Rules Congress 2016

[cixelsyd]

Isn't the reason for a Rules Congress to present changes in approach, finesse the present and spark the future, not to maintain the status quo?

The reason for a rules congress is to consider whether or not to make any changes, refinements or clarifications. Note that "or not" is a valid option.

It is possible that a previous congress got it right, and that their rule set has more than a two-year shelf life.

[2muchcoffeeman]

if you're only blown away by unison flag work

Sigh.

You know, the one thing I hate about the internet is the way it reduces every idea, every thought, every statement into black or white, good or bad, all or nothing.

I mention that I miss some of the unison guard (particularly rifle, not flag -- not sure where anyone thought I was talking about flags) work, for a number of reasons, and by the responses you'd think that I have absolutely no appreciation of the modern expression of color guard. Here's what I have: An appreciation for what guards can do today, AND an appreciation for the hard-as-hell stuff they used to do, in unison, prominently, up front, exposed like crazy and daring you to find a tick, and for more than 8 counts. I'd like to see more guards do more of it. Why? Because it's exciting, awe-inspiring, spine-tingling, great showmanship and a kind of art form not found anywhere else. Just like some of the stuff they do today. But, like sextuplets in today's snare lines, it is a rare occurrence.

So let's have some of both, shall we? Why must everything be either-or?

Nuance, we barely knew ye.

[2muchcoffeeman]

Drum corps is not a unison performance.

It sure as heck is.

What is it that makes a 9-person snare line exciting to listen to, if not their uniformity of playing? Nine non-unison snare players is a godawful din. Nine snare players in perfect unison is a sonic experience not heard (actually, felt, right in the chest) anywhere else. Unison is the goal.

Why do we all swoon before Crown's horn line? Why did we all melt at the trumpet feature in BD's ballad in 2015? Because every player had their own idea about what sounded right?

Why do we all hold our breath when a line of 10 rifles goes up in the sky? Because we want the payoff of seeing them all snap to a halt at precisely the same time, height and angle, with a "pop" in the guards' hands. The rush is in the uniformity.

Uniformity? It's the DNA of drum corps. The reason these kids spend 100 days a year together is to become an ensemble, sonically and visually.

[GUARDLING]

Sigh.

You know, the one thing I hate about the internet is the way it reduces every idea, every thought, every statement into black or white, good or bad, all or nothing.

I mention that I miss some of the unison guard (particularly rifle, not flag -- not sure where anyone thought I was talking about flags) work, for a number of reasons, and by the responses you'd think that I have absolutely no appreciation of the modern expression of color guard. Here's what I have: An appreciation for what guards can do today, AND an appreciation for the hard-as-hell stuff they used to do, in unison, prominently, up front, exposed like crazy and daring you to find a tick, and for more than 8 counts. I'd like to see more guards do more of it. Why? Because it's exciting, awe-inspiring, spine-tingling, great showmanship and a kind of art form not found anywhere else. Just like some of the stuff they do today. But, like sextuplets in today's snare lines, it is a rare occurrence.

So let's have some of both, shall we? Why must everything be either-or?

Nuance, we barely knew ye.

There is both, you just dont want to hear or see it. Maybe that's why you are getting opposition to your opinions. A few things though, SURE it was hard the work you mention BITD hard today? NOT A CHANCE, todays guard could clean yesterdays work in a fraction of the time. Now that doesnt take anything away from what we did in the past. As I said, we are what we are today because of who and what we were then.

The highlighted part above is just your opinion and you are certainly entitled to that along with you likes and dislikes.

As stated by a few ( please look ) There are some real nice unison moments created by most guards today, just not the way or i guess as often as you like.

[actucker]

It sure as heck is.

What is it that makes a 9-person snare line exciting to listen to, if not their uniformity of playing? Nine non-unison snare players is a godawful din. Nine snare players in perfect unison is a sonic experience not heard (actually, felt, right in the chest) anywhere else. Unison is the goal.

Why do we all swoon before Crown's horn line? Why did we all melt at the trumpet feature in BD's ballad in 2015? Because every player had their own idea about what sounded right?

Why do we all hold our breath when a line of 10 rifles goes up in the sky? Because we want the payoff of seeing them all snap to a halt at precisely the same time, height and angle, with a "pop" in the guards' hands. The rush is in the uniformity.

Uniformity? It's the DNA of drum corps. The reason these kids spend 100 days a year together is to become an ensemble, sonically and visually.

Speaking of nuance...

There's a difference between "uniformity" and "unison". Uniformity is a much more flexible term. It can be applied to approach, it can be applied to interpretation, pretty much any musical or visual term you want to pull out, and uniformity can be applied to it in this activity.

Unison means a very specific thing, and yes, while certain small sections play in unison often, the entire drum corps playing in unison (or even entire brass lines or battery sections or front ensembles) is a rarity. If there is harmony, then its not unison. If there is rhythmic variation from section to section (large accents in the bass line filled in by 16th notes in the snares for example), then its not unison.

So no, drum corps is not a unison activity. There are huge variations in texture, instrumentation, harmonic structure, timbre combinations etc. Why wouldn't we want the visual representation of that music to reflect that?

[Pete Freedman]

I just counted 28 unison tosses by BD 2014 in the high camera view. I probably missed some because, you know, they're all over the place.

I defined a unison toss as one in which:

- all the performers in a given area or line using the same equipment did the same toss at the same time,

- the toss was more than a short 1 or 2 that might be construed as a spin. I'm not a guard person so it's hard for me to tell if it's really a toss at that point from the high cam, and anyway the effect being discussed implies a big effect, so I discounted tiny tosses.

I did not count sequential tosses or tosses that alternated between every other person. I did count tosses where the performers faced different directions, which happened once or twice.

So, if all the rifles on one side of the field toss, and then all sabres in the middle toss, and then all flags on the other side toss, that's three tosses. If they had all tossed at the same time .. well that never happened so I didn't need to decide.

One or two of the tosses involved only three people (rifles), but the rest were far more.

Conclusion: There are plenty of monster unison tosses in top scoring DCI guards, including up front where you can't miss'em. HOWEVER, they rarely formed a straight line up front with everybody else clearly behind. Maybe once or twice at most. Usually they are in a curved line that is part of a larger visual statement. BTW, I saw no drops except one rifle thrown off the platform. They were just stunningly good. Seriously, turn the sound off and watch a guard from the high camera (in HD). It's incredible.

Edited October 13, 2015 by Pete Freedman

[Pete Freedman]

As a follow up, I also checked out videos from 40 years ago, 1975 (perhaps this is when someone referred to as "when color guards guarded the colors" or some such) and I was surprised that there were almost no tosses. It's multi-cam so I could only see rifles about half the time, but I reviewed 27th, Santa Clara and Madison' shows and counted perhaps six rifle tosses total, most not very high, and no flag tosses.

I'm sorry, but what they do today is vastly more difficult in almost every way.

However, the precision of the various moves, including tosses, is extreme. The fast spins are for me the most impressive thing, along with the very formalized stiff dancing style. It's completely unique and I would love to see a modern historical guard recreate that look.

But it would only work as a recreation. DCI could never go back to that, because I think they were only that good because they dedicated so much time to those few skills.

[HornTeacher]

Sigh.

You know, the one thing I hate about the internet is the way it reduces every idea, every thought, every statement into black or white, good or bad, all or nothing.

I mention that I miss some of the unison guard (particularly rifle, not flag -- not sure where anyone thought I was talking about flags) work, for a number of reasons, and by the responses you'd think that I have absolutely no appreciation of the modern expression of color guard. Here's what I have: An appreciation for what guards can do today, AND an appreciation for the hard-as-hell stuff they used to do, in unison, prominently, up front, exposed like crazy and daring you to find a tick, and for more than 8 counts. I'd like to see more guards do more of it. Why? Because it's exciting, awe-inspiring, spine-tingling, great showmanship and a kind of art form not found anywhere else. Just like some of the stuff they do today. But, like sextuplets in today's snare lines, it is a rare occurrence.

So let's have some of both, shall we? Why must everything be either-or?

Nuance, we barely knew ye.

If the following is an example of what you are talking about, 2much, and an example of what you miss...then I'll most proudly stand with you. Every day of the week...and yes, twice on Sunday. While what goes on now constantly both impresses and dazzles me, I would also be dishonest if I were to say that I don't miss some of what follows as well. I firmly believe that exacting and cohesive demand and execution can be every bit as impressive...and sometimes, even more so.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mh1fWtQqXRw

Edited October 14, 2015 by HornTeacher

[tesmusic]

As a follow up, I also checked out videos from 40 years ago, 1975 (perhaps this is when someone referred to as "when color guards guarded the colors" or some such) and I was surprised that there were almost no tosses. It's multi-cam so I could only see rifles about half the time, but I reviewed 27th, Santa Clara and Madison' shows and counted perhaps six rifle tosses total, most not very high, and no flag tosses.

I'm sorry, but what they do today is vastly more difficult in almost every way.

However, the precision of the various moves, including tosses, is extreme. The fast spins are for me the most impressive thing, along with the very formalized stiff dancing style. It's completely unique and I would love to see a modern historical guard recreate that look.

But it would only work as a recreation. DCI could never go back to that, because I think they were only that good because they dedicated so much time to those few skills.

You're absolutely right, IMO, and thanks for doing the math. I think too many people are quick to say negative things about today's activity without taking an honest look, even when they criticize things like unison tosses, and are clearly proven wrong based on your numbers alone.

I think there is far too much complaining about today's colorguards because they, along with drill/movement have changed the most drastically over the years. Granted, one could argue that the brass and percussion has changed vastly as well, but when it comes down to it, other than the various electronics percussionists and brass players are manipulating those pieces of equipment with the same fundamental techniques they always have.

Colorguard has changed drastically with the addition of dance, props, flag size, technique of performing on each piece of equipment, etc, and that bothers people.

To be honest though, these changes have come as society has changed.

Look at movies for example.

If you watch a movie, the length of time a shot lasted in the early days of film was, on average, was 12 seconds in 1930, down to 2.5 seconds in 2010, and that was looking at data from over 15,000 samples. http://www.wired.com/2014/09/cinema-is-evolving/

Movies were in black and white, now are in color predominantly, and virtual all movies, at least from major movie studios have at least some sort of special effect that occurs in the movie, even if it is a quick use of slow-motion.

Movie scenes from 1930-1960 were typically 4 or more minutes, that number dropped to 1.5 and 3 minutes on average in 1961, and averages fell to around 75 seconds in the early 2000's, with some as low as 30 seconds.

So what is my point?

As society has changed colorguard and visual have changed along with it as that is the area where the most creative freedoms are typically seen.

Is one better than the other? Depends who you ask.

Personally I can watch and appreciate a show from the 1955 Madison Scouts:

I can then watch a show from 2012 Cadets: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZqRkxKeugk

Will I appreciate this? Yes. Will it keep my attention more? Yes.

Is one better or more important than the other? No.

[Pete Freedman]

I would love to see incentives for unison guard work increased, rifle especially. You just don't see extended, pristine unison rifle work any more. You see lots of ripple tosses. In the days when the color guard was more about being the guard of the colors and less about dance, clean unison rifle work was thrilling not because it was artistically inventive, but because precision unison work is its own art form and thrilling in its own right, and even the uneducated in the audience could understand how ###### hard it was to achieve.

Someone, somewhere else in a different thread some weeks ago, said that stick-triggered lights on a snare line would be really cool effect but also would reveal, to the eyes, even the slightest imperfections in the line.

Well, yeah, just like a line of 12 white rifles in a company front do -- especially against dark uniforms. But they did it anyway. They should be rewarded for doing it again. A large strand of drum corps DNA is artistry through uniformity. There is a thrill in seeing and hearing a large group of performers all expressing the music and marching in exactly the same way. It's a thrill largely because it's so unusual among art forms, producing a sonic power and a visual pop not experienced in other musical contexts. I'd like to see judging/scoring put more emphasis on that element.

No question that guard work was great back in the day. But the proposal was as highlighted above. And there is plenty of unison guard work today, including tosses and other work. The perception that there isn't comes from two factors, i think:

- Sometimes they are not in unison. (But most of the time they are).

- They are not standing still while doing equipment work. This is probably the biggest difference, because standing still highlights the equipment work.

- Equipment work consists of far more than spins and tosses.

So there is no need to incentivize unison guard work, because there is plenty of it. You would have to disincentivize dancing while doing equipment work and/or doing complex equipment work. Basically a 'keep-it-simple-but-difficult' rule.

If such a rule were only in effect for one or two minutes of the show, I'd be OK with it.