Troopers

[vaguardguy]

Southwind goes to King Bb instruments this year and look where they ended up this year 15th!  Troopers have gotta either get on board or face the fact they will be a 20ish place corps yearly.  Jim Jones would turn over in his grave if he knew The Troopers were placing so poorly.

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southwind was definetly not 15....better than years past definetly...check your facts on the 15th place thing

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Wow, so he was off by one placement (SW finished 16th). I'd say what's one placement among friends, but maybe you take the CapReg/SW rivalry this past summer a little too far? Either way, what SW accomplished with such young membership and relative lack of predisposed talent is something to admire. Certainly, what they accomplished in their 16th place finish is as (or more) admirable than the placement of certain more talent-packed corps who placed above them. If Troopers can find out how SW made it work (and I personally think they made it work with a very creative, well-thought-out design both musically and visually that incorporated key themes implemented steadily throughout the program), I think they will be going places fast.

I love G bugles, and though I'm comfortable with DCI going Bb (I believe only 2 DivI corps (Pioneer and Troopers) and slightly more than 50% of DivII/III are still in G), I understand the notion of needing "all the new toys" to stay competitive. Unless Troop can come out on G horns and soundly prove to us that they really are better equipment than Bb horns, judges will continue to be skeptical of their performance. They need to not simply come out good, they would need to come out so strong as to leave no doubt in any judges mind who might subconsciously think that since Troop is on G that their brass book will suffer. DCI has its trend-setters, and until you're good enough to play in the same league as them, a competitively lower corps' score will in some ways be in comparison to how well you keep up with them. This is why I can't fault Bluecoats for using amplification. Yes, their corps director was personally against the rule change, but once it was passed I imagine he knew that it was more important to provide his kids a competitive marching experience over sticking to his prior principles. I bet he knew that this was the direction DCI was taking, and he better get with the program lest he fall out. I imagine the same mindset was employed with the Cavaliers who probably understood the value of being at the "cutting edge" of the activity lest one think you're not exploring new elements of drum corps (and DCI is about rewarding innovation, is it not). After all, what is more important? Providing a strong, competitive program for the kids in your corps, or sticking to your principles on how you define drum corps? You can fault the directors for how they vote at rules congresses, but you can't fault them for ensuring the competitive viability of their program. I hope the Troop sticks with G's for sentimental reasons, but I do think that will have to work harder to advance in placement with G horns than with Bb horns.

[bari-tard]

Word on the street is since Nick Angelis is there the Troopers will acquire some Yamaha percussion next year. Maybe the Troopers will possibly get a great deal on a set of Yamaha horns. I think that company would jump at the chance to convert The Troopers to Bb instruments.

Jamie

[MiamiSun76]

southwind was definetly not 15....better than years past definetly...check your facts on the 15th place thing

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Either way, what SW accomplished with such young membership and relative lack of predisposed talent is something to admire. Certainly, what they accomplished in their 16th place finish is as (or more) admirable than the placement of certain more talent-packed corps who placed above them. If Troopers can find out how SW made it work (and I personally think they made it work with a very creative, well-thought-out design both musically and visually that incorporated key themes implemented steadily throughout the program), I think they will be going places fast.

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Sorry to say it, but I disagree heartily on the SW "design". I believe the show, right down to the uniforms and "sharko" were lifted from some Southwestern band show(s). There was little design to it. It was a copy and paste job that, as a booster of that program for the past 3 years, embarrassed me considerably.

But to give credit where it's due, the management team and the BoD pulled rabbits out of hats to finalize the King/Ludwig deal which helped the sound considerably. Also, they managed a fairly trauma-free tour, which they haven't had since I've known them. Those were the keys to 16th place. With a drum corps show, who knows where they could have gone?

[hornsarge]

I will ALWAYS support the Troopers.

'nuff said

[knightsbari]

IMHO the key of your horns doesnt define a corps ... to me Troopers will always bee the Troopers even if they played on Q# horns Id still support em and love em.

[JayM]

I'm not questioning the need for new horns, but the choice of G when the handwriting was on the wall for Bb/F.

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I was thinking the exact same thing. Somebody made a bad decision there.

I can understand why they wanted to stay in G, but to buy an entirely new hornline in G that they probably won't be able to sell in a few years? Where was the thinking in that?

[Pinwiz]

From what I recall reading, it was pretty sound at the time, given the age and condition of some of their old instruments.

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Plus, the corps was able to use the public's goodwill about using G to help fund the purchase. Seems like a good move to me, considering the financial impact any set of new horns would cost the corps.

Personally, I'm a drummer so I don't care.

Edited September 20, 2005 by Pinwiz

[CrunchyTenor]

Plus, the corps was able to use the public's goodwill about using G to help fund the purchase.  Seems like a good move to me, considering the financial impact any set of new horns would cost the corps.

Personally, I'm a drummer so I don't care.

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Think of it this way, Matt. Suppose they'd marched the mallets, or bought a line of traditional, non-free-floating snares with mylar heads. Would the judges be able to look past the choice of instrumentation?

And for Chuck, a follow up question. Were the quality of sound issues due to the brass players having to alter their perception of key and pitch center due to the horns being in G instead of Bb/F? Thanks.

Garry

[sburstall]

Actually, and somebody correct me if I'm mistaken here....

It was Mr. Jones who suggested way back when that DCI jump from V/R right to 3 valves - skipping over the 2V version altogether. He knew we were going to end up there anyway...and he was right. Mr. Jones was more of a visionary than most gave him credit for.

And if I may be so bold - he wouldn't roll over in his grave when we switch to multi-key brass. He'll be jumping up and down & smiling when the corps returns to the tradition of championship-calibre excellence he instilled so many years ago.

Chuck, Jason, Nick and crew --- wagons ho!

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ARGH!!! I'm going to agree here. Mr. Jones would have gone to the multikeys without a problem. He knew what needed to be done to be competative. I'm debated if he would have had Cesario redesign the uniform though.

[TroopersWeb]

ARGH!!!  I'm going to agree here.  Mr. Jones would have gone to the multikeys without a problem.  He knew what needed to be done to be competative.  I'm debated if he would have had Cesario redesign the uniform though. 

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Actually, Steve, under Mr. Jones' direction the Troopers uniform changed several times. We started with simple denim shirts and second-hand Air Scout trousers. From there, the first incarnation of the uniform was developed - then we added trimmings like the gauntlets, cummerbunds and the like.

Over the years, uniform parts came and went but you still knew who we were when we took to the field. That's the part that will never change.