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2003 Finals CDs Review


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Why is loud good?  Why can't it be Quality over Quantity??

You might want to ask Shostakovich, Dvorak, Janacek, Bartok, John Adams, Stravinky, Beethoven and many other composers that very question.

Have you ever heard the Chicago Symphony playing the Planets or Shostakovich 1? When those guys open up it is the loudest thing you've ever heard. And it's great. I doubt that any of the band clinicians that know so much about quality would ever say that "this is the wrong way to play" about these performances.

Volume and quality playing can do and should exist together. Bad playing is bad playing, loud or soft.

out,

Derrick

Sure they open up and play loud, but they do it with quality, they match eachother, and they don't play so loud as to alter pitch, like some corps do.

And yes, some of these very good band directors would say that some of those "professionals" do play with bad sounds...and yes, they do.

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Maybe a bit off topic, but it's funny to me that people complain all the time on here about DCI changing for the worst and focusing on the wrong things, which some people say has resulted in the activity becoming much less exciting, and then when PR does a show where they play with old time power and energy (the antithesis of the Cavaliers if you ask me), many people complain that it is "out of control." Both sides are entitled to their opinion, I'm just saying that it's obviously impossible to please everybody. So, if you don't like a certain corps brass, like some of the people in this thread don't particularly like PR, or I don't particularly like Cavaliers, it's not necessarily because one was better or worse, it might just be because the two hornlines value different things, PR valuing power and Cavies valuing ubercleanliness. 'Cause to say PR wasn't as good because they weren't "taught the right sounds with their horns" is flat out RIDICULOUS. They were taught by two of the finest tuba players, and, at that, brass musicians on the planet. To question the pedagogy of Sheridan and Pilafian is just silly and makes you look ignorant.

So because regiments tubas overblew and had pitch issues, made harsh, angry sounds at the end of their show, we should accept it as being correct because two of the best tuba PLAYERS worked with them? That's stupid. Fact is, they didn't sound good at times.

If they were taught the right sounds, they didn't use them in finals.

PHREAK

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Wow, the repressed Phantom Regiment haters are finally leashing out two months after Finals. I'm sorry you didn't find their playing up to par, but it was one of the most enjoyable shows I've ever seen in my life. No corps is perfect and all should strive to improve, but I hope it's not at the expense of the pure emotion and energy that Regiment had in their show this year.

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Why is loud good?  Why can't it be Quality over Quantity??

You might want to ask Shostakovich, Dvorak, Janacek, Bartok, John Adams, Stravinky, Beethoven and many other composers that very question.

Have you ever heard the Chicago Symphony playing the Planets or Shostakovich 1? When those guys open up it is the loudest thing you've ever heard. And it's great. I doubt that any of the band clinicians that know so much about quality would ever say that "this is the wrong way to play" about these performances.

Volume and quality playing can do and should exist together. Bad playing is bad playing, loud or soft.

out,

Derrick

Sure they open up and play loud, but they do it with quality, they match eachother, and they don't play so loud as to alter pitch, like some corps do.

And yes, some of these very good band directors would say that some of those "professionals" do play with bad sounds...and yes, they do.

You seem to think that there is just one universal tone color that all brass music should be played with. There isn't. Tone quality and color is something that needs to be changed and adjusted based on what type of music is being played. What works in some mediums doesn't work in others. So, yes, there are times when brass instruments should be played with a little bit of an edge. There are even some times when they should be played with a level which would be considered crass in other mediums. This goes for drum corps, concert band, and orchestral music. There are times which the sounds you generalize as "harsh" or "bad" are simply fitting to the type of music that is being played.

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You seem to think that there is just one universal tone color that all brass music should be played with. There isn't. Tone quality and color is something that needs to be changed and adjusted based on what type of music is being played. What works in some mediums doesn't work in others. So, yes, there are times when brass instruments should be played with a little bit of an edge. There are even some times when they should be played with a level which would be considered crass in other mediums. This goes for drum corps, concert band, and orchestral music. There are times which the sounds you generalize as "harsh" or "bad" are simply fitting to the type of music that is being played.

Well, thats all fine and dandy if you want to teach your students to do that, but I will never allow my students to play past quality on their instruments.

On a side note, isn't it funny that I was critical of more than one corps, but only one set of fans is getting defensive? Why is that?

HMMM

PHREAK

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thats what I was thinking... I think that might have something to do with the fact that Phantom Fans a reconvinced that Phantom got scrweed in brass. Personally... I have to agree. They won brass in Indy.... but somehow they fall 3 spots in a week. Maybe they shouldn't have won brass, but I thought that they coulda been better than 4th.

Edited by spiritsop01
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The sheer emotional power generated by drum and bugle corps is unique in the world of music. It can make an audiences hair stand on end and bring them to tears at the same time. You might as well ask, "why do cars at the Indianapolis 500 have to go so fast? Safe driving is far superior" or "why climb mountains - a walk up a hill is less dangerous?"

And why do you think quality and quantity are mutually exclusive? Part of the quality of drum corps IS its quantity!

This is the key point of this discussion. While I've been inclined often on these boards to defend the new fashion over the old fashion, there's no denying that a basic element of drum corp's appeal is the old fashioned ability of the brass to make us feel the sound on our skin, not just in our ears.

No one is arguing that Phantom's hornline executed perfectly at finals. What some of us are saying is Phantom's hornline, whatever its flaws, managed to achieve that exquisite balance of execution and power. And that my friends is one of the chief reasons why I want to see (hear?) drum corps.

One more thing regarding recordings and their infalibility. Is there anyone who derives as much satisfaction from hearing the recordings as they do from hearing the same corps live? Probably not. And that's all the evidence I need of how much the recordings distort reality.

HH

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