Have we seen the last of high-speed "kaleidoscopic" drill in D

[cavies79]

Shower thoughts:

Has the move to mostly computer aided drill design made any change? Has it made writers lazy? Maybe it's allowed writers to be even more creative with their designs?

I dabbled a bit with Pyware and noticed I was limiting my creative ideas due to Pyware's own limitations. But that was me.

Actually Michael Gaines used Pyware when he was writing drill for Cavaliers, so I don't think it limits your creativity. You just need to learn all of the tricks of using the program.

[84BDsop]

Yeah, all stuff that's not difficult or demanding.

It doesn't have to LOOK demanding to actually BE demanding.

One of the most demanding things a brass player can do is play ppp with as much support and control as at FF. The control needed actually makes playing very softly FAR FAR more difficult than blasting walls down...the long descresendo at the 2nd of the 2nd movement of 1990 Star is a great example.

Watch Basil Rathbone (on right) at 2:17 in this vid https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nB8tiSMCwRE

Only someone who's been a fencer (like myself) understand exactly how difficult that action is with a fully extended arm with such a small blade motion...doing things fro the shoulder usually produces a much larger action rather than from the wrist (where it SHOULD be).

Just because the audience doesn't think ti was a difficult move doesn't mean that it was not.

If you're posing for doing various leg motions (side from marching} while playing, there are balance issues to considerm as well as motions of the mouthpiece that can be very different from those whole marching.

Edited February 15, 2016 by 84BDsop

[Kamarag]

Yeah, all stuff that's not difficult or demanding.

Oh, FFS. The stuff Crown and Devils are doing is *incredibly* demanding. What those two corps are doing as part of simultaneous respobsibility is incredibly difficult.

[N.E. Brigand]

Oh, FFS. The stuff Crown and Devils are doing is *incredibly* demanding. What those two corps are doing as part of simultaneous responsibility is incredibly difficult.

One problem is that DCI does too little to help audiences know why things that don't look particularly demanding actually are. The announcers on the cinema broadcasts, for instance, often seem to be talking about the wrong things. Last year I don't remember them talking about the difficulty of Crown's or BD's programs (certainly not with any specific examples) but rather, e.g., about whether Crown's percussion had improved enough to keep them in first. We need more commentary like what Sam writes just above about fencing.

[84BDsop]

We need more commentary like what Sam writes just above about fencing.

The trick is getting people to believe it....and we've seen time and again that some simply will not.

It's like me teaching a new sabre fencer that a physically hard action (winding up the arm to make a cut as fast as they can) does not mean a FAST action.

It takes a few times of me nailing their arm while they're winding up for a head cut for them to understand that...

[cowtown]

Regardless of demand, it’s less entertaining, more so if you sit up high, a lot of it is lost so how is it good GE?

And when everyone is doing something different, such as different characters, I’m not impressed at all.

It’s annoying that DCI has decided there is only one type of show, one type of demand that it will reward well, I’d prefer some variety

So, every few months we get a post asking; what are good shows to capture outsiders peoples interest,…it will still be the run and gun as opposed to a close up of a baritone doing a poor-man’s mime of a 'windy day with umbrella', which I think dorks up DCI to the point of being worthy of mockery.

[GUARDLING]

Regardless of demand, it’s less entertaining, more so if you sit up high, a lot of it is lost so how is it good GE?

And when everyone is doing something different, such as different characters, I’m not impressed at all.

It’s annoying that DCI has decided there is only one type of show, one type of demand that it will reward well, I’d prefer some variety

So, every few months we get a post asking; what are good shows to capture outsiders peoples interest,…it will still be the run and gun as opposed to a close up of a baritone doing a poor-man’s mime of a 'windy day with umbrella', which I think dorks up DCI to the point of being worthy of mockery.

And sometimes when one doesn't want to see something or opposes it , no matter what's done it wouldnt matter.

[yogitom]

Oh, FFS. The stuff Crown and Devils are doing is *incredibly* demanding. What those two corps are doing as part of simultaneous respobsibility is incredibly difficult.

Nope. Don't agree. I'm a 58 Year old overweight old man and I can pose, hop, skip stand on 1 leg with my opposite foot on my knee (not easily I might add, but I can do it), and I can sweep my leg in an arc in back of my other leg. What I can't do is RUN. Sorry, but these other movements are neither as demanding nor as difficult as high speed drill. It just isn't.

[Kamarag]

Nope. Don't agree. I'm a 58 Year old overweight old man and I can pose, hop, skip stand on 1 leg with my opposite foot on my knee (not easily I might add, but I can do it), and I can sweep my leg in an arc in back of my other leg. What I can't do is RUN. Sorry, but these other movements are neither as demanding nor as difficult as high speed drill. It just isn't.

This summer, I challenge you to PM me, confirm a date, and come to one of my corps' rehearsals. I'll prove to you just how ridiculously wrong you are. Bring your mouthpiece too, because you're going to be playing the whole time.

If my corps is too far, i'll arrange for you to get a first hand demo from any of a number of corps in other parts of the country.

I'm deadly serious. Will you bring it?

Edited February 15, 2016 by Kamarag

[DrumManTx]

To me what makes what the Blue Devils drill seem so easy is the fact that they achieve it so close to perfection and so effortlessly it doesn't even look hard. It doesn't even look like they're working it's being achieved at such a high level. I used to be in the camp of their visual stuff is too easy for the numbers it gets, but I turned a corner on that in 2014.

I still don't think they have the most technically demanding shows in terms of consistent demand on the performers (looking at The Cadets), but they sparingly use the high velocity classically demanding stuff in ways that is incredibly effective when it is used. Their layering and staging between those moments, while its not quite my taste, still takes tons of commitment to sell and make work. Still hard, just maybe not in the classical sense of fast + playing but in its own way.

IMO they have achieved a perfect balance between demand, effect, moments, staging, integration, and achievement that has allowed them to completely dominate visual every single year since 2007/2008. That's why they're so strong IMO.

In terms of kaleidoscopic.....hope it's not dead. It can still have its place if it's used right. I understand there are things that are more effective to certain people.....but I think anything can be effective if it's done right.

Edited February 15, 2016 by DrumManTx