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Post by kyle on Apr 12, 2024 23:15:05 GMT -6
I know that there are plenty of LOUD bands across the nation, but what bands have shown the most dynamic CONTRAST? I know that there are a lot of bands to choose from, so let's narrow it down to bands that have attended BOA withing the last 2 years (2022-2023).
Just for fun let's keep a tally based on mentions:
1. Wando (7)
2. Mason (5),
3. Carmel (4)
4. Rouse (2)
5. Marcus (1), Pearland (1), Reagan (1)
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Post by lostinthebands on Apr 13, 2024 8:00:55 GMT -6
Pearland 2023, in my eyes, had some of the most impressive dynamic control this season. Just that opening moment alone blew me away with the consistency and control of each member.
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Post by mk72 on Apr 13, 2024 13:43:12 GMT -6
Carmel always shocks me with their control of dynamics, specifically in the finishing of their phrases. It's a simple task to get everyone to crescendo together at the end of a phrase that really gives it that extra oomph. Not even the best of the best can achieve this consistently. However, every Carmel performances is full of those ensemble moments that really elevates a motif. It feels like a wave washing over you, and it's absolutely amazing to experience irl.
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Post by crowncrawler on Apr 13, 2024 18:24:01 GMT -6
Rouse's dynamic manipulation was masterful this year
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Post by Allohak on Apr 13, 2024 19:34:38 GMT -6
Mason and Wando
/thread
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Post by yayband914 on Apr 13, 2024 19:51:21 GMT -6
Carmel. Mason. Wando.
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Post by marimba11 on Apr 13, 2024 23:39:24 GMT -6
Mason & Wando
Id also thrown in Reagan and Marcus.
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Post by hewhowaits on Apr 14, 2024 5:54:38 GMT -6
The OP asked about dynamic RANGE. That leaves two front runners: Wando and Mason
Others mentioned Carmel in the context of dynamic CONTROL across the ensemble. I don't dispute that, but they don't typically display the range from mp to fff that we get from Wando (for a long time) and Mason (last 8-10 years).
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Post by marimba11 on Apr 14, 2024 19:43:22 GMT -6
Wando has the best public high school concert band program on the east coast - those students are musicians first. One of the reasons they can really turn it on when they need to.
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Post by es203 on Apr 14, 2024 22:44:24 GMT -6
I feel like this is worth mentioning because it’s a thing in todays marching arts, for many groups they will crank the individual player mics or shotgun mics in loud moments and completely turn them off in the quiet moments. I know it’s super prevalent in drum corps and I can’t imagine it doesn’t happen in BOA
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Post by kyle on Apr 14, 2024 22:48:33 GMT -6
I feel like this is worth mentioning because it’s a thing in todays marching arts, for many groups they will crank the individual player mics or shotgun mics in loud moments and completely turn them off in the quiet moments. I know it’s super prevalent in drum corps and I can’t imagine it doesn’t happen in BOA Yes, this does certainly happen a lot, and it's the reason why sometimes you hear a more digital sound than realistic sound. I think it's most prevalent during woodwind features. But I do think that there are bands that try to avoid it so that they can have better sound quality. For example, American Fork Didn't like the sound they had early-mid season during their woodwind feature, so by the late season they had the mic at its lowest volume |
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Post by boahistorybuff on Apr 15, 2024 8:44:06 GMT -6
Carmel always shocks me with their control of dynamics, specifically in the finishing of their phrases. It's a simple task to get everyone to crescendo together at the end of a phrase that really gives it that extra oomph. Not even the best of the best can achieve this consistently. However, every Carmel performances is full of those ensemble moments that really elevates a motif. It feels like a wave washing over you, and it's absolutely amazing to experience irl. Perfect way to describe Carmel's brilliance. |
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Post by paddy on Apr 15, 2024 8:48:50 GMT -6
I feel like this is worth mentioning because it’s a thing in todays marching arts, for many groups they will crank the individual player mics or shotgun mics in loud moments and completely turn them off in the quiet moments. I know it’s super prevalent in drum corps and I can’t imagine it doesn’t happen in BOA And large bands will have swaths of kids not playing even if they are holding their instruments in playing position for quiet moments. |
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Post by kyle on Apr 15, 2024 8:51:22 GMT -6
I feel like this is worth mentioning because it’s a thing in todays marching arts, for many groups they will crank the individual player mics or shotgun mics in loud moments and completely turn them off in the quiet moments. I know it’s super prevalent in drum corps and I can’t imagine it doesn’t happen in BOA And large bands will have swaths of kids not playing even if they are holding their instruments in playing position for quiet moments. That is actually insane to me, I guess it makes sense but still, we don't do that so I guess it's just foreign to me |
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Post by hewhowaits on Apr 15, 2024 9:03:11 GMT -6
I feel like this is worth mentioning because it’s a thing in todays marching arts, for many groups they will crank the individual player mics or shotgun mics in loud moments and completely turn them off in the quiet moments. I know it’s super prevalent in drum corps and I can’t imagine it doesn’t happen in BOA And large bands will have swaths of kids not playing even if they are holding their instruments in playing position for quiet moments. And there are more bands than many here think that execute crescendos without any required dynamic modulation by individuals not by having everyone start at mf and slowly increase through f and ff to fff but rather have fewer musicians start at fff and gradually add more instruments all at fff. I've even experienced some that start with just flutes and clarinets, add alto saxes, add low reeds, add trumpets, add mellos, and finally add baritones and tubas/sousas to achieve what comes across as an ensemble crescendo. Both seem to work for the "WOW" factor with crowds. |
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Post by Jake W. on Apr 19, 2024 2:48:47 GMT -6
The OP asked about dynamic RANGE. That leaves two front runners: Wando and Mason Others mentioned Carmel in the context of dynamic CONTROL across the ensemble. I don't dispute that, but they don't typically display the range from mp to fff that we get from Wando (for a long time) and Mason (last 8-10 years). I disagree! They certainly don't get there often, but they do tend to hit that rip-your-face-off fff at least once in a show. My answer to the question at hand doesn't vary much from the answers posted so far. The amount of groups that could be named here is a ridiculously small list, and always has been - it's far from a new phenomenon for bands to achieve dynamic contrast on the field via adding in more instruments, it's just how it's always been done - tale as old as time. There are so few "orchestral" groups on the football field, and we all know and love them: Greg Bimm's Marian Catholic bands for three decades, Randy Greenwell's Lawrence Central groups in the '00s, Alfred Watkins' Lassiter bands showed wonderful dynamic contrast across usually 200 winds, Amanda Drinkwater's Marcus bands in the '00s, and currently, as mentioned, Wando, Carmel, and the particular king of this court, Mason. I'm sure there's a few that I'm forgetting, but this is a small, elite list that has always only included groups of exceptional musical prowess. Even Hebron, as much as they just blow my mind with sheer unmatched technical abilities, are not a group that exhibits dynamic range on the field - and certainly not within phrases like Carmel & Mason do, or like Marian, LC, Marcus, & Lassiter did in the past. Edited to add: I forgot to mention Rouse in the current iteration of these groups. They were mentioned earlier in the thread, and that's accurate. Their musicality, particularly in their 2021 "Papyrus" ballad, has really struck me as exceptional, and differing from the traditional "Texas loud" (although they of course still reach those heights). I remember the group forcing me to take note of that musicality the last few seasons, and they do deserve a place on this list. |
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Post by oldbandguy on Apr 19, 2024 6:18:25 GMT -6
In my personal opinion, Wando is probably the captain of this particular ship.
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Post by kyle on Apr 19, 2024 15:24:20 GMT -6
The OP asked about dynamic RANGE. That leaves two front runners: Wando and Mason Others mentioned Carmel in the context of dynamic CONTROL across the ensemble. I don't dispute that, but they don't typically display the range from mp to fff that we get from Wando (for a long time) and Mason (last 8-10 years). While I do think I see where you're coming from, in my eyes best/most contrast doesn't just mean most overall range, it also means the control to be able to make even the small changes clear and obvious, and it also means having a lot of changes so that we can experience more dynamics overall. |
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