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Has Drill Design for brass regressed over the past 20 years?


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Let me state two things before I continue:

1.  There is no doubt that the performer skills demonstrated on the field now have never been higher.

2. I am posing this question to you in the "Historical" forum because you have a broader experience in what the activity has put on the field beyond the past 2 or 3 years.

I am watching some of the "leading" shows over the past few years and see that the show design is heavily influenced by winter guard and winter drumline.   Unfortunately I believe many of these shows have left the brass drill design primarily focused on staging transitions and body movement.  To fully appreciate what I am referring to, go back and watch Cavaliers 2002.  Not only did the brass play much more (a different topic)  but they were consistently used to generate "WOW" visual effects through the drill design.  Cavaliers are one of the best examples but not the only one.

So, Has Drill Design for brass regressed over the past 20 years?

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hi Rudy -

Thanks for posting an interesting question here in the historical forum - 

I have been lamenting the change in the activity. I realize that creative art can not remain static but...

I was thinking this morning and the thought percolated up in my mind that to compare drum corps from differing eras is much like comparing art from different periods - we can compare a Rembrandt to a Picaso - we can acknowledge that they are both artworks in the medium of painting - but wow! What a difference!!

I agree with your points about drill and visual being driven by the winter activity - another interesting aspect of modern drill is that it's designed on a computer vs. paper - when writing drill on a computer the designer is aided by infinite paths and possibilities for the transition from set to set - writing drill on paper... not so much - the transitions are limited to the drill writers creativity - where as on a computer, the PC can suggest infinite insanely crazy possibilities --

We could go on and on and we would probably agree on your point - but ultimately, the past is past and the activity is only going to move forward --

Perhaps there will be fads and fashions that refer to old styles in drill design.

Edited by tedrick
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  • 4 weeks later...

I think designs are better, however, no one will be better than Zingali or Brubaker! I don't think technique is better than the past. Ever watch any corps in a parade? Guard doesn't even know how to keep in step and do they hold a flag pole in a parade anymore? The idea of military bearing has gone extinct, and I understand the change in the activity, but it is definitely missed. With that....flail away!

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