siletzspey Posted April 26, 2014 Share Posted April 26, 2014 The 1974 - 2009 DCI DVDs are currently on sale. As someone on the lookout for great brass performances and clean recordings thereof, are there any particular years that stand out among the DCI DVDs? Whether subtle and beautiful, jazzy, or a loud wall blowing my (remaining) hair back, I'm looking for that clean rich textured brass sound. '88 Devils, '89 Santa Clara ... '08 Crown, '09 Bluestars are some examples. --SiletzSpey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drangin Posted April 27, 2014 Share Posted April 27, 2014 (edited) As someone on the lookout for great brass performances and clean recordings thereof, are there any particular years that stand out among the DCI DVDs? I still prefer Ken Kobold's recordings up through 1978, when the microphones were right on the sidelines. You wanna hear in-your-face brass and drums? Those years are the best, and they translated well to video as well because the analog tape smashed the dynamics to the point that nothing further needed to be done when the audio was mated to the PBS video tapes. 1979 through 1981 are sonic disasters, and from 1982 until recently DCI just used automatic level control to squash the extreme dynamics of the digital audio for the video in a rather unpleasant way. For about 10-15 years they had the center microphones placed about 15 feet further back from the outer mics, causing Phase City. Yuck. Since 2009 when they moved to Lucas Oil Stadium the sound of the videos has been wonderful. Unfortunately, the corps themselves are gradually morphing into marching bands. Ick. To me, 1970's is the Sound of Drum and Bugle Corps. 1973 Argonne Rebels opener is awesome (although it's audio only, no video). Edited April 27, 2014 by drangin 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost Posted April 27, 2014 Share Posted April 27, 2014 1973 Argonne Rebels opener is awesome (although it's audio only, no video). Not the the great sound you mentioned, but here's the drill. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjcxXF66XYQ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nukeme70 Posted April 27, 2014 Share Posted April 27, 2014 IMO 1991 had the most entertaining shows, all the way through the 20+ place corps. 1990 was pretty much the same level of entertainment, but not quite as matured as 91. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HornTeacher Posted April 27, 2014 Share Posted April 27, 2014 Not the the great sound you mentioned, but here's the drill. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjcxXF66XYQ What is that opener? It's on the tip of the ol' synapses, but I can't place it. Bugging the royal tar out of me... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freakyswotboy Posted April 27, 2014 Share Posted April 27, 2014 What is that opener? It's on the tip of the ol' synapses, but I can't place it. Bugging the royal tar out of me... Fanfare for the New. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HornTeacher Posted April 27, 2014 Share Posted April 27, 2014 (edited) Fanfare for the New. Thank you, Freaky. Boy, do I feel exceedingly stupid. Oh well...I guess I'll just blame it on a case of Early Onset Dementia... Edited April 27, 2014 by HornTeacher Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lincoln Posted April 27, 2014 Share Posted April 27, 2014 (edited) I love old and new drum corps. Almost all the years are completely enjoyable. The only years I would even suggest you might get "last" would be "83 and '84 because the camera work is not great - unless you like multiple visuals of the pit. This is unfortunate because of the quality of the shows those years. Edited April 27, 2014 by Lincoln Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lincoln Posted April 27, 2014 Share Posted April 27, 2014 1973 Argonne Rebels opener is awesome (although it's audio only, no video). I love old drum corps videos. If you go far enough in the past, you see just how much drill has evolved from the first days of DCI. One thing I still have trouble understanding is early 70's drill (Please understand that I was only exposed to DCI in 1980). I have the Legacy collection and look at videos on YouTube for those shows not part of that collection as DCI has few shows available from the early 70's. '73 Argonne Rebels is one such video only available on YouTube. I can't grasp what the opener was about in those years from a drill perspective (and in some cases, the closer as well). It's as if the entire opener consisted of pods of corps members working their way across the field from the left hand side, with little symetry, to get to the end of the opener at which point the concert piece was usually symetrical based on the 50 yard liine. Then once the concert and subsequent piece were completed, the corps then once again moved in pod formation to the right hand side of the field during the closer. I know early 70's is based on rules far before that, but is there any rhyme or reason in the drill formations prior to when it changed around '74? Contrary to what might be stated today, the opening/closing drills do not look easy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IllianaLancerContra Posted April 27, 2014 Share Posted April 27, 2014 (edited) I love old drum corps videos. If you go far enough in the past, you see just how much drill has evolved from the first days of DCI. One thing I still have trouble understanding is early 70's drill (Please understand that I was only exposed to DCI in 1980). I have the Legacy collection and look at videos on YouTube for those shows not part of that collection as DCI has few shows available from the early 70's. '73 Argonne Rebels is one such video only available on YouTube. I can't grasp what the opener was about in those years from a drill perspective (and in some cases, the closer as well). It's as if the entire opener consisted of pods of corps members working their way across the field from the left hand side, with little symetry, to get to the end of the opener at which point the concert piece was usually symetrical based on the 50 yard liine. Then once the concert and subsequent piece were completed, the corps then once again moved in pod formation to the right hand side of the field during the closer. I know early 70's is based on rules far before that, but is there any rhyme or reason in the drill formations prior to when it changed around '74? Contrary to what might be stated today, the opening/closing drills do not look easy. It is a hold-over from the AL/VFW days. Corps entered side 1 from the end zone, exited side 2 end zone as the next corps was lining up (right after inspection). There were shows that had 60+ entrants; prelims lasted over 2 days in some cases. The premise was to 'keep the contest moving along'. I believe 1974 was the first year of the backfield entry. Edited April 28, 2014 by IllianaLancerContra 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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