ThePlanets Posted July 28, 2023 Share Posted July 28, 2023 1 hour ago, Cappybara said: That's a pretty great perspective actually. Never thought of it that way. All of the top hornlines are fantastic and as evidenced by how often the top corps have traded around the brass caption this season already, it is also very highly contested. I would like to think, however, that the brass scores are less relevant in the audience's minds during a performance than the tonality of the corps as well as the compositions that are being played. BD, Bloo, and Crown are three corps that stand out to me as having very distinct ensemble sounds. Boston is now approaching that as well with Gino. The latter three tend to have more traditional sound structures to their chords and overall compositions, which I believe is a sound that has a lot more mass appeal. Crown in particular sounds like a well tuned organ year after year. BD, on the other hand, is unapologetically top heavy in their sound every year. They don't ignore the low end, but I don't think there's a single corps out there that emphasizes the high brass as much as BD. For some, that's a different but still great sound. For others, it isn't nearly as appealing to listen to as corps with a more traditional sound balance. When I first started following drum corps, I was a HUGE fan of Phantom Regiment's and Carolina Crown's sound. Turandot and For the Common Good in 2012 were the shows that technically sold me on drum corps (though my first exposures to DCI were technically SCV 1989, Cadets 1984, and Boston 2000 over video). At the time (a foolish high schooler about to start college), I really disliked BD and their sound. I felt like they sounded UN-balanced and unnatural, it just wasn't a sound I was used to. It wasn't until I finally started seeing them live where I was sold. They have a "sizzle" and liveliness to their sound that not many corps have. This is my long winded way of saying that I think you are in the right direction regarding there being a disconnect in the audience's minds between BD and the rest of the corps musically. But I don't really think it has to do with the scores. I don't think the average audience member is discerning enough to be able to tell obvious differences between the top 4-5 hornlines beyond differences in volume, tonality, and of course the degree of accessibility of the compositions. I think that BD's stylistic choices both in tonality and composition are the reason why they have sometimes have less mass appeal than the other top corps. Since 2014, BD has changed the accessibility of their compositions in a positive direction, but they have remained unapologetically BD in their tonality through these years. And while I personally love them for that, I acknowledge that many do not or will not. I do admit there were some killer cords in dreams and nighthawk that only BD can pull off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kdaddy Posted July 28, 2023 Share Posted July 28, 2023 Apropos of nothing, other than I sent it to friends this morning... If you accept doing arithmetic on ordinal values, BD's average finals placement since (and including) 1994: 1.7 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnZ Posted July 28, 2023 Share Posted July 28, 2023 while a few folks here take a little time off to cool down, the rest of you please remember to keep the conversation civil and on topic. we thank you for your cooperation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kdaddy Posted July 28, 2023 Share Posted July 28, 2023 51 minutes ago, MikeRapp said: Seems these discussions have gotten less accusatory over the last couple of years, which is probably good. BD may not be everyone's cup of gatorade, but at least they aren't doing shows like 09, 10, 12, 13, which many fans, including me, found to be pretentious for pretentious sake. I've personally been entertained by BD for the last decade, and I'd say a lot of folks have too. I think that helps the discourse. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Guns Posted July 28, 2023 Share Posted July 28, 2023 (edited) 7 minutes ago, kdaddy said: BD may not be everyone's cup of gatorade, but at least they aren't doing shows like 09, 10, 12, 13, which many fans, including me, found to be pretentious for pretentious sake. I've personally been entertained by BD for the last decade, and I'd say a lot of folks have too. I think that helps the discourse. I agree. Outside of a few people here and there, BD has gotten lots of love on DCP since 2014. 2010-2013, this forum was like walking into a Lions Den. Edited July 28, 2023 by Chief Guns 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cappybara Posted July 28, 2023 Author Share Posted July 28, 2023 5 minutes ago, Chief Guns said: I agree. Outside of a few people here and there, BD has gotten lots of love on DCP since 2014. 2010-2013, this forum was like walking into a Lions Den. I may or may not have been one of the ones contributing to it being a lions den! I was a bit of a hater in the early moments of my DCI fandom 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DWW11 Posted July 28, 2023 Share Posted July 28, 2023 1 minute ago, Cappybara said: I may or may not have been one of the ones contributing to it being a lions den! I was a bit of a hater in the early moments of my DCI fandom Live and learn! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sh0uldN0t Posted July 28, 2023 Share Posted July 28, 2023 21 hours ago, ContraFart said: No but the implication that most people make is that BD wins because of talent and staff cohesion as if no other corps has that. I have said many times that the top 4 or 5 corps are essentially equal when it comes to talent and staff, so that's why I have an issue with a single corps winning 60% of the time. Generally the same, yes. The difference is BD is the only corps that consistently draws from the other top 5 corps. I know there are exceptions. I know some of them personally. But generally, BD has the advantage of being able to attract more talent than the others. Whether their motivation is a life-long dream to march Blue Devils or just to improve their chances at a championship, this migration imbalance has the double impact of improving BD's profile while diminishing the others. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DWW11 Posted July 28, 2023 Share Posted July 28, 2023 1 minute ago, Sh0uldN0t said: Generally the same, yes. The difference is BD is the only corps that consistently draws from the other top 5 corps. I know there are exceptions. I know some of them personally. But generally, BD has the advantage of being able to attract more talent than the others. Whether their motivation is a life-long dream to march Blue Devils or just to improve their chances at a championship, this migration imbalance has the double impact of improving BD's profile while diminishing the others. It’s like this for sports in general. Parents move so kid can play sport they excel at at a school that can get them to the next level. Which is why it is so important for the Devs to keep winning. As more corps get close, the kids have more options on where to take their talents. If they start losing, the talent will start heading elsewhere. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DWW11 Posted July 28, 2023 Share Posted July 28, 2023 Ambien is kicking in. Thanks @Cappybarafor starting this thread. It’s been an interesting one! 🤣🤣🤣 💙😈✂️✂️✂️ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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