VKCanosUSMCContra Posted May 16, 2007 Share Posted May 16, 2007 The speed of sound is 769 mph at sea level in 70 degree weather. That's 12.81 miles a minute. 1127 feet per second or about 375 yards in a second From sideline to sideline a foot ball field is 160 feet wide, or 53.3 yards wide. If some one on the back sideline standing on the 50 is playing "with the hands" of the drum major they're sounding approximately .14 of a second behind the drum major at the position of the drum major. Some one at midfield on the 50 is .06 seconds behind. Someone standing on the 50 exactly in between midfield and the front sideline will sound about .03 seconds behind the hands of the drum major. From some brief research on the net I was able to determine that the average reaction time for some one is .25 seconds. Factoring this in, it is possible at worst case that the person in the back field is over two thirds of a second behind the drum majors time, and the person at mid-field is over a quarter of a second behind the drum majors time, and the person standing half way between mid field and the front sideline is not much better off. All of this going on at the same time can create chaos. I'll leave it to you guys to interpret this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madscout96 Posted May 16, 2007 Share Posted May 16, 2007 Here's a problem (that I'm sure alot of corps address) with using the Dr. Beat backfield. When it's behind the drumline, and the drumline is the pulse center, everything's fine. It's when the Dr. Beat is going and the drumline is NOT the pulse center that it's a crutch. People listen to it when they should be getting the pulse from some other source, and that could mean the DM. Then when they try running the same segment without the Dr. Beat, there's a huge tear because not everyone knows where to listen or watch when the drumline isn't the pulse center. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
contrajedi8 Posted May 16, 2007 Share Posted May 16, 2007 I think corps use Dr. Beat too much. I think they become over dependent on it and can't play without it. I understand to need to ingrain good tempo, but it goes too far. Corps need to be weened off of it. We rarely used the Dr. Beat. While we may have had a tempo fluctuation or two here and there, we did it as a group and it taught us to push and pull as a group. We were better for it because we could feel tempo as a group instead of having the box do it for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madscout96 Posted May 16, 2007 Share Posted May 16, 2007 The speed of sound is 769 mph at sea level in 70 degree weather.That's 12.81 miles a minute. 1127 feet per second or about 375 yards in a second From sideline to sideline a foot ball field is 160 feet wide, or 53.3 yards wide. If some one on the back sideline standing on the 50 is playing "with the hands" of the drum major they're sounding approximately .14 of a second behind the drum major at the position of the drum major. Some one at midfield on the 50 is .06 seconds behind. Someone standing on the 50 exactly in between midfield and the front sideline will sound about .03 seconds behind the hands of the drum major. From some brief research on the net I was able to determine that the average reaction time for some one is .25 seconds. Factoring this in, it is possible at worst case that the person in the back field is over two thirds of a second behind the drum majors time, and the person at mid-field is over a quarter of a second behind the drum majors time, and the person standing half way between mid field and the front sideline is not much better off. All of this going on at the same time can create chaos. I'll leave it to you guys to interpret this. This is how I interpret it: If I hear someone play a drum from a mile away, they actually did it 5 seconds earlier. Wow. That's like looking at the stars in the sky knowing some of them actually burned out thousands of years ago... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeM Posted May 16, 2007 Share Posted May 16, 2007 Winter rehearsal's .. there's no point in NOT using it. Beat the tempo into their skulls until they bleed. Make them wake up 2 weeks after camp with the PING PING PING in their brain screaming for their mommies. ^0^ ^0^ ^0^ Ugh... Advil and Aleve made LOTS of money off of me during winter rehersals when I marched..When I played Mellophone, invariably the doctor was directly behind me, and when I played sop, it was so loud to be heard that all I'd go home hearing is PLINK PLINK PLINK PLINK PLINK. Must....Kill....The....Doctor. However, the Doctor is the truth, and the truth shall set you free. 180 is 180, and when you don't practice at 180, it can be a shock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluecoats88 Posted May 16, 2007 Share Posted May 16, 2007 when I marched in 87 and 88 we used the pulse center method. the staff would define which section was the pulse center during any particular section of the show and it was their responsibility to watch the drum major and everyone else's responsibility to follow the tempo the pulse center sets. Being in the bassline we were the pulse center a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karl E. Hungus Posted May 16, 2007 Share Posted May 16, 2007 proffessor beat is god. hes always perfect. humans are not. end of story. its the job of the techs/instructors to designate points of reference at throughout the show. supersop has it right as he explains the chunking method. thats pretty much all there is to it. anything else is just.... uncivilized. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RBarron10 Posted May 16, 2007 Share Posted May 16, 2007 Thanks for the info...Watching the drum major worked for Star pretty well...I don't think we developed bad habits. I guess our staff figured if the drum major wigged out and started fluctuating then we had to go with him. Odd you say that, because the first time I heard Dr Beat was with Star warming up. I think it was in 1992 in the parking lot at Giant Stadium in Jersey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madscout96 Posted May 16, 2007 Share Posted May 16, 2007 Odd you say that, because the first time I heard Dr Beat was with Star warming up. I think it was in 1992 in the parking lot at Giant Stadium in Jersey. drums or horns? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCVStu Posted May 16, 2007 Share Posted May 16, 2007 This is a very interesting debate which I have had with many through my years with SCV and teaching at various high schools. I believe that the root of this "issue" is that everyone has a dfferent idea of how the Dr. should be used and interpreted by the performers on the field. Its just like different brass methods, match vs. traditional grip, and straight leg to bent. The way that we used it at SCV while I was there, it may have changed now that there is a new DM and a new percussion and brass staff, is that the Dr. was a way for the performers on the field to see and feel the difference in time between what they hear (Dr. beat) and what they see (conductor) from wherever they are on the field. So.... this means that I would conduct to the Dr. Beat. When I would do that, the performer will SEE me conducting BEHIND the beat which they are hearing. So when the Dr. Beat is on, they would play with the sound of the Dr. beat and memorize what it looked like to play ahead of my hands. So for them, they must play ahead of what they see from me when the Dr. is off. Its all about relationships. So it is a tool for the performers to learn this relationship so that the sounds will line up when it reaches the front of the field and you in the audience. This is only one way of thinking about it, but I think that it works great. I would also plug into a metranome (the big Vic Firth headphones work great with a Tama or a Yamaha Click Station, Dr. Beats are actually too soft to hear) which would keep me honest tempo wise. It also was a great tool for me because I could comment to the staff on speciically what sections of the corps were slow/fast and when it was happening. This was VERY usefull. Again, tons of different ways of doing it, this is just one way that works =) Stuart Shulman SCV 01 Contra, 02-05 DM VP Sales/Marketing www.ripstyles.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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