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Carolina Crown 2015


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Man I can't wait to see the actual ending. Who knows when they'll bring it out but I have a feeling something pretty incredible is in the works.

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I think regardless of what they do with the ending, the show has a structural underlying weakness, at least to me. The drum feature in the front half of the show really eats away at time they could have used in the back half of the show for a transitional moment. That's what the ending is missing, I understand the story, but right now it's still jarring and instant. They spend 10 minutes in hell, and suddenly are out of it. There isn't the journey out, there isn't that transitional moment from dark to light, it's instantly dark to light. The dark part of this show is FANTASTIC, but it's the ending of the story that's killing it, and unless they free up some time somehow for a transitional point in the show, I don't think an ending will help, to me it's the transition that kills all momentum.

We shall see though. I just wish that drum feature was in the back half of the show, or at least shorter so that they could use that time for the emergence from hell. I really like the drum feature, but IMO they spend too much time in hell. The intro in the forest is done really well, the entrance to hell is really good (though long), the time in hell is fantastic, but that moment where we emerge is totally missing. We're just instantly out. That's the ONLY problem I have, but it's killing it for me.

They're still too good to count out, but IMO they have some big changes to make to make the arc of the story flow well.

I agree. Maybe they could use the Time in between the triple tounging section right after the ballad and Ode to Joy. That'd give them just enough time, so instead of the quick and momentum crushing chord change, the corps can start soft and transition from dark to light while the guard runs with white flags through the corps as they crescendo. Then maybe some bells and percussion/pit real quick as the corps leads to the big Ode to Joy hit and the guard have their golden flags. It's possible for it to be a smooth transition in that 40 second time slot. TBH the drill and music after the Ode to Joy hit almost bothers me as much the quick transition. I'll be happy to see the crown formation at the end, but I'm not so sure the Crown Staff will change the transition, which bothers me. For whatever reason this kind of reminds me of Cadets 2011.
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Drum Man TX, your comments point to a now historically issue with Crown, namely Design. This staff generally has difficulty putting together all the pieces necessary for a championship contending show. They still have time to get the design together, and can make some drastic changes, before they run out of time, but I'm not sure they can get the gold at this point and over take better show designs at this point. But, man, the members attack this show and play it intensely and enjoyably.

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Drum Man TX, your comments point to a now historically issue with Crown, namely Design. This staff generally has difficulty putting together all the pieces necessary for a championship contending show. They still have time to get the design together, and can make some drastic changes, before they run out of time, but I'm not sure they can get the gold at this point and over take better show designs at this point. But, man, the members attack this show and play it intensely and enjoyably.

Could you explain to me how the staff has been historically bad with show design? I really loved the depth of 2013, and the classic power of 2012. These past two years have been lacking.

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Drum Man TX, your comments point to a now historically issue with Crown, namely Design. This staff generally has difficulty putting together all the pieces necessary for a championship contending show. They still have time to get the design together, and can make some drastic changes, before they run out of time, but I'm not sure they can get the gold at this point and over take better show designs at this point. But, man, the members attack this show and play it intensely and enjoyably.

I dont think they need drastic changes. Here's my short list:

GOH (the drum feature) is 1:20. I think they lose the GE judges a bit there because -- although there's plenty going on visually to support the concept -- there's no melodic content to carry you through. It's just the battery. Drummers probably don't notice, but the rest of the world surely does. My suggestion: just add some melodic content to the FE to support all that great visual stuff. Foreshadow dies irae or copeland or whatever.

2nd item: I think they lose a little steam right before the big hit in the ballad. There needs to be 2 or 3 sets of drill (either before the arcs or after the arcs and before the blob).

Everything else (maxing stuff out) I'm sure they already have figured out.

BTW these changes take only 1 rehearsal day :-)

Edited by corpsband
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I won't open the door, corpsband. I don't feel like fielding comment criticism today.

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Drum Man TX, your comments point to a now historically issue with Crown, namely Design. This staff generally has difficulty putting together all the pieces necessary for a championship contending show. They still have time to get the design together, and can make some drastic changes, before they run out of time, but I'm not sure they can get the gold at this point and over take better show designs at this point. But, man, the members attack this show and play it intensely and enjoyably.

While you're right that design has "held back" Crown far more than the performer, there have been other factors as well. And even some of the design "mistakes" were really just Crown being Crown (ie pushing limits).

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I dont think they need drastic changes. Here's my short list:

GOH (the drum feature) is 1:20. I think they lose the GE judges a bit there because -- although there's plenty going on visually to support the concept -- there's no melodic content to carry you through. It's just the battery. Drummers probably don't notice, but the rest of the world surely does. My suggestion: just add some melodic content to the FE to support all that great visual stuff. Foreshadow dies irae or copeland or whatever.

2nd item: I think they lose a little steam right before the big hit in the ballad. There needs to be 2 or 3 sets of drill (either before the arcs or after the arcs and before the blob).

Everything else (maxing stuff out) I'm sure they already have figured out.

BTW these changes take only 1 rehearsal day :-)

With the percussion feature, I don't notice as much as I was a percussionist in a past life. I do like the feature much more than last year's "ding ding deedle deedle ding da ding da ding ding ding etc.", but I do think a better transition into Dies Irae is needed.

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Corpsband, obviously you're more knowledgeable on the subject than me, that's why I was asking. I just don't understand how they have been historically bad when the only two shows the design staff haven't done well with, in my opinion, are the two most RECENT seasons. Obviously it's all opinion, I was just interested in your take.

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