Overhype Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 Yet, many of the examples you give were great effects. Not just in my opinion, but also in the opinions of the judges who considered those corps among the top handful in competition. And since this is a competition, I think difficulty needs to be a consideration. I think most of us understand that difficulty does not necessarily equate to effect (nor vice-versa). Nevertheless, both should be evaluated. Oh, I'm not saying that those things I listed ("jazz running, rocking back and forth, bouncing on trampolines, hanging upside down, squatting, lunging, gyrating, blindfolded, laying on the ground, fingering someone else's instrument, etc.") are not great effects in the opinions of fans and judges. I am saying that standing and playing (I call it visual tacet) and "park and bark" can also be highly effective. BD gets criticized by some fans virtually every year for standing still while playing and not moving as much or as fast as such-and-such other corps. Whether it's true or not, it is (to paraphrase you) the opinions of the judges who considered BD among the top handful in competition over the years. It's my opinion too. Presuming it is true that BD does move less, slower and has an easier book than other corps, it is somewhat surprising that other corps don't follow suit in an attempt to be more competitive, especially given how successful BD has been with their team's design approach over many years. Faster, harder and constant motion is not necessarily better. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fsubone Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 Again, I said difficulty should be a consideration - not the sole overriding consideration. Difficult material mu The difficulty of resolving the scatter depends on how it is done, and what kind of form you resolve to. It is not that hard to go to a spot without people to guide to, especially if you are free to walk into your spot, looking all around in the process. Marching scatter drill into a form is harder. What is insanely hard is to hit a large form (i.e. 80-horn arc or company front) on a given count with people coming in from all directions with no guides, and nailing all the intervals on that count. You can make that even more demanding by halting on that count. Or………….. Marchers can hit their dots. Even though Devs are close to a full "form" system, the kids still have dots to hit, then they adjust to the form. Even in a scatter, they have pathways and endpoints. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GUARDLING Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 (edited) Or………….. Marchers can hit their dots. Even though Devs are close to a full "form" system, the kids still have dots to hit, then they adjust to the form. Even in a scatter, they have pathways and endpoints. exactly: Those who really believe that any scatter drill is easy either has not done one or haven't done one well. Off topic: Hope your 1st DCI WC teaching experience this summer was a great one! Edited August 21, 2014 by GUARDLING Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowtown Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 It’s interesting that every other corps lays a dud now and then yet BD hasn’t since 2005, if you call 4th a dud going back further, what, maybe 89? I don’t think their design team has it all figured out while other teams flounder from time to time. The safe call is always BD, BD defines the sheets, thus, they define the scores and DCI, so they get the nod. BD streak is more an indictment on DCI then owning a secret formula for 25 years. Yankees buy the top talent and the top staff and even they don’t dominate as fully bumpbobomb 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRASSO Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 (edited) . Yankees buy the top talent and the top staff and even they don’t dominate as fully bumpbobomb True... MLB is not a good analogy, but since you made it, even when the Yankees take the best players from the lower teams, the league at least makes them give back to the lower placing teams at least SOMETHING in return too (ie, money, draft picks, minor leaguers, etc ). Its been said a few times before.. DCI is the only known youth competitive youth sport in the entire world that has never had an official transfer policy in place between competing teams. Even little leaguers, soccer players, basketball players, hockey players, football players who pay for the right to do youth amateur sports don't get to select the team they want to play on when they write that check. But DCI does. And we like it this way ! BD LOVES this system. Such an unprecedented system that will allow BD, to win more titles the next 35 years, than Federico Fellini had pairs of suits, shirts and ties. Edited August 21, 2014 by BRASSO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fsubone Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 exactly: Those who really believe that any scatter drill is easy either has not done one or haven't done one well. Off topic: Hope your 1st DCI WC teaching experience this summer was a great one! That's the thing about scatter drills, especially that BD does. Everything they do is scripted out so that members don't run into each other or take a rogue pathway. Plus, after 70 days of rehearsal/shows, you know exactly where you are on every count of your show. It was a wonderful experience. I hope to keep teaching in drum corps. Thanks for thinking of it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GUARDLING Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 That's the thing about scatter drills, especially that BD does. Everything they do is scripted out so that members don't run into each other or take a rogue pathway. Plus, after 70 days of rehearsal/shows, you know exactly where you are on every count of your show. It was a wonderful experience. I hope to keep teaching in drum corps. Thanks for thinking of it. totally agree................................and your welcome, glad to hear it was a great experience for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cixelsyd Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 exactly: Those who really believe that any scatter drill is easy either has not done one or haven't done one well. Naturally, doing anything well requires skill in both design and performance. However, compared to drill with forms and intervals that need to be maintained, drill without forms/intervals (i.e. scatter) is not AS difficult to achieve. That is not up for debate, is it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tad_MMA Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 It’s interesting that every other corps lays a dud now and then yet BD hasn’t since 2005, if you call 4th a dud going back further, what, maybe 89? I don’t think their design team has it all figured out while other teams flounder from time to time. Boy, they "dudded" in 1991. They won Brass (and Visual Ensemble) yet placed 5th. Why? They were over THREE points down in the 3 drum subcaptions. They lost by 3.2. I'd love to hear those judges tapes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lrienaeds Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 True... MLB is not a good analogy, but since you made it, even when the Yankees take the best players from the lower teams, the league at least makes them give back to the lower placing teams at least SOMETHING in return too (ie, money, draft picks, minor leaguers, etc ). Its been said a few times before.. DCI is the only known youth competitive youth sport in the entire world that has never had an official transfer policy in place between competing teams. Even little leaguers, soccer players, basketball players, hockey players, football players who pay for the right to do youth amateur sports don't get to select the team they want to play on when they write that check. But DCI does. And we like it this way ! BD LOVES this system. Such an unprecedented system that will allow BD, to win more titles the next 35 years, than Federico Fellini had pairs of suits, shirts and ties. To use the baseball analogy further, you have to also look at the farm system. Blue Devils B placed 15th. There is a C corps as well. That was the biggest surprise to me when I went out to march BD. I marched with members who had come up through the B and C corps and had been in the organization for YEARS. So they have that solid foundation to which they add on the "free agents" that come from all over. You can't compare a national activity to local leagues like little league. The closest example would be collegiate sports where amateur athletes do pick their teams. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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