These are really interesting points, and super valid. To play some of devil's advocate, I wonder: - How much instruction and rehearsal time has adjusted to this reality -- I wonder if the drum feature(s) of today (those two 30 second windows at the front sideline, for example) are now rehearsed proportionally more, maybe given to the players earlier in the season, etc... so that they can achieve to the level of that pressure in the moment consistently, and with that maybe they don't achieve other areas as much as when the field judge was on the field - Impact of book composition and technical display on more exposed moments for the battery vs. less exposed moments... if your hardest beats are more concentrated now, maybe you can achieve them more consistently? There's always been some element of "if we don't nail this section, it's bad" for drum scores or even corps-level music achievement scores (this one clearly still applies today). To your point, it may be more intense than before, but curious how much the pressure knob has been moved.
Hey fellas! Great show! I had a suggestion for you…it’s actually something that I just saw on another podcast…and it’s super-simple, and I thought it made it look clean! They put a 2 or 3 pixel frame around each of their video feeds, and then they had a simple background for the full screen with the separate feeds on top of it. Also, I’m sorry for sending this as a comment…. I’m old so couldn’t find a way to reach out to you privately 😂
You're right on point. So what has to happen starts months before. While the horns and guard can be juiced, the battery has to be calm and focused. They need to have similar mental training to that which is given to 100M sprinters who only have one kick at the can and have to do the key parts in the first second. Watch those sprinters just before the start. They're all visualizing, getting into the right mental place etc. That will be as crucial to success as any exercises they could ever do.
That's a really good point I never thought of it like that. If you know what the judge is going to hear then that would put a lot of pressure during that moment. Would that also mean you would subconsciously slack off back field since you know nobody would hear it and it doesn't matter as much?
It was in the 1980’s that tics went away. I recall a small show a couple years later that judges had the old tic sheets to use so that was the deal. Percussion execution was low as there were tons of tics. When something is not being evaluated on an error basis do we really know how many tics exist?
I think the "pressure" overall has increased. The pressure is on the designers for creating a show that is constantly engaging with every little moment demanding purpose. The pressure is on the composers/arrangers to craft incredibly intricate and demanding passages whether it's rhythmically or melodically. And then all of that is put on the shoulders of the performers to execute all of the above at an extremely high level, or in basic terms, "be perfect".
These are really interesting points, and super valid. To play some of devil's advocate, I wonder:
- How much instruction and rehearsal time has adjusted to this reality -- I wonder if the drum feature(s) of today (those two 30 second windows at the front sideline, for example) are now rehearsed proportionally more, maybe given to the players earlier in the season, etc... so that they can achieve to the level of that pressure in the moment consistently, and with that maybe they don't achieve other areas as much as when the field judge was on the field
- Impact of book composition and technical display on more exposed moments for the battery vs. less exposed moments... if your hardest beats are more concentrated now, maybe you can achieve them more consistently?
There's always been some element of "if we don't nail this section, it's bad" for drum scores or even corps-level music achievement scores (this one clearly still applies today). To your point, it may be more intense than before, but curious how much the pressure knob has been moved.
Hey fellas! Great show!
I had a suggestion for you…it’s actually something that I just saw on another podcast…and it’s super-simple, and I thought it made it look clean!
They put a 2 or 3 pixel frame around each of their video feeds, and then they had a simple background for the full screen with the separate feeds on top of it.
Also, I’m sorry for sending this as a comment…. I’m old so couldn’t find a way to reach out to you privately 😂
You're right on point. So what has to happen starts months before. While the horns and guard can be juiced, the battery has to be calm and focused. They need to have similar mental training to that which is given to 100M sprinters who only have one kick at the can and have to do the key parts in the first second. Watch those sprinters just before the start. They're all visualizing, getting into the right mental place etc. That will be as crucial to success as any exercises they could ever do.
Execution is a part of the game. BD as a corps and SCV’s percussion have mastered that fully.
That's a really good point I never thought of it like that. If you know what the judge is going to hear then that would put a lot of pressure during that moment. Would that also mean you would subconsciously slack off back field since you know nobody would hear it and it doesn't matter as much?
It was in the 1980’s that tics went away. I recall a small show a couple years later that judges had the old tic sheets to use so that was the deal. Percussion execution was low as there were tons of tics. When something is not being evaluated on an error basis do we really know how many tics exist?
I think the "pressure" overall has increased. The pressure is on the designers for creating a show that is constantly engaging with every little moment demanding purpose. The pressure is on the composers/arrangers to craft incredibly intricate and demanding passages whether it's rhythmically or melodically. And then all of that is put on the shoulders of the performers to execute all of the above at an extremely high level, or in basic terms, "be perfect".