2015 CD's are here!

[MikeN]

I beg to differ. If you don't have memories of getting your face blown off by 64 G bugles, you don't realize how weak modern Bb horns sound. Read this, it's an excellent reference on the difference between G bugles and today's horns.

I've heard both, and honestly, the loudest DCI moment I've ever experienced was from a Bb line. (Blue Devils in San Antonio in 2001 during the park n' bark during I've Got Rhythm - it was so loud you literally couldn't hear music, only a distortion noise in your ears. I've never heard anything quite like it before or since.)

Mike

[ohbaby]

If anybody gets a chance. maybe upload a sample here: https://soundcloud.com/stream. Before I spend $51 for cds, would like to hear quality and how cuts were handled.

[Jeff Ream]

some of the loudest moments of 46 years of fandom have ome with Bb horns that were played well, in tune and not overblown. And thens ome were the scouts which had a little bit of everything

I beg to differ. If you don't have memories of getting your face blown off by 64 G bugles, you don't realize how weak modern Bb horns sound. Read this, it's an excellent reference on the difference between G bugles and today's horns.

[brichtimp]

some of the loudest moments of 46 years of fandom have ome with Bb horns that were played well, in tune and not overblown. And thens ome were the scouts which had a little bit of everything

Exactly....when those Bb horns are played in tune with proper support, pushing a bunch of air, and the chords are balanced, the cumulative impact is more than loud enough to impress.

[drangin]

If anybody gets a chance. maybe upload a sample here: https://soundcloud.com/stream. Before I spend $51 for cds, would like to hear quality and how cuts were handled.

You're concerned about the sound quality? If you've heard any of the recordings since 2009 when DCI moved to Lucas Oil Stadium, you know the quality - it's very good and very consistent. Are you just ranting about the cost of shipping?

[cixelsyd]

Seeing the Marines at a recent show reminded me of a couple of things.

- No modern competitive hornline uses their full dynamic range, particularly in the lower voices. Judging preferences place a priority on tone, balance, sonority, at the expense of dynamic range. Those tastes have changed over time. At one such phase, the sound that made Spirit of Atlanta a top hornline in 1978-1980 quickly became unacceptable practice in junior corps moving forward. If you were not around in the 1970s or earlier, you missed the "loud is good" era.

- We will never know how much of a difference the G bugle made. By the time we switched to Bb/F, the remaining "bugles" were the same design as their Bb counterparts, elongated to put them in the key of G.

- The rest of the corps has grown undeniably louder over time. We now consider 9 snares a full section, where 9 used to be an entire full battery. Field drums have adopted technological changes in construction and projection to make them louder. We added the pit, and they developed techniques to reinforce brass with ride cymbals, gongs, etc. Then we added electronic amplification (which by definition makes things louder), and soon after, the ability to synthesize sound to mimic brass as closely as the rules allow. How much of this affects your perception of how loud a hornline is compared to a decades-old memory?

Loudness is in the ear (and brain) of the beholder. Where they sit - how they process brass, battery, pit and electronic sounds - indoor or outdoor - venue acoustics - those are variables that can change perception. Seeing the Marines the same night as some top DCI corps removed some of those variables for me. My impression was that their 50 G horns were louder than the up-to-80-horn lines of the competing corps. Even though they were not as unrestrained as a 1970s corps, the Marines clearly allowed their baritones to play at volume levels where no current DCI line goes. Meanwhile, there are times when the overall sound level of a DCI corps is louder than the Marines with their smaller battery, no amplification and a "pit" consisting of two xylophones.

[Jeff Ream]

loud for the sake of loud isn't good. that's what DCI has become...and I applaud it

[Shempy]

Was that a tech issue? Seemed like an obvious flub.

AFAIK It was confirmed that the soloist flubbed after being surprised by the multiview cam swinging right in front of him to catch his performance. Threw off his whole feature.

[DrumManTx]

Just got done listening to Bluecoats on my parents $500 Bose system. That right there was well worth the purchase. :D

[cixelsyd]

loud for the sake of loud isn't good.

Just to make sure no urban legend develops here... there has never been an instance in competitive drum corps where "loud for the sake of loud" was accepted as good with no other preconditions. While the phrase "loud is good" is attributed to Jim Ott (for whom the DCI high brass award is named), neither DCI nor Ott himself ever condoned loudness with no other quality considerations. Back in the day, it was understood to mean that within the context of a well taught, full DCI hornline, something special could be created by tapping the full dynamic range those musicians could produce.

That said, the standards for quality have evolved over time. So has the language used to describe them. In fact, just a few years after Ott passed away, the approach to brass dynamics, tone quality and balance in DCI had changed so much that it was no longer politically correct to use the "loud is good" catch phrase. It even became trendy to take that quote out of context (as you have), as if objecting to it proved you cared about quality musicianship in ways your peers did not.