2005 Magic - 2005 DCI Audio Archive APD

Show: Transfiguration: A New Beginning

• Silhouette
• Metamorphosis
• A New Hope

The good: MUCH improved hornline over 2004. All those returning vets are a big part of that. What's more, the book is more demanding than last year, yet the horns were more than able to handle it. On top of that, the horns are using Kings this year and it shows. Very nice power across the board. For the record - Ludwig drums no longer sound like crap. Whatever Ludwig did in the past decade is working.

The bad: Key Poulan charts are beginning to sound like the same piece re-written for each corps who plays his music. I'm actually kind of glad Magic has brought in Donald Hill as the new arranger. Horns also have to be careful not to overbalance. Sometimes there's too much low brass, sometimes too much high brass. Balance is also an issue during soft moments of the show when the horns are more exposed. Drums have some dirt to clean up for next year, but, knowing Lee Beddis, his staff will be more than up to the task of handling that.

The ugly: Endurance. The corps loses steam during the closer, something that will need to be addressed next year. I'm hearing phrases dropped a lot during the last 3 minutes of the show, as well as increased balance issues in the hornline.

Overall: The corps may have dropped four places from 2004, but it was more a case of other corps becoming that much better as Magic showed much improvement in 2005. With a new all-star design staff in place for 2006, it will be interesting to see where Magic ends up next year in Madison.

Website: http://www.magicoforlando.org/

2006 Auditions: November 25-27