New Column - Inside the Arc

[MikeD]

Amazingly, of those top twelve corps, only Spirit played the ONLY wind band work on the field, and that was just one selection, "Blue Shades." And lest anyone brings this up, Crown's show was all originally written for orchestra. (I've bought the CDs of the Jennifer Higdon music for Boston and the Richard Danielpour music for Crown...amazing stuff and highly recommended.)

Oh, you let the cat out of the bag...(where is that pic)

[kevingamin]

Amazingly, of those top twelve corps, only Spirit played the ONLY wind band work on the field, and that was just one selection, "Blue Shades." And lest anyone brings this up, Crown's show was all originally written for orchestra. (I've bought the CDs of the Jennifer Higdon music for Boston and the Richard Danielpour music for Crown...amazing stuff and highly recommended.)

Windsprints for Colts wasn't a wind ensemble piece?

[Kamarag]

Except that attendance is NOT declining. There are lots of people who love the corps of today...music and visual.

Actually I do not see all that much 'wind band' music being played. Look at DCI finals on corpsreps and you do not see much.

Attendance IS declining, but so are the number of shows each summer, so one goes with the other.

The use of wind-band music has finally declined (thankfully). Though to be fair, I think Frank was really refering to music that, for lack of a better phrase, just "isn't any fun". Of course fun is subjective, and can be apllied to a wide-variety of music, both serious and not-so-serious.

I guess for myself (and I suspect Dale as well to a degree), I break shwos down into replay value. Audio replay value (I appreciate a show that despite the visual, can stand on it's own musically).

1) Man, this show is a MUST HAVE. Buy the APD immediately!

2) Meh, it has it's moments, but it's nothing that will make my iPod playlist.

3) Yikes, that's a nice show, but it's not taking up space on my hard drive.

4) Wow. What a waste of ten minutes. If I could delete it from the DVD, I'd do it.

Fair? For me yes. For others, probably not. But that's how I see it. The number of shows that fall in to #1 above are few and far between these days. In fact, there are a grand total of two for me this year: Bluecoats and Phantom Regiment.

Edited September 22, 2006 by Kamarag

[bawker]

Amazingly, of those top twelve corps, only Spirit played the ONLY wind band work on the field, and that was just one selection, "Blue Shades." And lest anyone brings this up, Crown's show was all originally written for orchestra. (I've bought the CDs of the Jennifer Higdon music for Boston and the Richard Danielpour music for Crown...amazing stuff and highly recommended.)

Ah, yes...but how many shows were written in that style?

Cavaliers and Santa Clara...both original compositions by wind ensemble composers. ^0^

[MikeD]

The use of wind-band music has finally declined (thankfully). Though to be fair, I think Frank was really refering to music that, for lack of a better phrase, just "isn't any fun". Of course fun is subjective, and can be apllied to a wide-variety of music, both serious and not-so-serious.

I found BK, Crown, Cadets, Regiment, Cavies, SCV....all to be a LOT of fun to listen to.

I guess for myself (and I suspect Dale as well to a degree), I break shwos down into replay value. Audio replay value (I appreciate a show that despite the visual, can stand on it's own musically).

1) Man, this show is a MUST HAVE. Buy the APD immediately!

2) Meh, it has it's moments, but it's nothing that will make my iPod playlist.

3) Yikes, that's a nice show, but it's not taking up space on my hard drive.

4) Wow. What a waste of ten minutes. If I could delete it from the DVD, I'd do it.

Fair? For me yes. For others, probably not. But that's how I see it. The number of shows that fall in to #1 above are few and far between these days. In fact, there are a grand total of two for me this year: Bluecoats and Phantom Regiment.

You like what you like, of course. I tend to prefer a DVD with the visual and music...always have prefered the combination going back to MY marchnig days. That is what make drum corps and MB interesting to me.

[Matt_S]

1) Man, this show is a MUST HAVE. Buy the APD immediately!

2) Meh, it has it's moments, but it's nothing that will make my iPod playlist.

3) Yikes, that's a nice show, but it's not taking up space on my hard drive.

4) Wow. What a waste of ten minutes. If I could delete it from the DVD, I'd do it.

Fair? For me yes. For others, probably not. But that's how I see it. The number of shows that fall in to #1 above are few and far between these days. In fact, there are a grand total of two for me this year: Bluecoats and Phantom Regiment.

I think we all do that to some degree (though I have every show I can get on my hard drive, so #3 will never apply B))

The difference is in which shows we place in which category. For me, I would put Cavaliers, Phantom, Bluecoats, Crown, Blue Knights, Glassmen, and Capital Regiment in that first category.

Your second and third categories are a little too similar for me, I would make the second tier be shows that I enjoy listening to, they just aren't my favorites. That group would include Blue Devils, Cadets, SCV, Madison, Crossmen, Colts, Southwind, Magic and Esperanza.

Boston, Spirit, and the rest would be my third tier, and get the description that you used for your #2 grouping.

Edited September 22, 2006 by Maedhros

[Lance]

The number of shows that I'd put on each section of that scale turn out about exactly the same every year. And I've been watching for a long time, and I have legacy DVDs going back to the 70s.

I guess I'm just lucky that I can appreciate the best of both worlds. Plus, I've never been brash enough to dismiss something that I don't like as "having no melody," or whatever. It would be really fun to see what pieces of music individuals define as "having melody" and "not having melody." To a great extent, it would end up being nothing more than a bunch of personal lists of what individuals like or don't like.

This is why there's no reason to argue about the issue. For some reason, people equate "I don't like it" with "it has no melody," or some other pejorative statement off a long, long list. Let it go.

[Alabaster Box]

How do we define melody? Does it mean that the entire show has to be written in 1:1 counterpoint?

Does there have to be melody for a piece of music to be emotional? I listen to a lot of music that I find highly emotional and I can't hum it.

On a side note, why hasn't anyone ever done Aram Khachachurian's Piano Concerto on the field? I mean..come on...it's amazing.

[Einstein On The Beach]

How do we define melody? Does it mean that the entire show has to be written in 1:1 counterpoint?

Does there have to be melody for a piece of music to be emotional? I listen to a lot of music that I find highly emotional and I can't hum it.

On a side note, why hasn't anyone ever done Aram Khachachurian's Piano Concerto on the field? I mean..come on...it's amazing.

Melody

(MEL-oe-dee)

A tune; a succession of tones comprised of mode, rhythm, and pitches so arranged as to achieve musical shape, being perceived as a unity by the mind. In a piece of music where there is more than one voice, or where harmony is present, the melody is the dominant tune of the composition.

[ShortAndFast]

I thought Frank had a well-written article, but you can count me in the camp that doesn't really agree. I don't find melody to be, above all else, the thing that current drum corps shows lack. And I've enjoyed plenty of shows that used wind ensemble repertoire.

Speaking personally, my complaints about drum corps music are:

1. Arrangements that completely lose the character and musical development of the original work, in favor of "special effects" added by the arranger. This is prevalent at all levels of the activity. If you're going to play someone else's composition, then play their composition. I think it's insulting to cherry-pick a couple of bars of melody and stick them into your own chart. I also think these arrangements can be especially boring if the audience doesn't know the original work well enough to see how it's been chopped up.

2. Arrangements that are beyond the ability of the performers. A piece that might enthrall the audience in the hands of a 6th place corps can be deadly boring in the hands of a 16th place corps. Arrangers need to remember that the kids have to be able to play the piece before they will communicate much of anything with it.

Beyond that, I'm looking for a show to really present its music to me - introduce some musical ideas, develop them, build them to a moving climax, and coordinate the music well with the visual program. It doesn't much matter to me if it's familiar music or new music, symphonic or jazz or wind ensemble music or choral or broadway, melodic or not, dissonant or tonal, whatever. But I want it to succeed as a piece of music, not as a succession of 32 count effects.

Some of the corps that I responded to musically this year were Capital Regiment, Colts, Blue Knights, Crown, SCV, Bluecoats, Phantom, Cavaliers.