Cadets Narration

[MikeD]

Totally different, and a bad example. The natural extension of movies was the "talkie". The natural extentsion for Drum corps is music, not talking. Maybe your argument would be better if the focus of Drum corps was the same as a musical where the singers ruled the show and the instruments were the backup. Drum corps is more like a symphony orchestra than a musical or even an opera. The focus is on the instruments playing. It's on shapes, sounds, and colors, not spoken words.

Using your natural extension idea...way past time to add electronics and WW as they are missing elements to drum corps.

[MikeD]

No, the guard would fit into the "shapes" part of my argument. I was trying to shorten the sentence. You know, use less words!

Entertainment & education are always good. We can agree on that... And, the amplified voice does qualify as sound, but the focus here is on narration. That's where you need to interpret and process the words, which I'm told is a slightly different part of the brain than simply listening to music. If that much narration is going to be done, it has to been done very well...

It's May, for goodness sakes. How much will be tweaked and changed...probably lots already has been since the clip was released. People are typing as if this were the August finished product.

[MikeD]

what? from people on dcp? honestly i don't remember anyone ragging on individual members last year.

The marvelous singer, the Red Queen, the guy in the bunny suit, Hoppy's daughter...to name a few who had plenty of personal remarks made about them.

[euponitone]

Perhaps you need to learn the history of Drum Corps!!! Yes, MUSIC is an extension. Drum corps started out as Military DRUM Corps and has evolved to what it is today.

But as of NOW (not 100 years ago) music would not be an extension, it already exists. So what would be the natural extension. History lessons are nice and all, but they arent always the answer to everything.

[BrianBarney]

I was surfing some sites this evening and I happened to stumble on a recent audio clip of the Cadets with narration. There's a link at the bottom of the Hopkins interview that takes you to the audio clip. IMO, the corps sounds pretty good for May, (the brass sounded ragged further into the clip, but it's some pretty demanding music), but the narration sounds like a class A WGI show. I really can't believe Hopkins thinks this is pushing the envelope. Bad HS bands and A class WGI groups have been doing this type of thing for years. Is it just me, or is this about the cheesiest thing you've ever heard?

i dont know, cadets are supposed to be smokin come august

[shawn craig]

The young lady who was the Red Queen got her fair share of comments.

Actually NO.

Almost none of the post critisized her. She moved well, did guard work well etc.

The critisicm was completly toward her costume and the designer there of, not her.

Same with the BD dance derby "host." He had an excellent voice, did the part very well, and was a heck of a percussionist at the same time. The criticism was toward the design team, the role they gave him, and the amount of narration that was done.

Edited May 30, 2007 by shawn craig

[shawn craig]

For those of you who are making good arguments, both pro and con, I appreciate the examples and the opinions. Narration, singing, and all that stuff will continue to be a hot topic in this activity, and while the insults are not necessary, I do appreciate the dialogue and the passion we all have for this art form.

I would say this: I listened to the clip and I don't find it offensive, nor do I think people will find it all that distracting once the visual element is added and the kinks are worked out, providing they are careful. The problem for me will be more a question of how much of this can the show withstand before it becomes overkill. Too much narration can destroy what the natural senses tend to look for in this type of activity. Even at a typical band competition or a band night, people instinctively listen for the music and the visual design that enhances that music. Dialogue works much better on the stage when the principle function is to tell a story via lyrics, speech, music, lighting, staging, acting...Broadway or Opera. And in such a case the orchestra is in the pit taking second fiddle, although still very, very important.

But the natural inclinations for those who watch field presentations from bands and corps is to look for the marchers and the horns they play, and to look for the designs and the colors that help to represent in some form the ideas of the music. When you add lyrics and speech you disturb those natural senses that people have, and one must do their best to alter their instincts and to divert their attention to the added elements, and I believe this is where these aspects tend to create tension, excitement (if done well), bewilderment, and confusion.

For those reasons, and others, we have seen that too much narration and singing on a field can be confusing to the audience, even though the rationale is that it is done to help the viewer better understand the show. But in reality it often destroys the imagination that allows one to more closely examine the beauty of the music and to clarify how the visual is enhancing that, and frankly that is no easy or small task, but it is at the crux of what makes music so special. When you explain the music too much, those instincts that come naturally to the audience are forced in a certain direction, perhaps not always bad, but they now find themselves with more to digest, and at some point other show aspects become less clear or cluttered.

So I am not against what they are doing, and I think it is presumptuous for any of us to assume that what they have is a finished product. We must allow corps to create and further refine before we make ultimate judgements, and I did find some of what they were trying to do kind of funny, especially if the visuals take advantage of the narration. I just hope they use good judgement and do not flood this show with an element like narration that can easily trump music. Because for all the natural instincts I spoke of when watching a field presentation, it is even more natural for the viewer to turn their heads and look for the speaker. Speech can trump music anyday, and usually not in a good way. As soon as someone starts to talk, we look, we listen, we start to comprehend what it is they are saying, and our senses for music and visual are put on hold, or the imaginative thought that we were in only moments prior to this speech is now diverted. And at times that can be annoying.

They must be careful.

JW

Excellent!

The second paragraph in paticular explains what happens to me. I'm getting into the music, my emotions and crative thought process are responding and enjoying. Then the voice comes in and disrupts that. It's not what I need at that time; it's actually exactly what I don't need.

[Ben]

The marvelous singer, the Red Queen, the guy in the bunny suit, Hoppy's daughter...to name a few who had plenty of personal remarks made about them.

got any proof to back that up?

i'm pretty sure if there was inappropriate criticism it would've been removed from here.

[DrumCorpsFan27]

Then Phantom's hornline works for you in part because someone provided you with the words to complete the musical story. Words and music.

HH

I don't know the story at all. Their show worked just fine for me. They were the only ones that truly excited me through out their entire show last year.

[GMichael1230]

The young lady who was the Red Queen got her fair share of comments.

Wrong, it was her outfit, not her personally.

~G~