flammaster Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 Come on Cadets! Stop it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GUARDLING Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 Doubtful. I looked specifically at what happened during several appearances of the narrator, and the drill was just moving/evolving as it did through the majority of the show. It wasn't like there was a big hit that they wanted to mask the lead-up to. Again, musically, they are doing it, with the emphasis points planned between the phrases, but visually, the two elements appear to be competing. And it is staged in such a way that the front element is walking back and forth on top of the back element, but they don't react to each other. hmmm sounds like a dull drill part for transition so the focus they wanted it just where it is...maybe not....Im very sure they will do whats needed if it becomes an issue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theCHEZman Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 If they are going to keep using the stage and the visible narrator, I would like them decide where the visual focal point is going to be. Right now, when something happens on the stage, the drill forms don't seem to react or in any way direct attention to the front. They just keep evolving as if nothing else is going on. So, you have to choose where to focus your attention. When a guy who appears to be wearing Cadets Underoos, or a pajamas tuxedo or something suddenly strides into your field of view, well, you are going to look. Then you glance back at the field a bit later and notice stuff has moved quite a bit from when you last saw it. The music is written to work with/around the words, so why can't they get the visual to do this as well? Attention to detail. Maybe that's why he is in that cream colored smock. I don't like it by he kind of blends into the stage since the top of the platform is cream. I don't need to look at a narrator. I listen to a narrator and watch the show. If he was twirling a flaming baton, that would distract me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flammaster Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 just wait... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris ncsu Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 Visually, I'm not sure how the narrator is distracting, or why you expect the rest of the corps to stop doing stuff when he talks. Do you think the same of horn soloists? I totally sympathize with wanting the run and gun Cadets. George said this spring that they mostly calmed down the drill design after 1993 (though of course it wasn't forever or always), and looking at their drill over the last 15 years, you can definitely see the change in approach. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NakedEye Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 Maybe that's why he is in that cream colored smock. I don't like it by he kind of blends into the stage since the top of the platform is cream. I don't need to look at a narrator. I listen to a narrator and watch the show. If he was twirling a flaming baton, that would distract me. So that then raises the question: why is the physical presence of the narrator needed? Could it not just work as a voiceover, especially since it is pre-recorded anyway? With a voiceover, your visual attention is not split. A horn soloist is a bit different, as it has always seemed part of the point of pulling them out of the form was to give them a controlled environment, up front for the best possible musical performance, free of the sound quality changing as they got farther away, etc. I'm just honestly interested in why they are doing it this way, as I watch the guy come out, do his bit, then turn, climb down the steps or ramp, etc. Oh, and now back to the show. I can't shake the feeling that two elements don't seem in synch. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cop Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 (edited) Guard Demand:BD and SCV are killing it.Cadets are clean and safe. Edited June 29, 2014 by Cop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flammaster Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 SCV guard is very good this year! Love those gold uniforms! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brichtimp Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 I think last year you would be absolutely right. But when you look at the entire package, Coats have a much more demanding book this year. Sure, its more visually flashy, but its also incredibly musically demanding. Every single phrase has a shape to it, and a ton of subtlety. They're also covering all of the bases when dealing with vocabulary skills. Paradiddles, rolls, flams, complex rhythmic structure, touch, single strokes... They're all in there in droves. The same can be said for the front ensemble. They're also playing with phenomenal sound quality in every section. Cadets are fantastic, but they just aren't doing anything as challenging as the Coats are this year. I love Colin, and absolutely loved seeing his group win the Sanford this year, but they just don't have the same level of demand or depth of vocabulary this year. I think (based on what I have viewed) that both percussion sections have sufficient demand to compete for the Sanford. While I can't speak for Colin McNutt, I would speculate that he wrote as much depth and demand to serve the musical context as he did in 2013. The kids are instructed to play like orchestral percussionists from the waist up (reflected in their musical control at all dynamics), and to perform like olympic athletes from the waist down. Everything you have described above about the Coats book applies, I think, to the Cadets book as well...just in the context of a different show with some different responsibilities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zigzigZAG Posted June 29, 2014 Author Share Posted June 29, 2014 (edited) .GUARD BD and SCV are light years ahead of Cadets (cadets are vey very good but not THAT good) Light years? How many? And how many points is a light year worth? Are the california corps really so much To Infinity And Beyond that no mere mortals like the Cadets guard could compete? Not too much objectivity here. Can we all stop with the honking and cite specific examples of difficulty playing/marching, or segments of dance/spinning, if we're claiming our own personal corps is, like, totally waaay better. Unsubstantiated claims are for high school. Thanks, Cadets people, for posting video links. Seeing the Vic Firth videos of Cadets drumline Applachian Spring segment has opened my eyes, and includes the score. That's evidence. I also see on the Akron video that they're playing that during an extremely difficult faded transition while the rest of the corps is finishing the ballad at a completely different tempo, and while they're trucking across the field diagonally at 192 bpm. And it's beautifully musical. Yikes! The last time the Cadets drumline was playing such stunning (but a lot easier) music, and so musically, they were playing Thom Hannum's arrangement, and they were awarded with a perfect percussion score. What playing/marching by another drumline is harder than what we see in the Vic Firth vid and at Akron? Video? Drum score? Coats honks here keep making claims that their book and drill is harder. Prove it. Let's stay objective, stop making unsubstantiated claims, and cut it with the honking or bleating. Edited June 29, 2014 by zigzigZAG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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