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bigbandfan9

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Everything posted by bigbandfan9

  1. I am such a SUCKER for any arrangement of A Million Dreams from The Greatest Showman. I also think it would be really cool to hear Slow Dancing in the Dark by Joji as a ballad. It would be tricky to arrange but has a lot of potential in my opinion.
  2. As much as this is true, using props from last year already removes one giant roadblock that they hit last year. Also, weather was a big issue, lots of rained out stadium rehearsals, so those two could give them a big leap over last year. I suppose that if you put those up against not having spring/early summer camps it might even out...
  3. Agreed, I'm excited to see it. Last year they hit a good number of bumps in the road... I bet this year will go more smoothly.
  4. I heard through the grapevine that The Woodlands is continuing down a similar path this year as they did last year. Maybe this means another musical based show? They're reusing the metal frames from last years New York New York props. Kids have gotten music, some of which is from musicals, we'll see if all of it is that way.
  5. I'm not sure how long Vista Ridge has been using field mics, perhaps they haven't fully figured out how to use them to their advantage yet. However, CTJ, who has been using them for a few years now, if not longer, has definitely mastered using the amplification to their advantage. I hope to either see more groups using full field amplification in the future, or seeing a rule change regarding the usage. I think the scores show that a levelling of the playing field is necessary in some way or another.
  6. Semi-finals is very much a must. It;s unfortunate that 5A bands are being put in this predicament though.
  7. An interesting thing I noticed while watching last night. There are only 4 finalist bands that don't use some form of full field amplification: Vandegrift, Hebron, The Woodlands, and Pearland. For every band that didn't use full field amplification, their Individual Music Performance Score was higher. Vandegrift: Ind: 19.6 (1) Ens: 19.3 (2) Hebron: Ind: 19.3 (3) Ens 18.5 (7) The Woodlands: Ind: 18.7 (6) Ens: 18.3 (8) Pearland: Ind: 17.4 (13) Ens: 17.4 (14) (Not higher in this case but the same.) However, most of the bands that do use full field amplification scored lower on the Individual Music Performance. Could this be accredited to the fact that the ensemble sounds better (and louder) when they use full field mics? I know this is common practice in drum corps, but it's interesting to me the trend between scores in the BOA bands doing this. Sometimes it adds a great effect because of the big band brass sound we all know and love, but sometimes it just makes things sound unnatural. For example, in CTJ's show, in their opening brass hit, when they have the forte piano, the entire brass section is in front of their amplification, and it doesn't feel like a natural change in volume from a brass instrument, more of a 'someone turned down the volume knob' that you get by well, turning down a volume knob.
  8. I think Avon looked really phenomenal tonight but here’s my 2¢. 1. The scariest part about how good they are is that they have a lot of room to improve. Their drill is demanding and as such there are some forms that still don’t seem to be hitting clearly. 2. In my opinion they lack the Texas big brass band punchiness and volume.
  9. Just for everyone’s info, looks like Dan posted Vandegrift’s fun from TMC.
  10. Just look up The Woodlands High School Lone Star Preview and it should come up
  11. Looks like someone posted a video of The Woodlands from their exhibition last night, I’d recommend watching before it gets taken down. The difference is night and day between this weekend and last weekend. They definitely had a productive week, and I’m sure it’ll continue to be that way for the rest of the season. I’m excited to see what they put on the field at San Antonio. If they keep it up the way they’re going right now, I think they will be a force to be reckoned with in the Alamodome.
  12. I saw The Woodlands again tonight at their exhibition at Lone Star Preview. Their props have a new aspect to them since last week, with a pop-art type lettering that spells out New York, New York, in front of a city skyline. However I am hearing things that their props are going to be something on a whole new level by the time San Antonio rolls around. Seems that they’ve had some substantial delays in that regard. As for their performance itself, I think it’s very obvious that they’ve had a productive week since we saw them last week at Legacy Stadium. They have a lot more volume to them, and they finished out their drill for the show. I still would appreciate a little more of that Woodlands brass sound that we all know and love, but it is significantly better than last week. Their drill looked much cleaner than last week, you could tell they were much more rested than last weekend. Considering that they typically peak later, I think they’re in a very good spot so far this year.
  13. I agree that this is a very challenging music book, but I know they’re up to the challenge to execute it well. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re stuck working technique considering the difficulty. It definitely isn’t their traditional style, but I can see them competing for medals with it at Indy next month. I’m glad to see them switching things up. It really is time to bring the eagle back to Texas, and in all honesty from what I’ve seen this year, any of the Texas giants, from The Woodlands to CTJ to Vandegrift could make it happen.
  14. TWHS definitely needs to work on volume throughout the whole show. We saw in their last hold that they can play loud while not marching, but they need to figure out how to translate that to the entirety of the show. The opening hit that the full ensemble plays is really lacking in volume right now. As for their props, they had some obstacles that they ran into last week and I’m sure that they will contribute more to the GE of the show next time we see them. It definitively has a Bluecoats-esque vibe to it compared to what Vanderkolff usually writes for them, and I think that’s something that they really needed. Now they just need drum corps volume to go with it. Also we’ll see how long Dan lasts on YouTube this year.
  15. Before it gets yanked, there is also a “not the woodlands high school band” video from saturday night floating in the same place. Would recommend watching that as well. In terms of Reagan- I wasn’t incredibly impressed by their show because of the similarity to last year. It also seemed like they were getting around “park and bark” by having woodwinds march while brass played and brass march while woodwinds played, almost giving the illusion that they marched and played their hits. My other gripe is with all the bands, including Reagan that march during big full band hits, but are marching in half time, making it much easier to march and play.
  16. Green is indeed the color of the past from what I’ve heard. It is understandable for her to have a closed rehearsal but it is a bit unusual as well. I’m excited to see what The Woodlands puts on the field this Saturday.
  17. It’s looking like for the first time in a while, The Woodlands will have a completed show on the field at this regional. They are typically a group that peaks late in the season, and I don’t doubt that the extra week this year will benefit them a good bit. Apparently their rehearsal tonight is closed so it should be interesting to see the show on Saturday. I doubt they’ll be using the metronome this weekend considering that the reason they did so at last weeks game was because they had bumped the tempo of Gallop. I honestly don’t know what to expect between TWHS and Reagan, considering that no one has really seen either show yet.
  18. I think The Woodlands uses Bernstein because no one else is willing to risk the copyright process. They found a loophole by using the film score from On the Waterfront, but On the Town doesn’t have such a score. Therefore, they had to get every piece of music they want to perform approved by the owners of the copyright, and they tend to be very strict on how things can be used. It seems to have a very drum corps-esque vibe to it from what their students have told me. It will be interesting to see them step out of their comfort zone of having very traditional show styles. Who knows, maybe they’ll join the ranks of the bands using costumes this year as well. Sailor costumes are an obvious but simple option so it wouldn’t surprise me.
  19. This is true, however she did allow students to reveal music selections for the show. The velocity that On the Town is somewhat lacking will come from the Gallop dance variation from Fancy Free Ballet. Additionally what I’ve gathered is that they are reverting to a 5 movement show, which the haven’t done since Timebenders in 2015. I’ve been told that they are mixing and matching a good bit of On the Town and Fancy Free, with the opener being a mashup of sorts. Those syncopated rhythms will prove interesting on the field though, I’m excited to see how well they handle it.
  20. Not a mistake on the show name, but possibly a mistake on releasing it. According to some of the students, the director allowed them to confirm that the show title is "On the Town" and that they are playing music from Bernstein's On the Town. My theory is that the taxicab-looking design that they posted on Instagram is going to show up somewhere in their show, either on a flag or on a prop or as a tarp. Their Fourth of July post also had a #nyc which makes me think "the Town" is New York City. Should be interesting to see how it plays out.
  21. Supposedly The Woodlands’ show is entitled On the Town and features music from Bernstein’s “On the Town”. It would make sense that the yellow image from Instagram is a taxicab or something along those lines.
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