Cavaliers post show clip (Music only)

[Fincis]

Clearly hyperbole loses its effect on the internet, much like sarcasm...I will avoid using it in the future.

I would say we probably spent at least 4 hours a day (this is on a rehearsal day) working on only fundamentals. And by fundamentals, I don't mean random Gino/Wayne lip slur #349. I mean the most basic of fundamentals.

Concert F. Lots of it, and nothing but it for quite a while.

Go watch a Cavalier horn arc one day. You will be bored out of your mind. Trust me.

Haha, nice. I got to watch one at the Yamaha factory in Cali. You're right, REALLY boring.

So, what do y'all do in these 4 hour fundamental rehearsals? Do you ever move during sectionals? How long are sectionals? How long do y'all warm-up? Don't take this the wrong way, I'm just curious.

Also, do you ever get really bored as a member playing concert F with the met behind you the whole time? I know we come from two different teaching methods. Just curious, how many brass staff went to or teach at UofH?

[dbc03]

Yes, because you have to in those hornlines to be able to see them rehearse. Riight.

I realize there is no way to prove that I am correct. I still stand by my argument, despite this.

Tell me then, how do Gino and the Cadets rehearse?

I'm not saying that the Cavaliers don't rehearse ensemble stuff more than any other corps, I have no clue whether they do or not.

If you really did do 4 hour fundamental rehearsals on rehearsal days then yeah, you've got me beat, but maybe some other corps did 4 hours and 1 minute!

Not trying to come off as hostile in any manner, this is all in good fun :)

Edited June 5, 2006 by dbc03

[JayM]

Haha, nice. I got to watch one at the Yamaha factory in Cali. You're right, REALLY boring.

So, what do y'all do in these 4 hour fundamental rehearsals? Do you ever move during sectionals? How long are sectionals? How long do y'all warm-up? Don't take this the wrong way, I'm just curious.

Also, do you ever get really bored as a member playing concert F with the met behind you the whole time? I know we come from two different teaching methods. Just curious, how many brass staff went to or teach at UofH?

During camps, and during early pre-tour, it's mostly just a lot of holding out concert F.

We'll do quite a bit of modeling, having one player/section/small group alternate playing on Remington exercises, or on something like F descending (F->E, rest, E->D, rest, etc., diatonically down to low F).

As far as brass sub-sectionals go, we very rarely ever moved. In regular sectionals, sure, there were times when it was just the hornline and the brass staff out on a field, working segments over and over. Last season during early pre-tour, we had visual/brass fundamental block, which basically consisted of the visual staff and brass staff throwing crazy execises at us on the fly. Stuff like playing the Patterson chorale in half-time while jazz running, and then doing the opposite on the second rep.

Warm-up is a term you won't hear often. Anytime we are in an arc, we're mostly just doing what we call daily drill. We'll start off with lots of concert F, working on our different levels of listening (individual, section, then ensemble). We'll build an F chord maybe, segue into the chorale again. The staff give us time to individually warmup our chops and then we'll work back into more fundamentals. Remingtons, F Descending/Ascending, Articulation exercises, tons of interval exercises will fill up the rest of our block. In every excercise we do we're always constantly thinking about matching everything from player to player.. Articulation, volume, tone, etc.

My favorite exercise was when we'd have the hornline split into 1's and 2's, and we'd play 4 whole notes. Both groups would start on F. For the second whole note, the first group would go down to E, so then we're working on matching and creating a perfect halff-step interval. The second group would then join the first group on E, and then the first group would go back to F. We would continue to do this chromatically down to Bb.

We're basically constantly practicing creating perfect intervals. If we can have a great point of reference for what it feels like to play a perfect fourth and for what it sounds like as an ensemble, it's that much easier to play in actual music. We're basically trying to make every note we play have the same color and vibrance has our concert F, which is our most favorite note.

In articulation we're working on matching (obviously), making sure we're articulating in the same place in our mouth every time. A heavy emphasis is put on not letting the middle notes get lost in the shuffle in passages of consecutive articulation. In the past years, we've actually actually worked marches into our articulation series of exercises. Rolling Thunder was a favorite for the baritones.

As for getting bored..maybe a little at first? It strange how this system of teaching gets into your blood, though. It's such a breath of fresh air for most of us, to the point where I would gather that most members nowadays hold a fond place for Concert F in their heart.

David Bertman is the caption head, and he is also the Associate Director of Bands at UofH. Donnie Hull just recently graduated from there, Barrometti is a graduate student there, as far as I know. Bertman graduated from Oklahoma, and several other staff members have some kind of degree from there, also. The amount of members from UofH is quite high in recent years, as is the amount of members who have transferred there because of the brass staff (and from far away places like IUP).

That's all for now...

Edited June 5, 2006 by Jayzer

[JayM]

Tell me then, how do Gino and the Cadets rehearse?

I'm not saying that the Cavaliers don't rehearse ensemble stuff more than any other corps, I have no clue whether they do or not.

If you really did do 4 hour fundamental rehearsals on rehearsal days then yeah, you've got me beat, but maybe some other corps did 4 hours and 1 minute!

Not trying to come off as hostile in any manner, this is all in good fun :)

First off, thank you guys for keeping this civil. I just enjoy discussing this stuff is all. It keeps me entertained.

All I am saying is, from my experiences as a fan and as a corps members hearing other warm-ups in the lot, most of the other corps spend their fundamental time on lip slurs and chord progressions at high volume, whereas we mostly just spent our time quietly playing Concert F over in a corner somewhere.

Some people have quoted as saying we sound entirely different than any other corps out there, and it's no accident. It's not necessarily better, but it is obviously different.

[dbc03]

First off, thank you guys for keeping this civil. I just enjoy discussing this stuff is all. It keeps me entertained.

All I am saying is, from my experiences as a fan and as a corps members hearing other warm-ups in the lot, most of the other corps spend their fundamental time on lip slurs and chord progressions at high volume, whereas we mostly just spent our time quietly playing Concert F over in a corner somewhere.

Some people have quoted as saying we sound entirely different than any other corps out there, and it's no accident. It's not necessarily better, but it is obviously different.

Well, as far as show warm ups go I can't disagree with you there, but if you think that a show warmup is the same as a normal warmup you're mistaken. In fact, your description of your typical warmup is very similar to what we did when I marched. The reason that most corps do something a little bit different (for us it was just a very abbreviated version of our normal "warmup") is that typically by the time the show rolls around, you've already been playing for 4 or 5 hours and you SHOULD still be thinking about all the things that go on in the daily drills.

[JayM]

Well, as far as show warm ups go I can't disagree with you there, but if you think that a show warmup is the same as a normal warmup you're mistaken. In fact, your description of your typical warmup is very similar to what we did when I marched. The reason that most corps do something a little bit different (for us it was just a very abbreviated version of our normal "warmup") is that typically by the time the show rolls around, you've already been playing for 4 or 5 hours and you SHOULD still be thinking about all the things that go on in the daily drills.

Very true.

You obviously marched in a different corps than I did. How did y'all handle brass blocks?

[MarimbasaurusRex]

I like the overall sound of the clip, quite good for the end of May, but...

Am I the only one who's sick to death of the tympani glissando? Why not add some flexitones and vibraslap? Urgh.

[aatlb25]

It makes me think Castlevania/Transylvania, I mean it just pure evil! I could also think machine for it.

[leadsop97]

It is beautiful no doubt. But I too feel like I've heard it from them before. what it left me wondering is how this will fit in with their show concept of "Machine"...it'll be interesting

[liebot]

Dude, just come out and say that you hate The Cavaliers and BD rules all. I've looked at your posts man, and not once have I seen anything remotely positive about the Cavies. But I did find plenty about how BD does everything right. C'mon man... if you want to be critical that's one thing, but to go on and on about how everything about the Cavaliers is wrong isn't getting you anywhere. Obviously they are doing SOMETHING right. 5 out of 7 speaks for itself...

Ok. I hate the Cavaliers. I hate their marching technique, I hate their brass books (with the exception of 04 and parts of 01 and 05) and they usually bore me to death. The only show of theirs I can really say I enjoy is 2004. 95 is cool, but the brass performance kind of leaves something to be desired. I guess I'm just tired of Cavies being built up to be the most amazing corps on the face of the planet that no one else can come close to touching, when they do nothing for me. Admittedly Michael Gaines is a genius, but I just don't see much beyond their visual book that entertains me.

I won't say BD rules all, though. Their brass line was dirty last year, but I thought they had an impressive blend. Their marching is usually supberb, but I think they were better in the late 90s and the early 00s. Admittedly, they are my favorite corps (and it's not like I'm hiding it... check my DCP profile), but that doesn't mean I think they're beyond criticism.

Clearly hyperbole loses its effect on the internet, much like sarcasm...I will avoid using it in the future.

Right. Kind of like my comment about a corps sounding like absolute crap downstairs and amazing upstairs. But a corps can sound relatively dirty up close but cleaner by the time it reaches the audience. You can't hear minor differences of articulation and tone that well sitting 20 rows up.

Edited June 5, 2006 by TSRTS13