Rumble in the Falls (DCI show)
Two nights ago, Drum Corps International (DCI) made a stop in Wichita Falls for "Rumble in the Falls." Seven corps competed, six of them in Division 1, the top tier. My discussion of the show is aimed mostly at those who have knowledge about DCI and drum corps. For those without such knowledge, I will give a rudimentary explanation of drum corps. Anyone who wants more info should go to the DCI website. There you can also find links to individual groups, and you can learn even more from those sites.
For those of you who do not know what a DCI corps is, it is kind of hard to explain. It is a band that marches, but it is not really a marching band in the traditional sense. All the horns are brass, and they all have valves (alas, no slide trombones). There is a mass amount of percussion, of which only the "drum line"--snare drums, tenor (quad) drums, and bass drums--march. The rest of the percussion section consists of every possible percussion instrument you can imagine--xylophone, marimba, tympani, bells, and on and on. That group remains on the sideline, but those corps members stay plenty active, I assure you. Then there is the color guard. The traditional equipment used by the color guard are flags, rifles, and swords, but all manner of other props and equipment are used. Today color guards utilize many dance techniques as well.
Drum corps presents a veritable plethora of sensory stimuli. For me, the music is the main thing, so I always focus on the horns. The marching is next on my priority list. The formations and maneuvers are creative and different from anything you would see from any high school marching band and most college marching bands. For those more into color or dance or props or production numbers there is the color guard. The drum line presents a visual and rhythmic show all its own. And often all of these elements are blended into a whole that becomes a unique art form. As for scoring, there are separate scores for general effect, visual effect, and musical effect, and within those categories are separate scores for the horns, the drum line, and the color guard. For a detailed look at the scoring system, you can review the scoresheet from "Rumble in the Falls."
As the DCI website says, "Some call it extreme marching band; others compare it to professional marching band; one director even refers to it as a cross between a Broadway musical and a marching band show." I say imagine etiher a Vegas show, a Broadway musical, an opera, or a major rock concert, and everything in between, and then add lots of volume and energy, and you have a top notch DCI show. Whatever one wants to call it, it is a unique spectacle and experience. And although PBS always broadcasts the DCI Finals, drum corps is best experienced live.
I am a hard core, old school marching band devotee. My college band, the SMU Mustang Band, never needed flags, swords, dancing girls, or tympani. I must note that the Mustang Band is not exactly your typical marching band. The Mustang Band is brass and saxophones and a drum line, plays primarily swing and other jazz (on the field), and is one of the very few bands anywhere in the country that still marches the style known as 8-to-5 high knee lift. In my opinion, any good marching band has no need for flags, swords, dancing girls, tympani, etc. In spite of my opinion, however, and although I never was in DCI, I am also a big DCI fan. A marching band is not a drum corps, and a drum corps is not a marching band. They each have their unique qualities and place in the world.
That being said, if you ever have a chance to see a DCI show live, go. If you ever have a chance to go to the DCI Finals, GO!
So, anyway, there was a DCI show here two nights ago. The program of the Blue Knights from Denver was a good example of the creativity in drum corps. I was a bit apprehensive when I saw that their program was music from Samuel Barber's Piano Concerto Op. 38. I was afraid it would be some stuffy, artsy-fartsy kind of thing. Boy, was I wrong. It was awesome! Of the seven corps, the Blue Knights had the loudest, most powerful sound. It was a real "wall of sound" that I love. Unfortunately for them, other aspects of their show were not as good, and they finished fourth. Visually, my favorite corps of the night was Carolina Crown from Ft. Mill, South Carolina. They did some amazing things marching-wise, and they were highly entertaining. Their music was good and very well executed, but I really wished they had been louder. It really would have added more energy and effect to their show. Carolina Crown finished second. The winning corps was the Bluecoats from Canton, Ohio, and they deserved the win. Most of their program was jazz. And I'm not talking about some watered-down, sounds like it was written for a bunch of dull hacks version of jazz. I mean real, sure enough jazz. And man, could those cats play! They also had a real air of confidence that provided that extra bit of edge and polish to their show. They are a definite threat to win the DCI Championship, which starts on August 8 at Madison, Wisconsin.
And for the record, one of my favorite DCI groups has always been the Phantom Regiment from Rockford, Illinois.
For those of you who do not know what a DCI corps is, it is kind of hard to explain. It is a band that marches, but it is not really a marching band in the traditional sense. All the horns are brass, and they all have valves (alas, no slide trombones). There is a mass amount of percussion, of which only the "drum line"--snare drums, tenor (quad) drums, and bass drums--march. The rest of the percussion section consists of every possible percussion instrument you can imagine--xylophone, marimba, tympani, bells, and on and on. That group remains on the sideline, but those corps members stay plenty active, I assure you. Then there is the color guard. The traditional equipment used by the color guard are flags, rifles, and swords, but all manner of other props and equipment are used. Today color guards utilize many dance techniques as well.
Drum corps presents a veritable plethora of sensory stimuli. For me, the music is the main thing, so I always focus on the horns. The marching is next on my priority list. The formations and maneuvers are creative and different from anything you would see from any high school marching band and most college marching bands. For those more into color or dance or props or production numbers there is the color guard. The drum line presents a visual and rhythmic show all its own. And often all of these elements are blended into a whole that becomes a unique art form. As for scoring, there are separate scores for general effect, visual effect, and musical effect, and within those categories are separate scores for the horns, the drum line, and the color guard. For a detailed look at the scoring system, you can review the scoresheet from "Rumble in the Falls."
As the DCI website says, "Some call it extreme marching band; others compare it to professional marching band; one director even refers to it as a cross between a Broadway musical and a marching band show." I say imagine etiher a Vegas show, a Broadway musical, an opera, or a major rock concert, and everything in between, and then add lots of volume and energy, and you have a top notch DCI show. Whatever one wants to call it, it is a unique spectacle and experience. And although PBS always broadcasts the DCI Finals, drum corps is best experienced live.
I am a hard core, old school marching band devotee. My college band, the SMU Mustang Band, never needed flags, swords, dancing girls, or tympani. I must note that the Mustang Band is not exactly your typical marching band. The Mustang Band is brass and saxophones and a drum line, plays primarily swing and other jazz (on the field), and is one of the very few bands anywhere in the country that still marches the style known as 8-to-5 high knee lift. In my opinion, any good marching band has no need for flags, swords, dancing girls, tympani, etc. In spite of my opinion, however, and although I never was in DCI, I am also a big DCI fan. A marching band is not a drum corps, and a drum corps is not a marching band. They each have their unique qualities and place in the world.
That being said, if you ever have a chance to see a DCI show live, go. If you ever have a chance to go to the DCI Finals, GO!
So, anyway, there was a DCI show here two nights ago. The program of the Blue Knights from Denver was a good example of the creativity in drum corps. I was a bit apprehensive when I saw that their program was music from Samuel Barber's Piano Concerto Op. 38. I was afraid it would be some stuffy, artsy-fartsy kind of thing. Boy, was I wrong. It was awesome! Of the seven corps, the Blue Knights had the loudest, most powerful sound. It was a real "wall of sound" that I love. Unfortunately for them, other aspects of their show were not as good, and they finished fourth. Visually, my favorite corps of the night was Carolina Crown from Ft. Mill, South Carolina. They did some amazing things marching-wise, and they were highly entertaining. Their music was good and very well executed, but I really wished they had been louder. It really would have added more energy and effect to their show. Carolina Crown finished second. The winning corps was the Bluecoats from Canton, Ohio, and they deserved the win. Most of their program was jazz. And I'm not talking about some watered-down, sounds like it was written for a bunch of dull hacks version of jazz. I mean real, sure enough jazz. And man, could those cats play! They also had a real air of confidence that provided that extra bit of edge and polish to their show. They are a definite threat to win the DCI Championship, which starts on August 8 at Madison, Wisconsin.
And for the record, one of my favorite DCI groups has always been the Phantom Regiment from Rockford, Illinois.
posted by WCharles @ 7/27/2006 10:36:00 AM
3 Comments:
Seriously, if you have time, consider trying to attend some of the competition. Here's the link for all the info:
http://madison06.dci.org/
The Division I competition does not start until August 10, but the Division II and III competitions will also be worth seeing.
I checked the website to see about ticket availability, but had no luck, so I don't know if tickets are still available. Still, you might want to check into it.
8 to 5 used to be fairly common, but it started going out of style when I was in high school. It's just "too hard" to teach and it requires more work out of the band. Now every high school band everywhere looks exactly the same, and most college bands do, too. And what's worse is that most of them are doing some sort of watered down version of DCI, and it just doesn't work.
I started marching band in jr. high (7th and 8th grade), and our band marched the high knee lift 8 to 5 (as in 8 steps to five yards). However, there are two basic versions of that step--bicycle and kick out. And then there are variations on the kick out, but more on that later. My jr. high band used the bicycle step (so called because it uses the same motion as if riding a bicycle). My high school used the same step, but in my senior year, we started incorporating the step used by drum corps, known as glide step or corps style. Even that step has changed a little over the years, but it still remains a glide--no knee lift and very smooth. Then there is the classic 6 to 5 or military style.
I have marched every one of the above described styles. I was a drum major in jr. high, and a sqaud leader and drum major in high school and college, and I had to teach people how to march. Given my experience, it is my humble opinion that the most physically difficult and demanding style of marching is the kickout version of high knee lift 8 to 5, which is the antithesis to the bicycle step. The bicycle step is a largely natural motion while the kickout is definitely not. As I said there are versions within that version. The toughest one of those is where the thigh is parallel to the ground and the lower leg is perpendicular to the ground. That's how we did it at SMU. Try doing that at tempos of 144, 160, and 180-190 while playing at loud volume.
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