Why do people do this?

[sloan]

I saw a DCI performance tonight. One veteran group had what appeared to be the band director (he warmed them up, was wearing a suit instead of a uniform) standing out front and playing (very) occasionally.

[I fear I'm about to offend someone here - but will pretend that no one can figure out what group I'm talking about; it is a useful fiction]

anyway, only about 5 notes were actually audible from this player. They were all long notes in the screechisimo register (followed by a self congratulary florish drawing attention to how difficult that note had been).

I heard NOTHING that was idiomatically related to the tuba, or any bass instrument. It was pure "higher and louder" (but not, thankfully, "faster").

In my opinion, it detracted from the group's total performance, and I'm left with the question: why do people do this? Is there some point that I'm missing?

[eupher61]

please clarify Ken....this guy was playing contra? or what instrument?

[brianggilbert]

What you're describing sounds like DCA (senior corps), and even then possibly an alumni corps and NOT a DCI junior corps.

Or possibly it was a DCI show with an exhibition by a group like I mentioned above....

Or maybe the Cadets are just screwing around with everyone....

[sloan]

please clarify Ken....this guy was playing contra? or what instrument?

contra, of course.

[sloan]

What you're describing sounds like DCA (senior corps), and even then possibly an alumni corps and NOT a DCI junior corps.

Definitely over-the-hill old fogies (I'm not up on the classification system) - but I'd rather this be about *why* and not about *who*.

Although, I did hear another (very good) show by a DCI junior corps that included a contra-section soli that was about a fifth too high for for the instruments *and* the players. In this case, I could imagine a musical reason for playing in that register (merely screech - not screechisimo) - but the section couldn't quite pull it off.

For me, the highlight of the evening was the show that opened to a catchy Philip Glass tune.

There - that should be enough clues for anyone who *really* wants to figure out *who* I'm talking about.

[jonesbrass]

Well, it is a senior corps you're talking about, FWIW. Too bad that with the drum corps thing it is sometimes all about showing off, and the music takes a back seat.

[Todd S. Malicoate]

Frankly, I'm surprised that someone with your experience would be surprised by something like that. Sometimes "the activity" is all about just slapping the audience in the face with raw power, and not about the esoteric details of fine music-making...especially in the "all age class."

I'll bet the audience in general cheered the screaming contra player and didn't give a fig about idiomatic tuba sound.

He did it because he was having fun, and has the opportunity to do something most of us don't. Did you really miss the point, or is this thread another interesting discussion-starter?

[Davy]

Why? Probably because he can.
If we tried that in our tuba line, we get n trouble for it. The first(and last) time, it was during a warmup before a show, and we did the excersise over, just because one of our tubas went above the staff on the chord.

setting this aside, I do have a pretty decent high register, but I don't use it on a regular basis. I fail to see what is impressive about playing high notes. You can get just as many people to loo your way if you play a realy low note as well

[Nick Pierce]

I've heard a similar story about an All Age Corp (don't know which one, don't ask). They were performing a field show as an exhibition for a DCI event. Throughout the entire show there was one guy, a trumpet/soprano, who just stood towards the front of the field, didn't march a singe step for the entire performance. He didn't play much of anything either, except whenever the corp hit an impact with a held out chord, he'd come in with a high note on top of the chord, then the show would continue and he'd just sit there, not even playing, until the next big chord. Strange.

[Leland]

That was Music City Legend, wasn't it? They've got to be the highest decibel-per-capita corps I've heard in my LIFE. Just insane; I had a lot of fun watching them hammer through their show a few weeks ago in Manassas.

The perpetual soloist thing is a curiosity of DCA. Sometimes it's used completely appropriately, like Empire Statesmen's Maynard Ferguson tribute show last year. With other corps, a soloist becomes known AS a soloist, and fans watch for them to do their thing. Unlike junior corps, some of these cats stay on for a couple decades or more, and some are just monsters on the horn compared to what the DCI kids can do. I think they still award a Best Soloist trophy, too (which, incidentally, was awarded last year to Genevieve Danis, a baritone player with the Syracuse Brigadiers; and, by all accounts, she earned every bit of it).

[Leland]

What you're describing sounds like DCA (senior corps), and even then possibly an alumni corps and NOT a DCI junior corps.

Or possibly it was a DCI show with an exhibition by a group like I mentioned above....

Or maybe the Cadets are just screwing around with everyone....

Ah, that may be... if it was an attempt at higher & louder, but couldn't be heard, then it probably was Cadets...

[sloan]

The perpetual soloist thing is a curiosity of DCA.

My point was that these were "solos" only in a very twisted sense of the term. Most were only 1 or two notes long, and consisted of the kind of thing you hear on the TrumpetChristmas track. I wouldn't mind at all if the guys standing around near the pit actually played something recognizable once in awhile. but "SCREEECH" followed by a little dance that says "that was real hard - and I'll bet *you* can't do it!" just doesn't cut it with me.

Note that this is NOT intended to be a DCI-bashing thread. I found most of the show quite enjoyable (even 90% of the show by the group in question here). I'm mostly just sincerely *puzzled* as to why anyone would consider this to be a positive element in the show.

I guess the best answer I've seen is "he's having fun". Well, I suppose that's OK - it just strikes me as terribly self-indulgent.

[Todd S. Malicoate]

I guess the best answer I've seen is "he's having fun". Well, I suppose that's OK - it just strikes me as terribly self-indulgent.

I couldn't agree more. And I'm very glad you enjoyed the majority of the show...I always do when I attend these things, as well. Especially the younger groups...those kids work so hard, and are so incredibly polished.

[TubaRay]

First of all, Dr. Sloan, I completely agree with your point. That being said, this simply seems to put us together in the "codger" category. We just don't get it, and that can be attributed to being codgers.

[tofu]

--

[Leland]

The perpetual soloist thing is a curiosity of DCA.

My point was that these were "solos" only in a very twisted sense of the term. Most were only 1 or two notes long, and consisted of the kind of thing you hear on the TrumpetChristmas track. I wouldn't mind at all if the guys standing around near the pit actually played something recognizable once in awhile. but "SCREEECH" followed by a little dance that says "that was real hard - and I'll bet *you* can't do it!" just doesn't cut it with me.

Note that this is NOT intended to be a DCI-bashing thread. I found most of the show quite enjoyable (even 90% of the show by the group in question here). I'm mostly just sincerely *puzzled* as to why anyone would consider this to be a positive element in the show.

I guess the best answer I've seen is "he's having fun". Well, I suppose that's OK - it just strikes me as terribly self-indulgent.

I need to make one thing clear first --

This was not a DCI corps. This was either DCA (Drum Corps Associates, the senior/"all-age" drum corps organization) or one of the dozens of senior-age parade-only corps. No kid gets away with playing like that in a DCI program.

But anyway...

Self-indulgent? Yup. Not everybody's cup of tea? Yup. Do they know about Freddy Fennell and Eastman? Yup. Do they care? Hardly.

This is a different realm of musical performance. Feel free to not like it just as much as I abhor the idea of sitting through another woodwind recital.

But it does no good to whine and moan and complain about it. Choosing to be so negative about things is a sure way to ruin your own day.

Time for me to move my laundry and get some lunch.

[MartyNeilan]

They can eternally discuss the pros and cons of the 1997 Cadets closer VS the 2003 Scouts ballad and the general effect of the "big" rifle toss at the "power chord" that made them fell all tingly inside, yet they can't hum 8 bars of the anything ever written for Wind Band by Holst or Grainger, and they wouldn't know a decent Frederick Fennell and the Eastman Wind Ensemble recording if it walked up and kicked them in the groin.

True, BUT...
Why are most band directors hired? Is it for the marching band or the concert band? How many principals / head football coaches would know a decent Frederick Fennell and the Eastman Wind Ensemble recording?
When I went to high school in the 80's drum corps was not near as big as it is now. One time someone told me about it. I was mildly interested and asked how much it paid. I dismissed the idea when I found out how much I had to pay. Now I regret that; it seems like drum corps experience is becoming almost mandatory on a band director's resume.

[Leland]

...it seems like drum corps experience is becoming almost mandatory on a band director's resume.

And I think I know why (otherwise I wouldn't write this post.. lol) -

Decent-to-good corps have refined their instruction & performance techniques far beyond the early days of curvilinear drill. Making such a performance repeatable and dependable is a very difficult task -- IF you & your staff don't know what you're doing. Corps still try things that don't seem to work, so they'll either change it to something else or figure out a technique so that it could be learned & performed.

A new band director with corps experience will also likely have connections to other instructors, probably people with whom they've worked directly and already know whether they can be trusted to teach well. It's not uncommon for a fresh-faced director to call up a fellow corps member and say, "Hey man, I've landed a position with John Wilkes Booth High School, and I need someone to run the drumline for band camp -- can you help me out?"

To be fair, not every corps nerd knows how to "work smarter, not harder", and spends their summers percolating salt for eight hours a day while struggling to get into semifinals. When it's done right, though, it's efficient, and that makes a significant difference when it comes to putting out four or five different halftime shows during a football season.

I didn't write much drill at all in college, but when I did, I purposely avoided trying to make the band do things that would take my corps a month to learn just well enough to keep from running into each other. During those summers in corps, we'd do things that felt easy, cleaned easily, and looked cool, and we'd attempt other stuff that was a hassle to clean, difficult to march, and still didn't look interesting even when we got it right. My band drills got comments from the kids like, "Your drill is cool, and it's easy to learn -- everything makes sense with the music," and, when we watched video of the performance, got the only "oohs" and "aahs" that I heard from them all season.

Prior experience in drum corps does NOT guarantee an ability to teach a field show, whether it's corps-style or step-2 picture drill -- but it increases the odds. It's showbiz. It's a combination of Broadway, rock band, and chamber ensemble. Learn it fast, try fixes, make changes, and perform it as if that's how the show was from the beginning.