GPMB 2012, KEMAJUAN BESAR !

Di Tahun 2012 ini saya berusaha menggunakan bahasa Indonesia untuk artikel tentang GPMB 2012 di Trendmarching. Saya mohon maaf sebelumnya kalau ada kesalahan bahasa di tulisan ini.
Prestasi semua unit di GPMB 2012 memperlihatkan kemajuan besar, khususnya musik dan konsep2 kebanyakan band peserta menjadi lebih baik.

Saya mengucapkan terima kasih dan memberikan hormat kepada semua orang yang telah bekerja keras untuk meningkatkan mutu aktivitas marching di Indonesia, kalian semua hebat! Tanpa dedikasi dan ribuan jam latihan, pencarian dana, rapat koordinasi dan pertukaran ide-ide kegiatan tercinta ini semuanya tidak akan mungkin terjadi. Hampir semua hal yang saya berbahas sebelumnya dikerjakan dengan benar, musik menjadi benar2 MUSIK. Masalah overblowing atau blasting, yang sering terjadi sebelumnya, hampir hilang. Itu berarti bahwa anak-anak belajar main musik yang benar dengan semua interpretasinya seperti halnya fungsi alat mereka di orkestra, nuansa-nuansa lagu dan pemakaian dinamika yang tepat membuat perbedaan antara “asal main” dan “main musik dengan benar”. Tujuan kegiatan kita ini adalah pendidikan, pembelajaran kebudayaan masing-masing dan para pemain harus bisa menikmati program yang dibawakan. Menurut saya hampir semua unit berhasil untuk memainkan musik dengan kesan bagus dan perasaan jiwa (penghayatan). Dorongan dari juri sejak beberapa tahun terakhir dan kemauan pelatih-pelatih untuk menggunakan program yang asli memaksakan semua orang untuk menjadi lebih kreatif. Tidak ada transkripsi (tiruan) lagu-lagu DCI lagi, Ini adalah bukti bahwa tingkat arranger-arranger di Indonesia telah meningkat. Pemakaian lagu-lagu asli mengandung resiko juga. Lagu-lagu yang digunakan di DCI punya detik-detik tertentu, namanya “moment”. Kalau staf pelatih memilih musik untuk program baru, mereka harus sadar bahwa “moment” tersebut ada untuk menyambungkan antara music dan visual. Apabila musik tanpa klimaks, tanpa banyak variasi di dalam tempo, dinamika, maka suara-suara yang dihasilkan akan membosankan penonton dan juri, secara otomatis nilai General Effect akan turun. Setiap show harus punya antara 20 sampai 25 “planned moments” (Momen-momen yang direncanakan) barangkali hanya 8 sampai 12 moments itu akan berhasil. Di GPMB 2012 beberapa unit yang biasanya “crowdpleasers” (menyenangkan penonton) tidak berhasil karena detik-detik “WOW” untuk penonton dan juri kurang atau tidak ada sama sekali.

Jika kita bicara tentang musik ada satu hal yang akan menjadi topik diskusi panas, yaitu peralatan elektronis. Sejak GPMB 2011 pemakaian alat2 elektronis diperbolehkan, waktu itu pengumumannya terlambat dan banyak band yang belum siap. Tahun 2012 beberapa unit menggunakan alat-alat elektronis dengan sukses dan sesuai dengan kesepakatan juri. Alat-alat elektronis boleh dipakai sebagai tambahan suara, bila alat-alat elektronis digunakan untuk memperkuatkan elemen-elemen musik yang kurang di hornline mereka akan menerima komentar yang keras dari juri musik. Contohnya: di final DCE 2012 ada satu unit dengan 2 tuba saja, mereka memakai bass guitar untuk memperkuat suara tuba, itu tidak bisa diterima juri.

Di GPMB 2012 tidak ada unit yang menggunakan alat-alat elektronis untuk memperkuat suara hornline, mereka memakai alat-alat elektronis untuk “special effects” tambahan suara-suara dan nyanyi. Dengan alat-alat elektronis paket show seperti yang dari MB. Gita Surosowan bisa dilaksanakan. Siapa yang tidak menikmati prestasi “top” mereka? Kombinasi ciri khas musik Indonesia dengan brass ensemble lengkap yang bermutu, apakah semua orang tahu faktor kesulitan musik MB. Gita Surosowan? Hebat! Contoh super bagus bagaimana alat-alat elektronis bisa menggeserkan batasan kreativitas marching music, terima kasih untuk team design MB. Gita Surosowan! Great job!

Ada sesuatu yang harus disampaikan tentang program band masing-masing, Mengapa anda tidak memberikan informasi tentang konsep, lagu-lagu dan kesan dari band anda ? Akibatnya juri harus nonton beberapa menit sebelum maksud dan tujuan show anda menjadi jelas, itu namanya merugikan diri sendiri.  Apakah semua penonton mengerti tujuan dan konsep Band anda ? Di DCI dan DCE seorang juri tidak akan masuk menjadi anggota dewan juri di babak final jika mereka belum bertemu 5 (lima) kali dengan semua peserta di kompetisi sebelumnya… sehingga mereka akan tahu tentang showconcept band masing-masing. Di Indonesia tidak ada sirkuit kompetisi sebelum GPMB dan juri terpaksa menilai band peserta dengan “first read” (pengenalan pertama), Itulah alasan saya sendiri meminta anggota juri dari luar Indonesia untuk menonton beberapa band pada saat latihan di Istora. Saya sama sekali tidak memahami mengapa hampir semua band peserta tidak mau memberikan informasi tentang program yang akan ditampilkan, maksudnya apa? Pikirkan ribuan orang penonton yang bayar karcis mahal untuk menyaksikan sesuatu yang mereka belum tahu, Aneh kan ? Buatlah promosi untuk band anda, buka rahasia kehebatan para pemain anda dan membantu dewan juri untuk mencari musik asli di Internet sebelum perlombaan dimulai supaya ada referensi, itu akan sangat membantu nilai band anda. Jangan terlalu memaksakan dewan juri untuk mengerti show band anda sebelum perlombaan dimulai. Itu dampak sikap kerahasiaan band peserta yang sama sekali tidak benar. Urutan kualifikasi GPMB 2012 sangat susah, dua unit besar tampil di awal kualifikasi, dan dua unit besar lainnya tampil di akhir kualifikasi dan ditengah-tengah itu banyak kejutan yang terjadi, Apakah anda mau kalo juri mulai dengan nilai 50 point karena belum tahu apa yang akan terjadi ? Itu baru akan meramaikan situs komentar di Trendmarching!

Saya sadar juga banyak orang yang sangat kritis terhadap alat-alat elektronis tapi kehidupan kita penuh dengan alat-alat elektronis yang membebaskan kreativitas, kita tidak bisa berhenti berkembang. Berbicara tentang musik, pada awal diperkenalkannya alat-alat pit ada banyak orang yang mengkritik juga. Sekarang, jika ada band yang masuk arena tanpa pit dinilai kurang lengkap.

Pada awalnya juri memperbolehkan alat-alat pit memperkuat suara hornline, xylophone main partitur trompet, vibraphone seperti mellophone dan marimba persis sama baritones. Dua puluh tahun sesudahnya beberapa band masih seperti itu ! Untuk para arranger perkusi, tolong berikan partitur khusus untuk pit ensemble kalian, apa gunanya membeli alat-alat bernilai ratusan juta rupiah hanya untuk men-double partitur hornline saja ? Hampir semua pemain pit melihat ke bawah ke arah keyboard mereka dan kurang memperhatikan Field Commander. Hasilnya terjadi perbedaan tempo antara hornline dan front ensemble, ajarkan para pemain pit untuk mendengarkan musiknya, jangan main sendiri-sendiri, Hasilnya pasti akan lebih bagus!

Dahulu satu program show terdiri dari opener, balad, percussion feature, lagu wajib dan closer. Sekarang Lagu wajib sudah tidak ada lagi di GPMB tetapi semua bagian lain masih sama saja, Mengapa masih ada percussion feature ? Rasanya sudah kurang cocok di dalam show yang modern, ketika hornlinenya main lembut, tiba-tiba saja perkusi masuk, “beng, kleng, pats, bum” hilang deh effeknya ! Hanya menonjolkan kemampuan hebat pemain field battery di antara pergantian lagu selama beberapa bar saja.

Yang masih harus dikerjakan adalah tempo, banyak band main lagu-lagu yang tempo dan kuncinya hampir sama. Drumcorps di Amerika dan Europa sudah bermain tempo di atas 160 langkah per menit dari awal sampai akhir. Variasi kunci mereka terdengar dari lagu ke lagu dan visual lebih dinamis, tahun depan bisa nggak ya ? Kita sudah sampai visual, menurut saya ada banyak hal yang sudah lebih baik daripada tahun-tahun terakhir. Ratusan buah properties seperti bendera-bendera dan lain-lain tidak dibawa ke lapangan lagi, ada orang yang memperhatikan?
Tahun ini pemain Color Guard yang berlari-lari untuk mengambil bendera-bendera lainnya hampir tidak ada lagi, transisi-transisi jauh lebih baik, tidak ada gangguan visual lagi. Sekarang color guard tiba-tiba membawa warna baru tanpa penonton melihat bagaimana mereka menggantinya, hebat bukan? Design teams, terima kasih banyak ! Banyak backdrop2 besar hilang juga, akhirnya designer mengerti backdrop2 yang besar-besar itu mengganggu saja.

Istora, terus terang, tidak cocok untuk GPMB. Kapasitas tempat duduk terlampau kecil, banyak orang yang duduk di tangga dan tanpa disadari melakukan hal-hal yang berbahaya. Apa yang akan terjadi bila terjadi kebakaran atau bila ada seorang yang tiba2 sakit ? Kedisiplinan anak2 di lapangan seratus kali lebih baik daripada penonton yang ber-jalan2, membawa makanan, mengganggu juri jika anak2 tampil. Anda semua belum pernah mendengar bahwa orang tidak boleh meninggalkan kursi, naik tangga, masuk/keluar stadion selama ada corps di arena? Banyak orang yang datang di menit terakhir dan ingin tempat duduk yang paling tinggi di centerline, tidak mungkin dong! Kejadian kebocoran atap di luar wewenang panitia GPMB tapi harus menjadi topik pembicaraan dengan pengelola Istora, sayang saja untuk anak2 yang sudah siap tampil dan disuruh menunggu beberapa jam.

Arena Istora terlampau kecil untuk drumcorps show, peraturan DCE mempersyaratkan ukuran lapangannya harus 100 x 40 meter, yaitu 6 kali lebih besar daripada lapangan Istora. Saya heran dengan banyak band yang mengecilkan lapangan sampai mereka tidak bisa bergerak lagi. Sudah ada keputusan dan pengumuman dari juri bahwa untuk tahun depan (2013) band peserta tidak boleh memasang tanda-tanda lagi dan referensinya adalah garis2 setiap 5 yard yang akan dipasang oleh panitia. Sesudah perlombaan saya sendiri melihat tempat2 marking dengan nama band di lantai kayu, memakai permanen marker yang tebal. Apakah itu sikap kedisiplinan band anda? Apakah anda tahu lantai kayu itu mahal dan dipakai juga untuk event2 lain? Maluuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!

Kembali ke penampilan visual  corps masing2 lagi, tahun ini hornline2 menggunakan banyak gerakan visual. Orang biasa barangkali kurang tahu tetapi menyuruh pemain2 alat tiup atau perkusi berbuat gerakan tarian seperti ballet tentu susah sekali. Mayoritas pemain horn dan perkusi kaku, tidak biasa menari apalagi ballet! Yang membuat saya kaget adalah : banyak gerakan ‘ballet’ oleh pemain hornline lebih elegan daripada pelaksanaan gerakan yang sama oleh Color Guard. Ternyata color guard di Indonesia belum bisa menari dengan benar kecuali kalau mereka tanpil tanpa alat seperti bendera, rifle atau sabre. Ternyata mereka lupa ‘elegance’ dan peraturan ballet bila sedang memegang alat. “Pointing toes” dan “angled legs” tiba2 tidak ada lagi, lain kali kerjakan dong supaya color guard Indonesia maju juga. “Use of space” atau penggunaan ruang masih sesuatu yang banyak belum dimengerti oleh pelatih color guard. Penggunaan alat seperti bendera sejauh mungkin ke depan, samping atau belakang sehingga efek lebih besar. Banyak gerakan color guard terlalu dekat badan masing-masing pemain dan efeknya kurang. Ukuran tongkat standar di dunia 180 cm tapi di Indonesia banyak color guard memakai 160 cm, membuat lingkaran efektif 15% lebih kecil. Pekerjaan Rumah untuk tahun depan.

Secara umum kita sudah jauh mengalami kemajuan, tetapi masih ada banyak hal yang perlu dikerjakan untuk GPMB berikutnya.

Wil Bijl

Representative Drum Corps Europe

In my first article I have been writing about the things that were different in GPMB 2011.

I have seen many comments, but I think that most people writing comments are not seeing the big picture and that’s OK for as long they are polite. One comment was that I have lived for 20 years in Indonesia and should have written my article in Indonesian. First, I have not yet lived 20 years in Indonesia because I left in 1998 and it toke a long time to return. Second, I’m the representative of Drum Corps Europe and I’m sending all judging comments and articles to DCE for information and approval. Third, I think that most Indonesians are quite good enough to read English so where is the problem? Fourth, I don’t want to make a mistake somewhere in my language and insult people.

There was a comment about the relation of me writing that the Thai corps are copying DCI too much and the program of PKT. Yes, a copy is never as good as the original but I did not have the intention to blame PKT because they just did an excellent job. Judges are supposed to give credits for content and achievement. In other words; WHAT a band is doing and HOW well they are doing it. It’s not the judges task to say that a certain DCI corps already played that music and/or marched that drill. When that band has a difficult and entertaining program with an excellent execution they simply deserve to be credited. When the judges start to give penalties to bands that do music and/or drills that have ever been performed in DCI, BOA, DCE or DCA there will be not many programs left. “Evita” has been performed many times already, “The Titanic” and “Harry Potter” are certainly been used for marching band shows, so what’s the problem for PKT using DCI content? Please consider that 10 years ago every band played music that was copied from DCI shows, now the creativity and originality of Indonesian bands has improved tremendously but the individual qualities of PKT are still outstanding. The fact also that most critics said the PKT is using music and drills from Blue Devils proves that they are not well informed. Music and drill were mostly from different DCI units like Cavaliers, Cadets and Phantom Regiment.

I should like to invite all criticasters saying that this or that band should have deserved a higher ranking to one of the clinics with the Judging Team. Please bring your CV with your experience as musician or designer and show that you are eligible to take part in a Judges College, you are most welcome!

I have been missing comments about the “Showcase” the performance from the winners of the individual and ensemble competition. Did you like that or not? Don’t you think that those members practicing their individual performance in addition to the show need more exposure?

No comments on my suggestion to have GPMB outdoors, there the organizers can accommodate more spectators and the shows will be more interesting due to the bigger field and no echo of an indoor arena. Most of you will be surprised of the lack of power when bands are playing outside.

Barely comments about the use of electronics, great!

Many comments are about “winning or losing” GPMB, those people still don’t understand that our activity is about education and not about winning or losing. Sure, GPMB is a competition but also a showcase for Indonesian youth to show their skills. Marching band is more than playing music and march. It’s a terrific opportunity to educate young people in leadership, performance, teamwork, coordination and discipline. Those should be the real goals of our activity, when those goals are reached the students are the real champions. That’s why I wrote the title of this article: It’s easier to be better than somebody else than to be the best you can.

For years I have tried to convince the organizing committee to drop the “School Division” in GPMB.

To my opinion most bands coming from High Schools are completely able to compete with community or company bands. In the School Division they were considered as “Second Class” units, a title they don’t deserve. BCK has showed that they have excellent skills and the creativity to put on a great show and finishing second. So, my opinion for the School Division was justified and let’s see how school bands will be doing in the future.

Next step should be to abolish all those individual prices for solos, duets and drummajor/field commander. Those awards are not from this era anymore, marching band is a collective effort and individual prices are not fitting that purpose.

Another thing is the announcement of the preliminary results, why wait to the evening and announce all those details? Why should a band have to wait till late at night only to hear that they have to play first or second the next morning? The organizers should realize that a band that has to perform at 9 AM has to wake up at 3 or 4 AM. Just announce preliminary scores during the breaks and everybody will be happy, bands and spectators.

Scores should be announced earlier, the GPMB schedule says that there is a Judges Meeting of an hour. Well, there is NO judges meeting after the shows are ready! After judging the last band the judges have to check if their scores have been rightly entered into the computer, that’s all. No meetings to discuss scores for other captions or ranking and certainly no changes of scores.

In fact scores can be announced within 10 minutes after the last performance, so let’s do!

Opening and closing ceremonies are still old fashioned, why disturbing a band’s preparation for the opening ceremony? Especially those bands that have to play early are handicapped when at least 10 members are needed to attend a ceremony nobody is interested in. Those students miss stretching, warming ups, briefings and all kind of things that are important for a good performance. When the GPMB committee is still insisting on those ceremonies make it for Drum majors only, most bands have two or three and it will not affect their show.

Last but not least, the fact that so many people are sitting on the stairs of Istora. Has somebody been thinking what happens when a spectator in the stands gets unwell, or even worse when there is a fire? How can medics or rescue people ever help?

But instead of blaming the organization people should also blame those “fellow band lovers” who sell used tickets to brokers (calo2). During the breaks they go out and sell their paper ticket to the brokers and get in again with their wristband and stamp.

No wonder there are more people as seats and many have to sit on the stairs, just because a number of  “marching band friends” just don’t want to pay the full price for such an event.

Wil Bijl

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- What was different in GPMB 2011?

- Kolom Komentar GPMB 2011

I don’t believe this reasoning because that decision was taken somewhere in October while bands should have been preparing for GPMB a long time before.

Although the number of participants was only fifteen the spectators have seen good shows and an increase in overall quality compared to previous years.

The adaptation of the Competition Manual of Drum Corps Europe has been a good choice for GPMB, almost all rules and regulations were adopted except for the time penalties and size of the field.

The size of the field needs no discussion, Istora is about 4 times smaller than the soccer fields DCE is using. Should it be an idea to have GPMB outdoors?

In 2011 DCE has decided to remove all penalties during the performances, corps get a 17 minute slot to do their performance including set up, march in and march off. If their show is only 2 minutes long it’s their own choice, it will certainly not be enough to show any content to the judges and scores will be low.

This year GPMB accepted also a rule that will be discussed heavily amongst instructors and marching enthusiasts, electronics. Many will say that electronics will change the fundamentals of marching band music, others will argue that we cannot stop innovation. Bands of America (BOA) allows electronics since 1993, DCE tried out electronics in 2007 for DCI and since 2009  electronics were allowed in DCI although limited to the front ensemble only. In 2011 DCE decided that all electronic devices could be used on the field, without any limitations. The current European Champions from the United Kingdom named “The Company” showed how effective the use of electronics can be, their show was wonderful and made people cry in the stands. It’s all a question of balance between the normally used instruments, keyboards, voices and other effects. Judges will absolutely not allow that electronic instruments are used to cover up for missing or weakly executed voices in the horn line. The decision to allow electronics in GPMB came late and most bands were not prepared but better a late decision than no decision at all. I think that Sangkakala has shown in GPMB finals how electronics can be a positive addition to a show, excellent job! I’m sure next year many bands will use guitars, keyboards and such to add color to their music, within a couple of years everybody will say that it was a good decision.

Another new thing in GPMB was the “pre-show” from Bontang Pupuk Kaltim, instead of a traditional warming up they performed a nice piece of music and drill. I thought that the quality of PKT’s pre-show was even better than their judged show, you’re leading the way PKT, thanks.

Pre-shows are common practice in DCI because the instructors have learned that a traditional warming up at the field has no added value for stamina or embouchure. They better make a good first impression on the judges and audience by performing a daring show before judging starts.

Some bands in Indonesia are having such a bad warming up on the field that it risks to negatively influence the judges, false chords and weaknesses of some horn lines are made visible even before the show starts. Not very smart of their instructors although judges are ordered to neglect the warming ups their attention will certainly be affected.

For the first time GPMB had a showcase. The winners of the individual and ensemble contest performed during the break after Finals. All these fine musicians did their competition before small audiences and should be honored for their hard work. Now they received the possibility to show their skills before a big audience. Let this be the beginning of encouragement for individual performers and ensembles, they are great and we hope to have more spectators next year. I’m sure that many people regret not to have witnessed the individual and ensemble competition after having seen the showcase. There are many good performers in Indonesian units but they need more exposure, finally they got it.

What was gone was the use of big properties such as moving stages, a development I’m happy with. Those big properties are making the very small floor of Istora even smaller, no space to march and show your visual capabilities to the audience and the judges. I still don’t understand why some bands with 100 members are putting their markers 3 or 4 meters inside the field. Your scores for all visual captions will be affected with you only moving a bit with very small steps! Yes, I know that your practice field is smaller than Istora but please find a solution when you want your visual scores to go up. In the introduction I suggested that GPMB should be organized outside on a football pitch, there you will need to work on bigger displays and a better projecting horn line to be seen and heard. Performing on bigger fields will create new challenges and making the possibility to give your displays more depth. Using big backdrops and stages will not be a problem on a big field.

For next year it is suggested that lines and markers will be provided be the organization, spaces between the lines is 5 yards (4,55 meters) No more markers from the bands, now after GPMB the whole floor is full of stickers and even written marks, shame! Why do those bands think that they can write with markers on the expensive wooden floor of Istora, who’s paying when the floor needs to be cleaned? I propose that the bands will receive a penalty in points or even in money when additional markers are used.

More and more bands/corps are using a concept for their show, not only putting a number of isolated songs together but telling a story. That’s a positive development, judges are encouraging this type of shows for a number of reasons. First, telling a story is more interesting for the members and the audience. Second, students will better learn to express the intention of the songs, sad or happy, and that will make them better musicians and performers. Third, telling a real story needs creativity from the design team and the performers. Fourth, it gives the judges a better possibility to see if members are well trained. BCK Riau did a great job in Finals with their Harry Potter show, they where only outperformed by the individual qualities and the musical content of PKT’s show. I’m sure that the members from BCK Riau have had a good time learning their show, loads of fun and good moments makes practice lighter. That’s where our activity is about, education of students but still having a good time.

Looking at lower placed bands we still see that the instructors lack a good understanding of modern show design, thinking that adding many kinds of flags and other props will hide their lack of skills. Again, “less is more” when we talk about flags. Running guard members that need to pick up new flags or to be in position again are very disturbing for your visuals. Please try to use just one type of equipment in a song, don’t change every moment because it does not make any sense. Even worse, some guards changed flags and left the band alone on the field without any visual support. Do your instructors really think that the re-entry of the guard gives that many credits that the judges forgot you left the band “naked” on the field? Many bands start their show with very small props, changing after 4 or 8 measures, what’s the purpose? Your show is disturbed from the very first beginning by changing properties! Those disturbing transitions are caused by improper planning of the design team, they don’t work together in planning a complete show from the start. Most bands start out with songs, later followed by the display and in the end by the color guard moves. How can you make an integrated product if the elements are not planned together, at the same time, before members start learning the show? Remember the 5 P’s; Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performances.

Just choose a concept, what kind of music do want to play? A theme show or classical, jazz, contemporary, original or copied from other competitions? Develop the music with input of the drill designers and the color guard instructors. Music as well as visuals should be “tailor made” for the corps/band, should be challenging and varied.

Make a “story board” about the things you want to express, musically as well as visually.

Plan emotional effects such as a climax or anticlimax, musically and visually, there should be around 20 in a show. Not all of them will work because the judges and/or the audience will not understand when it’s poorly developed and executed.

Make a proper time schedule with deadlines, a target without deadline is only a wish! Show should be ready one month before GPMB in order to have some slack and time for cleaning the details.

Develop schedules for rehearsals and let every instructor sign that he or she agrees. When do you work on basic techniques for music, display and guard? When do you have sectionals? When do you start the first song? When do you start the first display rehearsal? What should the color guard use as equipment? Do not agree to wishes of instructors to make many changes before the story book is finished. Many times visual instructors want to add color and props without thinking how those added elements are going to be brought on and off the field, that’s the reason for all those disturbing transitions! It’s not only their fault, many times they were not involved in the planning of the music and display because everyone works for themselves. When you have your storyboard and planning ready you will know far ahead that you’re lacking time.

Contract your instructors and put penalties in their contracts, many instructors in Indonesia work for several units and run out of time when GPMB is nearing. Result: show not ready and everybody stressed! Better is even to have exclusive contracts with instructors, forbidding them to work with other units. I know I will not make many friends amongst the Indonesian instructors with my statement but it’s the only way forward. For supporters a band/corps can lose the competition, for me only instructors can lose. The students in the bands never lose, if they place lower than expected it’s the instructor’s and organization’s fault. Students are only executing what they have learned from the instructors. When a band wins it’s the students that won, not the instructors. Why some bands always do good and others always less than expected? Do people think that the successful bands have only talented students and others only “dummies”? Impossible, in general the students from lower placed units are as talented as the students from successful ones. The difference is that the successful bands are better organized and are better trained. A big role is also expected from parents and schoolteachers, nowadays many parents are too protective and think that school results will be affected by that many rehearsals and though discipline. It’s a proven fact  that students marching in a well organized and instructed band do better in class than those not marching! The students marching will develop social skills that others are lacking, working in groups, leadership, music, dance, body control, communication and showmanship. As the Indonesian school system is pointed towards academic knowledge only that part of the brain is developed in school. Our students need more than that, they need guts to perform in public, stamina to go after targets, leadership and knowledge of arts such as music, dance and colors. That will make them better people and more ready to face the world when they start their career.

Having said that, the complete judging team was surprised to see that all performances in Finals were better than in Preliminaries. The big question is why? I think the answer is a lack of mental preparation. The students are stressed after a long rehearsal period where they had to finish their show. They are not yet confident their show will be well received by the judges, the students are shy to perform in front of so many people. Most of them did not get enough sleep after try-out rehearsals in Istora. In short: lack of proper preparation.

Why not performing the show at home before all fans and parents that stay home? Makes the students more confident. Why not participating in local or regional contests in order to train the students to perform before judges? Why doing so many rehearsals in Istora, if your show is ready you don’t need to make your students tired. Building confidence for the students is done during the complete season, when the band is ready to perform the students will feel at ease and do a better job.

Please don’t forget that you are playing before an audience that pays fairly high ticket prices, making an event as GPMB financially possible. Imagine how good your show in Finals could have been when your students were performing better in Preliminaries.

Competition in Asia is different from Europe and the States, here the bands come to a Championship with a show never tried out before a judging team. In Western countries the corps do many judged shows, receiving input of the judges and are able to adjust their performance. During the 2011 season all DCI corps changed their shows during the season, some of them for more than 50%

If we want to improve the quality of the Indonesian bands we should think about a circuit where bands are meeting the judges several times before coming into GPMB. They will have the time to improve their show, add new displays and build confidence for the students.

I estimate that the top five units from GPMB can break into DCE finals in Europe and the top 2 can perform in the Open Class Finals of DCI. World Class standards are still far away and will probably not be possible in the future. That’s not a shame, World Class corps are completely different organizations as those in Asia. Top 12 corps do auditions, only the most talented students will make the corps. Most of them come from entirely different places all over the world, they travel together during 2 months and practice 12 hours a day to improve their skills and show. That level will never be acheived by European and Asian units due to a different holiday schedule, lack of competition and possibilities for fund raising. Students marching in top 12 corps in DCI pay between 2,000 and 2,300 US$ tour fees, besides all costs of travelling for winter camps, housing and pocket money. Some parents hire private teachers to teach their kids music during the off season.

Looking at the South East Asian bands the Indonesians will be amongst the best together with the Thais, Malaysia is still trailing but catching up rapidly. It should be interesting to see how Sultanah Asma, the Malaysian champions, will do in GPMB. The Thais are highly skilled but lack creativity and musicianship, they copy too much from DCI and a copy is never as good as the original.

Nevertheless in the more than 20 years that I have been involved in the Indonesian marching activity we have come a long way. The activity has changed, more and faster drills, more difficult music, more dance, better equipment handling and more creativity have been leading to better shows.

Judging has changed from critical to positive, all comments meant to encourage improvement and higher quality. Almost all judges followed training by experienced DCE and DCI judges, the first training was done in Malaysia and all candidates paid their own fees and tickets, talking about dedication! I’m happy to see that the judging is better than before but there is still plenty of room for further improvement. The judging team is already evaluating their performances and planning to have meetings with instructors and corps directors to discuss openly about the judging system and the organization of programs. New Judges Colleges to train other judges are planned, don’t underestimate the heavy training aspirant judges have to follow. If we want to bring the activity to new standards we have to work together. Judges are not enemies that look at mistakes, they have to be teachers and counselors giving  suggestions how to make better performances.

Wil Bijl

________________________

KOLOM KOMENTAR GPMB 2011

Mas Kirnadi adalah sesepuh Marching Band Indonesia  hampir 30 tahun lebih bergelut di dunia Marching Band kontribusi nya sangat besar untuk kemajuan marching band Indonesia. Maskir  adalah pelopor aliran Corps Style yang dulu mungkin dianggap aneh oleh para pemain tahun 80 an tapi sekarang hampir 90%  aliran marching band Indonesia sudah Corps  Style.  Rasanya cita-cita beliau hampir tercapai. Untuk mengabdikan Ilmu dan pengalaman-pengalaman beliau selama ini maka Beliau menulis Buku yang berjudul DUNIA MARCHING BAND  karya KIRNADI mungkin beberapa teman sdh membacanya waktu di cetak untuk internal  para marching band tapi sekarang di cetak untuk khalayak ramai dan bisa di beli di toko-toko buku.

Jadwal peluncuran buku nya :

Jumat, 28 Oktober 2011
Jam : 14.00 – Selesai
Multifunction Room LT. 2 Kemang Village
Jl. P. Antasari 36 JAK-SEL
Pembicara : ADDIE MS

======Di Tunggu Kedatangannya======

- Pengantar Pengetahuan Alat Musik (Buku Panduan bagi Guru & Pelajar Musik),edisi 2010 --Dr.Pono Banoe
 
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		http://trendmarching.or.id/read/2010/12/looking-to-trends/
		http://trendmarching.or.id/read/2010/12/looking-to-trends/#comments
		Thu, 30 Dec 2010 10:40:20 +0000
		Wil Bijl
				
		
		
		
		

		http://trendmarching.or.id/read/?p=5227
		
				

Everybody is a winner!.

Looking back to GPMB 2010 I’m happy to see that most bands in Indonesia made good progress in their quality, approach and programs. It was amazing to see the creativity of many design teams reflected in the performance of the members in the field. Congratulations to ALL participants because you are ALL winners, in our activity there are never losers!
Like everywhere else in the world the battle in Indonesia is between bands that have enough budget to buy all kinds of gadgets trying to improve their scores and bands who simply don’t have money to spend. Those poor bands have to rely on the creativity of their design team, good use of rehearsal time and good education of their kids.

In principle marching band or drumcorps is an outdoor activity and bands/corps should perform more than only twice during the championships. How should that be possible when you brings so many things on the field that you need at least two giant trucks to transport the podia, walls and other gimmicks? How would such a band perform on a football pitch?
The marching activity is about quality of sound, quality of body movements, quality of marching, quality of handling guard equipment, quality of making a good link between music and visuals and not about changing uniforms behind walls and standing on instable platforms to be moved by falling kids!
I admit that I liked the shows of Semen Padang and Gita Sorosowan from the side of entertainment and spectacle but, too bad, those two things are only a small part of the complete picture.
Marching bands should concentrate on the education of their kids in music, coordination, social skills, independency, creativity and discipline. In short, marching band is not about winning, units that succeed to train their kids in all the things mentioned above are all true winners.
I’m sure that quality units such as Semen Padang and Gita Sorosowan have the same principles, education and well being of the kids first, but please show their individual quality on the field! Don’t run off the field to change uniforms without any purpose, you are not marching and during a considerable amount of time and that costs credit!

Don’t use boxes that are so heavy to be pushed that members are falling on the floor, that are so instable that percussionists cannot play together anymore. You can’t use those things on a football pitch, how should your band perform in an international outdoor contest? In fact do you have other shows over the year where you use all these properties? If not, poor kids that practice the whole year for only two shows during GPMB! What a waste of money, energy and talent!
Your properties are so big that you make the already limited arena of Istora smaller while you’re marching with the biggest units of the competition! No space to maneuver, everything becomes cramped in a small area and you’re not able to show your real qualities and creativity!
Some other bands were using so many properties that members made mistakes in picking up the right flag! Chancing flags becomes a distracting habit in Indonesia, I fail to understand why so many guards have to run off and on the field to change flags! Don’t they understand that their points go down when they have people running over the field while there is not else to watch at? Don’t they understand that it makes no sense to change one flag with another one having the same design but only slightly other colors? At the end of their show there are so many  flags lying aside the field that it hurts your eyes! Bye, bye high score visual effect! Al least the big boxes from Semen Padang were good to hide their pile of flags in between!
Let’s hope that the use of so many properties does not become a trend in Indonesia because only rich units can effort the costs while all others will suffer to find the money. At least the trend that everybody has to play loud all the time has been stopped, in GPMB 2010 there was a far better use of dynamic range as the years before. I’m speaking for all judges when I say that I’m happy to see that more and more original music and drills are used, no copies of DCI anymore! We’re getting there, good programs to develop skills of the young people training so hard to entertain! Still, we have to work hard on mindset. Music is an international language that is understood by everybody, please use this language to become friends on and off the field. More competition works positively for better programs, competition does not mean that we should become single minded. I’m urging all bands to do at least one other competition besides GPMB Finals, it’s good for the band because they will receive input from judges and can optimize their programs. It’s good for the members because they can make and meet friends from other units. It’s good for the spectators because they can watch their favorite bands in competition in another month than December. It’s good for the local judges because they can work on their skills for comments. You see, there are no losers in our activity!

Wil Bijl
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		http://trendmarching.or.id/read/2010/12/liputan-gpmb-marching-orisinal-vs-marching-show/
		http://trendmarching.or.id/read/2010/12/liputan-gpmb-marching-orisinal-vs-marching-show/#comments
		Mon, 27 Dec 2010 18:20:44 +0000
		henryg
				
		
		
		

		http://trendmarching.or.id/read/?p=5107
		
				Babak Final GPMB 2010 27 Desember 2010 berakhir sudah dengan keluarnya juara :

Divisi Sekolah :
1. Putri Santa Ursula Marching Brass
2. MB BCK Rumbai
3. MB Darul Qolam
Divisi Umum :
1. MB Madah Bahana UI Depok
2. MB UGM Jogjakarta
3. MB Gita Surosowan Banten
Tema liputan ini menarik redaksi angkat sebagai bagian dari berakhirnya hajatan Yayasan GPMB, banyak yang menunggu bagaimana paket-paket penampilan semua unit yang ikut GPMB ? Dan ketemulah Original Marching vs Marching Show. Apa inti kedua konsep ini ?

Setelah melihat babak penyisihan sampai babak final kemarin, atmosfir performance peserta sebagian besar hampir sama dengan GPMB ke 25 tahun 2009 nuansa marching show band sangat kental dipakai dan digunakan dalam event ini, dan sebagian lagi  mempertahankan bermain marching band dengan bentuk yang original. Perbandingannya 60 x 40 persen. Secara umum band yang membawa original marching biasa disebut monoton, tidak punya modal dan sepi lapangan display,  sementara band yang mengusung marching show band disebut menghibur, mempunyai modal banyak, dan ramai lapangan display. Namanya pendapat bisa berbeda-beda persepsi orang menilainya.

Kedua nya sah-sah saja dipakai, dan sudah dalam 2 kali GPMB terakhir pemenangnya  berasal dari konsep original marching.
Perkembangan marching band kita ini begitu, kalau lagi hangatnya main bendera-bendera besar, semua pasti ikut-ikutan, kalau lagi hangat pake lagu DCI semua ikut lagu-lagu DCI, kalau satu band bawa panggung besar  ke Istora, yang lain tak mau kalah bawa panggung besar sebesar gaban juga bisa didorong, disusun dari ujung ke ujung, itu semua bagian dari menciptakan pagelaran yang berbentuk  marching show band terhadap kekuatan band mereka. Jika dalam penilaian dengan secara kasat mata pastilah susah melihat Glide Step/Roll Step setiap pemain di lapangan mengingat banyaknya hardware factor dengan macam alat assessoris. Bisa jadi ini trik di lapangan mengurangi penilaian drill dan display. Fungsi Color guard pada Marching Show bisa menjadi pendukung inti dan kadang kalah sama hardware factor yang menemani diantara mereka. Color Guard dengan bendera besarnya juga menjadi pembantu menutupi kekurangi langkah atau display dimana mata semua orang pasti terbawa arah bendera iu bergerak. Intinya beban pemain bertambah dan kesan terburu-buru pada pemain sebuah marching show akan lebih banyak karena ikut andil dalam menggerakkan hardware factor. Juri juga kewalahan melihat, ini terlihat saat  3 juri dekat lapangan display :  Ujung Setiawan, Trevino, Peter lari pontang panting sana-sini  mengejar section alat yang kadang tertutup hardware factor bawaan sebuah band. Kalau penonton awam pasti senang ada tontonan ramai seperti  itu dapat membuat mereka betah dan tidak kaku saat menonton original marching.

Konsep original marching jika dibawakan band yang berpengalaman akan menunjukkan rasa musik yang mendalam , paduan dengan drill dan display rapi dan kuat serta color guard sebagai penguat musik dan gerakan dapat menciptakan kualitas bermain  musik yang bersih dilapangan display. Tetapi original marching sebenarnya lebih mudah ditemukan titik kekurangannya, karena satu lapangan display bersih dari peralatan besar-besar yang menghalangi jalannya display mereka. Dan tentu persiapan band tersebut lebih detail ke arah musik dan display murni, color guard juga difungsikan sebagai bagian marching band original. No hardware factor membuat pemain marching band original lebih nyaman bermain musik tanpa harus ikut berpikir tanggunjawab lain disamping membawa alatnya sendiri. Kekuatan aransemen musik ditambah kreatifitas display lebih kuat mematangkan konsep repertoir yang dibawakan.
Untuk GPMB 2010, Juara 1 divisi sekolah dan juara 1 divisi umum adalah band yang menggusung original marching.
Selamat Buat PSUMB dan MB Madah Bahana UI, selamat buat Andreas Manalu dkk dan Nimon dkk. Dua pelatih yang lagi naik daun sekarang.
Rekapitulasi babak final GPMB 2010 :
http://trendmarching.or.id/read/2010/12/rekapitulasi-penilaian-babak-final-gpmb-2010/
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		http://trendmarching.or.id/read/2010/01/understanding-of-general-effect/
		http://trendmarching.or.id/read/2010/01/understanding-of-general-effect/#comments
		Tue, 12 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0000
		Wil Bijl
				
		
		
		
		

		
		
				After GPMB 2009 a discussion has been held between instructors of some corps and judges

about the scores for General Effect.

Without mentioning the names of the units and/or the judges I have the feeling that many people in Indonesia do not really understand the common rules for the judging system.

During the discussion a statement has been made that some corps have high scores for technical captions and hence they should have received high scores for General Effect also, this is proof of a wrong conception.

The technical captions Music Analyses Hornline and Percussion, Display and Showmanship and Colour Guard do not have any relationship with General Effect. It is quite possible that a corps scores high in the technical captions but low in General Effect because the technical captions do not relate to the performance as a whole.
General Effect is about the complete concept of the show, have everything related!

As an example: in Indonesia many corps have problems to do “transitions”.

A transition is a moment between two songs, or a moment to chance equipment for the colour guard.

It is many times seen that a song stops with a climax, everything stops and everyone is asking themselves: “What  happens?”
When you visit a good musical and there was a nice climax the show goes on with something that attracts the attention of the audience. In corps this can be done by a single colour guard dancing or a special intro from the pit or something else but DON’T STOP after a climax! You will loose the attention of the audience and judges and it will take quite some while to attract this attention again!
Same goes for equipment changes for the guard, many times this happens when the corps does not move, The guard is running to the side to pick up new equipment so everybody is looking to that running guard, does not make any sense because the guard is only running! You should have another focus point in the show so people don’t see that the guard is picking up new flags because they’re looking to something else! Imagine the surprise when the all of a sudden the guard has other equipment without anybody noticing!
What to think about all those drills where the corps moves all the time as three different units? In Indonesia the drumline is often not an integrated part of the display! They are hanging in the back or on the side, during a percussion

feature in front but seldom they are an integrated part of the display!

For the integration of the guard things became better over the last years but many corps still have a problem with integrating the guard in the complete show design!
Some corps play sweet songs and their display consists of blocks or triangles, does not fit! Sweet songs come with arcs and smooth lines, blocks and triangles go together with aggressive music!

Flag colours and shapes are also part of GE, using triangle formed flags with hard colours does not fit sweet songs!
Please evaluate your shows and see if these comments fit your scores on GE, I will be back on more special issues about judging on www.trendmarching.or.id
These comments are meant to be neutral and of use for all instructors of corps and marching bands in Indonesia. It does not make sense to criticise judges or systems, it only makes sense to build a better show concept!
Wil Bijl

Certified judge for DCE (Drum Corps Europe)

Writer for Drum Corps World
Baca juga :


Ulasan GPMB 2009 Indonesia
Wil Bijl Facebook

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		http://trendmarching.or.id/read/2010/01/general-effect-wiki/
		http://trendmarching.or.id/read/2010/01/general-effect-wiki/#comments
		Fri, 08 Jan 2010 14:49:20 +0000
		redaksi
				
		

		
		
				General Effect Music & General Effect Visual

The most global area of evaluation is known as effect. Music and visual presentations    should create an effect unto themselves, triggering aesthetic responses to the    intellectual and emotional design and performance. In essence, this is how we    determine what is entertaining about a particular program. Effect captions are    the most subjective to judge and yet there are established principles of design    and performance practices which can determine what is effective.
Effect judges are looking at the actual design of the show, the peaks and    valleys of excitement throughout, and how the performers make the show successful.    Questions a judge might consider in judging effect are: Do all of the elements    of visual and musical design reach an effective climax together? Are there a    variety of effects in the show that display a wide array of human emotions?    Does the pacing of the show vary, remain steady, or have lapses?
It is important to realize that it is not just the designers who control the    effect but also the performers who bring the effects to life. The performers    may be truly amazing musicians and superb marchers, yet they may have limited    show material to work with. Eventually the effect wears thin. To be a good effect    judge, one must have a depth of understanding of how shows are put together    and how performers can not only interpret the design but also actually elevate    its success.
Sumber : Drum Corps WIKI
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