Brass Ensemble Amplification

[Jeff Ream]

9 hours ago, wilme861 said:

Again, the brass judge is on the sideline in front of the speakers so how would they know? There’s no hiding out on the field. If the judge is in front of you, they’ll hear the strong players and the weaker ones just the same.

It’s all about upstairs 

[cixelsyd]

15 hours ago, wilme861 said:

You aren’t forced to mic though. Designers now have that option which wasn’t one prior to amplification.

Riiiiight.  I suppose no one is "forced" to field snare drums, much less 7 to 9 of them playing unison parts.  And it is total coincidence that every single corps capable of competing at a world-class level chooses the same "option".

With many things in DCI, there are "options", but only one option is the competitively correct one.

15 hours ago, wilme861 said:

What’s the “right way”?

Today, the "right way" is to use a mic for brass solos.

[DAvery]

1 hour ago, jwillis35 said:

What people are saying is 1) the judge doesn't care that they are mic'd,

Question one: Can the brass judge distinguish which ensembles are mic-ing select players? While full field mic's are obvious, is this more recent phenomenon of the full time mic-ing select players within the ensemble even detectable? 

Question two:. If there are two brass ensembles that are performing at the same level and one is mic-ed, who should be rewarded with a higher score? 

[wilme861]

1 hour ago, Jeff Ream said:

It’s all about upstairs 

Exactly, it’s on those judges, not the brass judge on the field.

[Hrothgar15]

11 hours ago, DAvery said:

I would think (hope?) the brass judges would score a brass ensemble that relies on ensemble amplification (or select players) a lower achievement score. 

That is not what happens. 

[DAvery]

1 hour ago, Hrothgar15 said:

That is not what happens. 

Why?

[Turnadot]

The brass ensembles that ranked 2-6 last night all mic individual players that are not soloists. I’m uncertain if the group that ranked 1st does.

[Ediker]

Wait until the day visual can be electronically enhanced the same way audio is today… when the three best rifles are videoed and duplicated across the field. 

[DAvery]

12 minutes ago, Turnadot said:

The brass ensembles that ranked 2-6 last night all mic individual players that are not soloists. I’m uncertain if the group that ranked 1st does.

By ranked do you mean brass or overall score? If brass ranking, you are claiming that BD, Crown, Bluecoats, Cadets and PR all mic certain brass players through the entire performance.  How can this be verified? 

[MGCpimpOtimp]

1 hour ago, Turnadot said:

The brass ensembles that ranked 2-6 last night all mic individual players that are not soloists. I’m uncertain if the group that ranked 1st does.

Mandarins does not mic individuals besides soloists. Phantom mics all their tubas, but no individual mics on the rest of the hornline. Boston/Bloo/Crown have 2ish mics per part.