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Amplification Is Good!


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what the corps really need is just time.

while everyone and their brother has an opinon on amps right now, the truth is that it will take a few years to stabilize as the corps figure out what works and what doesn't. the only way they can do that is through trial and error. right now, some corps I feel are erroring (BD), some others are on the right path (CBC) but the whole thing takes time and I plan on sitting back and enjoying the exparimentation that is going to go on in the next few years with this new opportunity.

John Cage was a very smart man.

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The physics of sound makes it very hard to do that. To project audibly all the way to the box in a professional football stadium (going thrrough thousands of fans in the process) would be near impossible. You would need to get the entire corps to get in on it. This has been done with BD 03, Boston 00, Pio 02, and I'm sure more. Even then the sound is relatively soft. To get the balance the designers are going for the drum speak needs to be miced. Especially if they want pit and or horns at the same time. I haven't heard Cadets, but I think that Bluecoats make effective use of it.

And to reiterate what KingJoe said, it will take time for designers to figure out what works with this new tool. I think they are finding that the singing doesn't work and most vocalization doesn't work. Time will tell, but I don't think it's all bad.

*Help! I think I may have crossed over to the dark side* :worthy:

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I don't think I've ever pondered a single question on this forum with more intensity.

I think amping one's udu is a misdemeanor in some societies.

But it does sound like fun and if anyone's tried it in the privacy of their own home, please PM me.

Sorry to hijack the serious nature of your question. It just struck me as something I couldn't allow to pass.

Someone out there...I'd like to see an avatar proclaiming, "Amp your udu." It would make a great button as well (and a great name for a rock band) and should be considered as the title for Crunchy Frog's next venture. It would also make a good response to someone who just insulted you. Person 1: "Yeah. I wouldn't expect anything different from you." Person 2—(you): "Amp your udu."

It's also fun to say fast several times in-a-row. I want to see this become the DCP catch phrase of the year. How about a t-shirt as well? Are you with me?

Okay, it's official. I am experiencing sleep deprivation.

Mike

Mike...

Thanks for giving me both the hardiest laugh I've had in a long time, and nightmares for at least a week at the thought of amped udus.

However, sticking to the topic:

AMPS... <**> <**> <**>

DON'T LIKE 'EM, DON'T THINK THEY'RE NECESSARY (or even artisticly beneficial)...AND FIRMLY BELIEVE THEY ARE LEADING TO THE DEMISE OF SMALLER CORPS!!! (my opinion, and I'm sticking to it)

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(snip)

So, what exactly is your point?

If it's as your title suggests, that "amplification is good", you sure shoot yourself in the foot naming what you don't like about it. Kind of ambivalent, it seems.

All in all, all any of us do is hear ourselves speak (or is that type?) here, so if you're looking to change anyones opinions on the amplification issue, that's not going to happen. The past few days, via posts and PM's, I've seen that there are too many egos. too much internet courage, and too much potshotting to prevent any real debate...not that it matters. It's legal. It's not going away.

It also sucks to see one billion pages about it on DCP...but if it wasn't a hot-button issue, that wouldn't be the case.

Amps rule. Amps suck.

Either way, your opinion makes no difference.

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Here's your Udu Avitar:

UDUAva.jpg

Anyone, feel free to use it.

Love it! I think it's something people on both sides of the issue and those with no opinion either way can smile at. Good work!

Mike

Edited by Michael Boo
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Jeff ........If you think your old try this on for size. I come from an era whose philosophy was............."if you can't carry it..............you shouldn't be playing it......" Obviously, to me, amps are out of the question. (still trying to get used to a PIT. But, having said that, I guess if it's good enough for the Marines it's good enough for me.)

Heh, came in for the last few years of marching tymp and bells (started before most corps even HAD marching bells).

One of the things I enjoyed most about early corps was that the sound coming off the field was honest. If you didn't have enough low range or drums (or lousy players in either) that was just tough and you dealt the best you could with the problem. Or as they say in Sprint Car circles "You run what you brung".

OK, what the heck did that paragraph have to do with the current amp situation?

Amps were originally brought in to help the pit. Before the first amped season was over a bunch of corps were amping vocals and singing. What I see in the near future is amps and electronics used to help the balance in all sound making sections of the corps. Have already seen enough posts that "getting the best sound is the only thing that matters" so this would be the next logical step to achieve that. And if that sound too wierd and "never will happen" for you consider a few years ago the majority of corps fans would say that Bb and amps would never happen either. Not to mention creating pits a decade or so earlier.

Edit: Pits also were originally optional. Anyone care to guess what a corps would lose off their score if they didn't have 10 tons of stuff in the pit area today. (Ripped off from a thread I started about a year ago.)

Edited by JimF-xWSMBari
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