Is there anyone here who marched a show from the 2000s onward?

[scheherazadesghost]

On 9/11/2022 at 12:02 PM, IllianaLancerContra said:

I as well admire your enthusiasm.

May I suggest that you also learn the from the past - this is from 1973.  You will see members just as  dedicated then as they are now. It generally follows SCV, this was the first year of the bottle dance.

MAN! I still grin involuntarily from ear to ear when people bring up historical Vanguard doing their thing. SCV magic is undeniable on and off the field to those whose eyes are open to it.

It's strange to essentially straddle that era and the current one. We wore those uniforms, we had the feathers, but whoa momma did we march differently. I can say that I'll never get tired of high mark time/bent leg and gradual direction changes. I almost got to perform the bottle dance in 2004... I was outranked and already getting too much attention, despite my strong desire to do so.

@Weaklefthand4ever is spot on. I'll add to their comment to say that Myron Rosander was the friggin coolest cat of them all. So quiet, so unassuming most of the time... I remember his comments from the box being like gold. Even when he was telling us we weren't "Vanguard enough," which I have forgiven him for. I guess I just took it more seriously coming from him. He also had an incredible ability to disappear and reappear when and where we least expected him. LOL I even dressed up like him on "Dress Like Your Favorite Staff Member Day" when he was still with us consistently. Making him laugh with embarrassment was a highlight of marching career, especially the second year I did it. But, to weaky's point, he never scared or intimidated me like he seemed to do to others (don't get me wrong, his rage was real!) But catch him any other time and he was gentle, curious, and humble to a fault. The other folks I still admire in drum corps (or alum now) embody this quality of Myron's beautifully. I gave both of the Vanguard stars I earned to Myron on their respective finals days... just as a token of my respect... and hope that he could find peace within himself.

@Orwellian Wiress : Fan girl away, but know that the ones who know the way will gently pull you down from cloud 9, back to earth, so we can chill and geek about about band together. 🙂 (Or, in Myron's case, so we can geek out about LIFE together.)

And @KVG_DC, ya gotta go easy on those oldtimer cameramen. You remember the cameras back then! They were monstrosities. Although, to your point, why were they whipping them around so fast? OUCH! lulz

[KVG_DC]

Hah. yes cameras in that day were the size of a marcher's torso.  

I was just a bit bewildered that they'd keep that bit in an edited video segment.   

It was also a matter of "the more things change, the more they seem the same."    But you can almost hear some Flo intern saying, "See, this is how drum corps was filmed BITD, so that's how we're doing it."

Edited September 13, 2022 by KVG_DC

[cfirwin3]

2001... honestly, things up through the end of the decade were pretty static to the the very late 80's and onward with respect to design.  1990-2005 really didn't see much change.  I would say 1987-ish to about 2010 are pretty comparable apart from a few changes to the size of groups and the earliest introduction of electronics.  I have done some YouTube video commentaries on my personal account over the last few years that directly compare shows from these different eras.  Some folks miss the point and accuse me of jockeying (usually for the newer shows), but that's not the case.  My comparisons mostly conclude that very little has changed over the years with respect to the constraints in music and visual writing.  The differences are far more stylistic (and minor) than they are functional and material.

[jjeffeory]

1 hour ago, cfirwin3 said:

2001... honestly, things up through the end of the decade were pretty static to the the very late 80's and onward with respect to design.  1990-2005 really didn't see much change.  I would say 1987-ish to about 2010 are pretty comparable apart from a few changes to the size of groups and the earliest introduction of electronics.  I have done some YouTube video commentaries on my personal account over the last few years that directly compare shows from these different eras.  Some folks miss the point and accuse me of jockeying (usually for the newer shows), but that's not the case.  My comparisons mostly conclude that very little has changed over the years with respect to the constraints in music and visual writing.  The differences are far more stylistic (and minor) than they are functional and material.

Oh you're THAT guy...

Star 1991 versus BD Felini, or some BD show in the 2010's, I don't remember exactly, but I do remember that I disagreed with a good portion of your assessments there. It was entertaining to hear a different perspective. I was particularly amused by the lack of credit given to players from older shows on how they sounded on G Bugles, and not the most up-to-date one's at that. Also, no appreciation of the fact that all of the brass players were playing on instruments that we NOT their primary instruments. If you haven't gone from concert instruments to G bugles, you don't really know what the adjustment is like.... ANYWAY....  

Edited September 16, 2022 by jjeffeory

[cfirwin3]

7 hours ago, jjeffeory said:

Oh you're THAT guy...

Star 1991 versus BD Felini, or some BD show in the 2010's, I don't remember exactly, but I do remember that I disagreed with a good portion of your assessments there. It was entertaining to hear a different perspective. I was particularly amused by the lack of credit given to players from older shows on how they sounded on G Bugles, and not the most up-to-date one's at that. Also, no appreciation of the fact that all of the brass players were playing on instruments that we NOT their primary instruments. If you haven't gone from concert instruments to G bugles, you don't really know what the adjustment is like.... ANYWAY....  

It's NOT versus.  That's why you disagree.  The point of those exercises was to demonstrate that the balance in visual/musical writing with respect to member responsibility hasn't really changed.  If one comes into the comparison with a zero sum mentality... they will completely miss the point.  As you can see in the comments, several folks miss the point.  Most of them accuse me of bashing the old and propping up the new... and they are wrong.

For what it's worth, I played G horns in DCI.  I maintain that the effect of the shift is extremely overstated.  G horns required very little mental adjustment to play well... all of this considering that the midline players have always had to adjust and still do today, many tuba players play on instruments that are not Bb/C and trumpet players play an array of keyed instruments in their study (I was working Eb Trumpet literature and A picc when I played a G mello with the Bluecoats... and I wasn't alone in that dynamic).  These groups spend an hour+ in daily tuning and balance exercises (as they did 40 years ago).  The key of the instruments is irrelevant.

Edited September 16, 2022 by cfirwin3

[jjeffeory]

10 hours ago, cfirwin3 said:

It's NOT versus.  That's why you disagree.  The point of those exercises was to demonstrate that the balance in visual/musical writing with respect to member responsibility hasn't really changed.  If one comes into the comparison with a zero sum mentality... they will completely miss the point.  As you can see in the comments, several folks miss the point.  Most of them accuse me of bashing the old and propping up the new... and they are wrong.

For what it's worth, I played G horns in DCI.  I maintain that the effect of the shift is extremely overstated.  G horns required very little mental adjustment to play well... all of this considering that the midline players have always had to adjust and still do today, many tuba players play on instruments that are not Bb/C and trumpet players play an array of keyed instruments in their study (I was working Eb Trumpet literature and A picc when I played a G mello with the Bluecoats... and I wasn't alone in that dynamic).  These groups spend an hour+ in daily tuning and balance exercises (as they did 40 years ago).  The key of the instruments is irrelevant.

I disagree. It's fine. I've also switch from concert to G. And it was a significant adjustment and switching back and forth in the winter was difficult to get used to. Have fun with your videos though!

 

...and I thought you marched Bluecoats mellophone post 2K, so I don't know exactly how you marched with G bugles. I thought Bloo made the switch pretty quickly after the rule change. I've never had problems switching between G mellophones and Eb Alto horns and F mellophones. 

It is certainly something that needs to be more heavily considered when comparing the different shows...

Edited September 16, 2022 by jjeffeory

[Old Corps Guy]

Please define "Marched" as it is my understanding that it has been "choreography" for quite some time.