judges' comments on TAPE

[sburstall]

god forbid DCI does something high-tech.

~>conner

Why change something that working perfectly and does what it's suppose to do?

Oh wait, we've already had that arguement about changing for the sake of change.

[marchinalong8]

Maybe its just something that hasnt been brought up yet. I mean sure tapes are the easiest to make and hand out. I believe cd's even digital recorders would work, but then again it would most likely be chosen on easiest to use and distribute.

[Matthew]

Western Band Association is going to a digital recording system. Here is what I found on their website

"This year WBA will be going to a digital system for recording judges’ commentary. We might also use this to enter scores and there is the potential we could include the visual recording of the band (at least for Champs) on this one DVD. There are many options for us to explore through this process. There will be a technical expert brought in to brief everyone on this operation and it’s potential.

Lynn and George Lindstrom will also be present to discuss this year’s championship management." --Western Band Association

www.westernband.info (home page)

Or you can go directly to the page it was found on:

http://westernband.info/news/051106.html

Hopefully each judge will be a "track" on the DVD, so the director can just rip each track for each caption head/tech.

[walder]

Western Band Association is going to a digital recording system. Here is what I found on their website

"This year WBA will be going to a digital system for recording judges’ commentary. We might also use this to enter scores and there is the potential we could include the visual recording of the band (at least for Champs) on this one DVD. There are many options for us to explore through this process. There will be a technical expert brought in to brief everyone on this operation and it’s potential.

Lynn and George Lindstrom will also be present to discuss this year’s championship management." --Western Band Association

www.westernband.info (home page)

Or you can go directly to the page it was found on:

http://westernband.info/news/051106.html

Hopefully each judge will be a "track" on the DVD, so the director can just rip each track for each caption head/tech.

what a horrid system...it only allows one person to have all critique comments and then split them up, presumely hours later...will never work for dci when all captions have their individual tapes only moments after the corps comes off the field...the majority of marching band competitions also do not have a critique, so it isnt essential that you have the judges comments prior to meeting with them, since you dont meet with them.

Edited June 6, 2006 by walder

[drumcat]

iPods ARE a quality product. Yes, they are a bit pricier than a lot of the competition, but I have never met someone who regretted purchasing one.

Now you know someone. Overpriced. I'm much happier with my iRiver. Same specs, less than half the price, plus FM tuner and radio recording. My ipod won't hold its charge nearly the way it did. If they're only going to last a year, I'll buy the less expensive one, thanks.

[THX 1138]

my guess is when it is cost effective to do so

My thoughts exactly. I'd love to use digital instead of tape whenever it becomes more affordable.

[dbc03]

Some people make me laugh how they defend a product like it would be their favourite football club - there is a psychological term for that type of consumer competitiveness and self-assurance.

I honestly don't care whether or not anyone buys or likes ipods. I do like mine, and I do not regret buying mine, and there is a decent chance my next mp3 player will also be an ipod. I also like Dr Pepper, and even if it was twice as expensive as Mr Pibb, I would still like it and buy it. You can drink pig urine if that's what you like for all I care, just like you can use a portable 8-track player if you want. I don't have any stock in Apple, so it's no skin off my back.

[markdewine]

Wiser people than I have said, "If it's not broken, don't fix it." Makes sense to me.

My opinion on this is that there are a few out there, who look at drum corps the way it is right now.....and say,"This is just wrong. We have to change. Period." Now, I understand the need for evolutionary change in the activity. I don't want to see drum corps stagnate and die. But come on folks, will the judges and staff really stagger and fall on their faces if they continue to use cassette recorders?

I mean sure, we can go all "high-tech" across the board. But, what's next? Electronic bugles like the military now uses to play taps? <**>

[madscout96]

Wiser people than I have said, "If it's not broken, don't fix it." Makes sense to me.

My opinion on this is that there are a few out there, who look at drum corps the way it is right now.....and say,"This is just wrong. We have to change. Period." Now, I understand the need for evolutionary change in the activity. I don't want to see drum corps stagnate and die. But come on folks, will the judges and staff really stagger and fall on their faces if they continue to use cassette recorders?

I mean sure, we can go all "high-tech" across the board. But, what's next? Electronic bugles like the military now uses to play taps? <**>

Mark, don't think I'm coming down on your thoughts specifically, but you were the last one to post, so... :P Plus I haven't chimed in since I started this thread.

I never did say that we should go to something digital TOMORROW. I just asked when will we? Not if, but when. I don't think that we could switch to digital tomorrow. Tapes are the easiest and cheapest thing right now, and probably will be for a few more years. You can get the tapes to staff immediately and they can get their instant comments before going to critique. And having them all on separate tapes means instructors can listen to them separately if they choose, and each judges' comments will have been heard by at least ONE instructor before they go into critique.

The problem is (or will be) that I envision a time when tapes aren't very available anymore. Does anyone actually use a tape player for something other than listening to judges' tapes? I don't, I stopped a long time ago! The rest of society is starting to move on, too. And people use digital voice recorders, or their laptops, or those recording minidisc players when they want to record something.

Pretty soon you won't be able to get a tape or a tape player anywhere. Remember what happened to 8-tracks? Of course 8-tracks died really quickly. Cassette tapes are dying a much slower death, but they are dying. Same thing with VHS tapes, they'll be completely gone eventually too. So tapes might be the thing that works the best NOW, but you gotta believe eventually, some sort of digital media will be cheap enough, available enough, and convenient enough to make it worth replacing the disappearing cassette tapes.

Oh, and the thing you said about electronic bugles... that's not the same thing. We're not talking about changing what it is we do in drum corps. We're talking about changing something that's done OFF the field. Where would we be today without music notation software and drillwriting software? Without websites, email, faxes, cellphones, walkie-talkies? Wireless internet? I know drum corps was once without all those things, but we're with them now, and things generally run alot smoother with them, doesn't everyone agree?

Edited June 7, 2006 by madscout96

[dbc03]

Wiser people than I have said, "If it's not broken, don't fix it." Makes sense to me.

My opinion on this is that there are a few out there, who look at drum corps the way it is right now.....and say,"This is just wrong. We have to change. Period." Now, I understand the need for evolutionary change in the activity. I don't want to see drum corps stagnate and die. But come on folks, will the judges and staff really stagger and fall on their faces if they continue to use cassette recorders?

I mean sure, we can go all "high-tech" across the board. But, what's next? Electronic bugles like the military now uses to play taps? <**>

While we're at it, why did we ever make the switch from outhouses to indoor toilets? Outhouses worked for years, therefore there was no need to change!

The old "If it's not broken don't fix it" shouldn't mean never make any changes to the status quo, even if the status quo is working. Typewriters work, but we still moved to computers. The fact of the matter is, digital recordings will most likely be more reliable than cassette tapes in the not too far off future. Different doesn't imply bad

This is the most ridiculous use of that saying I can ever remember hearing. Also, the use of digital recordings is not a precursor to electronic instruments anymore than using computers to write drill is the precursor to jet packs. It's like a slippery slope argument without the middle steps of the slope, just the top and the bottom, and it's an incredibly huge jump in logic that boggles the mind.