Quad Aces Posted July 7, 2018 Share Posted July 7, 2018 (edited) Can someone refresh my memory - what was the general reaction from the corps to the use of ensemble field mics at this past Janual? I know what happened with the micing of small ensembles, but lost track of the use of mics on the field for the entire ensemble. I’m at my first live show this season (the Rockford show), and almost every corps used them, which is a big jump from last year. And wow did the crowd around me ooh and ahh at the first corps that had them cranked up. However, towards the end of that show, it got pretty overbearing (I’m about 20 rows up on the 50). So much so, that people around me actually had their ears plugged with their fingers. The rest of the corps seemed to have the balance figured out better. It appears that for better or worse, these field mics seem to be here at least for the foreseeable future. Edited July 7, 2018 by Quad Aces 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tedrick Posted July 7, 2018 Share Posted July 7, 2018 there's a reason DCI promotes earasers! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Windish Posted July 7, 2018 Share Posted July 7, 2018 (edited) I'm waiting for a small Open Class corps to come out and blow everyone in the stands back a few rows, making Bluecoats sound like wimps! Just you Watts what's coming ! Edited July 7, 2018 by Fred Windish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liahona Posted July 7, 2018 Share Posted July 7, 2018 (edited) 31 minutes ago, Fred Windish said: I'm waiting for a small Open Class corps to come out and blow everyone in the stands back a few rows, making Bluecoats sound like wimps! Watts wrong wit dat? Honestly...The ARTIFICIAL mic'ing doesn't do it for me when I'm at a LIVE performance...Perhaps watching a video online I won't be able to tell...but in person I'm not very impressed at all...The lack of clarity in the brass is quite obvious... Edited July 7, 2018 by Liahona I know you are not serious btw... 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris ncsu Posted July 7, 2018 Share Posted July 7, 2018 I’ve accepted mics for the front ensemble (and vocalists) and for limited special-effect-type usage on brass, but count me as against this era of mic usage on every friggin thing. Ughhhh 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WaxDCIFan Posted July 7, 2018 Share Posted July 7, 2018 Shameless plug for Genesis .... their staff believes in making the kids PLAY, so no mikes on the field anywhere / ever, even if makes them less competitive against the amplified competition. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WaxDCIFan Posted July 7, 2018 Share Posted July 7, 2018 (edited) 4 hours ago, chris ncsu said: I’ve accepted mics for the front ensemble (and vocalists) and for limited special-effect-type usage on brass, but count me as against this era of mic usage on every friggin thing. Ughhhh I watched Scouts live in Mankato a few nights ago, and they had intermittent sound issues which caused the speakers to cut in & out randomly. Very distracting, and the soloists were nearly inaudible in the stands without the speakers on. There was a day when it wasn’t hard to hear Madison trumpet soloists in the stands without mikes... Edited July 7, 2018 by WaxDCIFan Listed wrong show site at first. Too many cities lately... 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Windish Posted July 7, 2018 Share Posted July 7, 2018 (edited) I accept this (overuse) is what happens with any endeavor so creative. Decision makers stretch the limits of what they can get away with. Artificial enhancement really should be carefully limited. Amplifying a soloist makes very good sense, for example. On the other hand, using electronics to insert a dub of a musician who pretends to be playing live really disturbs me. Some posters claim this actually happens. Don't know for sure, but there have been times while watching FLO when I did sense that goes on, too. Edited July 7, 2018 by Fred Windish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajlemm Posted July 7, 2018 Share Posted July 7, 2018 I read this topic as “field mice for entire ensemble “, and I was both mystified and a tad creeped out. I see that my reaction was similar to those that understood the actual premise. 3 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cadevilina Crown Posted July 7, 2018 Share Posted July 7, 2018 9 hours ago, Quad Aces said: Can someone refresh my memory - what was the general reaction from the corps to the use of ensemble field mics at this past Janual? I know what happened with the micing of small ensembles, but lost track of the use of mics on the field for the entire ensemble. I’m at my first live show this season (the Rockford show), and almost every corps used them, which is a big jump from last year. And wow did the crowd around me ooh and ahh at the first corps that had them cranked up. However, towards the end of that show, it got pretty overbearing (I’m about 20 rows up on the 50). So much so, that people around me actually had their ears plugged with their fingers. The rest of the corps seemed to have the balance figured out better. It appears that for better or worse, these field mics seem to be here at least for the foreseeable future. So to answer your question... At the annual meetings, most directors were kind of ambivalent about micing the entire ensemble. Eventually, it was determined that the reason designers were trying to do this in the first place was not necessarily to make the corps louder, but to ensure everyone in the stadium is getting the same quality of sound (i.e. brass sound quality does not suffer if you’re sitting far away from the 50). Tom Blair even held a session in which he explained effective ways of using amplification for modern-day DCI. By the end of the meeting, it was said that there was a shift in philosophy amongst directors on this issue, and that corps would work to better incorporate A&E without damaging ears and/or alienating fans. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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