Years ago I was fortunate to have gone to a number of camps Jeff Prosperie taught at. One might have been 3 or 4 years after this line and he mentioned how he was torn on who to give the trophy to, but ultimately had to give it to SCV because their relaxed battery feel and sound quality was so good. I think BD ended up with 2nd, and that line was incredibly good. 20 years later few people mention 2004 BD, but 2004 SCV always comes up as one of the all time greats - I think Jeff made the right choice. Thanks for the upload!
The battery that defined “sound quality”. I idolized these guys and checked them out in the lot every chance I could. And listening back now, almost 20 years later, with a fresh set of ears, the composition of the front ensemble and battery complement each other so well. EDIT: Have to give a shout-out to the most head-bobbable percussion feature of all time! Thanks for posting this fun trip down memory lane!
Dude I wish I could’ve seen this drumline live. I just started getting into marching percussion around 2004. Had no clue about this ensemble till years later.
One of my favorite shows/books of all time. It's so cool how much stuff you hear today, 20 years later, that you can trace directly back to this era of SCV
I wish they would write book this musical again. They way they incorporated the horns rhythms was just awesome. Nowadays drum line books are just rams with hybrids and fast rolls. Don’t get me wrong is cool and they are talented, but that style belongs in winter drum line where they are the main focal point.
I can't think of another show where the percussion was integrated into the melody better than this. I guess the source material (Scheherazade) might lend itself better but even the 2014 SCV version isn't as percussion integral. You can tell what the songs are from the battery and I almost never get that in any "modern" shows. My guess is since the judging sheets reward content/achievement, there's not a place for "general integration of writing". I almost never focus on percussion (or guard for that matter) when I watch the shows and this show you can't help but notice the individual percussion playing. The percussion voices are just as important to the melodic theme as the hornline is
This does represent like the top 1 percent of musical drum books, not a fair comparison imo. There aren't that many books that achieve this level of musicality ever. Only so many cadets 1989s or star 93s.
