tesmusic Posted September 8, 2014 Share Posted September 8, 2014 My point is that Crown has had some very talented, big name people on their percussion staff over the years and they still struggle to get to a high level of performance. Percussion seems to be the weak link in Crown, that and visual sometimes, even with big name, talented people. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim K Posted September 8, 2014 Share Posted September 8, 2014 Some comments seem to sound as if nothing Crown does will ever produce a better percussion section which is nonsense. Even though they did not fare better in this area this past season, there were improvements as there were between 2012 and 2013. They need a push and need to give it the same attention brass receives. My thought is this hire could do it for Crown. Tom Aungst and the Dartmouth High program has an excellent reputation in our area (I'm from Massachusetts) and a few years back some friends of mine had children in the program and it sounded phenomenal. Dartmouth HS has fared well nationally in WGI percussion ensemble contests. He not only has percussion credentials and is from a program that shares a similar philosophy to Crown. I don't see how this can be anything but positive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musicman1084 Posted September 8, 2014 Share Posted September 8, 2014 From way back on page 9, in response to George Dixon: You mean Thom Hannum's protege? Seeing him come out of retirement for Crown wouldn't seem too outlandish considering his son is the center snare. Makes total sense to me, and I don't see him joining without writing. That book will be stock Tom Aungst, which (and I know I will get blasted for even making this comparison), if you have seen his HS line lately, he has certainly not lost any touch in demand, creativity or TEACHING. There is a reason why there are usually 3-4 CURRENT members (of a line of roughly 13) that join G7 corps. Their 2012 line of 13 has had 5-6 members at Crown and the Cadets (including two center snares and a center tenor, all of which while still high school seniors). Some comments seem to sound as if nothing Crown does will ever produce a better percussion section which is nonsense. Even though they did not fare better in this area this past season, there were improvements as there were between 2012 and 2013. They need a push and need to give it the same attention brass receives. My thought is this hire could do it for Crown. Tom Aungst and the Dartmouth High program has an excellent reputation in our area (I'm from Massachusetts) and a few years back some friends of mine had children in the program and it sounded phenomenal. Dartmouth HS has fared well nationally in WGI percussion ensemble contests. He not only has percussion credentials and is from a program that shares a similar philosophy to Crown. I don't see how this can be anything but positive. I was lucky enough to participate in that high school program. Tom was one of those educators that you will never forget. He doesn't work with the primary goal of finding results, he works with the primary goal of providing a great education (from grade 4 all the way through high school). The results naturally follow with him. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perc2100 Posted September 8, 2014 Share Posted September 8, 2014 My point is that Crown has had some very talented, big name people on their percussion staff over the years and they still struggle to get to a high level of performance. Percussion seems to be the weak link in Crown, that and visual sometimes, even with big name, talented people. FWIW, Cadets were 6th in percussion in the early 80's (while winning DCI), and in a few short years popped a perfect 20 at Finals. Pigeon-holing an entire section of members who aren't in place yet is goofy, as they can indeed improve over a short period of time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
84BDsop Posted September 8, 2014 Share Posted September 8, 2014 FWIW, Cadets were 6th in percussion in the early 80's (while winning DCI), and in a few short years popped a perfect 20 at Finals. Pigeon-holing an entire section of members who aren't in place yet is goofy, as they can indeed improve over a short period of time. Garfield's drum placements in their 80s championship years: 83: 5th 84: 7th 85: 2nd 87: 1st The other captions -- especially GE -- were way above everyone else in 83 & 84, so the comparatively weak drum scores didn't hurt them as much. Was not the same for Crown in 2013, as the spreads weren't as great....drums almost cost them the title. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tesmusic Posted September 8, 2014 Share Posted September 8, 2014 FWIW, Cadets were 6th in percussion in the early 80's (while winning DCI), and in a few short years popped a perfect 20 at Finals. Pigeon-holing an entire section of members who aren't in place yet is goofy, as they can indeed improve over a short period of time Thing is, that's not whatsaying. I am simply saying that Aungst as caption head doesn't mean instant success, from a numbers standpoint or not. Their percussion program has been weak, and just because Aungst is running it doesn't mean it will become this magical unit. Never pigeon-holed anything, just saying this doesn't automatically mean they'll be good on the sheets or in the mind of the spectator. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old skool drmmr Posted September 8, 2014 Share Posted September 8, 2014 This will mean good things for recruiting and retaining top-level players, as well. That has been a known issue in the last few years. Add to that the fact that Tom has a PROVEN record of cleaning the heck out of drumlines, and I'd say that the likelihood of them getting a LOT better in one year is high. That all being said, the battery executed at a much higher level in 2014 than they did in 2013, but they still didn't make much (if any) headway in numbers because the field was saturated with incredible drumming this past summer. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nachfolger Christi Posted September 8, 2014 Share Posted September 8, 2014 Boy...I can't believe how many excuses I am seeing in this forum for Crown's terrible percussion. For a few years now, whether it is the writers, the teachers, or design team, have really let the percussion members down. I'm hoping Mr. Augnst will bring some confidence to the percussion members and put them in contention as they deserve to be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted September 8, 2014 Share Posted September 8, 2014 Carolina Crown just posted Tom Aungst as Percussion Caption Head in 2015. http://www.carolinacrown.org/web/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=493&catid=88&Itemid=553 and Tom should have more of a say in the book which I think is a plus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted September 8, 2014 Share Posted September 8, 2014 I hope this works out for them, Aungst I mean. The guy is absurdly talented, but so are many people that have been with Crown's percussion program over the years. The Aungst name will bring a higher level of recruit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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