2008 BOA GN Finals!

[Xenon]

This is the thread where I will repost all results when everything is done. For live results go to http://live.txbands.com

 

Finals was amazing. That's all I'm going to say.

[Xenon]

Al Castranovo Esprit Descorps: Vista Murietta

 

 

1. Avon

2. LD Bell

3. Lawrence Central

4. Marian Catholic

5. Carmel

6. Broken Arrow

7. Tarpon Spring

8. Kennesaw Mountain

9. Centerville

10. Ben Davis

11. PCEP

12. Lafayette

 

 

Music: Carmel

Visual: Lawrence Central & Avon

GE: Avon

[GuitarJoe]

Wow, Carmel winning music. Other than that, placements are about what I expected.

[bluebellbrass07]

Tarpon in 7th? I gotta see the recaps on this one, I loved their show

[itsstephenyo]

Alright! Some good things this year. Centerville finally breaking their streak of being one spot out of finals. Lafayette makes finals in its first GN appearance (I believe). Marian Catholic back in the top 5. Avon winning its first eagle.

 

But Bell got second...

[Fata1]

I can't wait to see the scores. The top five seemed to be so close to each other. I mean, the fifth place band took music and the third place band tied for visual. That's crazy. Congrats to Avon, though. They gave a great performance tonight. On that note, congrats to all of the bands.

[JustAddWat3r]

has there ever been a tie for first place?

[rpd]

If anyone had to beat bell, I'm glad it was Avon. They are highly regarded as one of the best programs not to win Nationals.

 

Odd that Carmel placed 5th, but still managed to win a caption.

[ftwdrummer]

has there ever been a tie for first place?

 

Probably. Ties get broken by highest GE score. I would almost be wholly unsurprised if Bell and Avon tied, but Avon won GE.

[Fata1]

I'm still surprised that Carmel managed to get music over Bell. I really thought Bell had that one in the bag. Gah, I want to see the scores.

[ftwdrummer]

You and everyone else, Jason. You and everyone else.

[itsstephenyo]

I don't think there's ever been a tie for first place.

[Fata1]

It seems that Avon won it with a score of 97.75.

[TXBandNerd07]

It seems that Avon won it with a score of 97.75.

 

 

omg!? wow...

[Xenon]

I was surprised about Bell not winning music, but I can understand how it happened. They seemed to have a slightly off performance in the 2nd half of the show. There were a few kids that ended up being about 2 steps in front of the line at the push with the follow-the-leader woodwind snake. After that, it seems like some of the kids may have freaked out and they never sounded quite the same the rest of the show.

 

But more surprising than Bell not winning music is that Carmel won it. Probably one of the easiest musical books to have ever won the caption.

[bluebellbrass07]

I was surprised about Bell not winning music, but I can understand how it happened. They seemed to have a slightly off performance in the 2nd half of the show. There were a few kids that ended up being about 2 steps in front of the line at the push with the follow-the-leader woodwind snake. After that, it seems like some of the kids may have freaked out and they never sounded quite the same the rest of the show.

 

But more surprising than Bell not winning music is that Carmel won it. Probably one of the easiest musical books to have ever won the caption.

 

I thought the show actually got stronger towards the end. The company front was remarkable!

 

[Fata1]

Full results (taken from the MFA forums):

 

1. Avon 97.75

2. LD Bell 96.5

3. Lawrence Central 96.4

4. Marian Catholic 96.2

5. Carmel 94.5

6. Broken Arrow 93.35

7. Tarpon Springs 91.8

8. Kennesaw 91.6

9. Centerville 91.2

10. Ben Davis 87.25

11. PCEP 85.2

12. Lafayette 84.65

 

Espirit de Corps: Vista Murrieta

 

Music: Carmel

Visual: Lawrence Central/Avon

GE: Avon

[toe2ner]

PCEP - . . . . . . . Won't make Finals. Period. Not even close. The multicolored pastel plumes were really cool, but the show just wasn't performed.

 

Got that prediction about as WRONG as anything. When Marc Whitlock had to resign in order to take care of a critically sick child, the band was left with no other option than hiring Martin Montoya. He was not new to the band in terms of the show design team, but was never a director or assistant director at any program. As a result, the show development progress was late, very late. Look what kids can pull off with a little emotion, and a lot of hard work, and showing that the nay-sayers have no place in this contest. Way to go PCMB!

[Xenon]

Yes, I did miss that prediction, but note that I owned up to it as well both in the semis thread here (before Finalists announcements!) and on Daniel Montoya's facebook.

 

PCEP's prelims run was really rough and I counted them out, but they really turned it on during both Semi's and Finals, congratulations to them for working through all of the challenges of this season!

[Steeldrum]

Xenon,

 

How were the acoustics in the new Lucas Oil Stadium? How did it compare to Alamodome?

[Xenon]

Xenon,

 

How were the acoustics in the new Lucas Oil Stadium? How did it compare to Alamodome?

Compared to the Alamodome, they were godlike. But I still prefer an open-air stadium.

 

A lot of bands played specifically into the fact that this was a new closed stadium with all kinds of different bounces and rings. Lawrence Central played to all directions of the stadium (except up!) and let the sound fill and echo (Echospheres). The backfield chords sounded amazing, just filling the stadium but not coming back harsh like from that flat back wall at the Alamodome. Tarpon laid on their backs and played straight up into the roof. That sound was amazing and felt like it was coming at you from all directions.

 

The metal roof did cause some battery booming, but most bands took good care of that by muting their drums down a bit. There was one band that muted the snares to the point that I could see them playing, but could barely hear a thing, but the odd part was that their tenors were playing so hot that they drowned out the band.

 

The important part is that the sound is mostly clear. You can hear technique and easily tell exactly where on the field it came from. That doesn't muddy much, yet long held chords have a ring that just lasts and lasts. I would suggest a wait of around 3 seconds for effect after releasing a huge chord.

 

But it also looked like MFA went through a LOT of trouble to create these acoustics. There were huge thick curtains everywhere! The Northern concourse can be viewed directly from anywhere within the stands, so they put a huge black curtain there to cut it off. Probably the largest black curtain I've ever seen spanned nearly the entire back stands and went straight up from about 10 rows back from the field. Then they also curtained off the entire upper deck in the back and sides.

 

Edit:

I sat in three different places and stood in several others. The sound at the top of section 240 (top of lower deck on the 50) was by far the best sound for clarity and power and had a much better visual view than the Alamodome, but still a little low to understand some sets if you don't know what to look for. Of course, as you get further away from the 50 on the lower deck you start to lose some power and clarity, but even from the goal line the sounds are still enjoyable if you aren't being too critical.

 

Section 440 (Club Level, upper section, front row on the 50) is right behind the judges, so you can bet that what you are hearing and seeing is very very close to what the judges are seeing and hearing. Everything is clear at this level, but with a little bit of battery boom if they are playing too hot. The problem is that you lose the power of the sound, but the visual angle is great!

 

Section 339 (Club Level, lower section, front row on the 35) is the section just to the right of the judges. If you have the right seats, you can listen to what the judges are saying into their tapes. The sound is very similar to 440, but with slightly more clarity and power. The visual angle is actually better than 440 as you are further forward, but you aren't on the 50. The only downside is that you can hear the A/C more (when it comes on) here than in 240 or 440.

 

Sections 5xx-6xx I looked like they were nearly straight up from 440. I can't image how harsh that viewing angle would be. I also hear that you can hear a lot of noise from all over the stadium in those sections. Like all the sound gets channeled up there and mixes around.

[Steeldrum]

Compared to the Alamodome, they were godlike. But I still prefer an open-air stadium.

 

A lot of bands played specifically into the fact that this was a new closed stadium with all kinds of different bounces and rings. Lawrence Central played to all directions of the stadium (except up!) and let the sound fill and echo (Echospheres). The backfield chords sounded amazing, just filling the stadium but not coming back harsh like from that flat back wall at the Alamodome. Tarpon laid on their backs and played straight up into the roof. That sound was amazing and felt like it was coming at you from all directions.

 

The metal roof did cause some battery booming, but most bands took good care of that by muting their drums down a bit. There was one band that muted the snares to the point that I could see them playing, but could barely hear a thing, but the odd part was that their tenors were playing so hot that they drowned out the band.

 

The important part is that the sound is mostly clear. You can hear technique and easily tell exactly where on the field it came from. That doesn't muddy much, yet long held chords have a ring that just lasts and lasts. I would suggest a wait of around 3 seconds for effect after releasing a huge chord.

 

But it also looked like MFA went through a LOT of trouble to create these acoustics. There were huge thick curtains everywhere! The Northern concourse can be viewed directly from anywhere within the stands, so they put a huge black curtain there to cut it off. Probably the largest black curtain I've ever seen spanned nearly the entire back stands and went straight up from about 10 rows back from the field. Then they also curtained off the entire upper deck in the back and sides.

 

Edit:

I sat in three different places and stood in several others. The sound at the top of section 240 (top of lower deck on the 50) was by far the best sound for clarity and power and had a much better visual view than the Alamodome, but still a little low to understand some sets if you don't know what to look for. Of course, as you get further away from the 50 on the lower deck you start to lose some power and clarity, but even from the goal line the sounds are still enjoyable if you aren't being too critical.

 

Section 440 (Club Level, upper section, front row on the 50) is right behind the judges, so you can bet that what you are hearing and seeing is very very close to what the judges are seeing and hearing. Everything is clear at this level, but with a little bit of battery boom if they are playing too hot. The problem is that you lose the power of the sound, but the visual angle is great!

 

Section 339 (Club Level, lower section, front row on the 35) is the section just to the right of the judges. If you have the right seats, you can listen to what the judges are saying into their tapes. The sound is very similar to 440, but with slightly more clarity and power. The visual angle is actually better than 440 as you are further forward, but you aren't on the 50. The only downside is that you can hear the A/C more (when it comes on) here than in 240 or 440.

 

Sections 5xx-6xx I looked like they were nearly straight up from 440. I can't image how harsh that viewing angle would be. I also hear that you can hear a lot of noise from all over the stadium in those sections. Like all the sound gets channeled up there and mixes around.

 

Could you be more specific?

 

Actually thanks for the details. I'm planning to go to DCI next year and wondered about the best seating.

[toe2ner]

Yes, I did miss that prediction, but note that I owned up to it as well both in the semis thread here (before Finalists announcements!) and on Daniel Montoya's facebook.

 

PCEP's prelims run was really rough and I counted them out, but they really turned it on during both Semi's and Finals, congratulations to them for working through all of the challenges of this season!

 

Correction:PCEP Director is MARTIN Montoya, not Daniel Montoya.

[bluebellbrass07]

Correction:PCEP Director is MARTIN Montoya, not Daniel Montoya.

 

Daniel Montoya wrote their music book

[takigan]

Compared to the Alamodome, they were godlike. But I still prefer an open-air stadium.

 

Maybe for Drum Corps, but for all the different tone colors that marching bands put off, the acoustics of a closed-in area bleeds them all together in reverb, which imo sounds awesome!

 

The important part is that the sound is mostly clear. You can hear technique and easily tell exactly where on the field it came from. That doesn't muddy much, yet long held chords have a ring that just lasts and lasts. I would suggest a wait of around 3 seconds for effect after releasing a huge chord.

 

I can't imagine what a power chord from a top 5 drum corps would sound like in a stadium of the likes of which you're describing if they keep the roof closed. It might actually be a better move for them to open it up.

 

But it also looked like MFA went through a LOT of trouble to create these acoustics. There were huge thick curtains everywhere! The Northern concourse can be viewed directly from anywhere within the stands, so they put a huge black curtain there to cut it off. Probably the largest black curtain I've ever seen spanned nearly the entire back stands and went straight up from about 10 rows back from the field. Then they also curtained off the entire upper deck in the back and sides.

 

So do you think having all these curtains up altered the sound some? If so, was it for the better or was it worse?