October 28, 2008
BOA Las Vegas REDUX
So the weekend in Las Vegas was great all around: great weather, great "band" stadium, and some competitive groups. The weather was in the low 80s during the day and a nice upper 50s in the evening which made was great for performing. The Owasso band is use to playing in 90+ weather at the beginning of the season so the temps did not affect the group (that and the conditioning the band went through this year). The UNLV stadium had one of the best sounds coming off the field that I have heard in a while and I've been in quite a few through my years. Some might call it slightly boomy, but I enjoyed being able to hear the details in the basslines even when they were past the back hash.
As for the groups, let me say this: there are a lot of good drumlines in the Nevada/Utah area - my hat is off to them...I was impressed. That said, I have to mention three groups at the contest that blew me away: Clovis West (CA), American Fork (UT), and Upland HS (CA). The maturity of sound in these three groups was fantastic! Clovis West had a great ensemble sound, American Fork with its 8 snares, 5 tenors and monster bassline, and Upland with a sick snareline that wasn't afraid to stick its neck out and throw down some beats. If you get a chance to see any of these groups in the next couple of weeks, I urge to go check them out.
Again, I wish I could have checked everyone out that day, but I had a job to do. Even though the drive was long, we thoroughly enjoyed our time in Las Vegas (and St. George) and it was a great BOA contest.
Posted by Ryan on 09:24 PM
August 04, 2008
3 Shows in 4 Days
With 3 shows in 4 days, 3 states and over 750 miles of asphalt...we saw just about every Top 12 corp minus SCV, Phantom Regiment, and Carolina Crown - one corp we even saw at all three shows (Blue Knights). So instead of doing three seperate posts about each show I decided to combine them into one giant review - corp by corp. We'll tell you where we saw them, what we saw, and then give out a little video from the lot of each group. Granted we couldn't get to all of them, but we sure tried!
So on to the review:
Boston Crusaders
Denton, TX
Boston comes out again with a strong line and snare tuning that sounds crisp and well balanced with the other sections. Their rolls are strong, and exercises seemed utilitarian (nothing wrong with that), but I didn't have time to sample the book as there were quite a few other corps to run around and check out.
Blue Knights
Denton, Broken Arrow, and Van Buren
This was the corp that I saw at all three shows, and I saw them at three different stages in their warm up. In Denton, it was sub sectionals working on breaks or tuning drums. I decided to check out the tenor line as they were working on what looked like their break in the show. I later learned at the Van Buren show that there is not a vet on the tenor line this year, all new cats...that's impressive. In Broken Arrow, they were tuning drums when I walked up so I checked out other corps and didn't get back to them. In Van Buren, all the drumlines were scattered throughout a neighborhood in different directions, this made it very hard to get footage. What I did get in Van Buren is very cool and worth a listen.
Bluecoats
Denton, TX and Van Buren, AR
I have heard great things about this drumline and they did not disappoint. The bassline is VERY strong and their parts prove it by the solos and splits throughout the book. The snare and tenor lines are strong as well and as a whole they still have some ground to make up, but the book's complexity gives the drumline the greatest room for growth in the Top 6.
I also happened to run into the Bluecoats front ensemble at both shows and thought I would cover a little of them as well. I was pleasantly surprised to find some difficult runs and some singles that would rival the best snarelines in the business.
Blue Devils
Denton, TX
Meaty parts, lots of movement, and tons of showmanship are what you come away with after watching the Blue Devils drumline warm up in the lot. At times, there are clarity issues, but they clear up the longer they go into their warm-up set. Snare tuning was a nice thick midrange tone that can only be had from a mylar bottom head. The tenors have a lot of notes but their roll quality is top notch and come through very strong - section of the day in my book. Not in the posted videos at this point, but maybe posted later, is a lot of body movement practice. It is integral in their show and almost seems to be a must to run through it during warmup. (Editor's Note: if you want to become a future Blue Devil, you better start taking some dance and movement classes)
The Cavaliers
Denton, TX and Broken Arrow, OK
While not the hardest book when compared to just watching Bluecoats and the Blue Devils, they are very clean and very polished. This group started with 9 snares but lost two players early in the season for various reasons. So with 7 snares, 5 tenors, and 5 basses you would think that you would get an unbalanced sound, but the seven man snareline puts out a level of sound that matches snarelines with 8 or 9 players. Something to note with the tenors is that they are using one 8" drum instead of the typical 6" spock drum(s).
Blue Stars
Broken Arrow, OK
Let me be honest, I thought the Blue Stars' tuning and approach to playing LAST year was abrasive. I could only stand in front of the group for about five minutes and then the sound of the drums got on my nerves. I like more of an open, organic ensemble sound and I would describe last year as metallic. That said, THIS year's group is great. The tuning is much more enjoyable and they are playing some nice licks. There are still some moments where the playing gets thick, but I'm sure the staff is on it. The corp as a whole is on the way up and the drumline is obviously making a positive contribution to that movement.
Madison Scouts
Van Buren, AR
There are always trade offs when it comes to many things...one of those is when the last corp of the show goes on, they are pretty much playing in the dark unless they find a street light or a parking lot light to stand under. Unfortunately they were under neither, the closest was a light across the street in the neighborhood and it just wasn't enough for the camera to pick up - you can barely see the tenor line. I had a great shot and the staff even invited me to get closer, but my camera just couldn't pick it up. Still, there are some things that need to be said, so I'm uploading it anyway so people can hear what I heard.
First off, bravo to the drum staff for bringing back the cymbal line! It is a tradition that needed to be resurrected - Roger Carter has brought about many positive decisions that is putting this group on the right track. You can tell by the attitude and approach of the staff and the reponse from the members that they are enjoying what they do.
As for the playing, they are improved from last year and have some great sections of the show to really display the ability of the group. While it does get hard to read in a few sections, rolls are crisp and all sections balance equally across the board. The addition of the cymbal line really adds to the ensemble and helps get back to that signature Madison sound.
Posted by Ryan on 12:40 AM
July 22, 2007
DCI Denton, TX Review
(Denton, TX) - You better be in shape if you decide to go to a show with me. Why? Well, I usually take in a hybrid show of sorts: half stands, half lots. While the shows are cool, sometimes you want to just see what the drumlines are up to. This just happened to be one of those shows...
So between two lots, my car in a parking lot between them and the stadium right next to that, it made for a lot of trips back and forth and a lot of walking/jogging - two trips to the bus parking lot, three trips to the car, two trips to the stadium, and one trip to the warmup lot. Like I said, lots of walking. So, this isn't going to really be a run down of the "shows" since I didn't see everyone. This was a big contest with nine groups performing, and I missed a large chunk of the shows because I was in the lot taping Bluecoats, Santa Clara Vanguard, and Cavaliers just for you.
So let's just talk drumline warmup. Due to the nature of the venue, there was not a lot of places for the drumlines to warmup, especially since the stadium was isolated off the highway and only one big building between them and the stadium. While I know the corps didn't like the situation, it made it a lot junkies paradise since each group was about 60 yards away from each other. You could see and hear where they were in their warmup and go check out different sections of each. So when you check out the vids and notice one scene has sunlight and another doesn't, you'll know why.
Bluecoats
Watched the bassline sectional warmup because I know one of the two bass techs and wanted to check out his guys. One word: SICK. They are doing some splits that defy anything I've heard in recent history. The drums are gun metal gray sparkle Yamahas with Innovative sticks and Evans drumheads. The bassline is using the MS1 heads which is a normal head without the Evans muffling system. While the typical MS1 is 10mil I know they are testing some new thicknesses (read: thinner) this Summer and look forward to the fruits of their testing for Evans.
The snareline was extremely tight and had a wet snare sound that seems to be very popular these days; no tape on the snare guts, just a small patch of muffling on the bottom snare head (cotton ball size).
Cavaliers
They were last to go, and got such a late start that most of the video was shot in the dark. They are running silver sparkle Yamaha drums with chrome hardware, Innovative sticks, and Remo heads. They are using the new PowerMax bass heads with the overtone ring that allows you to insert foam strips in for muffling. I know for a fact that they are running extra muffling on bass 4 and 5 so take that into consideration if you plan to buy these for your group in the Fall.
There is some really tight interplay between the snares and tenors throughout this video clip. The clarity level is just a tiny notch above Bluecoats and SCV. I love the writing, but I think I'm on the fence when compared to the Bluecoats writing this year. I've never been a listener of Billy Joel's music, but I can get into what they are doing with it here....nice work.
Santa Clara Vanguard
Fantastic! It was nice to see some of the old Vanguard coming through in this group. They played with a relaxed style that reminded me of 2003-2004. All the typical elements are there, solid bassline, nice slightly wet snare sound like the other two, some beefy notes in the tenors and a cymbal line with a definite snap to every move. This is a young group, especially in the snareline with five of the eight just graduating high school. Even so, I will make a prediction right now: if this group sticks together over the next two years they will be competing for a high drum trophy. There I said it! I'll let the vids speak for themselves.
Posted by Ryan on 02:24 AM
DCI Siloam Springs Review
Normally, the Siloam Springs DCI show is a great venue to check out drum corps - flat terrain, lots of shade trees, and a good little stadium. Well, this year they had some field maintenance going on and had to move the show to Fayetteville. How was the change of venue? Well, they have shade trees. No, the stadium is great, the only problem is the school is built on the side of a hill. This made tracking down drumlines an extremely rough process.
More commentary, pictures and videos after the jump...Being as this was the only show that I could see The Cadets perform, I decided to split my time between the stands and the lot. Unfortunately, the way they did the lineup made for some hard decisions. Instead of going by scores or something rational, the lineup went something like this:
Pioneer
Southwind
Colts
[break]
Cadets
Blue Knights
Madison Scouts
See the problem? I would miss the entire first block to tape Cadets in the lot, and then would miss most of Madison in the lot by watching Cadets - ugh. The other problem that only added to the situation was that the school was on one side of the hill and the stadium was at the bottom of the other side. Needless to say I got my exercise Wednesday night!
Just a quick run down of what I saw, whether in the lot or in the stands, here it is:
Pioneer - I was just getting there when Pioneer was on the field so I'm not going to comment on something I didn't see. I know some guy posted some video of the Pioneer drumline warming up so go check that out on YouTube.
Southwind - I watched them from the corner of the stands, and the one word I can use to describe the drumline at Southwind this year is "HOT". They are playing more notes than some of the Top 6 corps out there and their quality of sound is just night and day from last year. I'm not trying to take anything away from the group last year, but the Music City guys have outdone themselves in preparing for the season. Just about every note was crystal clear even from my bad angle.
I'm not sure why their scores aren't going up more, but I think some of it has to do with some judges not being able to just close their eyes and listen for a minute - they can't get past the name. It seems other judges don't have a problem with it and are scoring them on what they see and hear, but then some judges out there still like to put the name brands up front. I'm not naming any names, but go look at the drum scores and you'll see some dips back and forth between them and the Madison Scouts.
Colts - with new uniforms, bright red sparkle Yamaha drums, and a mostly new drum staff, they seem to have stepped it up their performance as a corp this year. The first half of the show takes some time to evolve, but the second half is fantastic. Open exposed rolls by the snares had a consistent sound from start to finish. The drum book is different from past years and I like the new phrasing I am hearing from the drumline. If they make the opener a little stronger, I think this is a Top 10 show.
Cadets - First, I love their musical program this year, but I can't stand the voice overs. It actually distracts me from enjoying the show. Silence has a role in music and The Cadets just don't seem to understand that this year. Almost every tacet spot in Blue Shades has some wonky voice over like "You can do it" or "That's it!" or "Yeahh!". Give me a break!
Ok, enough of that. The drumline has new Yamaha drums with a brown to gold fade stain that looks amazing up close. As for the drumline they are playing some great stuff. Other than some clarity issues during the drum break tonight, I think its a solid show with some great music and some surprising visual aspects. They are worth seeing if you can get out to a show in the next few weeks.
Blue Knights - a solid show with some great visual bits throughout. The drumline turned a great performance and they have some very nice Pearl drums with what looks like an aqua marine fade stain on the shells. Not my color choice with the cobalt blue, black, and white uniforms, but the drums still look cool by themselves. Great bass splits between one and two and some nice tenor licks filled out the rest of the section. I also noticed they have one of the largest front ensembles I have seen in a drum corp in quite a while.
Madison Scouts - this is the show everyone is talking about - good or bad. Frankly, I like the show, and the intro has a very cool and mysterious feel to it. That said, the rest of the show doesn't live up to the build up provided by the intro - that's just my opinion. It kind of makes you expect more than just a rock-n-roll Rush show. As for the scores this year, I've heard the Scouts weren't entirely happy with the visual/drill book and rewrote it, learned it, and put it in starting around the Atlanta show a few days ago. So, there are still some dirty spots in the drill and it doesn't seem to "pop" as much as other shows probably just because of the newness of the material. I will say there are a few runs in the horns that are not very clear at this point in the season and is uncharacteristic of the Madison Scouts. Looking at the scores, they are moving up quick, but I don't know if it is quick enough. They are racing against time and at this point I speculate that they will fall into the 13-15 range by Finals week.
The drumline and colorguard are holding things together. The drums put in a respectable performance and played strong throughout the show, but there were balance issues in the front ensemble that were caused by the amplification mix being too hot. Normally I wouldn't mention that, but if corps are going to use it, then its part of the review if it hurts or helps the group. We could go into a whole other tangent about drum corp amplification, but this isn't the time. I understand that marimbas are hard to hear outside, but in the amplification game, to me less is more. Several other corps tonight pulled it off, but I didn't even mention their use because it didn't detract from the show.
That's it, look for a few more reviews in the coming week or two as we get closer to Finals in Pasadena. Until next time, keep drumming and go check out a show!
Posted by Ryan on 02:20 AM
August 06, 2006
DCI Siloam Springs Review
Siloam Springs, Arkansas was the scene for a great showcase of some of the top corps including Bluecoats, Carolina Crown, Boston Crusaders, Colts, Blue Knights, Mandarins, and Revolution. Though hot, lots of trees and a setting sun set the stage for a great evening of drumming.
Let me preface this review, I didn't get to all the warmups, and for good reason. I am currently on crutches and some of the widespread warmup areas made it difficult to get to all of them. I tried the best I could and got to 80% of the warmups. Sorry to you Carolina Crown fans, they were tracking all over a parking lot on the other side of a shopping center and was just too far for me. As for Mandarins and Revolution, we didn't get there in time to see them but for a minute or two. And Bluecoats, well, I made it to part of the warmup, but it was already dark and therefore made no sense to try shooting photos, but I did get a video clip (mainly audio). So, enjoy the pictures and check out the video clips of each corp.
Colts Cymbal Line, looking and sounding great as usual.
Colts snareline
Colts tenorline
Colts video
Blue Knights drumline
Blue Knights snareline
Blue Knights video
Boston Crusaders bassline
Boston Crusaders snareline
Another shot of the Crusaders snareline
Boston Crusaders video
Bluecoats bass drums
Bluecoats video - hard to see, but you can hear 'em.
Posted by Ryan on 06:48 PM | Comments (0)
November 21, 2005
Grand Nationals Picture Redux
I'm not going to give a blow-by-blow of each band because frankly, I didn't get to see too many. It was just the way our schedule worked out (or didn't). So instead, I'm going to show you what I saw, through the pictures I took. Yes, it's probably not what you would normally see unless you've been in a band at Grand Nationals. It kind of gives you an inside look at Finals from the field. So without further ado, I give you the Grand Nationals Picture Redux...
The Owasso Drumline warming up for their QuarterFinals performance. I think it's about 8AM Friday morning.
The Owasso snareline
Extreme close-up during music warm-up
In the RCA Dome airlock waiting to go onto the field
The factory outside the airlock after the performance. Does anyone know what they do there? I've always wondered...
While walking outside the conference side of the facility, a police-escorted file of tanks came rumbling through downtown. They gave out peace signs and saluted as they went by.
When they say you're at a "hotel by the airport" they're not kidding! This is the view out our window.
We had some downtime in our "borrowed" room (more on that later) and got a chance to really clean the drums and polish the cymbals.
Going back over the cymbal logos after three coats of polish
Owasso in Physical Warm-up before Finals
Backfield shot of Owasso marching onto the field for their Finals performance. Man, what a crowd!
Backfield shot of Finals Retreat. RCC's drumline is playing to my right and throwing down some nice licks.
The drumline at the front of the band for Retreat
Again....man, look at that crowd!!!
The drum majors during the awards ceremony
We happen to be standing next to the Carmel staff at the front of the field and I took a picture when they announced them as the winners. Notice Mike McIntosh (Bluecoats Percussion Caption Head) with his head against the wall. I know this was a long time coming for them and a lot of pent up emotions were finally able to come out. Congrats to them and their students.
The Owasso Drumline after Retreat; what a stellar group of young people. I couldn't ask to work with a finer ensemble.
After announcing that the field was Carmel's, the bass drums headed for the airlock.
Loading up the buses outside the conference hall. A little unexpected rain was coming down, but it didn't dampen our spirits.
A close-up of the Grand National Finalist medal. That thing is heavy for its size!
Again, I am proud of the Owasso kids and all of their hard effort this season. They worked efficiently at every practice and never took their eyes off the goal. Congrats to them and every other band member that participated in the 2005 BOA Grand Nationals.
As a side note, I would like to thank some people and companies for their support and kindness: special thanks to Yamaha for their support, extra tickets, and listening to us concerning hardware and offering solutions, and thanks goes to Mark Wessels and the Vic Firth team for the coverage and product support (sticks and mallets). I would also like to thank our new friends at Jackson Academy HS who let us borrow their gigantic room at the conference center. This thing was a massive exhibit hall about a football field wide and three football fields long, plus it had a loading dock and direct access to the warm-up locations. They were kind enough to let us use their space as a staging area before Semis and through Finals - we really appreciate your kindness!
Posted by Ryan on 09:53 PM | Comments (0)
August 08, 2005
Pittsburg, Kansas Review
Pittsburg, Kansas was the stage for the first meeting between the Cavaliers and the Blue Devils. Having only been back for a few days, the Blue Devils are ready to show American audiences what European has been treated to for the past few weeks. Where is Blue Devils' show in regards to the competition? Are they tweaking a polished show or are they trying to fill in the holes? Have they been on track to stay with the competition while out of the country? Here's a first hand account of the evening and what took place...
The evening started with a solid performance from Pioneer which was seen from the tunnel so I won't comment on their show. Their strong showing set the stage for a great evening of drum corps as the Colts were next to hit the field. The corp from Dubuque had a great concept and music to back it up, but had some front-to-back phasing issues with the pit. The colorguard turned in a respectable performance as they have been doing all summer. I like their version of Estancia and they score points for having a drum book that blends well with the horn book. Smart writing, the pieces just need to come together to complete the package.
Capital Regiment was on next...there show was about Time and they have this gigantic sun dial that gets moved around constantly during the show. The same two people pushed it around the entire time, and I kept sitting there wondering if they had to pay the corps fees to push a prop around all Summer? Is that mean for me to say? I'm just curious....as for the drumline they have definitely stepped it up in the past two years and showed that last year was not a fluke. The drumline plays so well that it makes the hornline sound small. The case of something being so good that it makes the others pieces look out of place. Good and bad I guess.
The Blue Knights followed suit and displayed a clean show. It seemed flat in places and I respect them for their precision, but I have had a hard time in the past getting "into" their shows. The drumline really set themselves apart from the previous drumlines tonight by having some of the thickest rolls of the night. Their unique color of blue on their drum shells this year throws me off. I can't decide if it is a blue-green or a green-blue - it's not your normal dark blue (or black) you're use to seeing on their drums.
Glassmen were next and the drumline had a great show, but I wasn't impressed with the music arranging and thought some of the style choices for the music was a little odd, yet the drumline handled their end very well. Nice musical colors with the added Remo TSS drums mounted to the front of the snares, and bassline had some killer runs in the show. Like last year they've got a drum shell color that changes based on the light. Though this year's is a blue instead of the copper. Even close up, the color changes from an almost black to a midnight blue with some colors in between. Definitely pimp, but not over-the-top gold teeth pimp, very tasteful.
Blue Devils were next and WOW, what a hard show. The drum book is esoteric and very demanding, passing rolls around the drums, dynamics moving the sound all over the place, and some tough drill to top it off. If they can smooth out the kinks, I say top 3 drum finish, but it's a gamble with other groups like Cadets, Phantom and Bluecoats playing at such a high level. I'm afraid the Europe trip has hurt their potential to stay with the upper echelon - I would say a top 5 finish, but no closer than 3rd...too much ground to make up at this point.
The Cavaliers finished out the evening with a great show that looks polished. The drum book has the familiar sound of previous years and I guess it works well for them. The middle tune about the Chicago fire was well constructed. The closer was great, but seemed long in the tooth, as it kept ramping up more and more.
The Cavaliers ended up winning the night as their show is currently at a more mature stage. I think the European tour has hurt the Blue Devils and I think it would be hard to push yourself as you don't see much competition - it's like taking a month off to do standstills. Can Blue Devils push hard enough to catch up? At this point, I'm not sure. I think if they would have come back in mid-early July they would of had a better chance. I guess we'll see as more scores start to come in.
Posted by Ryan on 10:22 PM | Comments (0)
July 16, 2005
New Feature: DCI Drumline Tracker
If you'll notice in the navigation bar above, there is a new item in the list called "Scores". Clicking this link will send you to the DCI Drumline Tracker page. This page takes every Division I drum corp's drum scores since June 17th and spits them out in a Flash-based chart. From this you can see judging patterns, downtime, and improvements after rehearsal days, then compare your favorite groups against the competition.
Posted by Ryan on 10:16 PM | Comments (0)
October 15, 2004
CLOSEUP: Yamaha MTS Marching Snare
After the success of the SFZ Marching Snare, Yamaha decided to bring another drum to market: the Yamaha MTS Marching Snare. Almost identical in specifications, the one major difference is the addition of a top snare mechanism. It has many of the same features as the SFZ model such as the 6-ply birch shell, diecast top rim, and Fibretech synthetic gut snares along the bottom head.
Unlike a traditional pipe band drum, the top snare guts are tightly wound steel wire. Plus the Yamaha MTS has the ability to turn the top mechanism on and off using a handle positioned on the left hand side of the drum, just under the top rim and the suspension ring.
The top snare mechanism uses spring-loaded posts to maintain an even position across the top head when engaged and uses rollers on each side to maintain consistent tension across the wire. They follow the same path as the bottom snares from diagonal top right to left bottom. The top snares also do not use individual snare guts like traditional bottom snare assemblies, but uses one strand wrapped around the rollers and brought back to the other side.
Posted by Ryan on 02:29 PM | Comments (0)
July 14, 2004
Drum Corp at it's Best
Went to the local show last week. It was a great lineup - Cavaliers, Troopers, Bluecoats, Magic of Orlando, Southwind, Capital Regiment. Cavaliers put on a clinic and tons of people went and checked out the corp warmups in the parking lot before the show. Here's a quick rundown of each corp...
Bluecoats blew me away with their show which I usually don't get in to much. I think I was most intrigued by the addition of Mike McIntosh to the staff. You can definitely hear the "Cavie sound" in the drumline book.
Troopers can drum! Even though the hornline is small, the drumline looks like it was transplanted from a Top 12 corp. They with out a doubt out drummed some of the bigger corps.
Magic of Orlando surprised me in that I thought the momentum from last year would keep them rolling, but it looks like they have hit the reality of being a Division I corp again. nice show, just needs some cleaning....the snare sound was real wet - that could have been some of it.
Southwind - sporting new uniforms (yea, no more yellow!), they have a solid show. It will be a great package when it is cleaned up, just dirty for this time of year. After seeing them for the past three years, I have high expectations for this drumline. At this point it just doesn't seem as strong as previous years.
Capital Regiment - what a surprise! I can't believe they were digging in the ranks of Div II/III just a couple of years ago. I expect to see them break into the Top 12 someday soon.
Cavaliers have another stellar product for 2004. Is it as good as 2000 or 2003? Hard to tell at this point and I hate to make a judgment halfway through the season. I'll just say that the Cavaliers seem to put the ideas out first and then clean it. So first impressions of newly added material is that they are dirty. Are they dirty? In certain places, yes. Most exposed is the drum break with question and answer snare rolls from the split snareline. It seems to be hit and miss, but I wonder if some of the problem is the direction they are facing (backwards at an angle) and the use of projectors. I'm sure they'll figure out a solution soon enough (if not already).
Posted by Ryan on 12:05 PM | Comments (0)
