Every day in every way I find more and more ways to ensnare people unfamiliar with drum corps into becoming nascent fans of marching music. My current scheme involves using quotations from the movie The 40 Year Old Virgin to describe different aspects of drum corps life. It's all part of my effort to get new drum corps fans to think a little bit about the marching arts and realize that drum corps is good enough, it's smart enough and doggonit people like drum corps.
Today's Quote:
Dude, you look like a man-o-lantern. -David
What does this have to do with drum corps?:
As we expand our view of life in a drum corps beyond the actual performance aspect, rehearsals certainly deserve some serious attention. For every minute you see a corps on the field the performers, designers, and instructors all had to pour in untold hours of work to make that happen. On the days they have a competition drum corps will spend the morning and afternoon fine tuning every aspect of their show under the glaring, boiling, unending summer sun. On the days they don't have a performance they will practice even more and absorb even more UV rays. All of that time under all of that solar radiation leads to some pretty intense tanning. Drum corps members have to watch out for heat exhaustion and sun stroke, but they can also get some pretty odd tan patterns. Wearing a shirt (as I understand experts recommend), results in the unsightly "farmer's tan" where a person develops a deep brown tone on their neck and forearms but retain their pasty complexion everywhere else. If the corps member tries going bareback he may find that all the movement around the field plus the shadows from carrying his equipment results in some pretty odd patterns. I have seen many a tan inflicted by harsh drum corps rehearsals. While few rise to the level of "man-o-lantern" oddities, you certainly see some odd things blazed into the skin of drum corps.
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
Monday, May 7, 2007
Daily Dose 5/7
Home again, home again, jiggity-jig. Once more I will dance the trick jig that attempts to combine the grace and elegance of drum and bugle corps with the wild craziness of the movie The 40 Year Old Virgin. I will use all of my flexibility and skill as a rhetorical dancer (which barely exists at all) to try and use quotes from a comedy blockbuster to illustrate some interesting aspects of drum corps life. I think I'm gonna pull something.
Today's Quote:
I hope you have a big trunk... because I'm puttin' my bike in it. -Andy Stitzer
What does this have to do with drum corps?:
Among those questions you could ask after watching a drum corps show, some fall into a category of "almost never occurring to someone straight off, but seeming blatantly obvious once it dawns on you". One question it took me a long time to ask after seeing a show with nearly a hundred people carrying around instruments, waving flags, dancing with props whilst wearing coordinated uniforms was "where do they put all that stuff"? Drum corps have to tour across the country during the competition season. This means they also have to bring along tons and tons of equipment. The corps members themselves, the professional staff who instruct the corps and design the show, and all the supporting parents ride on buses. They have limits on how much luggage they can bring so that they can fit all these people and all their things onto a few charter buses. Then they have a massive trailer (usually an 18 wheeler) to carry all of their equipment from instruments to flags to uniforms to all the gear they use during rehearsals. then you have to feed everyone so there is usually a dedicated vehicle just for carting food around and preparing meals, sometimes nicknamed the chuck truck. Each and every drum and bugle corps requires a convoy of vehicles just to stay up and running. The sheer tonnage of gear involved with a drum corps often means that one of the biggest parts of a corps day is just managing it all. Trying to take a drum corps on tour is almost comparable to mounting some kind of low grade military deployment except instead of invading France you're trying to craft and perfect a musical performance. I have mentioned that life in a drum crops requires a grueling amount of effort on the field, but off the field its still very demanding.
Today's Quote:
I hope you have a big trunk... because I'm puttin' my bike in it. -Andy Stitzer
What does this have to do with drum corps?:
Among those questions you could ask after watching a drum corps show, some fall into a category of "almost never occurring to someone straight off, but seeming blatantly obvious once it dawns on you". One question it took me a long time to ask after seeing a show with nearly a hundred people carrying around instruments, waving flags, dancing with props whilst wearing coordinated uniforms was "where do they put all that stuff"? Drum corps have to tour across the country during the competition season. This means they also have to bring along tons and tons of equipment. The corps members themselves, the professional staff who instruct the corps and design the show, and all the supporting parents ride on buses. They have limits on how much luggage they can bring so that they can fit all these people and all their things onto a few charter buses. Then they have a massive trailer (usually an 18 wheeler) to carry all of their equipment from instruments to flags to uniforms to all the gear they use during rehearsals. then you have to feed everyone so there is usually a dedicated vehicle just for carting food around and preparing meals, sometimes nicknamed the chuck truck. Each and every drum and bugle corps requires a convoy of vehicles just to stay up and running. The sheer tonnage of gear involved with a drum corps often means that one of the biggest parts of a corps day is just managing it all. Trying to take a drum corps on tour is almost comparable to mounting some kind of low grade military deployment except instead of invading France you're trying to craft and perfect a musical performance. I have mentioned that life in a drum crops requires a grueling amount of effort on the field, but off the field its still very demanding.
Saturday, May 5, 2007
DCI Classic Countdown 2007- Running Diary
As I so rarely get a chance to actually take part in a drum corps related activity, I like to make a big deal of it when it happens. So when I managed to finagle my schedule enough so I could make it to this year’s Classic Countdown from Drum Corps International –where fans of drum and bugle corps get to relive classic performances through archive footage shown for one night only in movie theaters across the county- I had to do something related to it to add into the blogosphere. After explaining to my wife that I would be abandoning her for the evening to do about the dorkiest thing she’s ever seen me do (though she seemed neither surprised nor upset that I would rather spend my evening chest deep no dorkdom than with here), I purchased my tickets and rushed to get a good seat. The event itself went down on April 26, 2007 at 7:30pm Eastern Time. Sorry if you missed it. What follows is my running log of my observations and impressions as they occurred.
7:15- I have made a conscious effort to arrive at the theater early to ensure I could get my choice of seats. In 2004 I went to DCI’s first “cine-cast” of their World Championship Quarterfinals and that theater was pretty packed. So if I want to find a place where I can comfortably stretch out and get enough ambient light to take notes, I figure I should be sure to beat the crowd.
7:18- Okay the crowds were not actually a problem. You probably could have guessed that. I’d thank you to stop you snickering.
7:20- I’m watching this show from the luxurious facilities of the Regal Cinemas at Brier Creek in Raleigh, NC (just in case anyone wanted to offer me some sponsorship dollars). Representatives from the local corps, Carolina Crown, sent some representatives to pass out post card sized advertisements for discounts on Crown tickets if we order early. Heck, if I knew there would be deals this sweet, I would have started coming to these Classic Countdowns sooner.
7:29- Instead of the traditional preshow entertainment you get at the cinema like movie trailers or even commercials, we are stuck watching a little animation loop with a grating light jazz ditty playing in the background. It may have already driven me insane.
7:30- Thank God the show started just before I tore off my own ears. We first get a pre-mini-countdown-rundown-thingy of those corps considered for this countdown. I don’t know if this pre-mini-countdown-rundown-thingy was assembled in any real order because it doesn’t seem to be chronological or alphabetical. Maybe it was done by how the shows did in the online poll that determined what I’ll be watching tonight. I’m starting to think I maybe should have voted in that.
7:33- As the pre-mini-countdown-rundown-thingy continues I wonder if the new DCI slogan “marching music’s major league” is going to do anyone any good. No outsider knows what they mean by “marching music”, and the comparison to baseball’s major league is completely off the mark. I’m sure Bands of America would love to be considered some second-rate puppet organization to Drum Corps International.
7:35- Seeing a clip of this show reminds me, does it bother anyone else that the Cavalier’s 2003 World Championship show is best known for a moment that includes no real marching and almost no music?
7:39- Through the miracle of prerecording, Steve Rondinaro is welcoming us to the show from
7:40- We get our first full show of the night which means this is the show that placed eighth in the online poll
The
7:40- Could we make Michael Cesario the drum corps version of John Madden complete with the rotund physique, the jovial attitude, and the tendency to ramble about obvious points. I think with the write marketing package we could make it happen.
7:41- The Cadets have “boisterous”, ballet-style male dancer which you just don’t see much for some bizarre reason.
7:45- I may not know all the history of every drum corps, but I have the unshakeable impression that we could put every Cadets show of the last 25 years into a figurative bag pull one out at random and have no idea which year it came from. I know there is something to be said for consistency and tradition, but come on.
7:48- This was the performance where the Cadets famously earned a perfect percussion score. The really interesting thing is that they seem to have done it not so much through flair or brilliance from the battery drums out on the field, but through precision and grace from the pit percussion sitting on the sidelines.
7:49- These may well be the worst color guard uniforms ever. They have big baggy dresses in garish colors and just a bit of a resemblance to bloody facial tissue.
7:50- What?! Did that company front just disappear than reappear? OMG!!1! It’s like magic! I am so glad Cesario told us to watch out for that moment.
The Bridgemen, 1980
7:51- Wait if the Bridgemen are the “clown princes” of drum corps, what does that make the Velvet Knights?
7:52- Not only could you not get away with a Bridgemem style show with all the zany stunts and gags, no way could you get away with their bright yellow rain slicker uniforms. Those things are hard on the eyes.
7:56- Never have I seen any man handle a costumed chicken with as much care as I saw that Bridgeman set down their mascot.
7:58- I catch myself tapping actually tapping my toes to “In the Stone”. I would never do that in real life. Curse you Bridgemen!
8:00- I am not nearly as shocked with the guy in the bright red clown wig as I am that all the featured horn players look like rejects from the Electric Light Orchestra.(At this point you’re probably starting to wonder if we were passing around psychotropic substances in the theater. No, I assure you this is just what the Bridgemen are always like.)
8:02- In my day job I’m teaching middle schoolers about the Civil War. I think I might be able to use the last section of this show, titled “War Between the States” as a teaching tool if I can get it past the school board.
Star of
8:06- When Cesario mentioned that this show was controversial in its time, it made me proud that drum corps in some small way shared in the proud artistic tradition of stirring public debate and discomfort, like Elvis Presley, Catcher in the Rye, and Beyond the Valley of the Dolls.
8:07- Of course they talk about how odd it was that this show went from being polemic when it first appeard to becoming a cult favorite of drum corps fans today. Ummm, didn’t they want to note that Blast! incorporated huge chunks of this show into their drum corps based Broadway show. So now drum corps fans pretty much have to accept it into the mainstream since it has been offered up for mass consumption.
8:09- The plain and simple black tights the color guard are wearing prove that this show was designed by either a true minimalist or a true cheapskate.
8:12- The guard whips out the brightest most festive flags of the whole show during a passage of extremely subtle and muted music. Yeah, okay, now I’m starting to get why this was a controversial show. Plus the guard’s props and equipment have been weird all show. They’ve already used dowel rods and what looked like partial frames to IKEA furniture.
8:15- You can clearly hear someone from the audience scream “Go finish it!” as the show approaches its closing moments. Now that he mentions it with a nebulous show like this I can’t help but wonder how they end it with anything that looks or sounds like a grand finale.
Blue Devils, 1994- My Spanish Heart
8:19- I could listen to Michael Cesario describe things as “sensual” and “animalistic” all day. Really, just listen to that voice and tell me you wouldn’t love to hear a heavy set guy from
8:20- Just from watching the mist filled footage of this show I got the actual physical sensation of being in Foxboro stadium on that cool summer night. That’s what makes these Classic Countdowns such a great experience.
8:22- As the Blue Devils perform I could feel all the people in the theatre pick’em apart. As soon as they came on screen I could see everyone shift in their sheet to take a more aggressive posture. I keep hearing them make little comments and take digs about the show. I just can sense how much drum corps fans love to hate the Blue Devils. No doubt about it they are the Yankees of DCI, which just leaves the question of whether the Santa Clara Vanguard are the Red Sox or the Mets.
8:25- Not much to say about this show. It’s a classic show and a typical Blue Devils performance. What do you want from me? The Blue Devils are what we thought they were. They're what we thought they were. We watched them in prelims. I mean, who the hell takes the three rounds of the prelims like it's b.s.? We watched them the whole season, everybody played their show... the Blue Devils are who we thought they were! That’s why we let them take the damn field! Now, if you want to crown them, then crown their ass! But, they are who we thought they were, and we let them off the hook!
8:30- Okay we get it BD the show’s title is “My Spanish Heart”. You’ve got like three different heart formations in your marching patterns and you have that constant heart beat in the background. It’s clearly a very heart themed show. We get it.
8:32- Now we have the mandatory pimping of
8:33- Hmmm, all the tourist attractions featured would fall under the Trivial Pursuit category of “Arts & Leisure” (Trivial Pursuit being the definitive guide for all questions of knowledge categorization). Apparently the sponsors from the Pasadena Chamber of Commerce don’t think drum corps fans would be interested in their vibrant lucha libre community.
The Cavalier, 2006- Machine
8:35- I’m pretty sure I heard people groan when this show was announced. Listen when you can get sick of watching recent shows after just a few viewing, I say that’s a good sign you need to retire to some old school mix tapes from Drum Corps World.
8:38- I complained that the Blue Devils 1994 show beat their motif into the ground, but they’ve got nothing on the 2006 Cavies. They incorporate machine like elements into every facet of the show including driving the symbolism into our skulls like a ruthlessly efficient industrial device.
8:40- Someone please tell me that I wasn’t the only one who saw those guard uniforms and thought of Captain Power. Come on, help me out Children of the Eighties.
8:44- I guess one advantage of an all male corps is that you can have all the members of your color guard do some pretty athletic stuff, like lifting each other off the field. I can’t help but wonder if the creator of Blades of Glory got their idea from DCI.
8:47- That show was like Return of the King it had about nine different places it could have stopped before its actual ending and been just as good.
The Phantom Regiment 2006- Faust
8:49- Well the fans voted the 2006 runner-up over the 2006 champion. Maybe this is why it is so hard to persuade fans of traditional sports that subjectively scored events like this, synchronized swimming, and ice dancing uphold the same pure competitive ideals of other sports with their Super Bowls and winner take all tournaments. Hear that college football. Subjectivity is bad.
8:53- With all the satanic imagery I’m surprised the people who protest the Harry Potter books weren’t all up in arms about a corps named after ghosts doing a show about a deal with the devil.
8:55- I don’t know if any corps has given us many pure brilliant brass moments through the years as Phantom.
8:56- One of those ultimate questions if you’re a drum corps fan is whether you prefer your Regiment in white or black uniforms. I’m for the all black look myself, though I don’t mind if you prefer the white. If you genuinely like their short lived khaki look though, don’t ever talk to me.
9:00- I guess that big guard outfit at the end was supposed to be an angel of some kind, but I thought it look more like a drag queen getup from Brazilian Carnival.
9:01- I remember this show as the definition of everything that’s great and flawed about the Madison Scouts. First they pick a show that’s meant to be raw masculinity and power, terrific choice for one of the few all male corps. However they played their biggest and best song “Bolero” by Ravel as their on-field warm-up before they can earn any points for their performance. Just to show how big, loud and manly they are they spend most of that year performing their show half-spent from the preshow. The ultimate example of blowing your wad to soon.
9:05- The sheer amount of testosterone dripping out of the Scouts as they blaze away on the field makes me think that for every upside of an all male corps the Cavs have shown us, we’ve seen a downside from the Scouts.
9:11- Watching the guard in their glittery matador outfits, I’m surprised they didn’t try to reenact a bloody bullfight somehow. I’m absolutely sure they tried.
9:15- Y’know I don’t think I’ll be able to enjoy our top corps’ performance as much now that Cesario has told us that its pretty much an edited repeat of their previous show. Didn’t anyone call shenanigans on this? How can you do okay one year then come back the next year with a director’s cut of the same show and be allowed to win the championship?
9:17- Boy if there has ever been a corps in need of a classic and definitive uniform it’s the Santa Clara Vanguard. Frankly, I’ve never liked any of their costumes, and I can’t help but think that that affected their general effect scores.
9:18- O.K. The eye patches to mimic the famous Phantom half-mask I get, but making the kids with glasses wear one is pretty bloody funny whether they wanted it to be or not.
9:20- DCI’s experiments in frame-in-frame set ups that show both the whole ensemble and the soloists were on display in his footage as the total train wrecks that they were.
9:24- “Music of the Night” has to put chills down your spine. I don’t care who you are. It is the only Andrew Lloyd Webber song I can stand, because it’s just that damn brilliant.
Overall Impressions- Not a bad evening out. I thought they were eight good performances, but not the all time greats they would have gone through at the earlier Classic Countdowns (which meant they couldn’t be used this year). I think getting another look at recent greats like the 2006 Phantom and Cavs were good, plus I think 1994 BD and 1989 SCV belong among the all-time Top 12, even if the vox populi disagrees.
Friday, May 4, 2007
Daily Dose 5/4
Many have tried to make drum and bugle corps an enticing source of entertainment to audiences nationwide and many have failed. I look to join those many (in the trying not the failing) with my attempts to link quotes from the movie The 40 Year Virgin (unsuitable for audience with common decency) with the crazy world of marching and music that drum corps represents.
Today's Quote:
I should pull up the hardwood to see if there's carpet underneath. No. That's never the case. -Andy Stitzer
What does this have to do with drum corps?:
With every drum corps show you are going to have a lot going on. The musicians will be pounding out incredible music while trying to move with the skill and precision of dancers as the color guard has to actually dance with many props, flags, and other pieces of equipment. The judges will be either walking on the field or up in the stands watching the most minute details and carefully calculating the score. The audience will be cheering the performance and pushing the corps to take it to that next level while also hypnotized by the sheer artistic wonder.
With all this going on an important factor in drum corps performance can be easy to overlook even though its right in front of your eyes the whole time: the field itself. Just as sports teams have to adapt their game plans to the type of surface they plan on or the conditions of that surface, so to do drum corps have to deal with all kinds of challenges originating under the soles of their shoes. Whether its grass, mud, Astroturf, or gravel each surface has unique and special properties that the marchers must respond to. If they don't add a little more effort when marching through mud they'll fall behind and ruin the show. If they don't take care on wet 'turf they could seriously injure themselves. The whole idea of marching music is to take music out of the concert halls, clubs, and dance halls and move it out into the elements. Give music room to move and stretch and it becomes exponentially powerful. Ask performers to continue playing symphony level music while they haul their gear back and forth in all sorts of weather and their job becomes exponentially more difficult. A drum corps has to be mindful of all the little tricks a field can play on their feet. If they go out expecting grass and find dirt their whole show could go wrong. So it certainly pays to consider what happens underfoot.
Today's Quote:
I should pull up the hardwood to see if there's carpet underneath. No. That's never the case. -Andy Stitzer
What does this have to do with drum corps?:
With every drum corps show you are going to have a lot going on. The musicians will be pounding out incredible music while trying to move with the skill and precision of dancers as the color guard has to actually dance with many props, flags, and other pieces of equipment. The judges will be either walking on the field or up in the stands watching the most minute details and carefully calculating the score. The audience will be cheering the performance and pushing the corps to take it to that next level while also hypnotized by the sheer artistic wonder.
With all this going on an important factor in drum corps performance can be easy to overlook even though its right in front of your eyes the whole time: the field itself. Just as sports teams have to adapt their game plans to the type of surface they plan on or the conditions of that surface, so to do drum corps have to deal with all kinds of challenges originating under the soles of their shoes. Whether its grass, mud, Astroturf, or gravel each surface has unique and special properties that the marchers must respond to. If they don't add a little more effort when marching through mud they'll fall behind and ruin the show. If they don't take care on wet 'turf they could seriously injure themselves. The whole idea of marching music is to take music out of the concert halls, clubs, and dance halls and move it out into the elements. Give music room to move and stretch and it becomes exponentially powerful. Ask performers to continue playing symphony level music while they haul their gear back and forth in all sorts of weather and their job becomes exponentially more difficult. A drum corps has to be mindful of all the little tricks a field can play on their feet. If they go out expecting grass and find dirt their whole show could go wrong. So it certainly pays to consider what happens underfoot.
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Daily Dose 5/3
I'm dishing out another serving of my delectable casserole that combines the salty comedy of the movie The 40 Year Old Virgin with the sweet music and movement found in drum and bugle corps. With any luck the movie quotations will help to lure casual browsers into potential drum corps fandom.
Today's Quote:
Gandhi baked is good. I always feel bad when I watch it baked because I get really hungry and I'm eating a lot and poor Gandhi is starving his ass off. -Cal
What does this have to do with drum corps?:
This may only be a personal sentiment, but sometimes I feel a little guilty watching a drum corps show. As I have said before on this blog I was never a member of any drum corps, so I cannot pretend to truly understand the hard work and sacrifice these performers put into each show. I have been friends with people in drum corps I managed to dangle my foot in the waters of auditioning before life drew me back out. While I enjoy every opportunity I have to see marching music at its best. I always feel like I missed out on the ability to get an insider's perspective. I will never be able to understand the ins and outs of drum corps life as well as those who actually marched. I can sympathize with the effort I see on the field, but I don't really know what it feels like. I can't change any of that now of course. Yet I sometimes get that pang of remorse or that little niggling sense that I am an outsider inside a special private club. That is why from time to time I will try to bring in guests to this blog. But that's also why I know drum corps because can reach a larger audience. It doesn't matter if someone has marched before or not. We can all join in the glory of drum corps together.
Bonus Mainstream Media Alert:
Some sad news today in the world of the marching arts as Elizabeth Forward High School's drum corps was in an accident on their way to an event. It seems as though no one was seriously injured so everyone involved is counting their blessings. It is a reminder before the DCI competition season begins that each person in a drum corps has to leave their life behind for several months. It's almost always a fantastic adventure well worth the trouble, but sometimes lives can change during that journey. Here's hoping that everyone makes it through this season just fine and we all remember how quickly things can change.
Today's Quote:
Gandhi baked is good. I always feel bad when I watch it baked because I get really hungry and I'm eating a lot and poor Gandhi is starving his ass off. -Cal
What does this have to do with drum corps?:
This may only be a personal sentiment, but sometimes I feel a little guilty watching a drum corps show. As I have said before on this blog I was never a member of any drum corps, so I cannot pretend to truly understand the hard work and sacrifice these performers put into each show. I have been friends with people in drum corps I managed to dangle my foot in the waters of auditioning before life drew me back out. While I enjoy every opportunity I have to see marching music at its best. I always feel like I missed out on the ability to get an insider's perspective. I will never be able to understand the ins and outs of drum corps life as well as those who actually marched. I can sympathize with the effort I see on the field, but I don't really know what it feels like. I can't change any of that now of course. Yet I sometimes get that pang of remorse or that little niggling sense that I am an outsider inside a special private club. That is why from time to time I will try to bring in guests to this blog. But that's also why I know drum corps because can reach a larger audience. It doesn't matter if someone has marched before or not. We can all join in the glory of drum corps together.
Bonus Mainstream Media Alert:
Some sad news today in the world of the marching arts as Elizabeth Forward High School's drum corps was in an accident on their way to an event. It seems as though no one was seriously injured so everyone involved is counting their blessings. It is a reminder before the DCI competition season begins that each person in a drum corps has to leave their life behind for several months. It's almost always a fantastic adventure well worth the trouble, but sometimes lives can change during that journey. Here's hoping that everyone makes it through this season just fine and we all remember how quickly things can change.
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
Daily Dose: 5/2
Much like a villain from a Saturday morning cartoon show, I am totally committed to my hair-brained scheme to draw in more fans to drum corps. I am diabolically attempting to connect the hilarious (if crude) movie The 40 Year Old Virgin if the amazing (if obscure) art of people marching around a field with brass instruments and drums. Perhaps my bizarre hybrid will conquer the entertainment world, or possibly eat me in an ironic but predictable conclusion.
Today's Quote:
He's performing a public colonoscopy. Isn't that sweet? -Paula
What does this have to do with drum corps?:
Last time I wrote about how I find the scale of drum corps an exciting and impressive aspect of the activity. While seeing more than a hundred performers march and play as one is a stunning and powerful experience, it also requires an amazing amount of precision and focus on the part of every person on that field. If ever a member makes a mistake during the performance, the visceral thrill of watching a mob of people move in one direction and play one chord quickly becomes the sad comedy of one person moving in the wrong direction and playing the wrong note. This means that though the power of a drum corps is in its size, its efficacy depends on each individual. If you watch drum corps for any reason you have to appreciate the fact that all the members have to be working together precisely or else one of them could have the most embarrassing moment of their young lives. An example I have witnessed came at a midsummer drum corps show in my home state of Ohio. At this point in the competition season corps are usually pretty set in their shows and are working on perfecting the performance and taking it to that next level. So any mistake is going to be pretty glaring. The Crossmen were on the field and playing Frank Ticheli's wonderful piece "Blue Shades". This music starts with a very difficult section where all the musicians must play a series of syncopated notes with long pauses in between while marching back and forth at high speeds. Bop-bop. PAAAAAAUSE. Bop. PAUSE Be-bop.They we're doing great. Be-bop bop. Until everyone hit one note Bop went into their pause then one player played one note all by him/herself. *beep* You could feel everyone in the stands whince as all the fans said "oooh" as our hearts broke for the poor little guy/gal. So appreciate how difficult drum corps can be. These people have to work hard, because if they don't their every mistake will feel like a public colonoscopy.
Today's Quote:
He's performing a public colonoscopy. Isn't that sweet? -Paula
What does this have to do with drum corps?:
Last time I wrote about how I find the scale of drum corps an exciting and impressive aspect of the activity. While seeing more than a hundred performers march and play as one is a stunning and powerful experience, it also requires an amazing amount of precision and focus on the part of every person on that field. If ever a member makes a mistake during the performance, the visceral thrill of watching a mob of people move in one direction and play one chord quickly becomes the sad comedy of one person moving in the wrong direction and playing the wrong note. This means that though the power of a drum corps is in its size, its efficacy depends on each individual. If you watch drum corps for any reason you have to appreciate the fact that all the members have to be working together precisely or else one of them could have the most embarrassing moment of their young lives. An example I have witnessed came at a midsummer drum corps show in my home state of Ohio. At this point in the competition season corps are usually pretty set in their shows and are working on perfecting the performance and taking it to that next level. So any mistake is going to be pretty glaring. The Crossmen were on the field and playing Frank Ticheli's wonderful piece "Blue Shades". This music starts with a very difficult section where all the musicians must play a series of syncopated notes with long pauses in between while marching back and forth at high speeds. Bop-bop. PAAAAAAUSE. Bop. PAUSE Be-bop.They we're doing great. Be-bop bop. Until everyone hit one note Bop went into their pause then one player played one note all by him/herself. *beep* You could feel everyone in the stands whince as all the fans said "oooh" as our hearts broke for the poor little guy/gal. So appreciate how difficult drum corps can be. These people have to work hard, because if they don't their every mistake will feel like a public colonoscopy.
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Daily Dose 5/1
Once more into the breach of the regular feature where I combine my interest in drum and bugle corps with the widely beloved movie The 40 Year Old Virgin. With any luck by describing drum corps with quotes for a blockbuster I'll be able to draw in a few extra people into the drum corps fold.
Today's Quote:
And now, I'm making your silver pants blue. -Andy Stitzer
What does this have to do with drum corps?:
One of drum corps most vulnerable aspect are the goofy costumes people see the members wearing. Marching bands are usually donned in some sort of brightly colored pseudo-militaristic garb that always looks incredibly dorky in close-up photographs. Ever since Elvis Presley and the triumph of rock as America's choice of popular music, people have grown accustomed to thinking of music as an individual activity. Our image of a musician is a rock star or pop singer not a member of an orchestra or a girl marching around a field with a trumpet. This seems a little regressive to me, since for centuries music was built around the idea of collaboration and harmonizing diverse voices. Pop music has made us latch onto the model of the solo voice. I think we've gotten some wonderful music out of the last several decades. I'm just concerned it has thrown off our sense of scale. No, drum corps does not work on an individual scale, but not all great music has to. Sometimes music should be grand and immense and meant to be seen from great distances. Modern rock tours have to bring in giant speakers, TV's, pyrotechnics, props, sets and special effects to make the audience feel like they're watching something special. With drum corps all you really need are the performers, their instruments and some empty space and you can put on something huge. Blue and silver pants aren't going to win you many fans, but watching hundreds of blue and silver legs dart in and out with tremendous precision and speed will.
Today's Quote:
And now, I'm making your silver pants blue. -Andy Stitzer
What does this have to do with drum corps?:
One of drum corps most vulnerable aspect are the goofy costumes people see the members wearing. Marching bands are usually donned in some sort of brightly colored pseudo-militaristic garb that always looks incredibly dorky in close-up photographs. Ever since Elvis Presley and the triumph of rock as America's choice of popular music, people have grown accustomed to thinking of music as an individual activity. Our image of a musician is a rock star or pop singer not a member of an orchestra or a girl marching around a field with a trumpet. This seems a little regressive to me, since for centuries music was built around the idea of collaboration and harmonizing diverse voices. Pop music has made us latch onto the model of the solo voice. I think we've gotten some wonderful music out of the last several decades. I'm just concerned it has thrown off our sense of scale. No, drum corps does not work on an individual scale, but not all great music has to. Sometimes music should be grand and immense and meant to be seen from great distances. Modern rock tours have to bring in giant speakers, TV's, pyrotechnics, props, sets and special effects to make the audience feel like they're watching something special. With drum corps all you really need are the performers, their instruments and some empty space and you can put on something huge. Blue and silver pants aren't going to win you many fans, but watching hundreds of blue and silver legs dart in and out with tremendous precision and speed will.
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