2008 Marching Southerners - "From Russia with Love" (2 of 2)

[HE360]

OMG that's incredible. I've watched a lot of drum corps but this makes me want to go through the web to look at many more of the Universtiy bands. I LOVEEEEEE it when there's powerful music that shakes a stadium for blocks.

[samrshelley]

I am an engineer that marched corps and marching band and I think both your arguments are dumb. Being a good marching band is like being a good club softball team. So arguing about what makes a better marching band is kinda silly.

[wdbard]

"Russlan & Ludmilla: Overture" at 4:25. By Mikhail Glinka. Can't believe this slipped past you guys!

[wdbard]

WAY too fast at 4:13.

[GraysonBuzz]

@FSUfanoftheBAnd Actually the official connection between JSU and Spirit was dissolved as of last DCI season (don't know if it was reinstated) though I believe the corps is still based out of Jacksonville.

[euphmmx]

@GraysonBuzz False. Spirit is now back in Atlanta.

[kklloorrm]

lol, did you guys see that tenor fling his stick?around 5:00

[MilknCookies414]

LOLOLOL.............what he did i guess was a good recovery?

[jadebrew]

Can't be too comfortable marching with that style tuba???... Never seen that style on the field....Can someone enlighten me?

[SouthernersSax]

It is known as the Conn 20-J Upright Recording Bass. It is a concert tuba, and we've adapted it for field use.

[ellenblack58]

Hold poop on a stick!!!!!! We saw this show at BOA Atlanta- blew everyone away. Our daughter has nolw decided to be a Marching Southerner- what an incredible recruiting tool this show was!

[svolypet]

You guys play a lot of Phantom Regiment's music. Is anyone in your staff related to Phantom somehow?

[cwdman89]

its not phantoms music

[svolypet]

Um...yeah it is. Look at the description for this video...

[cwdman89]

really because i dont think phantom wrote what we played

[svolypet]

Ok...I don't see what your problem is. Obviously, you guys played a version derived from Phantom's music.

I'll give a whole fucking list of the music you guys ripped off of Phantom and SCV if you still think differently.

[cwdman89]

.we didnt even play it the same. we just played famous russian music. so i guess if the atlanta symphony or chicago symphony played this music they ripped it from phantom too.... no

[svolypet]

Go look up 1996 Phantom Regiment and compare it to your arrangement of Shostakovich. JSU just added a few extra chords. Everything else is the same.

I've heard you guys play Nessun Dorma as well. Everything is also the same with 1991 PR, except you replaced the mello solo with a baritone...

And Fire of Eternal Glory...New World Symphony...all Phantom, except with drum solos and chords thrown in, instrumentation changed, etc...

If that's not playing Phantom's music, what the hell is it?

[cwdman89]

its the composers music i mean what instrument do you think we would choose to play the parts? its voiced how anyone one would arrange the music

[GraysonBuzz]

Yeah, most of the arrangements sound just like the DCI corps that played the same. I am not privy to the staff meetings at JSU, but the stuff the Southerners have played for years often sounds lifted right out of DCI charts. But I LOVE that! That is what I love about the Southerners. Very few bands can come so close to DCI quality shows with their arrangements but JSU does it year in and year out. Is it as good as DCI? No, but it is about as close as a non-corps group can hope to get IMO.

[FSUfanOFtheBAND]

@GraysonBuzz JSU is affiliated with Spirit Drum Corps

[mpmcd81]

@GraysonBuzz They sound even more like DCI now that DCI has gone to Bb instead of G bugles. I love the Southerners, but I have a healthy respect for the more traditional marching bands out there like LSU, Auburn, Alabama, Tennessee, and Georgia. These groups could go DCI style- they have DCI caliber winds and percussion, many who also do top DCI corps. And they all have arrangers who could set DCI charts for marching band. But their university tradition would dictate they do what they do.

[BigFan71]

@mpmcd81 Yes and no. There are no doubt talented players at many colleges, JSU has a higher percentage of music majors marching than "traditional" college bands. Traditional college bands have majority members who joined to get in to football games The last number I heard for JSU was close to 90% of members were music majors. Many top high school band programs around the south have JSU alums leading them. The reputation of JSU's music department draws top musicians - not football fans.

[Kwchief09]

September 12th is going to be a good day. Looking foward to having two great bands at Doak for the first time since Troy in '06 (I think it was '06). We don't encounter alot of visiting bands that play.......um.........actual music..... in Chiefs, so its always a pleasure to share halftime with some quality musicians. Can't wait!

MCATDT

[waywardtitania]

Looks and sounds awesome.. Anytime I get to see Corey direct, I'm happy. What a drum major!

[lestatrowankiki]

I love this so much <3 but I dont like the field! lol it feels weird .

[madpistol]

"Whoop Troy!!!"

Absolutely priceless.

[brown55061]

Ahhhh rhapsody! Never heard the southerners before, great big band!

[Tiger1s2Lil3Kitten]

BLOW SOUTHERNERS ! ! ! ! : D

I can't wait to march guard ! Second year in a row ! : )

love yall ! ! !

I love the 40 count hold starting at 3:42 ! My favorite part of the show and 5:22 till the end ! ! ! So many memories . *teardrop*

[BDLINE2112]

those tubas must suck to hold...

[illBUrFriend]

This was nice... :]

[joeyocorps]

RCC nutjob,

If there was national collegiate competitions, JSU would kick your ass anyday. I knew kids in RCC and they envied JSU's marching band. Your show concepts and arrangements have gone south and Downey was the start of that demise.

[rocopoco55]

actually riverside community college is the best marching band/percussion in america and the world.

:)

[unabletosleep]

haha... good one...

[RTGUSAS]

Then you apparently have not listened to either JSU or drum corps in person.

[heartb34tx]

Very, very nice.

This was my first time hearing anything from the Southerners, and you've given me a very good impression. Being a drumline member, I was especially impressed with your feature, (great recovery to the tenor player who lost a stick during the feature) but the band as a whole was simply fantastic. Great, warm tone, and I LOVE the recording basses in place of sousas. Great work, very impressive!

[buttongod]

Holy Sxxx, tell me they aren't carrying recording basses for tubas ! That has got to hurt !

[jsudrummer05]

yeah man there the Conn 20-J recording tubas, thats what gives us that dark sound. once you hear them you cant go back to sousaphones or anything else cause they dont sound the same, lol. BLOW SOUTHERNERS!!!

[BigFan71]

@jsudrummer05 and to go a step further...the horns are very old, and very heavy...very heavy. Brass with silver plate that gives an unmatched resonance. It is a special horn...the 20-J went out of production in 1964 and JSU spends enough maintaining them to replace with modern horns - but they would lack the sound of the 20-J. The closest modern horn is probably the 20-K sousaphone, but the materials are thinner and lighter and even though it has the same bore, it lacks the sound.

[mpmcd81]

@BigFan71 A high percentage of music majors doesn't always translate into a great band, though JSU does have a high percentage and a very solid program- one that IMO deserves the next Sudler Trophy. What makes a great band is great attention to fundamentals of marching and playing. If there is sufficient leadership in the band to teach them and enough time put on them in sectionals, people can major in almost anything. Leadership, dedication, and organization are the key.

[MASTERCONTROLVIDEOS]

@mpmcd81 I don't see an argument. Music majors are going to pay closer attention to fundamentals of marching and playing than widget majors. The fact that so many are going into music or music education translates into leadership (and that starts at the top with KB), and an attention to detail that results in better organization.

[mpmcd81]

@MASTERCONTROLVIDEOS Sorry, that's just not a universal truth. There are many folks who want nothing to do with working in the public schools who also happen to be very talented musicians, and even more so than many who are music majors. When it comes to collegiate marching bands, I know of several who have both won and deserved the Sudler Trophy for marching band that have far fewer music majors than JSU.

[mpmcd81]

@mpmcd81 How else would you explain the success of programs like Auburn, Purdue, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, etc. where there are more engineering majors in the bands than music majors? The pride that students have in their university is more important than the majors that the band members choose. And have you ever thought about what it is like to try to teach music in an inner-city school system? It takes a whole lot more than knowledge and DCI experience to make that one work....

[mpmcd81]

@BigFan71 Very true about the Conn tubas. Very much American in style, and Southeatern did a wonderful job with them when they overhauled the line. But it isn't just the brass. It's the acoustics of the tuba. The difference in the 20J and the 20K is that the 20J has a long, straight bi-radial horn and HUGE bows, whereas the sousaphone wrap is a constant bend. European tubas have a more exponential horn- better projection with more focus, but very directional.

[mpmcd81]

@mpmcd81 That's why the 20J seems absolutely non-directional. The 20J line could turn around in the stadium and you'd barely notice the fact that they just turned the bells away from you. The 20K is the best of the modern marching brass by far, but they are more directional in nature. The other nice thing about the 20J is the amount of conical tubing that the wrap has. The valves being on top shortens the cylindrical section. That mellows out the sound and makes it much larger.

[mpmcd81]

@mpmcd81 Now in an acoustical setting like Jordan Hare or Bryant Denney, the 20K will work much better. The venue is so large that the directionality of the 20K actually helps a lot, as do the ergonomics of the horn. They also speak more clearly than do the 20J tubas. To my ears, the 20K is a little more focused and easier to articulate on due to slightly more cylindrical tubing. Same depth of sound? Close, but not quite. The leadpipe and valve design of the 20J makes it a special horn.

[MASTERCONTROLVIDEOS]

@mpmcd81 slow reply, sorry...I think what you are describing in the effectiveness of the 20k in a larger stadium is not necessarily true. The book is the key. Playing long tones, the 20J will make the 20k sound sharp and tinny if compared in a large acoustic environment, however the 20K has a much shorter throw on the valves and is much more responsive. For marches and anything with a lot of articulation, the 20K will sound better as a unit because it is possible to play tighter.

[MASTERCONTROLVIDEOS]

@mpmcd81 I would also argue that the King 1151 contra is comparable to the 20K in sound, but it is a bear to march.  29 pounds and very front heavy.