swmstom Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 There were design issues with those shows as well...mainly being too easy in the eyes of those who come up with scores. Seems the Scouts would start out like gangbusters but then plateau early and get passed by corps cleaning more difficult shows. Me personally, I want to hear a horn book with the technical difficulty of Crown, a fast-moving drill with more killer close-in passes and less squats/leg bends and a show design like this years Bluecoats that entertains the crowd AND achieves at a top caliber. Scouts have not found that perfect mix in the past few years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weedyweidenthal Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 There were design issues with those shows as well...mainly being too easy in the eyes of those who come up with scores. Seems the Scouts would start out like gangbusters but then plateau early and get passed by corps cleaning more difficult shows. Me personally, I want to hear a horn book with the technical difficulty of Crown, a fast-moving drill with more killer close-in passes and less squats/leg bends and a show design like this years Bluecoats that entertains the crowd AND achieves at a top caliber. Scouts have not found that perfect mix in the past few years. Each show since Jim Mason took over as artistic director has been more challenging than the previous year. There needs to be a foundation built before jumping in to shows that feature that level of difficulty. I thought this year's horn book was a huge step up, and I think the visual looked more demanding as well. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madcityscout Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 Only basic difference is Madison let John Vanderkoff get away to write the drill for Bluecoats this year. Why could he not put a visual program like that together for Madison? Was it talent level, money, corps visual philosophy or what!? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tesmusic Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 Only basic difference is Madison let John Vanderkoff get away to write the drill for Bluecoats this year. Why could he not put a visual program like that together for Madison? Was it talent level, money, corps visual philosophy or what!? To be honest, I like Andy's drill much better than Jon Vanderkoff's drill. I do like what he's written for the Bluecoats, but I didn't think what he wrote for Madison was that good. If there are changes in design though, and as much as I like RW Smith's music and arrangements, I would like to see Scott Boerma back writing for the brass program. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madcityscout Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 Well, I honestly did not like the arranging that Scott did for Spirit this past year. Or last year for that matter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madcityscout Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 I would love to see Madison do another pirate show!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldbandguy Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 Jon Vanderkoff can rightfully take much credit for the tremendous production of TILT this year with the Bluecoats. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slingerland Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 (edited) Jon Vanderkoff can rightfully take much credit for the tremendous production of TILT this year with the Bluecoats. Doubtful. He joined an already successful staff led by a very smart program coordinator. Unless he came in with all the music and all the ideas, his was one voice among several established voices. But what that DOES point out is that having individual writers who are good at what they do, but who might not be meshing as a team, is useless. Secondly, you can hire the best writers in the world, but if your staff can't teach it, it's value-less. And even then, it's a crapshoot. Scouts had a Name Brand guy as caption head for Guard this year, but the guard was uncharacteristically weak (11th). Edited August 12, 2014 by Slingerland Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NR_Ohiobando Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 Doubtful. He joined an already successful staff led by a very smart program coordinator. Unless he came in with all the music and all the ideas, his was one voice among several established voices. Eh. I still feel like he was a pretty big part of their success. Perhaps the biggest reason is because visual has been the biggest weakness for Bluecoats ever since they cemented themselves in the top 6 starting last decade. Vanderkoff isn't Gaines, Brubaker, or Zingale, but his drill is still typically very good about staging. You don't write Star 1993's drill and have a bad reputation. Even Madison's 2010 drill from Vanderkoff wasn't the most difficult thing in the world, but it definitely helped provide a much more mature look for the corps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slingerland Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 (edited) Eh. I still feel like he was a pretty big part of their success. I was responding to "much credit." "Some" credit, absolutely, but the brass, music analysis, music GE, and percussion captions did very well this weekend too, and Dean Westman has been program coordinator for a number of seasons. If anything, jumping to Bluecoats put Jon V in a position to succeed, rather than the other way around. Edited August 12, 2014 by Slingerland Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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