TexasPRfan Posted July 28, 2006 Share Posted July 28, 2006 Wow. As a musician and classical music fanatic myself, I could not be more diammetrically opposed to your point of view. I think J.D. does a fantastic job, especially last year.In my opininon, the 1984 version of Scythian is simply not at all in the style of Prokofiev...it jsut doesn't convey any of the "in your face" aggression of the original. I feel the 2006 version is much better, much more sophisticated and representative of the original's intent. In other words...we'll have to agree to disagree. I think J.D. does a great job....but you certainly can't please everyone. Perfect example in point. w/Stp: I'm with you, Nikk. I've loved Shaw's arrangements, particularly in 03, 05 and 06. I think there have been some learnings along the way - and the early season arrangements are not always on target, but wow, the end of season product is amazing. Harvey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkyRyder_FMM Posted July 29, 2006 Share Posted July 29, 2006 Mabe live this was the case...and maybe this was the case for 1984....but looking at it in terms of the present, and in terms of someone who marched in the early 1990s, I don't find it all that aggressive. Maybe I've been spoiled by this year's version, and by the original...which is in my opinion closer to the 2006 version than the 1984 version....who knows, maybe it's just th recording I've got. Plus...it's just too little material in the 1984 version...not enough of it was used.Ah, you must have also marched with Chad Causey then...he just found me after almost 12-13 years...found his name in one of my diary entries, probably. Yep, I marched with Chad in 86. If I remember correctly, his nickname was Stud Muffin. He was really young, but always managed to have a couple of girls hanging around him every where he went. He was a good kid, but idolized PR a bit too much in 86. We gave him tons of crap about it - especailly after we beat Phantom in Semi's and Finals that year. It was no surprise at all that he went on to march with Phantom the next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dckid80 Posted July 29, 2006 Share Posted July 29, 2006 Long time PR fan here. Wren is one of my favorite arrangers. You can pick any year in his long history with the corps and it's a winner. I'm partial to 78, 81 and 89. Shaw IMHO opinion has done marvelous job of capturing and building upon that tradition. He has really come into his own since 2003. There is no other corps that serves the melody and plays with more obvious emotion in DCI today. 2003 is such an amazing book. As for 2005, I'll politely disagree with our friend from the Scouts. That show was pure genius musically, actually all the way around . I think with that show PR has shown modern drum corps the path to success. You can play recognizable music, be competitive and entertaining all at the same time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
year1buick Posted July 29, 2006 Share Posted July 29, 2006 (edited) In fact, he arranged part of our 1994 show, though he left before the season was up due to other commiments. I remember that! A few well-placed mellow runs, as I recall. :P It came to a head during a warmup arc, prior to a performance. Dan Farrell: (severe paraphrasing here...) "Uh, mellos, what was that?" Unsure looks, followed by the explanation. Dan: "Take it out." Unfortunately, those "other committments" came up shortly thereafter. Thankfully, J.D. was able to clear his schedule eventually :) (I really enjoy his arrangements). Edited July 29, 2006 by year1buick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raphael18 Posted July 29, 2006 Share Posted July 29, 2006 We had significant experimentation with the music in 03 during camps, but once we moved in, that was pretty much the show we stuck with the rest of the season. We cut a large chunk from the beginning of Wild Nights 2, and added the new ending later, but for the most part I don't recall any significant changes musically. I think that Shaw's writting is amazing - he manages to meld technical and melodic playing very well. He is very good at featuring each voice, and playing to the strenghts of that particular group. As for those that say his writting is ineffective and dry - are you seriously going to tell me you never got goosebumps during the Cannon Reprise in 03? My favorite aspect of his arranging is the importance of emotion in the music - Rabon could make us clean, but it wasn't until JD (as well as Pat and Sam) got there that things really began to sound like something special. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bawker Posted July 29, 2006 Share Posted July 29, 2006 (edited) This isn't intended to start a debate here...but with how great (and loud ) the Bb Kings Phantom uses already are...I gotta imagine what some of these books would have sounded like on G's. Ah, well. :) Edited July 29, 2006 by bawker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrunchyTenor Posted July 29, 2006 Share Posted July 29, 2006 ...a baritone duet was changed to a small baritone feature in mid-season in 1812 Overture. Was that to accomodate Russ? Garry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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