Official DCI Semifinals Thread 2015

[Liahona]

when a corps wins DRUMS and BRASS and comes in 4th (by a sizable margin) something is out of whack with the evaluation process.

A lot of people have said this for a long time now...about specifically these on field performance captions...If cadets won guard and lost the other two I think we'd might looking at an entirely different picture than now...

[paulie1340]

Been a DCI Live! subscriber all season. And this is my third season on it. I am totally Apple products here. I use MacBookAir to mirror onto my AppleTV box onto the big screen.

Last year and the year before I was able to get it to work on the meager 1.5mbps internet service I had. I was able to do this because I could go back and watch a show in the middle of the night (west coast time) or during the next day when I was likely to get the best speed I could. THIS year I got crap... less than 360P resolution. I #####ed to my internet provider and they came up with 4.5 mbps speed for me on a trial... I was able to go as far as 540P resolution.

The old DCI FanNetwork is gone, you can no longer see shows from previous years OR the shows from earlier this year OR even the show from last night. You're watching the show live on 5-10mbps minimum and ONLY while the show is actually going on. There's the reality. OH, and guess what its exactly the same price as it was in previous years, for a lot less real value. Maybe once DCI figures out how to play nice with the copyright laws we'll get this important piece of history back. For now, its our tough luck. I can watch videos from YouTube at much better quality than I can EVER get from DCI Live!

I've badgered the poor folks on the front lines about their new and improved streaming technology that has a total buffering capability of about 43 bytes. but they are telling me that basically if I don't have (and can't get) 5-10mbps service I'm flat out of luck.

Also IMHO: I bought the Stanford-Allentown package. And I believe DCI Live should allow you to decide later in the season, for an up-charge, as to whether you want to add on the Indy shows. I checked the other day and the price for seeing the Indy shows was 70-some-odd bucks. Especially since we're gyped out of seeing shows after their live.

To answer the questions above,

1. YES you can watch on different devices as long as they are both computers and YES they no require you to log off one and on to the next. NO you cannot access the service from your iPhone or iPad (which I find incredible on a "newly designed streaming service" in 2015). APPLE users (and maybe windows users too) MUST use the FIREFOX browser... again shaking my head as to what WERE they thinking). At first the support people were adamant about wanting me on Google Chrome but then changed their recommendation to Firefox.

2. YES Apple is no problem as long as you play the Firefox game. They didn't want to talk about Safari, I guess because they didn't test it, just guessing. The thing to watch about mirroring to AppleTV box is that not only do you have to account for the internet throughput you're requesting through your wireless router but you then also have to have capacity left in the router to mirror the presentation from your computer in house to your AppleTV box. So in rough terms you're moving twice the data through your router. You may want to upgrade to an AirPort or AirPortExtreme router... I haven't dug into this in much detail yet.

3. NO once you buy a bundle, you can switch freely between the HiCam and Multicam streams. But be advised that many of the smaller shows that have a multi-cam optional stream don't really have multiple cameras or the people to operate them. And early in the season, before all the features of a corp's show are in, the directors( that switch from cam to cam )don't know where or when to switch. Usually about DCI Atlanta they have that figured out. Also on the quality of a presentation, some shows have MUCH better sound than others, don't expect any sort of consistency between shows OR even within a show. Sometime the volume of the announcer is way off from the field volume level.

Hope this helps. I love this stuff and I sure do hope DCI is able to make the archives available sometime soon.

Edited August 8, 2015 by paulie1340

[wvu80]

I only saw San Antonio live, but Cadets and SCV were a degree louder than the other top corps. I don't get this "Cadets are soft" thing.

Mike

In fairness, if heard live it depends on where you are sitting. If listening to DCI Live!, although the audio has generally been good, the DCI Live! mic'ing of the the corps and the electronics has been inconsistent. For instance, on some of the live feeds, the pit is clear, but very loud compared to the horns.

Another factor that shouldn't be overlooked, is sometimes the staff tones the horns up or down trying to find that magical balance between loud and REALLY LOUD. Some corps are better rested on any given day, and may have that little extra oomph. I just know who sounded better than whom the two times I have seem them live, except BD.

In my opinion, when viewed from the 40-50 yard line range and up high, listened to live, Cadets are probably the loudest. The other corps are just a hair below that, but they all have so much volume!

Edited August 8, 2015 by wvu80

[corpstrength]

Not so sure that it was BD's panel at semi's. The drum judges for finals are the same as for Atlanta, Prosperie and Rothe. Prosperie had BD over Crowne by .9 and Rothe had BD over Crowne by .4 .

At semi's, Kristensen had BD over Crown by .5 and Dunn had BD over Crown by .5 . If the overall drum spread goes from .5 in semi's to .65 (like it was in atlanta), the .15 increase means BD TIES overall, compared with the .15 overall win by Crown in semi's. Don't forget, Caleb Rothe runs the So. Cal indoor drumline circuit. At least 5 or more of BD's current drumline marched in that circuit last winter. Could that have an influence? Maybe, maybe not.

For Visual Analysis, the last time Tim Ochran judged both was Buffalo, he had BD up by .6 , the same spread as Torchia in semi's. So that looks like a wash. So, along with the drum judge changes, it's still a tie.

The other biggest spread was GE music. Nola Jones had Crown up by .6 . All the other GE judges had a .1 or .2 spread. Last time i find Ken Turner judging GE Music for both is San Antonio. He had BD over Crown by .1 , so if Turner takes Nola Jones' spot, BD goes from losing that GE music spot by .6 to winning by .1 ,then BD wins overall by about .7 . So based on this, the finals panel does favor BD. If this is true, I will win the lottery next week and move to the French Riviera the week after that.

San Antonio was a LONG time ago...

[Tobias]

By contrary, SCV and Crown are the only corps in the top 5 that seem to drag on and on for me.

Hence, opinions are just that. And in DCI, even a corps that wins brass and percussion and music could come in 4th. That's a great season!

[Tobias]

OK, my intention is not to come off as a bitter Cadets fan, just a disgusted one. The results from last night were so predictable. All of us Cadets fans saw this coming for the past several weeks. And it seems as though the Cadets could practice 24 hours a day, and last nights results were inevitable. But, the Cadets are the Cadets, they will stay focused and do another amazing performance tonight (with the clear understanding that they will finish in 4th). On the off season, DCI needs to take a hard look at their organization. This is DRUM AND BUGLE corps, and when a corps wins DRUMS and BRASS and comes in 4th (by a sizable margin) something is out of whack with the evaluation process. The sad thing is, the Cadets have been busting their collective ##### for months, attempting to perfect a monster of a show with insane playing and marching demand. And the clear answer to their frustrations was obvious all along. They need to add a huge banner (it would have to be huge because the Cadets actually use the entire field) with 10 on it and pull it over the corps in the beginning and end of the show! This simple move would improve the Cadets score by at leas 2 points and they would be sitting in first right now. However, the Cadets would not do this simple addition, they never take the easy way. Additionally, the Cadets need to stop playing and marching so much, it's not fashionable with the judges anymore! Rant over; go Cadets, you freaking rock!

Cadets are impressive but it's a tight season. One very great corps will not medal. They still have my respect...

[quietcity]

OK, my intention is not to come off as a bitter Cadets fan, just a disgusted one. The results from last night were so predictable. All of us Cadets fans saw this coming for the past several weeks. And it seems as though the Cadets could practice 24 hours a day, and last nights results were inevitable. But, the Cadets are the Cadets, they will stay focused and do another amazing performance tonight (with the clear understanding that they will finish in 4th). On the off season, DCI needs to take a hard look at their organization. This is DRUM AND BUGLE corps, and when a corps wins DRUMS and BRASS and comes in 4th (by a sizable margin) something is out of whack with the evaluation process. The sad thing is, the Cadets have been busting their collective ##### for months, attempting to perfect a monster of a show with insane playing and marching demand. And the clear answer to their frustrations was obvious all along. They need to add a huge banner (it would have to be huge because the Cadets actually use the entire field) with 10 on it and pull it over the corps in the beginning and end of the show! This simple move would improve the Cadets score by at leas 2 points and they would be sitting in first right now. However, the Cadets would not do this simple addition, they never take the easy way. Additionally, the Cadets need to stop playing and marching so much, it's not fashionable with the judges anymore! Rant over; go Cadets, you freaking rock!

How soon we forgot. Just last year, late in the season, Cadets added huge banners at the end of their show, not once, but twice: first, the huge portraits of "typical Americans". And second, for the championships, they tossed up a huge backfield scrim of the U.S. Capitol. One could say, in fact, that is was a banner year for them.

This salmagundi (look it up) design approach did them no good last year, as the banners were not especially integrated into the theme of the show. Frankly, it had the air of desperation.

Cadets have done something similar this year, in their obsessive, nay, neurotic reliance on "10" as a thematic and dramatic element. They have thrown in more and more "10" related items, so that the show has become a kind of "Where's Waldo?" style scavenger hunt (oh hey, neon is number 10 on the periodic table!) instead of a cohesive and meaningful artistic statement. Paint by numbers, anyone?

So, yes, using your own standards, the Cadets have indeed taken "the easy way", at least in terms of visual integrity.

[BoyWonder1911]

So I just got back from Indy. Took my dad and my 2 nephews (12 and 13) to see Semi Finals yesterday. I've been to numerous competitions but they have never seen drum corps live before. Neither my nephews nor my dad are musical in any way. My nephews were polite and clapped when appropriate. They did enjoy the show. I hope I put a little spark of interest in them about the activity that will grow and inspire one of them to march one day. I'd pay for it myself. I can't think of any greater life investment than to have a kid go into drum corps.

Anyways,

Here is what we came away with.

We sat in the Blue Stars section on the top balcony. Section 639 row 10. 30 yard line. The view was great. The sound...not all that great.

(For those in the future who're inquiring about sound and visual quality in this section)

I was disappointed we didn't get the full effect of face-melting brass. It wasn't terrible. The echo wasn't as bad as the old RCA Dome or even the Georgia Dome. In fact the echo wasn't bad at all. It was just we were up pretty high and the sound does not travel well up there. But I've heard worse.

I felt that I wasn't able to provide them with a huge part of the activity, which is that giant wall of sound. Hopefully they will go next year and we will have seats that provide more sound.

Oh, and why can't they open the roof?????????? It was perfect weather! Come on, what is the retractable roof for?? Why does DCI have Finals here if they won't open the roof??

I don't find LOS to be a very good venue for drum corps...but it is what it is.

I was disappointed in the small amount of time allowed for breaks. Although we parked close to the stadium, we didn't really have enough time to go to the car, eat what we packed in a cooler, relax for a minute, and get back in time for Spirit, so we missed them. Sorry, Spirit.

The next break, we got back just in time for Cavaliers.

I was really miffed that you could only basically go in one way. They make you go through the main concourse and through all the $ouvenir shops to get to the escalator that takes you to the upper decks. I would have really liked a quick way in and a quick way out. My dad is 59 and has a bad ankle. I don't find LOS to be very accommodating in that regard. Also $3.50 for a bottle of water is outrageous.

We did watch all 25 shows, except for Spirit, my dad decided to miss Cavaliers and get a soda, and my nephews missed Troopers to get a soda.

Me, I wouldn't have missed a show for anything.

I'm not going to get into my opinions on all the shows, but I was impressed with most shows, started with Legends.

We loved the Colts, felt they should have made Finals over Crossmen and Troopers.

One of my nephews was disappointed as he was under the impression that the Blue Stars would have real Siamese Twins in their show.

They both enjoyed Pacific Crest at the end when they FINALLY opened the box, and there were pole dancers, but were a little disappointed the dancers had a little too much clothing on.

Boys will be boys, right?

My dad loved SCV. He's a fan of Tesla and was pumped to see their show after I told him what it was about. We also saw them unloading their props when we went out for the 2nd break, so we got to look at them up close. We noticed a switch on them and wondered if they'd light up. We weren't disappointed, and dad gave me a high 5 when they did light them all up at the end of the show.

They also really liked Crown and Bluecoats, although I didn't like Crown all that much. I liked Bluecoats, Blue Devils and SCV the most.

It was great to be able to explain that the Bluecoats weren't being boo'ed, they were being bloo'ed. :)

My nephews agreed that they would go back next year and watch it again but only if it were Finals, since they really didn't feel like sitting through 25 corps, and only if we had better seats. #### kids are expensive.

All in all it was a good weekend and I'm glad I got to share the great experience that is drum corps with the boys and also finally take my dad to a show, since he's been interested in the activity since we discovered it in 1999 on TV.

Glad to have drum corps be a little bit larger part of the family now.

Edited August 8, 2015 by BoyWonder1911

[bicsta]

At this point if BD ends up passing crown I would be shocked. Yes BD moves well when they are not playing, and plays well when they are not moving. But no way, no how their show is even remotely close to the difficulty level as the other top 5. To me, it's seems the last 3 shows from BD are very similar. Great brass, great percussion as a musical entity but as a marching ensemble, sorry this show is really not on the same level. It seems BD has figured out the judges seem to love props painted bright white whether it's chairs, ladders, staging...etc. Just park and bark, then scatter drill to your next set around white props, then stop again and dazzle the judges with your groundbreaking brass book. Cadets move more in the first 4 minutes than BD does in the entire show. Crown has more GE in the first 3 minutes than BD does in the entire show, and Bloo has more ingenuity in the first minute than BD foes in there entire show. Yet after all this, BD is in a position to maybe pull this off. I hope creativity, crowd response and general effect end up king for the 2015 season. If BD wins, then DCI needs to re evaluate how champions are determined.

Bravo sir. These are my thoughts exactly. There is so much unjudgeable visual schlock in the BD show, I don't understand how the repitoire number is above an 8.0. This is a well performed, undemanding show.

[Tez]

May have been the case when you saw them.... but last night, Cadets did not have anywhere near the volume of the other top corps. It sounded like they were going for the ultimate "dark symphonic sound" to me. Based on the few biggest hits of each show, in loudness I would rank:

Bluecoats

Crown

Blue Devils

Blue Knights

Madison

SCV

Phantom

then maybe Cadets

Edit: responding to wvu80 above (I can't figure out quotes on this forum at all)

Edited August 8, 2015 by Tez