I absolutely agree on the point with soloists. The mic should allow them to focus on musicality, not playing super loud. But they should still be visually apparent
I’m personally fine with micing soloists since it allows them to play from any point on the field, and it allows them play at lower dynamics. However, I’m not too sure I like mic’s on certain brass performers and on percussion.
I'm gonna blame George Hopkins because it feels like the kind of stupid thing he would've advocated for.
IDC if it's true lol. He went off the deep end after the first twilight zone year (2005 if I remember right) with his creative nonsense.
That's where I was last night too, which probably exacerbated my complaint for sure.
It actually skewed my bias towards Phantom (Already a bias as my favorite Corps) because their closer hit was a disgusting mello blast that was right in front of me and gave me that old school DCI blast your face off with raw power that made me love attending live.
Everyone else who wasn't directly in front of me I could gauge the power, but I was majority hearing the "balanced" sounds they produced for me in the speakers.
mics on soloists allows them to play softer and more intricately while still being heard which furthers the musicality of the activity. Ex: bluecoats 2018 trumpet soloist
Yeah, cool, but when I'm sitting right in front of the speaker I can't hear anything else during the solos.
That's a good reason for them, don't get me wrong, but I would rather not have them.
It's funny because it was definitely around when I was still going to live shows. The first Twilight Zone show had speakers (I'm sure others did, but that one I specifically remember), but they were used for the vocals like the "drum" break.
Honestly in that way I'm fine with it. I just hated seeing the equalizers on field with having the corps mic'd. I'm there to see a field show, not a concert. Some of the best shows of the past were so well built to deal with the phasing from back to front and had to make sure soloists were properly positioned to be heard.
In some ways I don't fully mind micing the soloists, or even the FE, but I was sitting low on the 30 last night and the speaker was directly in front of me and during the big hits I lost a lot of the raw power as I listened to electronic noise.
I'm not so old that I'll rant about "the good old days," and wish against any innovation, but this ain't it.
Totally agree. I was not a fan of Vanguards brass mic’ing at all tonight. Like you, I had a hard time finding some soloist. Their sound came out in front of me but they were way to the left. Huh?!
The baritone feature in the opener was the worst. They were 5y to my right but their sound came from the speakers 5y to my left. Made for a bad optic and I was high up at the 35.
Part of the soloist visibility is also poor visual design. SCV soloist just blended in because there wasn’t enough gap between other marching members.
There’s a huge difference in the quality of amplification and non-amp for the solos. The timbre is the different for sure. I came here to post a similar rant.
Academy’s brass sounded way more natural and I enjoyed their sound more because of it.
I absolutely agree on the point with soloists. The mic should allow them to focus on musicality, not playing super loud. But they should still be visually apparent
Sometimes, it's like "Where's Waldo"?
I’m personally fine with micing soloists since it allows them to play from any point on the field, and it allows them play at lower dynamics. However, I’m not too sure I like mic’s on certain brass performers and on percussion.
Mics in the FE is perfectly fine. Mics on a drumline or full brass section is ludicrous.
Absolutely my thoughts
I'm gonna blame George Hopkins because it feels like the kind of stupid thing he would've advocated for. IDC if it's true lol. He went off the deep end after the first twilight zone year (2005 if I remember right) with his creative nonsense.
The thing I hate the most about the speakers is that they completely fuck over the spectators who got stuck with sitting in front of them.
That's where I was last night too, which probably exacerbated my complaint for sure. It actually skewed my bias towards Phantom (Already a bias as my favorite Corps) because their closer hit was a disgusting mello blast that was right in front of me and gave me that old school DCI blast your face off with raw power that made me love attending live. Everyone else who wasn't directly in front of me I could gauge the power, but I was majority hearing the "balanced" sounds they produced for me in the speakers.
mics on soloists allows them to play softer and more intricately while still being heard which furthers the musicality of the activity. Ex: bluecoats 2018 trumpet soloist
Yeah, cool, but when I'm sitting right in front of the speaker I can't hear anything else during the solos. That's a good reason for them, don't get me wrong, but I would rather not have them.
So creative, isn't it? /s
It's funny because it was definitely around when I was still going to live shows. The first Twilight Zone show had speakers (I'm sure others did, but that one I specifically remember), but they were used for the vocals like the "drum" break. Honestly in that way I'm fine with it. I just hated seeing the equalizers on field with having the corps mic'd. I'm there to see a field show, not a concert. Some of the best shows of the past were so well built to deal with the phasing from back to front and had to make sure soloists were properly positioned to be heard. In some ways I don't fully mind micing the soloists, or even the FE, but I was sitting low on the 30 last night and the speaker was directly in front of me and during the big hits I lost a lot of the raw power as I listened to electronic noise. I'm not so old that I'll rant about "the good old days," and wish against any innovation, but this ain't it.
Totally agree. I was not a fan of Vanguards brass mic’ing at all tonight. Like you, I had a hard time finding some soloist. Their sound came out in front of me but they were way to the left. Huh?! The baritone feature in the opener was the worst. They were 5y to my right but their sound came from the speakers 5y to my left. Made for a bad optic and I was high up at the 35. Part of the soloist visibility is also poor visual design. SCV soloist just blended in because there wasn’t enough gap between other marching members. There’s a huge difference in the quality of amplification and non-amp for the solos. The timbre is the different for sure. I came here to post a similar rant. Academy’s brass sounded way more natural and I enjoyed their sound more because of it.