xandandl Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 (edited) Ok, One time at not-band camp, the designers discussed how to increase the impact of GE and move the judges and audience with surprises and more excitement during Championships week. The result was rolls and rolls of toilet paper descending from the upper decks upon the spectators as the Phantom Regiment ended the 1812 Overture by tossing streamers from the cuffs of their pants and into the air to mimic fireworks. AND THE CROWD WENT WILD! Fast forward to 2009 and the crowd shouts "I am Spartacus!!" while corps members on the field (or phield) do the same. Some phans even wore centurion helmets. AND THE CROWD WENT WILD! Fast forward to 2014 and Hopkins and corps members grow beards portraying Lincoln (and the Troopers) on his anniversary and their show about Presidents. AND THE CROWD, well not so much. Some might reference Santa Clara's and Bloo's electric shows and Crown's 3 peat of the pull the-drape-above-the-corps-trick borrowed from BAC as better AND THE CROWD GOES WILD! But now comes this: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-video-games-are-saving-symphony-orchestras-and-filling-concert-halls/ Will it soon be in a DCI stadium near you? What next to make THE CROWD GOES WILD! ??? Edited November 9, 2015 by xandandl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perc2100 Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 The Symphony in San Diego does a lot of stuff like this over the summer, often coinciding with Comic-Con. This past July they performed a "secret"/unannounced concert following the Star Wars panel of Star Wars music, and also popular movie concerts (for example, they played the STAR TREK score while playing the movie on a big screen + Michael Giacchino was there). The video game concerts have been going on for awhile, and it does seem lucrative. The San Diego Symphony typically does the video game concerts in the summer pops season, but they do always pack 'em in. I personally love the fact that it exposes folks to the symphony who might not have attended an orchestra concert otherwise (a reason I LOVED the thought that 7 thousand folks saw our symphony perform Star Wars music after the panel, for free, who might not had any desire to see a live orchestra before). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shempy Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 A video game themed show may be a little too "bando" to catch on with the DCI crowd. Game music however I think has already caught on in repertoire selection: Scouts 2013 - Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 Theme Sun Devils 2009 - Halo 2 Theme Blue Stars 2005, Impulse 2007, Pacific Crest 2015 - Music from Final Fantasy series More to the point of your topic, I wouldn't be surprised to see a design team try something that literally gets the audience involved. With new ground being broken in tech utilization (sampling, looping, synths), I wouldn't be surprised at someone trying to something akin to this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7o7BrlbaDs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRASSO Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 (edited) Any show that might get the audience involved... even to the point of the lost art of the multiple standing o's in the middle of the show... might be frowned upon by the GE Music judges, and could hurt a Corps on the placement sheets. Thus, it would be far better, imo, to continue to design shows for the musical tastes of the over 50 year olders that sit in judgement of these shows. Any show that appeals to the music tastes of the typical teenage, or young adults ( like Video Gaming ) is fraught with risk with the current GE Music judges, imo. As such its far better to play more safe and recognizable pop music from the 50's, 60's, ie Jethro Tull, Mick Jagger, Frank Sinatra, Dionne Warwick, .. (or Jingle Bells, Christmas Carols, etc). Besides, if you have a great Guard and Visual program, why risk the good placement possibilities with that by playing some Music that might appeal to those who might currently like video games of fantasy ? I'm pretty sure none of the current judges that have pop tunes from the 50's-70's in their music library have Game Music there as well. The First Commandment of Business :.. " Know thy Customer ", should never be lost. BD, for example, knows this backwards and forwards. Edited November 9, 2015 by BRASSO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shempy Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 BD, for example, knows this backwards and forwards. Yes, and they show how well they know the over-50 American crowd with their selections of K-pop, The Cherry Poppin' Daddies, and original Gordon Goodwin pieces, all of which are safe and recognizable. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tobias Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 I still think it comes down to power and energy. I.e.: Cadets (my team) did some fantastic moving and playing but the biggest reaction from the crowd was always the part at the end of show where they spell out the word "TEN" because it was the first time they actually paused, played loud and in chords not runs! People respond to variety of sound and movement. It's the variety that creates "moments" otherwise it's just one 10 minute blur of drum corps. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeutralNovice Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 Amplified tap dancing for percussion. Just saw Riverdance and it would it awesome to hear some amplified tap dancing. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shempy Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 Amplified tap dancing for percussion. Just saw Riverdance and it would it awesome to hear some amplified tap dancing. Would've been a natural fit in Madison's 2015 show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRASSO Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 (edited) Amplified tap dancing for percussion. Just saw Riverdance and it would it awesome to hear some amplified tap dancing. Some Corps have on occasion successfully utilized Gaelic Music too. And speaking of Gaming Music, quite a significant slice of today's modern Gaming Music is unmistakenly heavily influenced by the Music found in the ancient, hauntingly beautiful, Gaelic Music genre too. Edited November 9, 2015 by BRASSO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perc2100 Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 More to the point of your topic, I wouldn't be surprised to see a design team try something that literally gets the audience involved. With new ground being broken in tech utilization (sampling, looping, synths), I wouldn't be surprised at someone trying to something akin to this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7o7BrlbaDs Yeah I totally agree that there are TONS of ideas utilizing technology that DCI could explore to create a more interactive show with the audience. I've seen bands use GoPro cameras + flotation devices (drones or hot air balloons) to show different perspectives of their show to the audience (including from their perspective), broadcasting the footage on a big screen behind the band (or maybe up front?). Beastie Boys made a film out of one of their shows where they passed out 50 cheap video cameras to various audience members who shot the show, sent B-Boys the footage, and then the band edited everything together to make a coherent 'movie' of the event. Heck, just video imagery in general is something that hasn't really been explored in DCI at all yet, and there are a TON of ideas/concepts out there to be mined. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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