George Dixon Posted February 24, 2020 Share Posted February 24, 2020 20 minutes ago, Old Corps Guy said: >40 pages of comments from people that didn't want to read >200 pages of comments is the reason for this separate thread. Yes - we need to make the cadets negativity dual pronged. All it achieved is people discussing it here vs there. But well done! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim K Posted February 24, 2020 Share Posted February 24, 2020 7 hours ago, FTNK said: ... Also, it's not like the 80s/90s anymore. A lot of corps know how to find and maximize talent year after year, partially because of staff from Cadets. It's not just BD and Cadets and Cavaliers... it's BD and Cavaliers plus SCV and Crown and Bluecoats and Boston and Cavaliers and Blue Knights... Some of those old Cadets shows - most of them - you had to be real fanatics to work that hard and endure that much pain. The Hop cult helped that, but as he became increasingly unmoored from reality and senile.... Meanwhile, the response was to double down: Work harder, march faster. One hour of floor time. 7:30am wake-up. Not executing? Circle drill at 192 bpm. Rehearse in the rain until 11pm on the night before prelims. And who wants to endure that for Jethro Tull and Cancer and Stoned and Little Geoffrey and whatever 2017 was (one of the weirdest shows ever)? More to my original point, lots of corps have had satellite camps in Florida and Texas and Indiana etc. for years and years; Cadets efforts in this area were inconsistent at best. The year I marched there was a talk of an Atlanta camp that coming fall and they acted like it was an amazing new idea. Your comments are interesting. I live outside of Boston and have attended local shows for years. Fifteen, twenty years ago if you talked with young people who had dreams of marching in WC, it was Cadets. After 2010, you started hearing more about Crown and Bloo. Now Boston Crusaders is in the mix. Cadets not having satellite camps as frequently or as early as other corps was probably not wise, but to be fair they are not the first and won’t be the last organization not to read the signs of the times. The key is that the new folks on board know both the tradition of the Cadets and the changing landscape, or perhaps better put the new landscape. You would also need folks who understand that the rehearsal tactics of the past can’t be used today due to the new health and wellness policies. Personally, I think some of the people on board have more than an understanding of what needs to be done, but it takes time to create a new culture. Too many people thought being rid of GH would solve all the problems, but his departure was only the beginning of the solution. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbc03 Posted February 24, 2020 Share Posted February 24, 2020 24 minutes ago, Tim K said: You would also need folks who understand that the rehearsal tactics of the past can’t be used today due to the new health and wellness policies. Out of curiosity, do you have something specific in mind here? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbc03 Posted February 24, 2020 Share Posted February 24, 2020 The Cadets don't have a talent problem that a few well designed shows can't fix. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted February 24, 2020 Share Posted February 24, 2020 (edited) 10 hours ago, FTNK said: I certainly don't need to be lectured about it. I was a bassoonist. I never played a tuba or any brass in an ensemble outside of drum corps, a year of college marching band, and two semesters of bball/hockey pep band. My first corps, I got the contract mainly because I drove 4 hours to camps, and the brass caption head could see that I wanted it. Mostly Cadets staff. Got most improved brass member that year. When I auditioned for Cadets, I got a 3 in playing, but got the contract the first camp because my tech was the caption head from the first corps and knew I was committed and would work (and because I could march like ####### beast). That year (2006) Cadets had 70ish rookies in the hornline. The 2007 corps is evidence that The Process worked. (And the argument that I don't know anything because I marched in an "off" year - Don't give me that jazz! "You learn more from a bad year than a good one" -George Hopkins) HOWEVER: This is my point. Overconfidence in the ability to spin straw into gold. Especially in the modern era, where people can't afford to march more than a year or two (2005 Kdets was so good because it was maybe the most stacked corps ever, with many multiple-year vets). Also, now, the "talent" (I prefer to say skill and experience) level out there is so, so high. Combine that with the fact that design is SO important for competitive success now, and The Cadets have had a roughly 40/50% chance of a good show design in any given year in the last 20 years... never said design didn't matter. not sure where you got that Edited February 24, 2020 by Jeff Ream Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted February 24, 2020 Share Posted February 24, 2020 I’d like to know the size of Cadets horn line in 2006.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Dixon Posted February 24, 2020 Share Posted February 24, 2020 18 minutes ago, JimF-LowBari said: I’d like to know the size of Cadets horn line in 2006.... Pretty sure it was 64? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted February 24, 2020 Share Posted February 24, 2020 3 minutes ago, George Dixon said: Pretty sure it was 64? With 70ish rookies as posted above.... couldn’t remember when corps size went up so wondered out loud... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Dixon Posted February 24, 2020 Share Posted February 24, 2020 6 minutes ago, JimF-LowBari said: With 70ish rookies as posted above.... couldn’t remember when corps size went up so wondered out loud... I think it was 60-70 rookies in the whole corps that year, drums and guard aged out a ton and the brass had like 25-30 age out. All from memory perhaps someone else knows more precisely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FTNK Posted February 24, 2020 Share Posted February 24, 2020 7 minutes ago, JimF-LowBari said: With 70ish rookies as posted above.... couldn’t remember when corps size went up so wondered out loud... My apologies, it was 70 rookies in the corps (out of 135). Hornline was the standard (of the time) 64, I think 20 trumpets, 12 mellos, 22 baritones (no euphs) and 10 tubas. Within a few of that, for sure. To illustrate my point about the inexperience of the corps (and stackedness of 2005); there were 7/10 tuba vets in 2005, 2/10 in 2006. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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