mfrontz Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 I haven't made it about the judges. I've made it about rehearsing FAR less. I fear putting a number on it, but 10-20% is probably pretty accurate. I want you to start a marching band, start with less talent to begin with, you have less for your staff. Now on your best years, you have a decent chance to beat some good bands. BUT WAIT... Now, put yourself in that equation and give yourself 20 hours less rehearsal (out of your hundred for the fall semester) than your competiton has. So much for that. Then only in the most exceptional circumstances can you climb out of your competitive tier. Even then, not for long. Should we expect Crown to fall back to tenth anytime soon? I just don't agree with your premise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralTsoChicken Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 I just don't agree with your premise. Then you are saying you expect the rise of Crown to be the new norm for the activity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kamarag Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 I haven't made it about the judges. I've made it about rehearsing FAR less. I fear putting a number on it, but 10-20% is probably pretty accurate. Quantity of rehearsal has far less of an impact than quality of rehearsal does. It's all about the "work smarter, not harder" mantra. Corps that go on early at shows don't always stick around. Sometimes they leave the drum major with the souvenir folks (for awards) while the corps leaves for the next destination. That allows the corps to get to the next site AHEAD of the later corps, allowing for more floor and rehearsal time. That's working smart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garfield Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 (edited) It's not to spite the "better-performing" corps, its to level the playing field. It's a fact that the higher one's corps placement, the more time that corps gets to practice. It is always a competitive disadvantage to have to go on first at every show. (Although, I don't believe at most shows the corps are "released" any more. If the first to perform can get their buses out of the parking lot, I think they generally send the corps down the road and leave the DM and a van to accept the retreat honors. One could then argue that the lower placing corps get more floor time than later-performing corps.) Quantity of rehearsal has far less of an impact than quality of rehearsal does. It's all about the "work smarter, not harder" mantra. Corps that go on early at shows don't always stick around. Sometimes they leave the drum major with the souvenir folks (for awards) while the corps leaves for the next destination. That allows the corps to get to the next site AHEAD of the later corps, allowing for more floor and rehearsal time. That's working smart. Not that I just said that or anything... Of course, being able to get out of the parking lot determines if a corps can get on the road sooner than later-performing corps. If the show producer doesn't understand the activity and blocks them in, they could be stuck there and lose BOTH floor time and practice time. That random variable isn't present for the other side of the argument that later-performing corps get more practice time. Edited July 14, 2014 by garfield Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kamarag Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 Not that I just said that or anything... Of course, being able to get out of the parking lot determines if a corps can get on the road sooner than later-performing corps. If the show producer doesn't understand the activity and blocks them in, they could be stuck there and lose BOTH floor time and practice time. That random variable isn't present for the other side of the argument that later-performing corps get more practice time. When I taught at Teal Sound (2009/2010) one of the things we did as the "always first arriving" corps was to make sure the buses and trucks weren't blocked in. We knew we were short on rehearsal time, and that was just part of the game. The idea was to maximize the effectiveness of what we did have, and I think we did a pretty decent job with that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie1223 Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 I haven't made it about the judges. I've made it about rehearsing FAR less. I fear putting a number on it, but 10-20% is probably pretty accurate. I want you to start a marching band, start with less talent to begin with, you have less for your staff. Now on your best years, you have a decent chance to beat some good bands. BUT WAIT... Now, put yourself in that equation and give yourself 20 hours less rehearsal (out of your hundred for the fall semester) than your competiton has. So much for that. Then only in the most exceptional circumstances can you climb out of your competitive tier. Even then, not for long. I think you're a little jaded if you think performance order is seriously the number one factor inhibiting lower tier corps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gak27 Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 Maybe the earlier-performing corps should fire up their pit and practice in the lot while the later-performing corps are on to provide that added "ambiance" that the earlier-performing corps enjoyed... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeWhoWaits Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 No he doesn't. It is a competitive activity. He expects the best to be the best and the worst to be the worst. If anything, it would amplify the difference in quality by the viewer and make the perceived champion appear stronger. There are plenty of activities that show us competitive groups out of order until the very end. I'm intrigued. Specific examples, please? One that comes immediately to mind is Bands of America. BOA does a (mostly) random order draw for preliminaries at Regionals and Grand Nationals, and random order within groups for later rounds (bottom half/top half for Regional Finals, Top 22 group in the middle of things for Grand National Semifinals, totally random for Finals). The only groups that get any guarantee of a "prime" performance time are the defending champions in preliminaries. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.