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Crossmen 2019


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2 hours ago, Ghost said:

I also see no value with marching cymbals in the competitive arena, but to be fair, what do the students who had those "4/5 spots" do now?  Take a crash course on another instrument?

Sweet cymbal pun - but a fair question that I don’t have an answer to. I’d be curious to see a break down of cymbal players in DCI’s primary instruments.  

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2 hours ago, jbeatty89 said:

It's somewhat disappointing to me that the corps decided to drop the cymbal line because a flash in the pan caption head wants it that way. I'll just wait till the next one comes along and reinstates it. It shouldn't be long.

I'm not sure why Lane has such a difficult time with orchestration and education of a cymbal line. I think it's probably a bad decision to hire a guy who says things like this, [emphasis mine] "The bottom line is I have a clear vision of what I want my percussion section to be..." Doesn't sound like someone who cares about the history of the corps or is a much of a team player.

I hear they are fundraising for a new box truck though...

Interesting points, considering that historically speaking, the Crossmen (at their finest) were known for being a groove machine driven by a very dynamic percussion section. Then again, when you have arrangers and caption heads like Thom Hannum and Mark Thurston, who understood how to uniquely incorporate that hand cymbal sound into a pretty incredible and very musical overall percussion sound for the ensemble, it helps.

Side note: I have no idea what the answer to this question is, but since moving to Texas, how many percussion caption heads/arrangers has that corps gone through? My gut says few last more than two or three years. 

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7 hours ago, soccerguy315 said:

does anyone know if this guy cut the Colts cymbal line when he was the caption head there also?

The current cymbal staff at Crossmen is notoriously difficult to work with. Instead of integrating into the corps and supporting it they decided to be cocky and act superior to the other sections. I am not surprised by this decision. 

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2 minutes ago, xxxdcifanxxx said:

The current cymbal staff at Crossmen is notoriously difficult to work with. Instead of integrating into the corps and supporting it they decided to be cocky and act superior to the other sections. I am not surprised by this decision. 

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21 hours ago, L1STEN2311 said:

Please elaborate on the educational value of playing in a cymbal line vs any other position in an ensemble.  

if education is your concern, why not field flub lines instead.  My main reason for not having cymbals in my program is that I don’t want my students not drumming for 5 months.  They’ll be better prepared for concert season (or the next marching season) playing a keyboard instrument or a flub drum vs cymbals.

I was told in high school that marching drum corps was a waste of time and that I “would never make a dime playing a drum on a football field”. Marching drum corps changed my life for the better and it’s an experience I wish for anyone who wants to achieve it.  But from the administrative side, I understand the cost vs. value of cymbals. It’s always hard to take away an opportunity for students to perform, but those 4/5 spots will go to other students who will now get to march.  

So, do we also apply this same line of argument to the 6 tuba players in each corps who are being left on the sideline as more and more DCI lines cut back from 16 to12, because of the electronics that now supply the lower end that has been lost by cutting 1/3 of the tubas? There's no competitive "value" in providing learning opportunities to those 6 abandoned players because I can get the same or more tenths of points from one finger pressing a key on a computer. How do those 6 former tuba players become better tuba players during the summer?

 

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15 hours ago, Ghost said:

I also see no value with marching cymbals in the competitive arena, but to be fair, what do the students who had those "4/5 spots" do now?  Take a crash course on another instrument?

guess thats educational.

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On 9/16/2018 at 1:27 AM, L1STEN2311 said:

Please elaborate on the educational value of playing in a cymbal line vs any other position in an ensemble.  

if education is your concern, why not field flub lines instead.  My main reason for not having cymbals in my program is that I don’t want my students not drumming for 5 months.  They’ll be better prepared for concert season (or the next marching season) playing a keyboard instrument or a flub drum vs cymbals.

I was told in high school that marching drum corps was a waste of time and that I “would never make a dime playing a drum on a football field”. Marching drum corps changed my life for the better and it’s an experience I wish for anyone who wants to achieve it.  But from the administrative side, I understand the cost vs. value of cymbals. It’s always hard to take away an opportunity for students to perform, but those 4/5 spots will go to other students who will now get to march.  

i have spoken many times on here, and to a degree in this thread, the value they bring, and nothing I can say will change your mind. if you're worried about the cost of cymbals, then look at the cost of the props, constantly changing uniforms, electronic equipment, pit instruments and tubas and many more things than the cost of 5 sets of plates and at best two techs.

 

 

Edited by Jeff Ream
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