Jeff Ream Posted August 10, 2019 Share Posted August 10, 2019 4 hours ago, JimF-LowBari said: Do the above people do anything that affects how the corps looks or sounds during the show itself? No idea what the sound person in question does during the show so same question applies well duh they write it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn426 Posted August 10, 2019 Share Posted August 10, 2019 (edited) So unless SCV had some really lucky camera work I was hard pressed to find a Mic on any of the contras... Does anyone have a confirmation of the Contras being mic'd? It was mentioned earlier in the season that all 12 contras had a mic but unless they are using Body Mics or a mic next to the bell and not in front of it, then I'm not seeing how SCV is getting that sound from these 12 Contras unless they are the best Contraline in DCI History.. I also cannot see any Boom or Shotgun mics in SCV's FS, Besides the Solo Mic they are are creating that Sound Au Natural which is amazing considering they have one of the loudest sounding Hornlines on the stream.. Also looking closely at Blueocats side 1 Baritones and Mellos during their section it was hard to find Mic's on the majority of members.. It seems like the 30 mic scenario is more likely to be 2 per Instrument in the non-solo Contra, Bari, Mello instruments.. along with the four mics in front of the stages on the FS. Crown had their Female Vocals turned up today... Def creating a nice Texture to the Ensemble though, I suspect this will be an area of exploration for years to come.. And Finally BD, BD has three Shotgun mics planted on their front sideline and you can tell when they are on, especially in the Tap shoes section.. They unlike many also turn on the mics for the Snare line and the Bass drums during their features... It actually provides some nice clarity to the Bass Feature.. Edited August 10, 2019 by Glenn426 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted August 10, 2019 Share Posted August 10, 2019 (edited) 3 hours ago, Jeff Ream said: well duh they write it My main word was DURING the show.... From some of the posts here it sounded like the sound person (or whatever the title is) operates the sound equipment during the show. hence my confusion and so I asked to make sure..... Bunch of posts two page back cleared it up. But.... will say that not everyone knows what EVERY job title means in a corps so few people here need to chill when questions are asked. Edit that part not directed at Jeff. Quoted his post as last one in the chain.... Edited August 10, 2019 by JimF-LowBari 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cixelsyd Posted August 10, 2019 Share Posted August 10, 2019 9 hours ago, Glenn426 said: So unless SCV had some really lucky camera work I was hard pressed to find a Mic on any of the contras... Does anyone have a confirmation of the Contras being mic'd? It was mentioned earlier in the season that all 12 contras had a mic but unless they are using Body Mics or a mic next to the bell and not in front of it, then I'm not seeing how SCV is getting that sound from these 12 Contras unless they are the best Contraline in DCI History.. That comment may have been referring to 2018... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cixelsyd Posted August 10, 2019 Share Posted August 10, 2019 13 hours ago, MarimbaManiac said: Most likely, the performers do 95% of the work during the performance, and the sound board operator (most likely NOT the designer on a daily basis), sits at the board to make sure things don't blow up. It's not like they are sitting there turning mics on and off and adjusting volumes in real time. Yes they are. We have already been assured (on this thread, I believe) that proper "sound reinforcement" involves muting the field mics when it is not being applied. Most often, that is done manually by the sound board operator. The equipment offers the option of automation, but variation in tempos and duration of applause breaks could throw off the timing. There are still some corps whose sound board operators are getting real-time feedback from a staffer up high, and tweaking levels in response to their suggestions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted August 10, 2019 Share Posted August 10, 2019 so what? it's legal. Just like bb brass, trombones, sousaphones, grounded percussion, contras, timbalis...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarimbaManiac Posted August 10, 2019 Share Posted August 10, 2019 (edited) 4 hours ago, cixelsyd said: Yes they are. We have already been assured (on this thread, I believe) that proper "sound reinforcement" involves muting the field mics when it is not being applied. Most often, that is done manually by the sound board operator. The equipment offers the option of automation, but variation in tempos and duration of applause breaks could throw off the timing. There are still some corps whose sound board operators are getting real-time feedback from a staffer up high, and tweaking levels in response to their suggestions. I'm not saying they aren't doing *something* at the board, but automation and allowing for tempo variations and applause breaks etc. are very easy to do. For instance, building a scene that begins with an articulated hit and then interpolates for a set period of time with variance built in for leeway, and a closing envelope that's triggered by the next scene after any transitional material. Building this type of system is infinitely easier than having someone at the board that's turning mics on and off, especially if that person is managing 32+ channels. For instance, let's consider a large production like a broadway show, or a 'Cirque' type of event where there are dozens of microphones and channels that are being switched off and on or attenuated at various intervals. Would it make sense for a sound engineer to be standing at the board turning individual mics on and off throughout the show? Maybe in the past with analog boards, but the digital work stations can handle all of this work automatically now. The front ensemble alone has probably 30+ channels (3 mics per marimba, 1 or 2 for each vibe, overheads for the racks/drumset, 5 for the timpani, hand percussion, synths and samplers, etc.). Add in the mics for the soloists, as well as anyone on the field who has a microphone, and it gets a bit unwieldy. I've run analog boards for some schools I've designed for, or in concert situations, and it's a BEAST of a project to manage everything. It's much easier to program scenes and just tap "Next" a handful of times throughout the process, and that can be tied to the person playing the sampler in the front ensemble. Again, I have no knowledge of what Bloo or these other groups are doing, but with the pedigree/background of these designers I doubt they would let the validity of their work hang on the random tech that's running the board on a daily basis to hit all of the changes correctly. That being said, I'm sure that there is someone just below the press box talking to the board operator saying "pit is too loud" or "I could use more low-end" etc. Edited August 10, 2019 by MarimbaManiac Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hrothgar15 Posted August 10, 2019 Share Posted August 10, 2019 On 8/9/2019 at 2:21 PM, Guitar1974 said: Last night I was at Prelims seated near the 30 so I had a good beam of amp sound in my ear. There were times when mid/high range synth notes were layered into loud sustained chords in addition to the low sub "goo" we've all grown accustomed to. One corps in particular- well regarded for its incredible horn line- seemed to have a lot of synth layering to add support for the horns. There appeared to be a loud synth sound used during impacts that sat somewhere in the sonic spectrum as a mellophone. The closing chord especially, the artificial layering and support was really noticeable. Seems a bit too smoke and mirrors to me, horn lines have never been better. The quality of the horn line talent is astounding but has a synthetic sheen to it. Since it is all legal, I guess it is perfectly okay for a corps to use brass synth patches to layer in perfectly in-tune/loud synthetic brass layers to the live performance. This is the way it is done in the pop world, you hear about 50% human and 50% machine. I think most pop music fans realize the dont really sound like that but are fine with it. DCI fans I assume want the real thing, not machine made. At what point do fans say enough is enough? I think most corps seemed to use A&E appropriately, but the added tech and capability make me wonder if what I am hearing is truly live or not. I've always thought there should be a separate "Drum Corps Live" circuit, where all sounds are produced live and acoustically. The problem is no one would march it, because the current DCI marching members don't care. It's all they know (aside from some ancient videos from the 1990s most haven't seen). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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