SOA '15

[westcoastblue]

I hope you don't think I was offended. I wasn't. I hope I haven't offended you with some of my remarks either. Thanks for explaining what a mature player is. My son plays with Spirit and he is 17. To me he is still a kid and has some things to learn about music performance. I think Dr. Reinhart is going to help him along that path. He's won a lot of award himself amongst his peers. This is my son's second year there. As for his past, he was the number one chair in his high school that competed in State Finals every year. He was an All State selection all 4 years of high school. He was also a 1st chair in his county over kids that are marching with Boston, Phantom, and Scouts this year. He was selected to 8 different University Honors Bands and Wind Orchestras during the last two years of high school. He is a section leader at Spirit despite being so young. There is some talk already of him being a future horn sargeant but he doesn't chase after that because he is still kind of humble and just loves being in his favorite drum corps. He has a full ride music scholarship this fall. He is one of the hardest working kids around because he loves the activity. I believe he could make it with Bloo or Cadets if he wanted to go there. That's also the opinion of people associated with those organizations that know him. There are also kids with Spirit that have some pretty impressive credentials as well and more talent than he has. We want Spirit to improve. And, perhaps these young kids will stick around and pay attention to their instruction so they can be mature players one day like the big boys. Everyone at Spirit is not a scrub. They are young people just wanting to have fun. I think they are succeeding.

I am cool. Not offended. People, including me, sometimes get offended too easily. I really just try to keep it real. Being honest about reality and not what I hope or wish to be real. My definition of mature player here is my own drum corps definition, not one for graduate school or the real world of professional brass playing. In those cases, the definition would be more detailed and representative of much fewer players than what I indicated here.

I do not think everyone at Spirit is a scrub, thus my second paragrah explaining what I was seeing as a mature player. My expanded point is that if your son is in, let's say the top 25% of brass talent there, what is the next 25% like? the next? the bottom 25%? It may not be a matter of those kids listening to the instruction and that guarenteeing that they get better. That assumes they are getting exactly the kind of instruction they need for where they are as players. A brass staff member at BD may not have the depth of knowledge that someone at Spirit does, because it may not be necessary. And, visa versa.

I think there is probably 5 tiers of brass lines in DCI. It is not an ego assessment, or me trying to put any

corps down at all:

Tier 1: Few players make charcteristc brass sounds. The line includes more than a few ww players and new brass players.

Tier 2: Each section has a few players that make good sounds. The line inlcudes ww players and new brass players

Tier 3: Each section has about half of their players that are mature with few fundamental problems, including wws and maybe a new brass player or two.

Tier 4: Each section has 75% or so that are mature players. WW transfers are good brass players, some weaker players exist

Tier 5: Most all players are mature with little to no fundamental issues. WW transfers are good. No weak players.

The top five or so lines have Tier 5 players. That is hard to beat, and, those cats are probably 19+ years old.

The next five corps or so have Tier 4 players.

Next seven or so have Tier 3 players.

etc.

There are always some individaul exceptions. There are also from time to time unfortunately talented lines that comes across as less than they really are due to bad show design, bad planning, bad instruction, bad organization, bad admin decisions, etc. Bottom line, talent and age goes a long way. All the more reason corps in that 10-17 or so range cannot putts around with bad show design, later starts, disorganized staff, etc. It is unfair to the kidos. They have much more to overcome than those with more talent.

For the record, I have been/was a huge supporter of the corps for several years cause I was digging their #### and happy to see them making really smart choices. I have no doubt all members in all corps are deserving. Thus some of my sharp criticisms of the Spirit adminstration of late. I hope the members are having fun. I really do. I am not sure that is going to remain easy through the summer. I would love to be wrong about that. Its about the members' experiences first and foremost.

Edited July 9, 2015 by westcoastblue

[davidmccain]

I am cool. Not offended. People, including me, sometimes get offended too easily. I really just try to keep it real. Being honest about reality and not what I hope or wish to be real. My definition of mature player here is my own drum corps definition, not one for graduate school or the real world of professional brass playing. In those cases, the definition would be more detailed and representative of much fewer players than what I indicated here.

I do not think everyone at Spirit is a scrub, thus my second paragrah explaining what I was seeing as a mature player. My expanded point is that if your son is in, let's say the top 25% of brass talent there, what is the next 25% like? the next? the bottom 25%? It may not be a matter of those kids listening to the instruction and that guarenteeing that they get better. That assumes they are getting exactly the kind of instruction they need for where they are as players. A brass staff member at BD may not have the depth of knowledge that someone at Spirit does, because it may not be necessary. And, visa versa.

I think there is probably 5 tiers of brass lines in DCI. It is not an ego assessment, or me trying to put any

corps down at all:

Tier 1: Few players make charcteristc brass sounds. The line includes more than a few ww players and new brass players.

Tier 2: Each section has a few players that make good sounds. The line inlcudes ww players and new brass players

Tier 3: Each section has about half of their players that are mature with few fundamental problems, including wws and maybe a new brass player or two.

Tier 4: Each section has 75% or so that are mature players. WW transfers are good brass players, some weaker players exist

Tier 5: Most all players are mature with little to no fundamental issues. WW transfers are good. No weak players.

The top five or so lines have Tier 5 players. That is hard to beat, and, those cats are probably 19+ years old.

The next five corps or so have Tier 4 players.

Next seven or so have Tier 3 players.

etc.

There are always some individaul exceptions. There are also from time to time unfortunately talented lines that comes across as less than they really are due to bad show design, bad planning, bad instruction, bad organization, bad admin decisions, etc. Bottom line, talent and age goes a long way. All the more reason corps in that 10-17 or so range cannot putts around with bad show design, later starts, disorganized staff, etc. It is unfair to the kidos. They have much more to overcome than those with more talent.

For the record, I have been/was a huge supporter of the corps for several years cause I was digging their #### and happy to see them making really smart choices. I have no doubt all members in all corps are deserving. Thus some of my sharp criticisms of the Spirit adminstration of late. I hope the members are having fun. I really do. I am not sure that is going to remain easy through the summer. I would love to be wrong about that. Its about the members' experiences first and foremost.

Cool. I am actually really digging the exchange with you as well. You've got some really great points. Success breeds future success when they attract the best kids. Yo-yo seasons cripple the efforts. Staff changes cause kids to re-think where they want to be. A huge number of vets didn't return this year. But it is what it is. We Southerners like to hold on to what used to be sometimes. (and, no I'm not talking about that stupid flag thing.) I grew up with Spirit and would like to see them successful again. But then again there are different ways to define success.

[KennyB]

Anyone catch the show last night? I see the score was about 69. Any changes?

[DeepSouthDCI]

Anyone seen SoA perform lately? What's going on? I'll see them in San Antonio and will try to post a review afterwards.

Edited July 13, 2015 by DeepSouthDCI

[2muchcoffeeman]

Anyone seen SoA perform lately? What's going on? I'll see them in San Antonio and will try to post a review afterwards.

You'll find some remarks about their Wyoming/Colorado swing here.

[MisterN87]

We all know they won't make finals. I feel sorry for this group. When I was involved it was a well oiled machine.

[chadwick]

Do you feel sorry for them just because they may (yes, likely won't) make Finals this year? You have know idea how the members actually feel this year so saying you feel sorry for them is a bit much. Those participants may be having the time of their lives right now. While they aren't in the mix of 7th-10th place this year, they are still in the heat of competition and are on the heels of Colts. PC is right in there too. Perhaps we as fans hoped/expected a more dramatic turnaround after last year, but we need to give them more time I think...a steady resurgence. Show our support for this historic corps and let them know we enjoy seeing them on the field.

[JKT90]

Word from the road, and this was yesterday afternoon is: The staff continue to be amazed at their attitude and work ethic. From all other accounts I have heard, and this is from staff and volunteers on the road with them, they are enjoying their summer and working their tails off to make this show the best they can make it.

Larger issues exist for sure, however, the members are isolated from it completely and are in the grind right now...A group of alumni have gotten together and are having a meal catered for them shortly, and are planning some things to show appreciation for them when they arrive at the Atlanta show.

[MisterN87]

Trust I support them, and carry a delta. I feel sorry that A. they won't make finals and B. there are larger issues at play. I do know what is going on, and peple do put on a nice front.

[lumbargleeful]

I'm becoming extremely familiar with the show at this point. Thoughts? They are, realistically, a visual designer away from turning the corner.

So many of the tragic things that don't work in their show are drill related.

-Why does it take the percussion so many drill sets to get to a triangle in the back left corner of the field? It is ###### distracting.

-How the hell does the percussion, who is facing away, not near a drum major, 60 yards away from the winds, touching the endzone, begin the percussion break in time with the rest of the ensemble? (hint, they don't and it was torn for a full :45 last night)

-Where is the thematic material visually?

-Why is the guard rarely integrated and like a completely separate element on the field? They are literally the only way to convey the theme for large chunks of the show, and when they are not incorporated much, featured, or up front, you lose track of what is going on.

-Why do the couple wind "velocity moments" happen way the hell over on side 2, where from the box there is little or no effect instead of front and center?

Spirit can play. Will Pitts is no joke as an arranger. They look great in uniform. They are achieving visually pretty good.

But when your show is hard to follow and the drill writer doesn't throw you a bone at all (and visual encompasses so many parts of your show and is even effecting their music scores with bad percussion staging and moment staging) You're going to have a bad time!