Fantastic day at The Open

[jockinafrock]

What a great day of competition yesterday! Huge congratulations to The Foden's Band on winning - they were awesome! :clap: Listened to all but 2 bands, and thought that it could have gone to one of several bands - being a new piece there were no preconceptions about how it should be played, so no-one could say what the adjudicators would be looking for aside of the obvious balance, intonation, tuning etc, etc. Allan, though, did manage to convery the shape and story of the piece :clap:
Congratulations, too, to all the bands and conductors who had to tackle such a devilishly hard piece - contrary to Dezza saying there were a couple of bad (my words not his) performances, I don't think anyone embarrassed themselves, and should all be proud of their performances. So glad I didn't have to play it!

 

[Puritan]

I listened to every band and the only people to embarrass themselves was 4BR,with thinking that Fodens were only 5th best and that Tredegar deserved 6th.No bias there then

 

[bannisa]

Hi Fiona

I didn't hear any bands as we were hanging round having drawn last
Many congratulations to you and Andy and Fodens and also especially to Allan!
Regards

Andy Bannister
Grimey

 

[hellraiser]

I listened to every band and the only people to embarrass themselves was 4BR,with thinking that Fodens were only 5th best and that Tredegar deserved 6th.No bias there then

I'm no apologist for 4BR; but when you consider how many variables are at play in a tight field it's not embarrassing to come up with a different view to the adjudicators. For me, whilst Fodens played the most sensational final movement of the day, Cory and Dyke were ahead overall. But it doesn't matter, as I'm not the adjudicator, merely a humble audience member. Regards.

 

[shawneuph]

I listened to every band and the only people to embarrass themselves was 4BR,with thinking that Fodens were only 5th best and that Tredegar deserved 6th.No bias there then

Well said, contest after contest we appear to have to put up with biased live commentary if you do not play like Dyke or Cory then your performance will often `not make a mark today` or will `struggle to feature`. There`s more than one way to win or finish in the top places at a contest and thank goodness that usually adjucators realise this. Its nearly like we get online commentary which is commentary with your eyes ie if you are a top ranked band you will get a decent report. Tredegar who unfortunately this year did not have the best of days were given the following comments by 4 Bars Rest "Overall: A visceral performance that was high on adrenalin. Top six material without a doubt though." !!!!!!
I would just like to add that there was an alternative set of online comments available from the very experienced Jeremy Wise via facebook (as there are at most of the major contests), an unbiased account of the bands performances.

 

[ben16]

if you were welsh and made a living out of flogging black dyke and cory CDs you might understand.

 

[critic]

Well said, contest after contest we appear to have to put up with biased live commentary if you do not play like Dyke or Cory then your performance will often `not make a mark today` or will `struggle to feature`. There`s more than one way to win or finish in the top places at a contest and thank goodness that usually adjucators realise this. Its nearly like we get online commentary which is commentary with your eyes ie if you are a top ranked band you will get a decent report. Tredegar who unfortunately this year did not have the best of days were given the following comments by 4 Bars Rest "Overall: A visceral performance that was high on adrenalin. Top six material without a doubt though." !!!!!!
I would just like to add that there was an alternative set of online comments available from the very experienced Jeremy Wise via facebook (as there are at most of the major contests), an unbiased account of the bands performances.

Like any contest you are going to get variable oppinions on placings but at the end of the day the three men in the box are the ones who make the ultimate decision and in there judgments all the bands finished in the right places.Well done to all the bands on a very difficult piec to pull off

 

[Stracathro]

Big congrats to Fodens! My top six were, Dyke, Fodens, B&R, Cory, Grimey, Tredegar.

I did think that Dyke were on another level in terms of performance but, from their remarks, it sounds like they may have been just a bit too conservative for the adjudicators' taste. Fodens certainly did go for it in terms of pace and dynamic contast and that bravery paid off.

Stuart Lingard thoroughly deserved his best soloist prize. Just wonderful lyrical playing of the very highest quality.

On the test piece itself, I was certainly not a fan. I didn't find it an enjoyable listen in itself, the enjoyment came solely from the quality of the playing on display. I don't think that you have to sacrifice the pleasure of the audience to truly test the top bands, TDaTDBS at the areas being a prime example. I was humming the melodies for weeks after Bradford! I don't mean to overly criticise the composer as Electra is certainly very well written but if this was my first taste of a band contest I don't know that I'd be back in a hurry. Just left me feeling a bit cold.

 

[PeterBale]

I did enjoy the piece, if feeling that some of the first movement was un-necessarily complex - although it certainly proved a good test as bands tried to bring out the clarity in the writing. It was good to have some fine, lyrical solos in the middle section which brought out some excellent playing from the vast majority of bands.

One thing that did surprise me was the mixed quality of the bass drum playing, where those who opted for harder sticks were far more successful than the others, whose playing sounded very muddy, in what was quite a pivotal part.

Fine effort from the bass players, with Cory and Foden's best for me, but all in all a most enjoyable day.

 

[Puritan]

Am I the only one then that thought Kirsty Abbots should have won best cornet ? Just like Philip Mccann :clap:

 

[jockinafrock]

Hi Fiona

I didn't hear any bands as we were hanging round having drawn last
Many congratulations to you and Andy and Fodens and also especially to Allan!
Regards

Andy Bannister
Grimey

Cheers Andy - it was obviously my magic fingers at the draw that helped them to their win, as well as their superb playing of course.... :wink:

 

[mjwarman]

Am I the only one then that thought Kirsty Abbots should have won best cornet ? Just like Philip Mccann :clap:

I thought the Cornet Soloist from Faireys was awesome, faultless and such lyricism. The majority were very good though........

 

[critic]

Well said, contest after contest we appear to have to put up with biased live commentary if you do not play like Dyke or Cory then your performance will often `not make a mark today` or will `struggle to feature`. There`s more than one way to win or finish in the top places at a contest and thank goodness that usually adjucators realise this. Its nearly like we get online commentary which is commentary with your eyes ie if you are a top ranked band you will get a decent report. Tredegar who unfortunately this year did not have the best of days were given the following comments by 4 Bars Rest "Overall: A visceral performance that was high on adrenalin. Top six material without a doubt though." !!!!!!
I would just like to add that there was an alternative set of online comments available from the very experienced Jeremy Wise via facebook (as there are at most of the major contests), an unbiased account of the bands performances.

would liked to have seen jeremys comments im sure they would have been interesting

 

[battybarit]

No you're not.

 

[tsawyer]

One thing that did surprise me was the mixed quality of the bass drum playing, where those who opted for harder sticks were far more successful than the others, whose playing sounded very muddy, in what was quite a pivotal part.

The score notes specified snare drum sticks on both Tam Tam and Bass Drum - I was surprised at the amount of bands I saw that ignored this too.

Tim.

 

[Ali]

The score notes specified snare drum sticks on both Tam Tam and Bass Drum - I was surprised at the amount of bands I saw that ignored this too.

Tim.

Ignored is a strong word. I don't know if we dI'd or didn't re: percs but what I can tell you is that sometimes the MD doesn't like a particular sound. This could be on percussion or it could be a brass instrument. It depends on what he/ she has in their minds. I appreciate that it may deviate from te score and the composers wishes. Some people may argue that it's not what the composers want Whilst others may argue that it's quite possible that the composers maybe didnt think of a particular sound. Im not saying it's right or wrong but, if it adds to performance then who are we to argue?

 

[tsawyer]

Ignored is a strong word. I don't know if we dI'd or didn't re: percs but what I can tell you is that sometimes the MD doesn't like a particular sound. This could be on percussion or it could be a brass instrument. It depends on what he/ she has in their minds. I appreciate that it may deviate from te score and the composers wishes. Some people may argue that it's not what the composers want Whilst others may argue that it's quite possible that the composers maybe didnt think of a particular sound. Im not saying it's right or wrong but, if it adds to performance then who are we to argue?

Peter suggested that using "normal" bass drum sticks didn't really work, and I agree with that.

The actual words on the score notes were: "The Bass Drum will need to be placed on its side and the use of hard (SD) sticks on both the BD and the Tam-tam is a key part of the sound world of this work. " Ignored is the right word to use, in my opinion.

Tim.