seen-it-all Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 A modern day Guard section however, despite being the third of the size of the brass lines in most cases, and approximately the size of most percussion sections, could never remain entirely motionless for a quarter of a show, and win a DCI Title, imo Why would anyone assume otherwise when the entire reason for the color guard being on the field is to contribute purely visual content to the program? Could a drum corps win DCI if the entire musical ensemble (pit, brass, and battery percussion) didn't play a single note for nearly 3 consecutive minutes of their show? I doubt it, even if they were marching the most insanely innovative visual program while they remained tacet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fsubone Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 And above all else, if a Corps members are not handed a top flight, VISUALLY creative platform, no amount of outstanding brass and percussion playing in the show will allow such a Corps to win a DCI Title. Thats why right now.. today... Championships are being won or lost for 2014 based upon what the Visual Designer of the contending Corps are putting together for their charges . Increasingly it is apparent that it is the Guard and the Visual that drives the bus to the Championdship title.. Phantom 2008 is on the phone with you sir, will you pick up? Tied with Cavies for GE Vis, 3rd in Vis Performance, and 4th in Guard, and won the title. By taking 1st in music by a big margin, and GE Music 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slingerland Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 (edited) So adding in some sort of choreography shows the judges that you can play well constantly, not just give 100% of the sound during the moments you're halted. Shouldn't they be punished in the score if it's inappropriate or totally unnecessary? The mark of a truly great creative artist is that they know when NOT to do something, as much as how to do something interesting. Sometimes you have to let the book speak for itself - if you feel a need to throw in a gratuitous body shape thing just because or have your pit players "acting" (and the quotation marks are intentional) to help sell the concept, it only comes across as lame to most mainstream audiences. But I bet none of these corps hear any judge courageous enough to tell them "ugh, please don't do that," since the critique afterwards would be ugly. Edited February 25, 2014 by Slingerland Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seen-it-all Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 Shouldn't they be punished in the score if it's inappropriate or totally unnecessary? The mark of a truly great creative artist is that they know when NOT to do something, as much as how to do something interesting. Sometimes you have to let the book speak for itself - if you feel a need to throw in a gratuitous body shape thing just because or have your pit players "acting" (and the quotation marks are intentional) to help sell the concept, it only comes across as lame to most mainstream audiences. But I bet none of these corps hear any judge courageous enough to tell them "ugh, please don't do that," since the critique afterwards would be ugly. It depends on the moment and how it's crafted, like most things. I think back to that 2007 Blue Devils drum break. Was it appropriate? A matter of opinion I guess, though at least it was rhythmic enough to line up with the accents in the music. Was all that extra added body movement necessary? Not really. But one thing's for sure. The audience went freaking BANANAS every time they did it. And oh yeah, they were a pretty dang good drumline musically as well that year. So why not? If you're good enough to still play well while adding a little extra visual interest, I'm all for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 Why was back-sticking and drum to drum playing developed for snare lines? What 'musical' elements do they serve? Why was butterfly crossover sweeps created for tenors? What 'musical' element does it serve? Why were star-bursts and rotation flips developed for cymbal lines? What 'musical' elements do they serve? Point being is that Guardling may be correct in that it is ALL about the visual. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 I'd like to hear some examples of "simultaneous demand". I know what it means, or is supposed to mean, but I'd like to hear some examples. ok...your snares are trying to play a triplet roll, crabbing to the left on an angle at 180 bpm, with horns running through them. So they have physical demand by moving as they are, as well as listening demands because of people running through them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 If it were this simple we'd not see ballet in the drum line, right? They moved and played in '72, too, but many here say that kind of "simultaneous demand" wouldn't score well today. Why not? well, doing body while playing is a form of simultaneous demand too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigW Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 Backing into a blind set while others weave through you while playing would certainly be that. While we're on percussion, how about one of the things a group Jeff worked with did- 2 individual snare features spread 30 yards apart? And... you have to make that come together to the audience musically? What they played was quite challenging, but to play it that physically far apart side to side and also in depth was mind-boggling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cixelsyd Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 Why would anyone assume otherwise when the entire reason for the color guard being on the field is to contribute purely visual content to the program? Could a drum corps win DCI if the entire musical ensemble (pit, brass, and battery percussion) didn't play a single note for nearly 3 consecutive minutes of their show? I doubt it, even if they were marching the most insanely innovative visual program while they remained tacet. That is not a proper comparison, as the colorguard is not the entire visual ensemble. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mingusmonk Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 Shouldn't they be punished in the score if it's inappropriate or totally unnecessary? The mark of a truly great creative artist is that they know when NOT to do something, as much as how to do something interesting. Sometimes you have to let the book speak for itself - if you feel a need to throw in a gratuitous body shape thing just because or have your pit players "acting" (and the quotation marks are intentional) to help sell the concept, it only comes across as lame to most mainstream audiences. But I bet none of these corps hear any judge courageous enough to tell them "ugh, please don't do that," since the critique afterwards would be ugly. It happens. They don't say "ugh, don't do that." More often "I don't understand why are doing that." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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