posted September 12, 2013 Share Posted September 12, 2013 I really liked the 2000 drill, with the big tower form that moved across the field, and peeled off the ranks and replaced them at the top. That was really cool My favorite part of "Methods of Madness" was the Doppler Effect created by the horns rotating as they were moving across the field. I was in awe of that. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cop Posted September 12, 2013 Share Posted September 12, 2013 To view a few St. Anthony's Imperial wintrguard shows, would be a wonderful way to get taste of Jay's work and genius behind motion, music and staging. Amen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Boo Posted September 12, 2013 Share Posted September 12, 2013 To view a few St. Anthony's Imperial wintrguard shows, would be a wonderful way to get taste of Jay's work and genius behind motion, music and staging. Amen. Oh, did he do their "First Circle" show? That one was amazing in how the circles never stopped evolving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zachariaswmb Posted September 12, 2013 Share Posted September 12, 2013 Oh, did he do their "First Circle" show? That one was amazing in how the circles never stopped evolving. What year was that show? I'd really like to check it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Freedman Posted September 13, 2013 Share Posted September 13, 2013 He seems to be trying to create visual jazz. Which seems like an oxymoron since jazz is musical and not visual. However, the elements of jazz may have visual analogues. I'm speculating and not a jazz expert, but I do know that two of these elements include syncopation and improvisation. Can one create visual syncopation? I think many of Jay Murphy's drill forms evoke the concept, by having different but related visual ideas occurring simultaneously or in rapid succession. For example, there's a move in Re:Rite toward the end of the show in which several brass players are lined up vertically on the left side of the field (about the 30 or so) and move toward the 50. They create a succession of gates which open and close and then reopen in different sizes, forcing the viewer to constantly reassess what they are looking at. Is that a form of visual syncopation? So what about improvisation? Clearly drum corps do not generally improvise, right? Well, right. Except. The Blue Devils often look like they are improvising. Improvisation creates a rough edge to jazz that creates a sense of excitement, and that carries over to non-improv jazz as well. I think maybe Mr. Murphy tries to give BD drill some of that feeling. This year in particular there were trees that didn't get spun around at the start, forcing the early season viewer to say in effect, "I guess there are holes," and later season viewers to say, "Huh, I guess that's intentional." Similarly, the expanding, rotating square at about the halfway point had a whole half of one edge just missing. It's not improvised of course. But it evokes that same sense of "Crazy, man, crazy" that visual jazz should. The result is a subtlety that is completely different from anything else on the field. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Freedman Posted September 13, 2013 Share Posted September 13, 2013 What year was that show? I'd really like to check it out. Looks like 1985. Crossmen played it in 2007, and the Blue Knights played it this year. There was an off topic debate on another thread (I forget which) about which version is better, with the Crossmen version getting the edge as I recall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sideways Posted September 13, 2013 Share Posted September 13, 2013 2003 is without a doubt my favorite book that he has written, with 1993 a close second. The musical demand from '93 was just off the charts, but I believe it's one of the most under rated visual programs ever. Granted the rain did not help on finals night, but also there was so much going on that the "old" uniforms never let that package look clean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drilltech1 Posted September 13, 2013 Share Posted September 13, 2013 (edited) He seems to be trying to create visual jazz. Which seems like an oxymoron since jazz is musical and not visual. However, the elements of jazz may have visual analogues. I'm speculating and not a jazz expert, but I do know that two of these elements include syncopation and improvisation. Can one create visual syncopation? I think many of Jay Murphy's drill forms evoke the concept, by having different but related visual ideas occurring simultaneously or in rapid succession. For example, there's a move in Re:Rite toward the end of the show in which several brass players are lined up vertically on the left side of the field (about the 30 or so) and move toward the 50. They create a succession of gates which open and close and then reopen in different sizes, forcing the viewer to constantly reassess what they are looking at. Is that a form of visual syncopation? So what about improvisation? Clearly drum corps do not generally improvise, right? Well, right. Except. The Blue Devils often look like they are improvising. Improvisation creates a rough edge to jazz that creates a sense of excitement, and that carries over to non-improv jazz as well. I think maybe Mr. Murphy tries to give BD drill some of that feeling. This year in particular there were trees that didn't get spun around at the start, forcing the early season viewer to say in effect, "I guess there are holes," and later season viewers to say, "Huh, I guess that's intentional." Similarly, the expanding, rotating square at about the halfway point had a whole half of one edge just missing. It's not improvised of course. But it evokes that same sense of "Crazy, man, crazy" that visual jazz should. The result is a subtlety that is completely different from anything else on the field. This post presents an extremely interesting and well-thought perspective. Edited September 13, 2013 by drilltech1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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