Stu Posted July 27, 2016 Share Posted July 27, 2016 (edited) what would a reasonable person conclude after watching a percussion judge on the field? The same thing a reasonable person would conclude watching anything that goes on in this little niche of an activity; "What a bunch of Bando Geeks!".. Edited July 27, 2016 by Stu 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted July 27, 2016 Share Posted July 27, 2016 I've been going to shows for over 40 years and I can't EVER recall a drummer going down or being even slightly injured by a field judge. That's not to say it hasn't happened because, obviously, I've not seen every show. But it's reasonable to think that such a thing would be written about and/or discussed in the drum corps media of the time. I read DCW cover-to-cover, particularly about drumlines from its beginning until the internet and cannot recall ever reading about such an event. Surely the internet would have spread such a story like wildfire but, alas, never read of such an event there either. Fact is, it just has never happened. It's more like that judge would be injured if a serious collision happened. i know of one judge at a DCA show who took a rifle to the face when the wind took said rifle away from the performer. He had a bloody nose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted July 27, 2016 Share Posted July 27, 2016 anectdotal evidence a very small sample size. and -- for a very large part of those 40 years -- there wasn't much risk. fact is, any reasonable observer could watch the field drum judge at a show and see they are constantly trying to avoid performers in drill while simultaneous trying to watch and listen while simultaneously talking into a device and reasonably conclude that what they are doing is highly risky to themselves and the performers. Sounds like eating breakfast, talking on the cell phone, reading the paper all while driving a car! moreover their antics affect all the performers around them -- not just the drum line. finally said reasonable person would also conclude they are a HUGE distraction to audience. of course long-time viewers have learned to shut the distraction out. but that doesn't mean it still isn't there. in all honesty, i know about 8 people that complain about drum judges on the field. all visual guys. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auldschool Posted July 27, 2016 Share Posted July 27, 2016 They will dumb down the parts if they are not getting credit for the execution of complex writing, and simpler writing is receiving higher GE scores up top (again see BOA). This activity, whether DCI or BOA, is all about maximizing the score; and DCI is going full-speed toward it is more about maximizing GE Body Motion backed up with artistic sound interpretation, than it is about a symbiotic balance between Motion and Music. Wow talk about taking one line of what I said out of context. Holy crap. If you wanna quote me and make an argument then use all of what I said dude. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted July 27, 2016 Share Posted July 27, 2016 In most marching band circuits, the percussion numbers don't even count in the overall score, they are just special awards. And there are only a small handful of folks who I would trust to give me useful commentary anyway. The really good ones get trained in music ensemble or effect... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corpsband Posted July 27, 2016 Author Share Posted July 27, 2016 The same thing a reasonable person would conclude watching anything that goes on in this little niche of an activity; "What a bunch of Bando Geeks!".. well besides that. ive sat next to plenty of newb viewers who (1) fixate on the drum judge (disrupt,distract) (2) say "he's gonna run into someone" well guess what -- the standard is "What would a reasonable person do" not "What would a nerdy drummer do" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted July 27, 2016 Share Posted July 27, 2016 Nope...never watched a tenor cam. And yep...I can hear everything the Coats line is playing right from the stands. Just like they intended me to. Why not check to see if ya missed a note here or there by watching the vid? You could then have 'real fodder', and with 'complete honesty', you could say unequivocally that I am wrong and you are right! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted July 27, 2016 Share Posted July 27, 2016 Item by Item Response: > You wrote A. Percussion writers are not gonna hose the books. They write books their kids will want to play. - While the percussion designers do what they can for the performers, the battery books will always be written primarily to score as many points as possible from the judging system. So, the writers will write to the judge wherever that person is located and what that person is judging. If located on sidelines, goodbye subtle nuances and musically cool hybrids; if located in the stands or up in box goodby to complex interplay between battery sections; and if in the box and no longer a drum judge but an overall music judge... well... say hello to nothing more than accent tap patterns with dynamic changes Why? Because of the risk-reward factor. (see current battery writing in BOA as an example) > B. Judges don't have to leave the field. They just need to stay out of the middle of drill. - You have just created a sort of paradox;the drill today is so fast and fluid that the middle flows quickly all over the field. So, to keep from getting caught in the middle, the judge would have to, um, leave the field. > C. Dirty little secrets. Field percussion judges get a huge rush being in the middle of it. Drummers get a rush being the only section of a corps to "need" someone right on top of them. A lot of this is about egos and badassery. I probably shouldn't say all that out loud. But it's true whether they will admit it or not. - So what is your point?! That top dogs have egos? > D. I sit in the audience and I hear and see a heck of a lot of the battery performance. People say you can't hear and see from there. I disagree. A judge on the edge is gonna be 10 or 15 yds away. They're not gonna miss anything. - Hmmmmmm.... At the next show you attend, sit anywhere out front, and just observe something easy for a drum judge to see and hear as a flaw on the field, nothing complex, say... count the number of times a roll dirts out in any given snare line. Then post the combined number of all dirted rolls you observed back to us in this thread. ok, who possessed Stu? Because this really can't be him Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted July 27, 2016 Share Posted July 27, 2016 That presumes that you can't write demanding drum parts that can be heard and credited from the box when using proper staging. proper staging would mean putting the drums in front of the brass and amped pit the whole show. which means the visual guys would crush you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted July 27, 2016 Share Posted July 27, 2016 well besides that. ive sat next to plenty of newb viewers who (1) fixate on the drum judge (disrupt,distract) (2) say "he's gonna run into someone" well guess what -- the standard is "What would a reasonable person do" not "What would a nerdy drummer do" So, with that logic, the NFL also needs to remove all judges from the field. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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