Monday, November 9, 2009

What one song says "Drum Corps" to you?

Wow. This is rather difficult for me but here's my little take: Community based corps are pretty much gone. DCI is here to stay.
That means there will never, ever again be the kind of individuality we found in the corps from the mid sixties to early seventies.
Has the difficulty of the music increased? I don't really know was Boston's Unsquare Dance in 1969 any more difficult than the Troopers version in 2007? Or any one corps who have played their version of Malaguena during the past 3 decades?
Is Promanade from Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition we played in the late sixties any more difficult than Daphnis and Chloé by Maurice Ravel?
Maybe not. But if you look at the repertoires from back in the day, you will see songs of the times - songs that the crowds could easily recognize. Aquarius (anything from Hair for that matter), Big Spender, Hang 'Em High, Eleanore Rigby and hundreds more.
Now don't get me wrong, I loved the music like The Firebird Suite by Igor Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto Number 1, Gershwin's Concerto In F (which was also played BITD, BTW) and all the long chord music being played - they are very pleasing to the ear and I know difficult when played by an orchestra - The current drum corps charts are designed to accommodate very, very intricate drill patterns (is it true that they have spots marked in paint on the field - I read that somewhere once ... hmmm)
But I'm going off topic, so back to the songs:
Someone once wrote: "To me, no other song says Drum Corps like Battle Hymn of the Republic!"
I couldn't agree more but as someone else said - it probably hasn't been performed since DCI chopped anything patriotic from the current shows.
I think the guy who wrote the above in quotes got it right, though - only the wrong song.
If you go by who has played what and how many times - and this is just a quick tabulation from my own CD and mp3 files - Malaguena has been performed often (by about 30 different corps and by my count on average 3 or 4 times each by every corps that ever played it once.) For instance I've got 7 different recordings from 7 different years of Madison. The Muchachos a few times, same with Velvet Knights, Blue Devils, North Star and others. The Cabs on the senior side have the record for 12 times in 12 different years over a full decade.
Even Internationally there are many corps who (nice catch on the Yokohama show, BTW) have played it multiple times over multiple years.
I've got the Cambridge Caballeros from 1960 on wax - they played it 3 years in a row.
Great rule of thumb - if the corps has any kind of Spanish sounding name = they probably played it.
What I'm getting at here is that not that it's a bad tune - some versions have been down right fantastic -others, not so.
But - And I'm going out on a limb here - what do you think every time you hear for example:
Pop Muzick by M
Oops...I Did It Again by Britney
Who Let the Dogs Out by BaHa Men
I know what you think: OMG! Not Again.
Just because you hear something often doesn't make it great. For some corps it's a good fit but you won't hear versions by SCV, Phantom, the Troopers or Star - just off the top of my head.
But here's why my choice of Leonard Berstein's Maria doesn't fall into the same category:
Nobody - I marched in the absolute worst corps ever in 1963 (St. Catherine of Sienna Queenaires) we were booed at every show until we played Maria as our exit. (yes, the irony isn't lost on me!) - has ever managed to mangle that tune and of the over 100 different corps who played it from 1952 to 2008 they always found a fresh twist on it. As part of a medley, as a concert piece, production number - solo, duet, trios or section and yes as a hankie grabbing exit.
To me, I hear Maria and Drum Corps comes to mind.
Sappy, no doubt. But you will know how good your horn line and your arranger is.
Anyway, yeah it's different today, but don't disregard the that we worked throughout the fall winter and spring to put a full 12 minute show on the field in early April. We had to be musically prepared for shows like Evening With the Corps in March.
And yes, we walked to school in the driving snow uphill, both ways.
There ya go.
Puppet

Sunday, November 1, 2009

How Marching In The Brassmen Has Affected Me


This is one of those philosophical questions that perhaps you have to reach a certain age to answer.
Having reached that age - never won a world championship, the World or U.S. Open; having marched 2nd, 3rd or 4th near the top (except during the era of Circuit Shows which we did win 2 years in a row!)
Having heard some say that had we hung around we would have been a DCI contender, having played some of the hardest most beautiful charts by the baddest-a**ed music arranger of our time in perhaps the smallest horn line ever, who not only made people stand up but hold on to their hats ... but that's only the surface stuff.
Drum Corp in my era (and this will be very difficult for most to understand who didn't grow up with an ATM on the corner or a cell phone on their waist) was meeting people who were different than you.
In New York City in the mid sixties (which if you ask your parents will tell you something very different than I will tell you now - because THEY WEREN"T THERE - they only saw what they wanted to see on TV) there were just about 200 to 300 hundred drum corps to choose from in a 5 borough, 3 state area all available by public transportation and you could get from the Bronx (that's a place in NYC) to march with a corps in Newark New Jersey in a couple of hours.
No, there were no Mini Vans taking us back and forth at that time.
Walking into a Friday night rehearsal at St. Rita's on a Friday night you would see about 100 kids of every ethnicity and race and even nationality; every socio-economic, educational, shade, size, and or ability to express themselves was in attendance. Oh, there were no college grads. The age range was 11 to 17 in 1969 at St. Rita's Brassmen.
Diversity was the first thing to seep into your pores. It lives with you and makes you available to understanding there is a person who no matter what they look like or how old or young they are they just might know something you don't.
Confidence seemed to bubble up from somewhere you never expected it to.
Because of playing in front of thousands when I was 14, a shy skinny kid like me was able to turn that into speaking to a hall full of prospective clients - to sell an idea I developed worth millions to an organization who didn't at the beginning of the day want to even think about signing a check.
Those are the two biggies for me because BITD we as children were not given confidence the way children and students are and have been in the eighties and nineties. vis a vis "we were allowed to fail!" We were not hand held through every single activity in our lives, we learned through actual experiences - we rode bicycles without out helmets, knee and elbow pads, (you know what I'm talking about, here!)we had to actually read books, we had dinner at home and actually spoke to our parents about stuff that went on during our days.
Working 3 times a week every week of the year to put a show on the field allowed an 11 year old to to walk in the door in September and step off the line in April for his or her first show - apparently there was no A.D.D. back then.  And then, BTW "hey kid.  You're about to learn how to play a little something from the beginning of the third act of a Richard Wagner opera called Die Walküre it's called Ritt der Walküren or  The Ride of the Valkyries.  You've probably heard Bugs Bunny sing it ... but not like this:

The intrinsic value I learned is immeasurable: I had a stroke in early February this year. I have since then received hundreds of well wishes from alum - some of whom I haven't heard from or seen in nearly 35 years or more!
And lastly on a personal note: Father Dominic Schiraldi and Carmen (not to mention Hy and Eric) were some of the the most well spoken and intelligent people I ever had the pleasure to meet.
They were firm but understanding of your limits; they wanted the best you could give and would only ask for more when they knew you could give it (and they somehow knew!) Never, ever did they talk down to us - we were all equals when given instruction - that is so awesome when you finally realize it is being given to you that way.

It (How marching in a corps has affected me) is how I have payed it forward during my adult life.
Share all you know and know when to share it.
Puppet

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Old school work ethic, new school adventure. Keeping up with no one and making sure I'm ahead of the pack.