davidpowell

Just take a listen to the difference in the sound quality of the two brass lines, and then look at the batteries, and I think you'll be less conflicted. Show design? Absolutely. SCV's is better. Execution? Bluecoats by a mile.

Your job is not only to conduct well, but also to lead well. It takes both to be a good Drum Major. Conducting, sure takes practice. But a lot of people have false perceptions about leadership. If you've never heard of it, the best thing I've learned is that a leader is actually a servant, thus the name of the ideology, servant leadership. I could elaborate if you like, but right now, I'm too tired. And have fun! Like Dan said.

Did you expect anything else from Jim Casella?

I think innovation is more of a factor in greatest. For example, although you may not like him, Schoenberg is one of the greats. Why? Completely new way to write music. Mr. Whitacre, I think, will be remembered for the fact that he has been able to connect such a broad audience, and is still going strong. Its not like he's 64, he's 30 some. And just LOOK at his fanbase. Quite incredible, actually. And being played on the local classical station here generally means you're in good standing. SO. I think he's got something going for him.

Considering his age, I think he'll continue doing what he's doing, and have a huge impact on the youth musicians of now and the future. Maybe not the next Bach, but he will be remembered.

Well, if the directors and staff aren't great, the kids can't be. End of story. However, if this first criteria is met, the burden then falls to the kids.

So, if someone came up to you and told you something is "beatastic" in a stereotypical **** guy voice (no offense meant, you know its true), you wouldn't laugh? Don't take yourself TOO seriously now, bro.

Even then. I was sitting with all of our drumline staff and they were laughing. Its funny.

Common' Dan. You can't tell me you didn't giggle when the guy says "Its LOOOVE". and "It's Beat-TASTIC". Seriously. How can you NOT die there.

word. all of our drum staff went nuts there. I still can't get over the marching chimes.

http://artofthestates.org/cgi-bin/genresea...enre=minimalist http://artofthestates.org/cgi-bin/genresea...genre=aleatoric Minimalism is one of my favorite things. John Adams is a bit of a psuedo minimalist, not full fledged, whereas Reich, Glass, and pals are. Torke is also in the same kind of psuedo minimilast thing as Adams. Arvo Part is much like a meditation, not neccesarily minimalist. Anyways. My favorites are: Harmonlehre - 3rd Movement - "Meister Eckhardt and Quackie" - John Adams Drumming Part 1 - Steve Reich The Chairman Dances - John Adams Fratres - Arvo Part

WGI.org normally posts clips of the top groups, but I don't think they have them up yet. Otherwise, you have to either buy a DVD or have someone hook you up with one. Ask Cartwright, he might have one or summat.

Churchill was sweet too. They all got topless too. That was cool.

Well, as difficulty goes up, quality tends to go down. And you can't have an extremely easy show and just perform it well to play the BOA game, there has to be some challenge there. I agree with Mike, its a GOOD thing that so many bands go. I would much rather get my butt handed to me at a competition with 90 other groups than do awesome at a competition with 30. Seriously, next year at nats is going to frickin' rock, everyone is gonna' be there. If i wasn't going with my band, I'd be all like IHOP. But ya' know. Can't always get what you want.

Cypress Falls' winterguard freakin' rocked at WGI finals. Word up to them.

I can tell you how. Are you ready? Practice.

I'm going to be watching open and world finals. So sweet.

More Mussorgsky pieces.

Exactly. A run for their money.I'm sure Carmel could go against Spirit or the Glassmen and give them a good run for it. I'm not even going to say anything about your "range" comment, because its one of the more naive things you have said. And of COURSE I'm bashing Rite of Spring. What a HORRIBLE piece of work. Everything I write is better than that Stravinsky hoax's garbage. Some of the stuff that has been said is just plain out funny, seriously. I was pointing out that fact that all of those things simply take practice, as does playing high. You don't go nuts if a pianist plays one of Bartok's concertos. Or if you hear a recording of Dennis Brain doing a ridiculously fast lip trill. But playing high? Buy the guy a car or something. The emphasis put on high range is extremely out of proportion. So quit holding some vendetta. Yes, a top 5 drum corps is inevitably going to be better than the top marching band at Grand Nationals. Awesome. I said it. Bask in your glory. Seriously, some of you guys need to get out of your marching band shell every now and then.

Haha, thanks for taking what I said completely out of its context. I said woodwinds a neccesary instrument and texture, not that a woodwind choir could outplay a brass choir. Try reading the whole thing next time before jumping to a conclusion. Thanks. And of COURSE DCI groups are better than high school groups. Thats problem THE MOST redundant thing you can say, much less capitalize it as if people don't already know. Its like saying a college football team could take on a professional football team, or a highschool chess champion could take on Gary Kasparov. Its just completely understood. But the fact that Carmel's show was a bunch of HIGHSCHOOL KIDS from EVERY GRADE doing it WILLINGLY is beyond belief, and that goes for any top marching band group. Period. High notes? If I want high notes, I'll listen to a violin concerto, thanks much. Playing high isn't really all that amazing. Sure, it takes practice to do, but so does playing Bartok's piano concertos or Rite of Spring, or doing lip trills on french horn. But you don't wet your pants when you hear someone do a lip trill, even though its just as if not harder to do well then play high. Playing high is just a pretty "visceral" effect, if you will, nothing horribly musical about it. And Fortissimo, you never saw Clinton High School, they had one kid who absolutely WAILED over everybody. So it does happen in highschool groups. Just not as often, obviously. Drama, drama, drama, sheesh.

We seem to have some elitists on our hands, eh? All I can say is, a lack of woodwinds is not neccesarily a good thing. Brass players in general tend to think it is, but I would entreat any trumpet player to look at the clarinet part for Scherezade and tell me you don't need a clarinet. Or Debussy's Prelude to the Afternoon of a Fawn and tell me you don't need a flute. As a marching arts community, we tend to forget what we came from: symphonic music. But on the blend side, seriously, have you sat and watched BOA finals? Some of it is just ridiculous. RIDICULOUS. But rather than doing the immature thing and trying to be serious about the comparison, take it in stride and realize both sides do amazing things. Please.

I wouldn't like to see it as some "epic", perse, that would come off as a special on WCET or some local station. Rather, I'd like to see it incorporated subtley (spell check thatun) into the show. For example, marchers coming into the pit to play amped string instruments, or a section of about 30 girls going off and singing a women's choir part. Not so much being there the whole time, but being used when neccesary.

As soon as I saw the title "innovation", Reagan popped into my head. Its pretty amazing what they do at that school... Plymouth Canton of old can't not be mentioned though. Seriously.

People have sung on field before, Southwind did it last year, the Cadets back in the day... Now as to a seperate group out there singing, dunno' about that.

Amped singing is more legit than say, amped speaking or an amped pit even. I say this because singing is NOT an easy thing to do, it takes talent and practice. Also, its a completely acoustic instrument, but its not one that can easily be heard, where as a pit can be heard just fine unamped, and speaking something doesn't take horribly much talent (yes drumspeak does, but set that aside). So I don't have too much of a problem with it.