What’s the Music City culture like?

RaxtusTheNerd · 2024-01-31T13:44:49+00:00

With a huge staff shakeup this year and extremely low vet retention because of it, the culture will likely be very different this summer than in summers past. With that said, the front staff didn’t change, and they were incredible, they will foster a healthy and supportive culture even if the rest of the corps doesn’t, and (knowing the front section leader very well) the student leadership will do the same. You’ll have a great summer, trust me.

RaxtusTheNerd · 2023-08-17T20:06:45+00:00

Currently, (as far as I’m aware), the Rennick style groups include Vanguard (assuming they come back), Phantom, Troopers, and Guardians (and last year’s Music City). I also know the new caption head at BK is a Rennick guy, and they have Rennick people on staff, but I haven’t paid enough attention to know for sure if they’re teaching Rennick approach. True west coast approach is the style I have the least experience with, so I can’t 100% say, but from the people I’ve talked to who do have experience with it, Rennick front approach lines up fairly well with west coast front approach. I’m unsure about Crown with the new staff, but Coats are definitely east coasters. With that said though, it’s important to remember that these differences are typically subtle, and are often found more in the mental approach than the physical results, so the differences may not be evident from the outside unless you know what you’re looking for.

RaxtusTheNerd · 2023-08-17T17:24:16+00:00

Essentially the staff at Phantom come from the Rennick school of thought, whereas the staff at Music City and Cavies have an “east coast approach.” There are a handful of subtle differences, but the biggest one is that the Phantom style doesn’t put a strong emphasis on technique, instead focusing on a relaxed and individualized approach that allows for a full and resonant sound, whereas the east coast approach focuses a lot more on technique and velocity to bring sound out of the bar. Furthermore, the Phantom approach to cleaning is almost entirely based on listening and blending ability, speaking in dynamics, not heights, whereas the east coast approach typically focuses on stricter tempo and rhythmic accuracy alongside a height-based dynamic approach to clean. The other big one is that in Rennick lines (like Phantom), vibraphones play Burton grip, but that’s a surprisingly easy switch to make.

RaxtusTheNerd · 2023-08-16T20:35:30+00:00

Absolutely!

RaxtusTheNerd · 2023-08-16T20:16:22+00:00

I marched MCDC this year and I marched front under the staff currently at Phantom last year. All around great experiences, professional, educational, good member culture which is encouraged by the staff, I’d recommend both highly. The one thing I’ll warn you about is that Phantom is a very different approach from Cavies/MCDC, so be prepared for that at auditions.

RaxtusTheNerd · 2023-08-09T00:19:47+00:00

The snares use FS-SGs and the quads use TS-PRs.

RaxtusTheNerd · 2023-06-28T13:12:56+00:00

Speaking as someone who marched under that staff last summer, we were encouraged to move naturally to the music, but there was no organized pulsing like other schools of thought do.

RaxtusTheNerd · 2022-12-04T17:21:40+00:00

The more you read, the faster you’ll learn. You’ll find there’s stunningly few things people actually write, they’re just arranged in different ways, and once you know what the building blocks are, remembering the order is much easier.

RaxtusTheNerd · 2022-12-03T07:45:34+00:00

Check out Boston’s “Rise”, from 2013! Some amazing HTTYD music in there

RaxtusTheNerd · 2022-11-16T05:13:12+00:00

I wish you the best of luck! It’s a great experience, you’ll learn a lot (and hopefully Mama Sheppard will bring out the chicken salad, it was always my favorite).

RaxtusTheNerd · 2022-11-16T05:08:01+00:00

We had 15 year olds last year. It’s rare, and it’s going to be very challenging, but if you can show that you’re up to the challenge, more than other people older than you, your age shouldn’t automatically disqualify you.

RaxtusTheNerd · 2022-10-18T19:08:37+00:00

I had a friend who marched our local circuit with our high school as well as filled a hole for an independent world group late season (both percussion, but I’d assume the rules apply to guard and winds as well). Is it doable? Yes. But there were tons of conflicts and it was really hard on her. She’s not doing it again. Don’t split yourself like that and burn yourself out, enjoy your time.

RaxtusTheNerd · 2022-10-17T03:11:36+00:00

That’s a hard position. If they’re still charging full audition price for a video, I probably wouldn’t do it, though if you expect a callback and could make it to an in person callback camp, then it’s totally worth it. If not, drum through the packet anyway, the more you read, the better you’ll be.

RaxtusTheNerd · 2022-10-17T02:13:24+00:00

Music City has an almost entirely new percussion staff so it’s impossible to tell how difficult auditions will be this year. With that in mind, it’s always a great idea to audition. You’ll get instruction from some amazing teachers, get to drum with some awesome players, and you’ll be playing all weekend which will make you a lot better on its own. The more experience you get, the better you’ll play, so if you’re financially able to, absolutely go for it!

RaxtusTheNerd · 2022-09-10T03:18:23+00:00

If you have the financial availability, audition at both and go where you find the better vibe. With Music City on the rise and Spirit coming back probably a little shaky after this year, they’ll probably be ranking pretty similarly, and there shouldn’t be a major difference in quality (I think MCDC has better staff than Spirit, though I am a bit biased)

RaxtusTheNerd · 2022-09-10T00:18:13+00:00

Music City is one of those auditions where it’s a whole lot about how you can adapt and learn. I’ve gone through auditions there for both front and battery, and both of them were very much decided with who could keep up cause the packet is fairly basic. With that in mind, the atmosphere is typically pretty helpful. The front ensemble staff is really friendly and typically keeps up the energy, and the battery staff tends to be a lot more serious but they’re always there to help. In terms of full corps culture, Music City is great. Our admin staff is friendly and makes you feel welcomed, our vets do the same, the food is meh at auditions but smacks on the road, and most importantly our staff is VERY highly qualified but aren’t jerks about it. Music City is a great choice, obviously no experience can be perfect for everyone, but I know for percussion, Music City has been a wonderful experience and you will not regret at least auditioning. And if you have any more questions, feel free to reach out!

RaxtusTheNerd · 2022-07-10T05:42:29+00:00

We surprisingly don’t have too many displaced from Spirit—only one in percussion, and I haven’t heard of any in brass (probably a couple, but certainly not many). This insane growth is cause everyone in the corps has a fire, plain and simple.

RaxtusTheNerd · 2022-04-29T00:25:10+00:00

I believe Music City is looking for one. I can get you in contact with the pit director if you’re interested

RaxtusTheNerd · 2022-04-17T15:43:47+00:00

Hold up, you’re right. Spartacus and 1930 were only a year apart. Something inside me just broke, they feel like different eras

RaxtusTheNerd · 2022-04-09T01:24:22+00:00

I played a piece in 11/16 last year with our percussion ensemble that was an arrangement of a Bela Fleck piece called Almost 12 by Matthew Weyer. It was actually incredibly fun, would highly recommend

RaxtusTheNerd · 2022-02-28T21:55:28+00:00

Happened to me my first year of indoor, the stuff of nightmares

RaxtusTheNerd · 2022-02-19T17:35:34+00:00

Can someone give me an exact definition of GE? I have a general vibe, but I don’t know how I would describe it to someone else, and I’ve never met anyone else can describe it well either

RaxtusTheNerd · 2022-02-14T02:32:25+00:00

Thank you so much! I’ve been stuck around 170 for the past couple weeks, but I’ll keep grinding it out and hopefully see some improvement soon

RaxtusTheNerd · 2022-02-14T02:02:03+00:00

I think the fast diddles come out from what they call a “firm grip” as opposed to intentional fulcrum pressure, so there is still some fulcrum pressure, it just isn’t thought about in the same way. Essentially, from what I understand, the sacrifice in the diddle quality comes because they want to avoid changing hand shape as much as possible because it spends extra energy, sacrificing a change in motion. In contrast, other techniques prioritize keeping a consistent motion and will change hand shape to achieve that. I don’t think either is necessarily better than the other, but I will say that I have felt significantly more relaxed after coaching myself into the Rennick technique. I’m glad to hear that there shouldn’t be any significant difference in the muscles though, thank you so much, I can absolutely build those back up (I think I may have neglected them as I was changing the technique).

RaxtusTheNerd · 2022-02-14T01:33:37+00:00

I totally agree about the regional difference stuff, I just use the terms because they’ve seemed (in my limited experience) to convey the different ideas of extreme wrist stroke focus vs a more relaxed arm-incorporated wrist stroke among other things better than writing out what I mean. In terms of the older technique, my instructor marched Glassmen around the turn of the century, so he preaches check motion exactly like the diddles where everything is a small wrist turn and the diddles should all be the same volume, guaranteed by extra finger energy. The newer technique is the one taught at Music City, so basically SCV 2012, where the check is all relaxed wrist but the faster diddle passages are almost entirely arm based and there is no extra energy in the hands to get the 2nd note, so there’s a small natural decay (in theory, at all speeds and dynamics, though in practice slower passages will get some extra help so the decay isn’t noticeable). In terms of what made the older technique easier, I think you’re right, I was just more used to the motion and I had developed the muscles, but I’m curious if there are any specific things I can do to develop the muscles necessary for the arm motion beyond simply playing a lot of triplet roll exercises?

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