Tuesday, July 24, 2012

DCI Texas Tour






DCI SOUTHWESTERN CHAMPIONSHIP
&
DCI THE EXSIGHTMENT OF SOUND 



Our percussion team ventured out to Houston and San Antonio this past weekend for the DCI performances. All the corps have been bringing their A game with each performance being more intense than the next. Some of the scores were within .100 of a point! Here are the results from the Houston show-

1. Blue Devils- 89.350
2. Carolina Crown- 81.600
3. Phantom Regiment- 85.450
4. The Cadets- 85.250
5. Santa Clara Vanguard-84.450
6. Bluecoats-83.200
7. The Cavaliers-80.400
8. Boston Crusaders-80.300



                                                   

Next stop was the Southwestern Championship at the Alamodome in San Antonio. This being one of the larger performances having 26 Corps perform. Hard to believe but the scores were even closer than  in the previous competition with ensembles being separated by .050 of a point.The scores of this show are as follows-


1. The blue Devils-90.400
2. Carolina Crown- 89.550
3. Phantom Regiment-87.750
4. The Cadets- 86.950
5. Santa Clara Vanguard- 85.850
6. Bluecoats- 84.850
7. Madison Scouts- 83.050
8. Boston Crusaders- 81.550
9. The Cavilers- 81.500
10. Spirit of Atlanta- 80.450
11. Blue Knights- 78.650
12. Blue Stars- 77.950
13. Crossmen-77.550
14. Glassmen- 75.200
15. The Academy- 74.600
16. Colts- 72.900
17. Troopers- 72.600
18. Pacific Crest- 72.350
19. Jersey Surf- 69.800
20. Mandarins- 66.950
21. Cascades- 65.100
22. Pioneer- 62.600
Open Class
1. Oregon Crusaders- 78.400
2. Genesis- 73.400
3. Forte- 66.450
4. Revolution- 63.150




 




Finally, on Sunday the 22nd  the World Class Individual & Ensemble Competition took place. Over 400 performers took to the stage with great passion and excitement.  Among the 400 competitors a few members of the D'Addario percussion family finished high in the ranking. Here are a few of our more notable individuals-

Keyboard
1st – Monica England, The Blue Devils

Timpani
3rd – Garrett Tyler, The Blue Devils

Tenors
1st – Chris Drummer, The Blue Devils
2nd – Onye Eme-Akwari, Bluecoats

Snare
1st – Keelan Tobia, The Blue Devils

Percussion Ensemble
1st - Keelan Tobia & Amir Oosman (Snare/Tenor Duet), The Blue Devils
3rd – Boston Crusaders Percussion Ensemble

Cymbal Ensemble
3rd – Pioneer Cymbal Ensemble (we don’t do cymbals…but they’re one of our groups, so I included them)

Friday, July 6, 2012


Balanced Set Drumhead System

Upon releasing our Evans G14 heads, we started experimenting with various combinations on the drum set. We started thinking about gearing each head on the kit to the size of the tom it was going on, and came up with the Evans Balanced Set. The idea would be a set of heads with graduated thickness to better suit the tonal qualities of different sized drums.  We can directly connect it with the Pearl Reference line of drums. Pearl Drum Company did research on what wood and ply combination works best with each size drum.  We applied the same principle to the drumheads and were presently surprised with our discoveries.



What is depicted in the picture above and below is a G1 on the 10” tom, a G Plus on the 12” tom and a G14 on the 16” floor tom. This is not an exact science, but more of a general concept. Being that drum sounds are very much based on personal preference, you may want to experiment with different combinations to suite your needs.



This idea came from trying to achieve what every drummer strives for; tone. Sometimes, depending on the physical dimensions of your drums, one head thickness won’t yield the optimal tone for each drum in a set. This concept focuses on maximizing the tonal quality of each drum on your kit.
For more information on any of our heads visit the product portion of the Evans website. http://evansdrumheads.com/EvDrumsetTomBatter.Page?ActiveID=3591.