QuadraticBeats

Despite having been unsurprisingly cut from the Crossmen camp, I am still curious if there are any other corps besides the big name corps with solid operations- by this I mean they treat the participants well, don't have issues with logistics, are well organized, and overall provide a good experience. I've heard a number of horror stories about badly-run corps, and if, in the unlikely scenario that I decide to march this summer, I would like a reference to a corps matching the above description. Thank you to all who help or attempt to help me in advance, and good luck to all those involved in corps marching this year.

I don't think they have a category for tenor solos anymore. Maybe they can be classified under multi-percussion, but it's somewhat doubtful. Check the UIL lists.

I predict BD, or Phantom to be the main contenders for the championship next year. Even my Cavies diehard snare leader doesn't think they're going to win next year, or they're going to have a very hard time doing so. The fact that this is the show concept they're developing around further reinforces the idea that they will be less competitive than their previous years. As neat of an idea Machine was, the final show was extremely visual, without nearly as much music as had originally been written. The Cavaliers have only won by very slim margins or taken the silver medal since 2003, suggesting a little loss of steam.

Physics is a good, practical subject. It helps to have good/experienced teachers, though, as well as a class that actually works with the teacher when he TRIES to teach something. Having a first year teacher... is somewhat interesting, to say the least. Speaking of which... I need to be doing my physics work now.

So, I'm sure I'm one of the many cramming in the four mallet region piece this week... and right now, I actually do not feel like touching a percussion instrument. All the pit die hards are probably laughing at those battery members who are dealing with this right now (not the ones that say, actually practice early in the season). There is much wrist pain right now... anyone have suggestions as to how to alleviate this a bit and make sure that one does not lower their own playing ability? I already know to stretch it out, etc.

Seeing as how a number of us have come up with similar conclusions... perhaps we should make an uber-band. Wait... some schools have already done that. Nuts.

My rankings for the most significant factors. #1. Excellent Directorship. Reason: If your directors can't teach you the right stuff, or bring solid shows to the field, then you are not going to be competitive. No amount of effort by the students is going to change things if a.) no one knows what they're doing or b.) everyone is doing something different. #2. Motivation. Reason: Even if you have excellent directors, it's still YOU who is performing out there. Anyone who is in marching band just for graduation requirements (this might be a quaint Leander ISD thing) is wasting everyone else's time- come on, would you rather spend 50 hours a week on school activities, or just take a P.E. class and Art class every other day? #3. Good Rehearsal Procedure, Policies Reason: Being yelled at for no good reason, skipping water breaks for prolonged periods of time, band/section politics or infighting, inflexible policies, and complacency by students when given time to work undermines motivation and the respect that students have for each other or the directorship. If no one respects each other, then it's going to be a hard thing to take what a director is saying seriously, or for a section to get much work done; it's a bad idea to constantly point out what the guy next to you is doing wrong, unless they're just annoying and won't be quiet, or are major tickboxes- and, in that case, you should also suggest how they should fix their issues, such as explaining a concept they don't understand. And, if they do understand, then let them work on it on their own, unless they request help. #4. Money. Reason: You're not going to be able to compete very well with obsolete, beaten-up and neglected instruments. Nor will you be able to go to many competitions without lots of the green stuff, either . #5. Talent. Reason: Genetically, we are 99% the same. Therefore, that 1% difference doesn't matter that much- in most of my experiences, the "best" players in the band often happen to have had music lessons a number of years before they started their current instrument, and practiced consistently, with proper technique. Think they're just magically better than you? Think again. I hope this helps. *Edited for one spelling error *

*salutes the tick system*

Haha... sweet... Still, I'm betting on a BD win this year, or the Cavies, if they do something astounding. Honestly, if the Cadets had played a real show last year, based on how well they did the ridiculous show they had, my opinion is that they were by far superior to the other groups in talent this year. Even though I was leaning for Phantom to win... I must admit that much.

http://www.billbachman.net/media/video/nt_2.html Back in the day... when UNT owned College PASIC D-Line competition... They still make the finals each year, though, so they're still good.

Not to sound embittered and arrogant, but... Those judges were questionable in their scoring. Dripping Springs had 6th grade music and marching difficulty- yet they were placed several points higher than both us and Hendrickson, whom we were 0.05 points behind. Overall, both Hendrickson and Vista Ridge would most definitely play Dripping Springs' music and march their drill more cleanly, if we marched their show. Yet, despite what are probably valid observations from the respectable judges, it would appear that their quantification of our performances into points is suspect. If Dripping Springs was the clear winner (even with music and marching on a level well below the level that both Hendrickson and my school perform with), then it should have NOT been by 5 points, or in the case of percussion, 8 points ahead of our school and 10 ahead of Hendrickson. What I think the problem was was inconsistency in the judges' scoring methods for their given category- for instance, the color guard judge counts off more for mistakes than the percussion judge, etc. Like always, before anyone gets angry for me asserting this stance... remember that we are all entitled to our opinions.

I don't trust any judges related to any organization ran by mad ol' George Hoppy .

One word... Relax.

Looking at the finals results... the second music performance judge didn't like Leander in that performance. GE was also a weaker spot. Now, before people become (or continue to be) amazed that we beat Leander... It was by 0.05. It's great that we are apparently competing with established 5A schools now, but, on a personal preference, I find scores to be more useful than placement. For instance, I don't think the Cavies have really won since 2002. In 2004 and 2006 (2006 should've been Phantom's, if what sounded like mistakes in the Cavies' final show were errors), there may as well have been ties.

That's nice to hear. Now, if you're referring to some past comments of mine... we were originally well below the standards I had seen used at the glory-days Leander and modern Cedar Park. Both of them are our sister schools (same district)- and when I discovered that we had been zoned to go to my current school, which had an upstart program that appeared to have not been handled very well in its early stages, from a still-competitive Leander Band (they had outplaced Cedar Park in my 8th grade year), I felt rather ripped off- from what I remember, the people who had been zoned from Leander and Cedar Park Middle Schools seemed to be rather disenfranchised as a whole in the first few weeks of my freshman year (especially band camp). When the middle school music that students of both of those middle schools (Leander and Cedar Park) was better and harder than that of a 9th and 10th grade high school band, one felt rather compelled to stop practicing. In this current year, however, with the advent of well-run rehearsals and instruction directly on the field (honestly, I think most of us only had half of a clue of exactly what we were supposed to be doing in previous years), not to mention a minority of the band as opposed to a majority of the band being freshmen, we have suddenly become competitive. Indeed, this sudden success and high standard of performance has shocked me as well. No offense to Leander, though. In all likelihood you'll do better this week.

Because there's thirteen bands... and 12 finals spots... We've all got to feel sorry for the odd band out to-be.

Hm. We and Hendrickson perform right next to each other... So, I guess we'll get to listen/observe each other in warm-ups. Just one more week of practice to get through.

*raises hand* I'm still waiting for them to put up percussion info before I bother to say I'm going to go to a camp.

I forgot when this topic was first posted (though not in the same thread). Sometime last year... and here we are, raising the dead..

First off... Judging is a rather subjective thing subject to the personal biases of the judges, and I've noticed that rather good shows have been rated more poorly in technical areas when coincidentally the audience doesn't identify/like it as much. The fact is, if the judge doesn't like the show and there is previous disdain towards it from earlier in the season, he/she is more likely to find/"find" errors and deduct points since they are actively looking for them- instead of looking to be impressed by the given group, they are looking for what is being done wrong in the performance. My favorite BS comment from judges- "You could be selling the show more." Now, there are cases where this is obvious- if the players do not look like they are focused or in any sort of character whatsoever, but just waltzing around the field like idiots, then the judges have a point. But, in most cases, this is a rather stupid, vague, useless, and biased comment. Once again... I wish judges would worry more about how well given groups did what they did as opposed to what or the way they did it. From what I've been able to deduct from various accounts, if the judges weren't relying on crediting shows for what they didn't do well on a given performance (*cough*... quarterfinals Cavies...), using the excuse "Oh, they might just be having a bad run but they're still worthy of this score", or previous scores throughout the season, and scored it in an objective manner based on the actual performance (not what they've heard or seen before the actual judging), as they are supposed to do, the World Championships should've looked like this- 1st Placements- Quarterfinals- Blue Devils Semifinals- Cavaliers Finals- Phantom Regiment Now, back to the Cadets... I don't think execution was the problem- they sounded amazing (at least on the recordings I've heard- the necessary talent was definitely there). But, even if it was, and if they didn't have it... I wouldn't like the show. The goal is to entertain the audience. The majority of people who see DCI did not come to see a show like the Cadets' in the drum corps genre, or so it would appear. Given, the judges get a different and more detailed sampling of what the corps is doing from where they are. However, from what one could hear and see from the stands, I would have to disagree with the technical scores. However, in order to ensure that the Cadets show received its proper place... it would be necessary to give it lower scores. In my perspective, this is just evidence of a general dislike of stuff that would be given amazing GE in high school shows from the corps community. No matter how good the Cadets' show got, most of the traditionalists (ironically not many high school band nerds, at least in my experience) would refuse to accept a show like the Cadets 2006, with all of its juvenile silliness. Again, just my thoughts.

In my school's drumline, our Drum Captain/center snare is the most obsessed Cavies fan I've ever known. As for myself, I am a hardcore BD fan (though I do not always like how they exercise their talents). Despite them not being "clean", in his opinion, guess who came home with second place percussion and who went home with fourth ?

Another thing I feel like pointing out... I noticed that most of the Hendrickson people on here are from the drumline.

I liked Hendrickson's show (what I saw of it in our football game, anyhow) last year more than I do this year. Maybe that's because I'm a pretty hard core corps fan- for instance, though I believed the Cadets to have been the most talented group by execution this year, I found their show to be abominable... if they'd cut the singing, and some of the props, they probably would've been able to win with it, nonetheless- however, theatre productions do not fit in the Drum Corps genre. Oh, and there was something funny I heard about our football team and something said to our representatives by your band... care to elaborate on that ? Just my two cents.

Last year, we had the whole show on the field by now, but our execution of it wasn't too great... more than half of the band being freshmen was just a *small* contributor... but anyhow, we have the whole show except for a few last sets in the closer, which I assume we'll learn this week... so that part of the show might look somewhat sloppy at CPHS invitational. Oh... and the dance you guys did (Hendrickson) last Friday with our representatives apparently was a lot of fun. Tanner (you might remember him), our drum captain, went into quite a bit of detail about what happened on your side of the stadium at lunch today. Though I don't really concern myself with it, our band directors aren't too good at making it fun (besides Quaale, our new Cavies age-out director (2003 SCV, 2004-2006 Cavies on euphonium... and he plays oboe)), or at least it seems that way from many of the people who are juniors in the wind sections- though the directors may have serious intentions, I've noticed that there is, in general, a dislike of the way they do things (though I don't like people chit-chatting on the field, either, I dislike our top two directors' making a production out of each instance of talking they decide to expose, thus wasting more time- and, a silly little "Get it? "Got" it!" thing, which we in the drumline believe promotes ADD). Apparently, a lot of these dissatisfied players will be quitting in their senior year. Maybe they'll find more motivation after this weekend, if we have a good time, but honestly- motivation is just as important as discipline. Sorry for the ramble, if it is found to be offensive.

Imagine the fan support Crossmen will get at DCI Southwest this year... lol...