Brass arranging + role of the caption head

[kdaddy]

My mynd went down a rabbit hole at the news that a couple former Cadets designers/staff would be joining Cavies next year.l, and I got to thinking about Bocook vs Saucedo.

Both have tremendously successful careers and have created incredible brass moments over the years. Naturally, they have different styles, but one seems to be a little more "fresh" (Bocook with Cadets and BK) than the other (Saucedo with Cavies recently, a few years at Blue Stars).

So... to what extent is brass effect driven by the caption head and education program? Could it be that Bocook just had a better team to implement dynamics and tweaks as the season went on, or is it largely driven by the original arrangement?

(The above takes as an axiom that indeed Bocook has been more effective in recent years compared to Saucedo) 

[BlueStainGlass]

Saucedo has a certain style IMO that almost always sounds the same and doesn't work anymore. Bocock has a style that has continued to evolve where you can tell it's his but sounds different every year. I mean Bocock wrote for Cadets and BK at a time and you would have never known. Personally, I like seeing the new people grow and move up the ranks now.

 

I will also add I played a Saucedo book and wasn't a fan of it so some of this is a bias. 

[kdaddy]

7 minutes ago, BlueStainGlass said:

Saucedo has a certain style IMO that almost always sounds the same and doesn't work anymore. Bocock has a style that has continued to evolve where you can tell it's his but sounds different every year. I mean Bocock wrote for Cadets and BK at a time and you would have never known. Personally, I like seeing the new people grow and move up the ranks now.

 

I will also add I played a Saucedo book and wasn't a fan of it so some of this is a bias. 

What role did the caption head play in changing/improving it over the season?

[jwillis35]

53 minutes ago, kdaddy said:

So... to what extent is brass effect driven by the caption head and education program? Could it be that Bocook just had a better team to implement dynamics and tweaks as the season went on, or is it largely driven by the original arrangement?

I like both arrangers. Both are experienced, though over the long haul Bocook has had my personal favorite books. But I think the arranging style comes down to show theme, story, or concept as driven by the program coordinator and design team. The Cadets often worked music first and then designed the visual to bring Bocook's musical vision (along with percussion staff) to life on the field. 

To me one of the issues with Cavaliers this year was, IMO (I do not know for sure), Saucedo was likely asked to arrange to visual ideas the Cavaliers wanted to pull off. A more difficult process if you ask me. It is a process that can be very successful, but ONLY if the source material for music pans out. It did not this year...though I did love the ballad. Really well done. 

To be fair, for many years Bocook had some great people to work with at Cadets. Cadets percussion staff in those days was magnificent and usually took their musical cues from the more melodic approach of Bocook. Bring in Jeff Sacktig and Marc Sylvester who would craft their visual ideas to the music, and Gino and others who could teach so well and you often had shows that medaled and were fantastic. 

But Saucedo also had a magical staff to work with back in the 2000s with the Cavaliers. They took a different approach but they made it work. They were usually on the same page. I do not think Saucedo's arrangements were the issue as much as the source material they chose and the visual and conceptual ideas they were trying to invoke on the field. Those little things can sometimes turn into big things when the ideas do not line-up. Then the season hits and you fiddle with it until it becomes even more convoluted and then you really can't recover because there are not enough rehearsal days to make big sweeping changes in a 6-week tour. 

[BlueStainGlass]

20 minutes ago, kdaddy said:

What role did the caption head play in changing/improving it over the season?

It was dissonant there was no improving 😅

[jwillis35]

1 hour ago, kdaddy said:

So... to what extent is brass effect driven by the caption head and education program? Could it be that Bocook just had a better team to implement dynamics and tweaks as the season went on, or is it largely driven by the original arrangement?

As to this question, the basic job of the brass caption head is to teach the music, build the fundamentals of the players, make them aware of the demands, and to bring out the musical qualities for the arrangers book. 

But there is a crossover here. Most of the arrangers work closely with the brass caption head after each camp as they assess demand, musical issues, ideas, etc. Harloff and Klesch at Crown have always had this wonderful relationship. Over the years MK has produced some amazing arrangements for Crown and I personally love his writing. MH knows how to teach and likely has a lot of input into overall construction as they move from camp to camp and through spring training and beyond. The relationship between caption head and arranger needs to be close with a lot of crossover -- not to mention how they work with percussion staff. I doubt it's ever a situation of "just play the notes I wrote and don't change anything." 

 

[Liahona]

20 minutes ago, jwillis35 said:

Those little things can sometimes turn into big things when the ideas do not line-up. Then the season hits and you fiddle with it until it becomes even more convoluted and then you really can't recover because there are not enough rehearsal days to make big sweeping changes in a 6-week tour. 

Well unless you are the 1976 Madison Scouts....