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Timing Hornlines


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The Cavaliers: 6:08... I think. I already did this one and I'm too lazy to look it up. If someone else is not, I will edit and owe you 11.5 minutes. (Or is it 15 Minutes? :D)

I followed your rules and got a time of 6:15, the ending did change slightly so you're still fairly close.

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Phantom Regiment: 6:15 Although beautiful at times, this show continues to astound me with how remarkably average a show can be. Keep up the work, Phantom. (ugh, i miss when j.p. morgan was there...)

When I watched a POV runthrough of the show from the perspective of the piccolo trumpet player, I was surprised at how little the brass plays.

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I don't mind seeing timings, but I caution folks to not stereotype length of time for any one section as a means of deciding quality, or perhaps a "this is how it should be" kind of thing. In a roughly 12 minute show what if we look at it like this:

  • brass - 6 min total not including solos
  • battery percussion - 3 minutes when not featured with brass
  • pit - 3 min when not featured with battery or brass

If we viewed the above as a model it can make sense. Some corps will want to feature battery without brass, and also feature pit without battery and brass. Allowing 3 minutes for pit and battery on their own can help to create a better balance to the arranging and orchestrating -- perhaps to the entire flow of the show. Whatever creates the best musical landscape -- the best total arrangement of melody, counter-melody, rhythm, color, and harmony in a musical sense spread over all the voices -- should be the goal, not a specific time for brass only.

Another way we could view this, if one so wished, is this: It's called DRUM & BUGLE CORPS...

  • so why not feature the drums (battery) for 6 minutes on their own
  • then brass for 4 on their own
  • and pit for 2 on their own
  • Why should brass be given some advantage over percussion?

Of course, we know it's not. In reality, the brass and percussion spend a lot of time playing together. They sometimes trade off on things (with pit in the mix), and then they are featured for periods of time. Ultimately, what works best in terms of creating a total show and musical landscape is the goal, not a fixed number.

  • what a section plays and how well they play it is more important than how LONG they play.
  • Quality vs. Quantity.

As in the case of Carolina Crown I think we can all agree they have a special brass line and feature them well. That is their strength and it works for them in both design of the show and the construction of their music book. But it's not what I would recommend for all corps. Typically with a corps like Blue Devils or Cadets over the many years, both groups have had many stellar brass lines, drums, pit, solos, and a good mix was extremely important to their designs. As with the Bluecoats this year I think they have found a perfect mix of those elements for their show. And when their brass are playing they are digging into some incredible music.

It is impossible to create the best total arrangement of melody, counter-melody, rhythm, color and harmony when your hornline only plays for 6 minutes. Hornlines should be playing upwards of 10:00 in an 11:30 show. This is an ensemble activity. It's even more alarming when some corps are playing 9 pieces this year. How the heck are you going to sustain melody through 9 pieces when you are only playing for 6 minutes? No wonders the arrangements are all chop and bop with little build up, little phrasing, and little sustained melody. Bottom line, horn books, in general, are designed to play the sheets and score well. They are not designed to entertain the audience. Such a shame.

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Are you related to emc2? (Sorry, but I couldn't resist that comment. Time an NFL team some day and you'd be shocked to learn how little time they are actually playing (whistle to whistle.)

Haha that was on purpose. The youth are silly. I'm kind of surprised no one has made fun of me or laughed at saying J.P. Morgan instead of J.D. Shaw haha
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And remember, I wrote "this means nothing" at the bottom of the post. So I've already beaten you all to the punch.

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Theoretically speaking, if two corps brass lines had the same difficulty and performance level of drill AND the same difficulty and performance level of music, shouldn't the corps that played more have a higher score?

Edited by DAvery
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I think this is definitive proof that the longer the hornline plays the more time you hear them.

What?

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