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Is the 35 minimum still a thing?


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4 hours ago, Jeff Ream said:

i have taught those small bands and we learned...we aren't Phantom or SCV. we are 34 musicians, a third of them percussion. and boom the program got a lot better.

 

i have said it here before many times, and I will again...Govies are geniuses. they design for what they have. a couple of years they may have stretched the brass a little too much, but how many times have they missed A Class finals since they first came in? one of the last years in Scranton some corps was out there with like 9 brass and 2 percussion trying to do Crown Imperial like 27th. WTF? and one of the Annapolis years some corps was out there trying to do Fire of Eternal Glory and Firebird with 20 brass or less. WHY? 

 

obviously come summer judges cant really say " you over wrote, start all over"....theres no time. But you see the scores they get, and how many are even still around? has to turn members off when they can't break 75 in todays kinder gentler scoring system

The Govies have some insanely talented people in the corps in all sections. For brass, even though the parts are maybe marked I-II-III, I'm certain there's some leeway like Billy Strayhorn/Duke Ellington used where parts were written or changed with the individual musician in mind.

 

Some of these corps you mention also seem to think one or two fantastic feature players can make or break things. The problem is, the Judge is evaluating the team effort, not just one or two incredible people having a great day. Everyone has to commit and perform. No slackers in the Govies. None.

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On 7/1/2021 at 4:51 AM, BigW said:

The Govies have some insanely talented people in the corps in all sections. For brass, even though the parts are maybe marked I-II-III, I'm certain there's some leeway like Billy Strayhorn/Duke Ellington used where parts were written or changed with the individual musician in mind.

 

Some of these corps you mention also seem to think one or two fantastic feature players can make or break things. The problem is, the Judge is evaluating the team effort, not just one or two incredible people having a great day. Everyone has to commit and perform. No slackers in the Govies. None.

2014 Govies is still one of the best shows that I've gotten to perform in--we had a whopping 13 horns that year, one of who was on the sideline all show.

Edit--our battery and guard were humongous however 😆

Edited by scsudrummer
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21 hours ago, scsudrummer said:

2014 Govies is still one of the best shows that I've gotten to perform in--we had a whopping 13 horns that year, one of who was on the sideline all show.

Edit--our battery and guard were humongous however 😆

I've always felt when I watch the Govies perform that everyone's a hero and performs like it. All respect. And THAT in part is how 13 horns can make things happen.

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On 7/3/2021 at 7:50 PM, scsudrummer said:

2014 Govies is still one of the best shows that I've gotten to perform in--we had a whopping 13 horns that year, one of who was on the sideline all show.

Edit--our battery and guard were humongous however 😆

but they make the balance work

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14 hours ago, Jeff Ream said:

but they make the balance work

Absolutely, and it's all subtle. The Percussion and Brass have a lot of dialogues and trade ideas so one doesn't end up stepping on the other. Great staging. When everything is all out, it's been layered out, everyone knows what they need to do to get the best result with balance.

 

And staying on the topic..... they always have at least 35 people. Maybe the guard was big, maybe Percussion/Front Ensemble was big, but they have 35 people.

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21 hours ago, BigW said:

Absolutely, and it's all subtle. The Percussion and Brass have a lot of dialogues and trade ideas so one doesn't end up stepping on the other. Great staging. When everything is all out, it's been layered out, everyone knows what they need to do to get the best result with balance.

 

And staying on the topic..... they always have at least 35 people. Maybe the guard was big, maybe Percussion/Front Ensemble was big, but they have 35 people.

The Govies' staging is second to none among small corps. There have been times when I would swear they had 80 members performing... when the actual total was closer to 40. 

Everyone in the right place at the right time... and they use their great color guard to "fill in the blanks" visually. 

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On 7/6/2021 at 12:49 PM, Fran Haring said:

The Govies' staging is second to none among small corps. There have been times when I would swear they had 80 members performing... when the actual total was closer to 40. 

Everyone in the right place at the right time... and they use their great color guard to "fill in the blanks" visually. 

Oh, the guard is wonderful. They know what they have to do to tell the story/sell the narrative of the show, and they're compelling as heck. This from the Clowny Baritone player looking for the next break on a hot day during rehearsal. When you're that good that a guy like me notices... 😸

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 6/30/2021 at 12:56 PM, JimF-LowBari said:

I was against the 35 rule until a show organizer I know personally gave me an inside peek. His show had two under 35 member corps and 4 others. Heard enough comments from paying customers that they felt ripped off paying for what was called a 6 corps show. More importantly if the show was like that the following year, they would not attend. Changed my opinion….

Or you can have no shows to host the following years because of lack of corps available to participate because they fold.  Then those paying customers won't be attending. Like what happened over the following years. Pick your poison. 

 

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I rather enjoyed attending one show where one corps "played the game" by meeting the 35 rule head on. 

 

There they were. The same corps with its 11 or so "marching" members on the field. Parked on the sidelines were clearly Family members and even small children with Corps T-shirts snapping their fingers during partial segments of the show. Counted every one of them. Yep 36 "marching members" on the field. 

 

 

Way to stick it to the man...I mean meeting the 35 rule of course. 🙂 

 

Edited by camel lips
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5 minutes ago, camel lips said:

Or you can have no shows to host the following years because of lack of corps available to participate because they fold.  Then those paying customers won't be attending. Like what happened over the following years. Pick your poison. 

 

Unlike your avatar it’s not that easy. Invite corps that some people don’t want to see and you lose customers. Lose customers you could lose money on the show and the corps this show helped to finance. There’s another one of the corps that could fold…

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