takigan

BD warmups = teh SEX!!!!

Rankings as of 7/2/07: 1. Cadets - 82.80 2. Cavaliers - 82.50 3. Bluecoats - 82.43 4. Blue Devils - 82.35 5. Phantom - 81.57 6. Carolina - 81.15 7. Vanguard - 80.59 Anyone else notice it? There's only a 2.21 point spread between the top 7 corps right now.....and we're barely at mid-season. It's seriously anybody's game ya'll.....this is really exciting!

Replied.....we'll just keep the score I have now, and if the others catch up, we'll deal with it later. It's just too complicated to deal with if we don't have to (details in msg).

Just looked at the current scores..... 99.999999......is that supposed to be a higher score that just capped out, or is that my actual score? Just seems a bit coincidental.......

Sure......how bout that snow in APRIL! CRAZY!!!!!

I agree.....heck, 2 days ago I tried to enter a prediction into an event and the event ENDED while I was in the middle of predicting it. I looked at the time and it was just a little past 2. I still had another event to predict for that day as well.....now I'm dropped even more in the ranking . Oh well....I'm all caught up on predictions now for the next couple days so my ranking should start to go back up again (hopefully).

68 eh? Their opener for last season was 69.9....though they started tour a week later last year.....impressive, I'd say they're a good 1-2 points ahead of schedule. You would expect a corps that recently relocated to have a weaker start ....especially a more local corps like Crossmen that depends very much on its players that live in the immediate area. The entire face and staff of the corps has been remade for this year, so they're more of a rookie corps again. To actually have a stronger start for the year than the previous one after so many changes is not a common sight, and a really good sign. I expect them to gain a lot of momentum as well as they continue to settle in with their new framework. Top 8 is not unlikely. And I definitely expect them to make finals at the very least.

so like....is anybody gonna but some more predictions up or what? Kinda itchin' to get back on top....this last prediction is probably going to drop me a place or 2 since I wasn't really thinking when I made it.

I don't know any woodwind players who make their own reeds, not a lot of people do it. I'm no WW player but there's just something really cool in being able to say you "make your own reeds". It's like an art in itself, and aesthetically would seem to reflect the commitment and skill of the player....like a rite of passage into good musicianship or something. Kinda like forging your own lightsaber.....I dunno, the concept just sounds really cool to me .

Looks like they might be back in the top 5 this season after a 2 year hiatus....this makes me happy, It'll be tough though....especially with the newfound success that PR and Coats have been enjoying these past couple years, along with Cavaliers and Devils being strong like they always are and Crown really stepping it up this season.

Prizes? Eh....I'd say An appropriately priced Finals set of either SA or GNs (not the most recent one.....those are expensive! may as well stick with the season pass if u go that route) but older ones?...those run in the $25-40 range. Or heck, the best of Grand Nationals DVD ($25) would be good (though alot of us already downloaded the one that was ripped onto Skramps). In any case....there should definitely be some Txbands gear thrown into the mix somewhere (either for the winner, or for some of the runners-up).

Hmm.....I thought I posted in this topic a long time ago. Ah well.....my all-time favorite piece is Tempered Steel....first heard it nearly 10 years ago and still like it to this day.....shame you hardly ever hear it anymore. Other favorites: Lux Aurumque - Eric Whitacre - Just GOD! If you have never heard this piece you fail at life . A Movement for Rosa - Mark Camphouse - The story of the piece doesn't mean much to me but I played it once in HS and thought it was ok, but after playing the piece with the Houston Symphonic Band when Rosa Parks died I gained a newfound appreciation for it (not because of her....I just started to like the piece more after performing it more). Equus - Eric Whitacre - Another Whitacre favorite Lincolnshire Posy (last movement) - Grainger Galactic Empires - David Gillingham - This piece was a blast to play O Magnum Mysterium - One of the most AWESOME pieces to listen to, but also one of the most BORING to play >_> Sol y Sombra - ?composer? - WOO! In your face Spanish goodness....I played this piece my sophomore year at Region, and for a long time it was my favorite text to Tempered Steel. There also were a couple pieces I heard at TMEA this year by the various All-State groups that I enjoyed greatly but have completely forgotten what they were called.

The piece was played with incredible rhythmic precision, uncanny intonation, excellent balance and dead-on uniformity of style between all sections. A level of playing beyond that of a typical HS band, and definitely worthy of an Honor Band. However they still "sound" like a HS band, particulary a Texas High school band that's playing for a UIL Wind Band contest. It all just sounds so stiff and monotonous.....like a well-tuned machine that can only perform a single function over and over. And it's nothing against Langham, I've noticed the same thing when I gone back and listened to my own HS band after entering college....everything is so dead-on, so insanely accurate, even more precise than the bands I've played in and listened to in college.....but it's still kids playing it, and the level of maturity to create that same level of "musicality" and "interpretation" is not there. My biggest complaint with the piece is that it's stiff and dead-sounding.....maybe this is because every other recording I've heard has been done by high level ensembles that breath an incredible amount of life into this piece. And yes, Whitacre would have been proud....a shame he couldn't make it to the convention that year.

0:01 - First of all it's too fast 0:35 - Trombones are way too long......needs to "bounce" more....kind of like a jig 1:04 - 1:16 - Clarinets are rushing 1:35 - 1:48 - Needs more Tuba and String/electric bass (if they're using it) and less woodwinds, which are playing too long and not dance-like enough (this could have been executed better if the conductor had chosen a slower tempo) 2:24 - 2:27 Really bad way to end this phrase....Clarinets "averaged out" the rhythm and didn't play the right pulse. 2:33 - 2:38 - Brass turns are way too long....should be more expressive and dance-like again 2:40- - 2:47 - Woodwinds are too loud, can't hear the Euphonium part at all....the bell and Euphoniums play together on the echo beats to create a nice color effect, the effect is lost since you can't hear the Euphonium 2:52 - 3:14 - What I can't stand about this part is that its sounds like the same thing over and over (Trumpets are playing too loud for starters)....Bass Trombone and Trombone in general as well as Tuba needs to be much heavier and bombastic to create the desired rhythmic effect sought... 3:15- 3:32 - I liked this part.....and the oboe solo was very nice (sorry...just trying not to sound too cynical about this whole bit) 3:39 - 3:47 - Wrong Trumpet rhythm entirely.....the build effect was well done though 3:46 - Really could have used a gong crash here. 4:02 - Triplets crushed together 4:12 - 4:20 - Good Trombone and Horns 4:40 - Whale calls sounded good....a bit abrupt but good 5:18 - Aesthetically speaking this should slow down [more] dramatically 6:05 - Trumpet hit too long 6:19 - Good Trumpet Triplets 6:26 - 6:37 - Awesome job by the Low Brass 6:42 - Principal Trumpet needs to soar here....I don't hear his part hardly at all 6:51 - 7:06 - Awesome melody line 7:08 - 7:12 - This is supposed to be primarily Trumpets.....rest of the band needs to back off on the long notes 7:29 - 7:34 - Good job Trumpet Triplets 8:24 - LOVED the last chord.....most other recordings I've heard ended the piece too abruptly.....holding the note out just a split second longer was a nice effect.... So yeah......overall the piece just didn't dance enough.....The piece is supposed to represent a horse running (or I like to imagine a horse race) with the quick brisk melody line representing a horse's gallop.....these notes have to be played really short to get that kind of effect and I heard very little of that at all by this band which really ruins the whole effect for me. This is probably my favorite technical band piece ever....so I'm very critical of the performances of it.....especially a performance by a band as well renowned as Langham. The piece was played very precisely considering it's difficulty (time changed out the wazoo) which is a characteristic well represented of Langham (they're all about precision).

That was the first thing I thought when I saw this thread. I actually went over to EW's site to see if he had Lux still on there, but he's locked away most of his media for some reason. You can find it on Limewire though.

October is good.....but Lux Aurumque is way better. For fast stuff another good one is Equus, which Langham Creek did at the Honor Band concert at TMEA last year (I didn't like their performance of it, it was way too stiff and the Trumpets didn't soar like they should--lots of Trumpet stuff in there). As for Ticheli, I dunno....I just can't stand a lot of his stuff. Sanctuary is the only work of his I REALLY like. Elegy is ok as his Portrait of a Clown, Vesuvius is meh, Nitro is meh......but I just can't stand his Cajun Folk Songs or especially his more recent Symphony No. 2. S#2 makes him sound like some kind of serialist composer....there's no sense of tonality, lots of pseudo-jazz all over the place (can't stand Wind Symphony Jazz) and he clashes his chords like crazy.....and, I dunno, when I hear a random piece written by Ticheli I can usually tell it's a Ticheli because it's just got that style to it.....and it always reminds me of middle school and it pisses me off (I hated my middle school years).

EDIT: Holy Heck, this thread is old! but meh..... OCTOBER obviously..... Though I don't think this is a fair contest. You can't compare the raw emotion of a piece like October to another piece that is only emotional because it was actually written for a purpose. Obviously a riveting piece written in honor of a national tragedy is going to win emotion points over a piece that's just moving because it is. Basically, you're giving Whitacre a handicap.....funny thing is, he's still ahead in votes, because his music is just THAT GOOD. He doesn't need to have a purpose behind it. Another thing I've noticed is that all the people voting for Elegy either know the story or have played the piece themselves at some point while they just casually listened to October. Your going to love a really cool piece that you've played before and have a connection with more than a phenomenal piece that you've only heard a couple times (Someone mentioned that October grew on them.....there ya go). Most people who've PLAYED both will [almost unanimously] prefer October. but really, comparing Ticheli to Whitacre is like comparing apples and oranges (or raisins to prunes IMO) anyway. Whitacre writes a lot of mainstream stuff for choir while only dabbling in Wind Literature (mainly transcribing what he's already done for choir)....he's more akin to John Williams. If John Williams wrote a piece exclusively for Wind Symphony it wouldn't be appropriate to compare that piece to the very best thing of a popular Wind composer.....Honestly, I think Williams would still win out in popularity anyway but it just wouldn't be an interesting or fair contest.

Just got my Associates in Music from Blinn College. Will be transferring to Sam Houston State this Fall for Junior Level.

Here's my [extended] thoughts: It would be extremely hard, probably impossible for the modern music world to create another Classical Music legend that will define the generation......in the history books, the final Classical legends you learn about are Stravinski, Holst and Bartok....then you get into Serial Music composers like Schoenberg and Glass who thought that musical progression since Bach was all about what new things you could create with music.....and it sucked. People stopped listening to Classical music and turned to Jazz, which gave rise to Swing and Ragtime and Blues which gave rise to Rock and Roll.....Rock and Roll gave birth to a whole new sm

1 year.....in Texas schools. 4 years elsewhere.... EDIT: yeah ok....this topic is like a year old... meh, wtv >_>

Weird.....I read the topic and thought this was going to be thread on learning how to double buzz....but I guess it's not such a useful technique afterall. Now multiphonics on the other hand ....

How funny you should say that.... I've actually been planning a trip to Pasadena for August 9th-11th because the dates for DCI World Championships and 3 of the premiere dates for Eric Whitacre's "Paradise Lost: Shadows and Wings" opera all fall within these 3 days.....and they're both in Pasadena. I'm about 70% set on going for the opera and 40% on going for both the opera and DCI...but finances and combined interest of the rest of my group is lacking. We'll see... ....I just thought it was interesting .

Uhh....considering Absolute Zero is REALLY COLD.....wouldn't a nuclear reaction make it REALLY HOT?! And absolute zero is much more attainable than an "unattainably hot temperature".......considering Absolute Zero is an actual number : /. You are talking about making matter cease movement entirely. It's theoretically possible I suppose.....we just don't have the technology to do it.

yup, they did....I seriously considered ordering a CD for that year just so I could hear it. I haven't found it anywhere online.

Pixelation for those who care: iono....it was the first youtube video I added to my favorites....kinda cool to see marching bands do this stuff (like Westfield '04 and '05 there was FF music as well). Blue Stars also did an anime theme the year prior to Pixelation with music from Cowboy Bebop and Gundam Wing. They probably would have done another Video Game/Anime themed show if they hadn't changed their show arranger for '06. I honestly think the anime/videogame themed shows is what made their membership spike from Div III to Div I in just 2 years ....almost entirely unheard of in DCI. Not a wise move in my opinion, though Blue Stars '06 was still good I'll admit.