Electronic Amplification

[CrownBariDad]

14 hours ago, Hrothgar15 said:

Remember when you could actually see the performers in a drum corps show?

This year, you actually can since many Corps are performing without headgear. LOL

[Jeff Ream]

11 hours ago, Land_Surfer said:

What are good uses of amps in DCI?  

drink holders

[Jeff Ream]

10 hours ago, Stu said:

 

Jeff just admitted to calling me a moron and a putz... that, um, sounds just like his character played by Matthau in Grumpy Old Men.  Ya can take the man out of the grump, but ya can't take the grump out of the man.

Mathau said putz. lemmon said moron.

[Jeff Ream]

10 hours ago, Stu said:

So you are saying that instead of Matthau you are Grandpa (Burgess Jeff Ream Meredith) Grump.  Ok then.

 

[Bobby L. Collins]

I can't think of a single good use of amplification on the field.  This is probably going to sound harsh to some of you, but I fundamentally believe that if a soloist cannot naturally project their sound above background accompaniment on the field, then either the accompaniment needs to play softer, or the soloist needs to learn how to project.  You think Bonnie Ott needed a microphone to be heard?  She managed to project above a full power Blue Devils standing in concert formation, and she did it on a piston-rotor mellophone bugle, which is (according to a lot of young and snarky self-appointed experts out there) impossible to play with a good sound or in tune....yet she managed to do so, and helped Blue Devils with a championship.  Unlike so many participants today (or, more accurately, so many instructors), I think Bonnie fundamentally realized that she was already holding an amplifier in her hands, and it wasn't the responsibility of a sound system to convey her musical message or her artistic ability, but hers alone.

I'm going to be perfectly honest here.  The last production I have been able to watch and listen to a recording of and not feel at least some level of disgust and contempt for was Phantom Regiment 2008, and even in that production, I still sigh and shake my head when it gets to the electronic "snickt" near the end of the tune before the ballad.  That was totally unnecessary, and it completely takes me out of the moment and, by extension, the entire production.  I fundamentally believe that was added not because it was needed, but simply because it was allowed.  And this is the very tamest example I can think of.  But that's the real point here; To quote Jeff Goldblum (which I'm pretty sure this isn't the first time I've done so), Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.  Replace "scientists" with "techs" and, well, the parallel is frightening similar.

Don't get me wrong, there are still bits and pieces of modern productions that I can still appreciate and dig, but always......ALWAYS....with a big asterisk, as a result of underlying electronics.  Bluecoats' opener in 2011 is phenomenal, but I always skip to the brass entrance, because I simply cannot tolerate all the ambient noise accompanying the corps esoteric arm-flapping, nor can I tolerate listening to a synthesizer playing what should have been a marimba feature.  And even during the brass' buildup to the hit, I cannot abide the synthesizer playing choir aahs underneath it.  From that same year, Phantom's show is tremendous, but it's just got too much synthesized ambiance for me to enjoy.  And to this day, I STILL can't watch Carolina Crown's championship production....every time I try to do so, I find myself yelling "SHUT...UP!!!" at the kids talking over the first two minutes (which, I hate to admit, I would have probably also done had I gone to a show and watched them live). I'm sure that production is every bit as phenomenal as everyone keeps preaching to me it is, but it's not fair for someone to ask me to sit through a production which I simply cannot tolerate in order to appreciate an art form which has been perverted (and I don't think that's too strong a term) into something unrecognizable to the eyes and ears of those who helped sustain it all these years.  Well, I'm sorry, but I do not appreciate electronics and amplification on the field, and I never will.  If that makes me an out of touch dinosaur, then so be it.  If it means staying true to my own personal convictions and ideals, then I'll wear that badge with honor, and I have no problem calling out modern directors, judges and instructors on how utterly ridiculous they are currently making drum corps look and sound to even the staunchest of fans and supporters...much less the outside world.  

Now, I'm getting worked up about this, and kind of going off-message.  I could write a book about my thoughts on this stuff, and this probably isn't the thread for it.  Bottom line, the electronics and amplification are killing the enjoyment of the activity for a lot of people, including vets, fans, and supporters.  Even the ones that say "I don't mind electronics and amplification, but........" are becoming increasingly disillusioned with it.  And the ones that can't shut up about how terrific it is are the same ones who listen to Shoenberg's  Pierrot Lunaire in their car on their daily commute (seriously, if you're not familiar with that piece, look it up on youtube.....THAT is what those people want DCI to become).  I personally maintain there's no place for electronics and amplfiication on the field, and it should be banned entirely, but I know that's not how DCI works.  But I cannot in good conscience support the activity as it exists today.  And electronics/amplification is at the top of my very long list list of reasons for why.

[Fred Windish]

I'm much like you. I never hold back expressing my opinions. As far as I'm concerned, if you feel strongly about something . . . lay it right out there. I'm thinking a "happy medium" will be reached soon. Too many equipment sponsors, with too many high school bands to influence and conquer.  The Jeff Goldblum quote is spot on.

I enjoy my drum corps from home these days. I certainly could travel all around the country to witness these events. Did that for many years. Now, I enjoy what I can . .. on my terms.

Thank you for your well-crafted contributions here!