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Madison Scouts 2014 -- Playing the Music of Stan Kenton and Don Ellis


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I wondered the same thing. 2 tenors looks strange as does only having 7 snares. I wonder if the small drumline is due to sickness or injuries?

That would be my guess, at least with the tenors. Watching the FN vid there are several forms where it looked obvious the right half of the tenor line was missing: the holes were glaring. I assumed it was due to sickness or injury or something, or else they would've closed the holes. The holes were consistent, though sometimes maybe not as obvious

Didn't notice anything like that with the snare line, but if the missing person is on an end it wouldn't necessarily be that obvious

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I always enjoy the Scouts, but it seems to me that they consistently underachieve. The members are great, the show is always fun for the crowd, but competitively they should do better. With their tradition, their ability to recruit quality members and their fan support, they should be competitive with the top six, which they are not. I am sure I will get blasted by the placement does not matter crowd, but if you are going to spend a million dollars a year putting a world class drum corps on the field and when you have the built in advantages of the Madison Scouts, the show should be better. I blame the design team.

This is such a funky issue to discuss because you really have to ride a fine-line to not offend folks. It's easy for alumni or die-hard fans to flip out and the thought of their corps being any sort of failure in any way (note: I'm NOT saying that), and without knowing all the circumstances it's difficult to really get at the heart of a discussion like this.

However...

I agree. It seems like Madison's staff got the corps to a specific point (a GREAT point of consistent Top 10), but has seemed to stagnate a little for whatever reason. Some of the same people who revolutionized the changed the activity decades ago now seem to struggle with finding the right balance of "achievable/innovative/maxing out sheets/competitive at a higher level." I wonder if the corps from a design perspective is stuck in a rut trying to cling to the past. Their shows have seemed to mostly be about, "see, we're old school drum corps" with some shows feeling like a flat-out throwback/repeat of past glory, or going for something different but playing it safe. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, and if the corps' goal is to be Top 10ish (give or take) consistently while explicitly going for the "we're designing shows for the alum & for our die-hard fans" then they are likely achieving that goal. Watching their show last night, I feel like their are in a place similar to Pioneer or Troopers, where they have a broad cookie-cutter template of a design that they feel compelled to stick to. I think one could make the argument for a lot of corps (Phantom Regiment, for example) who have better success for whatever reason (I think because Phantom show design trends, for example, are more apt for competitive drum corps than Madison's current trend).

Again, there are issues aplenty behind the scenes that we don't know about that might determine exactly why the designers design their shows in this way. I think if fans are happy with the shows, and Madison stays in Finals consistently, and attract plenty of capable members to camps ever year, then Madison is still achieving more than many of their competitors.

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Email Chris Komnick directly about the tenor question.

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Email Chris Komnick directly about the tenor question.

I'm sure he has more important things to do than answer questions from DCP posters.

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This show could not be more different from last year’s. Straightforward arrangements, music-oriented (they even get to march at < 160 BPM if the music calls for it!), no talking, very traditional aside from the trombones. Not old-school for old-school’s sake, but old-school because this type of show design just happened to be done more frequently longer ago. I love it.

Edited by Hrothgar15
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This show could not be more different from last year’s. Straightforward arrangements, music-oriented (they even get to march at < 160 BPM if the music calls for it!), no talking, very traditional aside from the trombones. Not old-school for old-school’s sake, but old-school because this type of show design just happened to be done more frequently longer ago. I love it.

How are you liking the trombones? Not trying to pick a fight, just wondering what you think.

Regards,

Fred O.

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I am always a huge Madison Scouts fan, and when I heard Kenton and Ellis I was totally excited about this show. However after having seen it live once, and several times on demand, I find the musical selections, and arrangements rather bland. I am not feeling the power that Madison used to show when they played jazz shows in the past. It is very early in the season, and I am looking forward to many changes in their show. But so far I am rather disappointed in this show musically. I think it is possible they could slip a placement or two this year. There are some fantastic shows on the field this year, I sure hope this one joins them by the end of the season.

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I was surprised at how much I liked Madison's show this year. The visual design is significantly stronger in both impact and demand. Despite what a few have mentioned their is no lack of demand for them musically. Yes they may be performing Fanfare for the New a bit slower than Blue Devils or Guardsmen, but it is still a challenging piece of music.

From what I could see on the Fan-Network guard and drum-line continue to be their weakness, but I'm looking forward to when I can finally see live in San Antonio.

Edited by bluesman
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Any ideas as to what the guard member in the blue footie pajamas (sorry, that's what it looks like lol) is trying to convey? He just seems to walk slowly around the field most of the show and saw him do some back handsprings at the end...but I don't get it. He walks out of time it seems...is that what they are doing to justify the show title, Time Trip?

Also, I don't know why some people are saying the music isn't challenging (not sure if it was this thread or another). It sounds much more challenging than shows they have performed in the past, and is definitely more challenging than some corps that have won a medal recently. I like the music of the show, but I think there needs to be some transitions written in. The program seems a bit "choppy" at this point.

And if people are still wondering about the tenor players, apparently the stomach flu is going around and two are out right now (http://www.reddit.com/r/drumcorps/comments/28xny4/quick_question_about_madisons_performance_at/).

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The arrangements don't bring home the bacon (too many of them are abandoned like ugly blind dates). And odd as it is for a drummer to say, the percussion line is featured much too often, breaking up the melodic flow of the show. Concerto to End All Concertos opens with the trombone feature, then after 30 seconds of melody moves into, yes, a third extended percussion feature, 6 minutes into the show.

Enough with the drums already. :tounge2:

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