GMichael1230 Posted July 12, 2005 Share Posted July 12, 2005 To anyone who says visuals are JUST as or more important, I ask you.....how many times do you watch a drum corps Video or DVD with the sound turned off???? Would you ever? no.How many of you buy drum corps CDs, MP3s, etc and LISTEN to teh shows without WATCHING them???? WHY? becuase you listen and imagine the visual...you don't watch and imagine the audio............ visuals are cool, but music wins! <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Bingo !!!! "Back in the day: when audiences easily topped 30,000....corps all had a "park and bark" secion that was cheered wildly. NO corps, absolutely NO corps of the hundreds that existed did a three minute silent drill....name one While park and bark isnt needed today, in my opinion, to bring us full circle, it is true that the music must stand on its oen first, then the rest fills in the gaps to make the show(s) that much more enjoyable, accesible,and successful. And plese, dont reference 93 Star, ot 99 SCV, its the way they presented the music that made these shows visual programs that much more desireable. ~G~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lance Posted July 12, 2005 Share Posted July 12, 2005 I watch Cavies '03 on mute all the time. Don't care about the music, love the drill. But I agree with things that GMich and Krista are saying. Music is most important to me. Heck, that's the main thing that attracts me to shows like '95 Scouts and '93 BD. But, that's just me. I'm sure there are a lot of people out there who care less about music than visual. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glory Posted July 12, 2005 Share Posted July 12, 2005 First, and for the record, I'd like to state there is no need to return drum corps to me. I'm happy that it remains in the public domain for all to enjoy. But thanks for your concern. Now, as for great music and drum corps, I suppose it's in how we define great. If by great, anyone has in mind "popular" or "recognizable," then we can rule that out as a factor in some of our all-time favorite drum corps shows. Madison's popular '75 show included the rather obscure "Slaughter on 10th Avenue." Phantom's '96 show began with the "Introduction to the Fourth Ballet Suite." Seriously, how many of us heard of the "Fourth Ballet Suite" before Phantom taught us something (woops, there's that pesky education thing). So maybe we'll define great music as music that sounds great. Problem with that is you and I might not agree what sounds great. The critics didn't like Phantom of the Opera, but most people did, so SCV gets the pass on that one. Still, the problem remains. What's great? Star chose Respighi's Roman portraits for its first-place show. Do we agree that the Pines of Roman are deserving of the "great" label? Do we put Respighi's Pines and Shostakovich's ballet and Kenton's "Artistry in Rhythm" (Kingsmen '74) in the same category? Artistry in Rhythm begs another question. There was a generation for whom Stan Kenton made "popular" music. That generation is passing and surely Kenton has only a niche following among today's young folk. So can we be sure today's generation and the next generation will be as willing as I am to put Artistry in Rhythm in the great category? Will the next generation agree with us that "MacArthur Park" or "Ya Gotta Try" are sure things where great music is concerned? Long before 1993, I thought Barber's "Medea" was great music. So when Star played it in '93, I was thrilled. Others weren't. They said at the time the music didn't work in drum corps. Some of them have learned since (darn, that education thing again!) to like Medea. So I guess my point is great is good in the abstract. As a formula for improving drum corps, it's a moving target. It's not all bad though. Flailing around for that sure thing sometimes teaches us (more education!!) there's more greatness than we thought possible. HH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMichael1230 Posted July 12, 2005 Share Posted July 12, 2005 I watch Cavies '03 on mute all the time. Don't care about the music, love the drill. But I agree with things that GMich and Krista are saying. Music is most important to me. Heck, that's the main thing that attracts me to shows like '95 Scouts and '93 BD. But, that's just me. I'm sure there are a lot of people out there who care less about music than visual. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> And you know? It's funny, and not that I would agree(maybe at gunpoint ^0^ ) but the corps with the most titles is also the corps that is criticized most for lack of (apparent) difficulty in their drill........it seems music is what wins titles...I would love someone to take a look at the captions and see just how many champions have won the visual captions as opposed to music captions..or both. ~G~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMichael1230 Posted July 12, 2005 Share Posted July 12, 2005 HH, Interesting angle.....one way to gauge what is deemed popular, or "great" is to look at sales in mainstream life. I would bet that Kenton has had more sales than Sparke.......you know what I mean ?? I would be willing to bet that more people would rather listen to Shostakovich than Smith .... ~G~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glory Posted July 12, 2005 Share Posted July 12, 2005 I know what you mean, though I doubt sales alone can define greatness. I think, for instance, that the Cadet's ballad this year is one of the greatest things I've heard on the drum corps field. But I don't think it will have much in the way of commercial legs. It may be one of those tunes that like Shostakovich's "Fire of Eternal Glory" will be great in the drum corps idiom and hardly anywhere else. Heck, think about Madison favorites such as "Malaga" or "Strawberry Soup." I bet you won't find them in most jazz canons. Drum corps gives them a life they otherwise might never have had because they're "great" but not popular or commercial success. HH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsreed Posted July 12, 2005 Share Posted July 12, 2005 I went to two shows this year and left feeling a little excited, but mostly unfulfilled. The performers were fine, not worse or better than over the past 20+ years. Some shows sounded like chord progressions, which equates to boring and unexciting drum corps. Other than Classical and Jazz, Pop music has given drum corps tons of entertaining shows. For Example: Ice Castles. Although I can't imagine some of today's pop music on the field, especially rap music, there must be more entertaining music available somewhere. How about a little No Doubt or Green Day. I also try to introduce or reintroduce new people to the activity every year. I take them to the show and introduce them to the people at the souvie stands. We go out to the parking lot. They get the whole tour. Ultimately it is the performances that will cause them to buy the next ticket, which is what I want them to do. Over the past few years, I haven't had any repeats. In fact a person who has been going to shows with me for 15+ years has decided this is not the drum corps he fell in love with, it's not entertaining, so he didn't go to shows this year. I will probably get him to Finals if they're on the West Coast next year. I'm sorry, but I just don't know any other way of saying this. Drum corps, to me, has been boring for some time. Instead of naming off the top 12 to 8 awesome shows in any given year, I can name two from last year. Why suffer through ten slightly interesting, uninteresting or even repulsive shows to get the the two or three you like? Like my father-in-law says, life's too short to have a bad dog. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCImonkey Posted July 12, 2005 Share Posted July 12, 2005 I like that drumcorps introduces me to new things. Musically, I've been introduced to numerous pieces, composers....even styles. There were shows, that were....excuse the lame term....obscure (read: i didn't know it therefore i didn't like it) but after multiple listenings, these shows became my favorites. My musical tastes expanded and I began to enjoy more and more genres of music. In a word.... drumcorps has made me more musically "literate". I appreciate it more and more every year and it is because every year there is something new for me to chew on. Some years are better than others.... but I do not long for the past...as I've been there and done that. I enjoyed Birdland and Malaguena, but if I hear them again for the 399th time, I just don't know what I'd do. I don't want corps to write a show "accessible" for me....I want to make myself "accessible" to the corps and take in what they give me. Perhaps I might like it.....perhaps I won't. Above all, give me something different than what I've already heard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MN DCI Fan Posted July 12, 2005 Share Posted July 12, 2005 I don't want corps to write a show "accessible" for me....I want to make myself "accessible" to the corps and take in what they give me. Perhaps I might like it.....perhaps I won't. Above all, give me something different than what I've already heard. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> This is one of the wisest things I've seen said on this topic...well done! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMichael1230 Posted July 13, 2005 Share Posted July 13, 2005 I like that drumcorps introduces me to new things. Musically, I've been introduced to numerous pieces, composers....even styles. There were shows, that were....excuse the lame term....obscure (read: i didn't know it therefore i didn't like it) but after multiple listenings, these shows became my favorites. My musical tastes expanded and I began to enjoy more and more genres of music. In a word.... drumcorps has made me more musically "literate". I appreciate it more and more every year and it is because every year there is something new for me to chew on. Some years are better than others.... but I do not long for the past...as I've been there and done that. I enjoyed Birdland and Malaguena, but if I hear them again for the 399th time, I just don't know what I'd do. I don't want corps to write a show "accessible" for me....I want to make myself "accessible" to the corps and take in what they give me. Perhaps I might like it.....perhaps I won't. Above all, give me something different than what I've already heard. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I happen to totally agree with you. I remember that first year, 1979, I was awed and in shock, but there was a great mixture, I was taken in right away by what was familiar and then intrugued by what was new or "foreign" to me. Back in the "day you had more corps doing much more variety, catering to the masses...now it seems the audience is rather small and its hard to add new people and music choice could be a major factor. By 1981 I had my favorites and I remember sayign "What are they playing" and not understanding what I was hearing, unil I was fmailiar with it, eventually through the years buying source music cd's by the dozens to be prepared... I think that if the music is more accessible, or if cors actually played more "songs" the audiences will feel more satisfied and apt to spend more on shows and go to more shows...imo ~G~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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