From: jerger@d0msu7.fnal.gov
Subject: Re: Duct Tape
Organization: Fermi National Accelerator Lab
Date: Sat, 5 Sep 1992 21:14:58 GMT
X-Posted-From: d0msu7.fnal.gov
X-Posted-Through: sol.ctr.columbia.edu

 
In article <1992Sep5.044746.3308@vela.acs.oakland.edu>, bfhalls@vela.acs.oakland.edu (HALLS BRADLEY F) writes...
>In article <1992Sep3.202237.1@d0msu7.fnal.gov> jerger@d0msu7.fnal.gov writes:
>                                ^^^
> 
>Hey, Steve...
>  Always glad to talk to a fellow Spartan! Can't wait for DCI in '96!
>          
    Tell me about it! Except that I plan to be finished with my Ph.D. by
the time summer '96 rolls around, so if I am still here for DCI it means
that I'm lagging....  :-) I hope they catch a clue and try to schedule
a show here before '96 as well to prime the community for drum corps.

> 
>Interesting...Float never tuned anyone out when I was there (85), even though
>I'm sure there were times when he wanted to. It got so bad that we finally
>cut 2 snares before finals, but noone was ever tuned out. We joked about it
>(the tuning) all the time, but never did it. BTW, who was your friend that
>marched '82/83?

    Ray Pedroza (made famous as the short dude with bad teeth on the end of
the snare line in an oft-seen '82 photo!). Also you might know Joe White,
'84 tenor player with worse teeth who was the other half of the Ray n' Joe 
twins. (We kidded them on the teeth bit but only because they could blow us
in the weeds chops-wise). Don't think I know anyone from your year, 
except for Gary Zinter.
    I wonder whether the tuning tricks get harsher as the line gets weaker,
from what I can tell, you can separate BD's lines into pre- and post- 1987,
which seems to me to be the (downward) turning point for their success. 
BTW, when I referred to BD's '88 snare line as weak, I meant as far as BD's
lines go. They beat us...
 
>Very unlikely that the judges would pick up on it. Also, there are many
>ways to cover errors without tuning someone out. Just ask Ken Mazur. He
>was the master at this, and did it all the time with Phantom '78-'79.
>He would have certain players air parts and leave out grace notes all the
>time. No 2 players had the same show. Pretty lame tactics if you ask me,
>but it worked for them, and they never cut 2 snares before finals, either.

    I guess I'd vote for tuning someone down before making them air a part -
that's closer to marching a sling. Plus it isn't always easy to air a part
convincingly and without ticking on the head. I can see leaving out a grace 
note or two, but wholesale calculated "part-fixing" is a bit lame, you're 
right. Plus I think that some of these techniques, if used, should be more 
of a message-sender than a permanent fix, but that all depends on what 
happens afterward I guess...

>I guess I think any of the tuning games are kind of a copout...
>I would rather lose drums than start humiliating the guys in my line.
>Mid-to-late season cuts are even worse, but it is true that some 
>guys just don't deal with pressure well, and it's really not fair to
>blow it for the whole line becuase of one or two people, either.
>Just my opinion, of course...

    Yeah, I guess a lot depends on what the situation is, and also what
the consciences of the staff are. We had to cut a guy for reasons other
than dirt, but it was still one of those things where it felt kind of
bad, but we knew that it had to be done for the good of the line.
    So what's your connection with MSU? I notice you're down the road
a ways - do you teach the line here at all? I understand that this is
where a lot of Cavvies spend their winters.

> 
>--Brad
> 
> 


                                Steve

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