Blue Devils Drumline - No High Drums since 97

[newterak]

I honestly think the book is just unmusical. Some parts might be hard...but they don't neccesarily play the most notes.

I think you'd be hard pressed to find a line that plays more notes, although I'll agree that it comes off as unmusical at times, sometimes sounds like a bunch cool licks thrown together.

[BD020304]

simply because there are so many good drumlines out there right now. Last year, I can see Phantom winning drums. I knew BD was going to give them a run for their money though and at the end of the season its a toss up.

remember guys, the percussion score also has to do with the pit. i feel this area lacked in recent years, but last years writing/playing was the best in years.

but regardless of what they played on, the snares, tenors, and basses have been smokin for a long time.

[eqlou]

Curse of the Yamaha (brass player opinion)

I think BD is either in denial or the money is too good to pass up. dyNASTY is not a good sounding drum. BD's lots were my favorite in the 90's and now I'd rather catch a hornline warmup. Execution is not a factor, BD attracts the top players in the country. The prior comment about their WGI style hit it right on the nail. For example, in the Godfather show there's an opening lick where they play a SILENT roll. Why? Who really thinks that's making the show any better? BD needs a fresh approach to get back to the days where they were blowing everybody out of the water. ala 94-99

[thePerfectbuzz]

It's got a lot to do with the book. Scott loves to write very dense books, lots of notes. More notes = more chances to tick. If Scott dumbed the parts down a bit, I think BD would have a lot more drum titles in their book.

Agree with the fact that BD plays very hard drum books. And also agree with the fact that if they were to "dumb" down the parts their chances of winning would be better. but, the lines that are winning the drum titles (as of lately anyways) do also have very hard books with a lot of notes (IMO more than BD, but I'm just a brass player). SCV 04 was a very sick book, especially the way Cassella writes the amount of accents he does and the stick heights....its remarkable how clean some of his SCV lines got (those are also my favorite drumlines...SCV 2003 and 2004 preferably) And the Cadets won I believe 4 high drums this decade?? Tom writes some of the meatiest (is that a word?) drum books ever and they play some of the cleanest beats (like holy @#$#...2003?!?!?). Even the years they dont win (04 and 06) they still have very impressive lines with perhaps the hardest book. I think its no doubt that SCV and Cadets controlled the first half of the decade in terms of percussion (and Im not just judging that based strictly on scores...they do have some of the best lines) but I think the Cavaliers drumline is going to be the next percussion power house to take over. Give Cassella this year and maybe next, and that line with no doubt in my mind will bring home some titles. My guess is that the second half of the decade, its going to be a bermuda triangle between Cavies, Cadets, and Phantom (providing Phantom's lines were not just flukes these past 2-3 years). Very interesting how Colin McNutt will play into effect at the Cadets also.

But I guess to answer the topic of the orginal question, I think BD's lines are great, just other drumlines are greater....for now anyways

[L1STEN2311]

"dumbing down" the book and winning a title isn't very rewarding now is it?

i would much rather get credit for playing a rediculously hard book and coming in second place than playing high school notes and winning a drum trophy by 4 tenths.

but that's just me.

-christopher

[siLk]

i'm a brass player, know nothing of drumming, but have always enjoyed bd's style a great deal. be it the wgi approach (again, no idea what i'm talking about) or something else, they always seem extremely aggressive and i love watching them. i've always thought they had thick, rather exposed books, also.

[JamMan]

"dumbing down" the book and winning a title isn't very rewarding now is it?

i would much rather get credit for playing a rediculously hard book and coming in second place than playing high school notes and winning a drum trophy by 4 tenths.

but that's just me.

Those are hardly high school beats there, buddy. The Cadets book gets watered down and they still play some of the harder stuff out there.

Yeah, BD should learn the concept of playing between VERY LOUD AND HIGH STICK HEIGHTS and very soft and low stick heights. There a ton of middle group they skip right over. Listen to The Cadets and notice the great blend and dynamic shaping. Then listen to BD. The Cadets are making music, while BD is just playing for the sake of playing. Judges take this into account.

[Keith Laubhan]

I'm a little baffled by people calling BD's stuff overly notey. In my mind, the challenge of BD's books are in the syncopaton and timing of open rhythms.

Sure, like every line in DCI, there a parts with notey-notes, but groups like SCV (early 2000s) and the Cadets (since forever) have so much more density to their parts compared to Blue Devils... it's not even close.

As to why they haven't won in a while, first off, it's SOOO competitive. I look at some of the GREAT lines over the past 10 years that haven't even come close to winning, and it illustrates just how special you have to be to win the trophy... BD just hasn't been at that level in a while. I do think some more dynamic constrast could help them, but at the end of the day, I just don't think the execution is quite there. It's close, but when you look at the last three percussion champions, for instance, you need to be a couple ticks from perfect with an amazing book. I'd be hard pressed to say that I was "amazed" by BD's drumline in a while. Their pit has done it for me several times, but not the battery.

[Jeffe77]

I wanna say something. I'm gonna put it out there; if you like it, you can take it, if you don't, send it right back. Dynasty.

Curse of Yamaha - Ala Curse of the Bambino Click Here for Details:

I agree, ever since BD switch over to Dynasty and Cadets started using Yamaha, Cadets went off to win 4 drum trophies in 5 years and BD, nil. It's like the matrix going from Optimus Prime to Rodimus Prime. BD is died/cursed while Cadets lived/dominated.

Also I also agree with others here about the level of difficulty of the book being an issue. With drum corps constantly evolving and the way judging is evolving, is it possible that BD maybe suffering from the Tom Float syndrome. Write hard parts irregardless of how everything around you is changing. Happen with BD after 86. It wasn't until Scott Johnson came along in 94 where his writing innovated DCI and BD was on top of their game. What's more important, write "an awesome Drum Book" that people in the parking lot go nuts over or, not only win a drum trophy but win a title? Is this a valid question?

[raphael18]

They haven't won it since 97, but they play some of the hardest parts.

My take on BD, from what I've gathered from people that march(ed) there is that they make the material more difficult than it has to be. It was once true that the Devils were held up to a different standard than most. During the 90s it was more about being better than the last BD corps than it was about actually being better than the corps at the show. So, I agree that there parts may be more difficult than most, but for some reason they just aren't getting the numbers quite like they used to. They are still the flashiest line out there though.

Edit: Just wanted to say that from 2001-2004 SCV's line was just incredible (I didn't see them enough the last two years to say anything)

I remmember a regional in 04 where it was almost as if SCV's drumline had an aura around them - simply amazing energy. Same can definately be said for 03.

Edited February 9, 2007 by raphael18