1997 PAS Snare & Tenor Individuals
RUDIMENTAL REVIEW OF PASIC 97 (Nov 20 1997)
General comments: the scores were too high, the majority of the competitors
opened and closed the required rudiment much too quick (some played the
entire rudiment in 20 seconds, see Art Cappio's article
on how to open/close a rudiment), the number of participants was
down, probably due to the fact the convention was on the west coast instead
of a more centralized location.
College Snare Individuals
A general comment: just about everyone crushed the roll at the top speed,
which caused timing problems into/out of the top speed.
Steve Benton (U of N Texas)
Steve's solo had some very nice rudimental passages, in fact for rudimental
content it was probably my favorite. Unfortunately Steve had 37 execution
errors, 1 break in a paradiddle section, and a stick drop.
Quincy Wade (U of Nevada)
Quincy had 36 execution errors and 1 break. Nice paradiddle/paradiddle-diddle
section, nice flam section, a couple of stick flips. Needs more dynamics.
Karl Hermann (Arizona St)
20 execution errors plus 2 breaks. Karl had some nice tricks, played a nice
flam section. The section where he used the smaller sticks didn't have
any demand.
Kevin Broussard (U of SW Louisiana)
18 execution errors, not much demand or general effect, solo was boring for
the most part.
Ryan Sirna (SW Texas St)
24 execution errors, some very nice stick tricks. One stick trick seemed
broken, it didn't flow. Very nice flam section where he turned right
handed 16th flams into left handed by decresc the R hand and cresc the
L.
Naoki Ishikawa (U of Tn at Chattanooga)
19 execution errors, Naoki started with a nice fast flam section, and ended
his solo with a simple, but high scoring general effect, stick trick section
(is this the trick everyone calls the 'paw' trick?). The entire middle
section, where he placed a piece of flubber on the snare, wasn't very
demanding.
Tyler Dempsey (San Jose St)
31 execution errors, including 3 stick drops and one break. Tyler's solo
was demanding, but the drops hurt the execution score and general effect
captions. He used the most grips (trad., matched, R hand trad, both hands
holding trad), but his singles suffered when he played them while holding
the R in a trad grip.
Eric Hawkins (Morehead St)
22 execution errors and 1 break. Had some nice backsticking, playing singles
while crossing the sticks. Overall the solo was lacking in the demand and
general effect captions.
Jody Thigpen (Collin County)
12 execution errors, the lowest number of ticks. Jody had some fast rolls
and backsticking stick-clicks, but there were some slower transitional
sections that didn't sell (even though I wrote his solo I admit it needs
juicing up). Jody had the best open/close roll of the day.
Scores and Placement
Judge 1 Judge 2 Mine
------- ------- ----
Steve Benton 82/5 86/7 82/6
Quincy Wade 77/9 87/6 75/8
Karl Hermann 86/4 92/5 83/5
Kevin Broussard 79/7 79/9 73/9
Ryan Sirna 91/3 95/2 84/3
Naoki Ishikawa 97/1 97/1 88/1
Tyler Dempsey 92/2 93/4 83.5/4
Eric Hawkins 78/8 80/8 79/7
Jody Thigpen 80/6 94/3 85/2
College Tenor Individuals
General comment: I don't know what the judges were watching on the middle
three placed guys, but Chris Thompson was the better player.
Scores and Placement
Judge 1 Judge 2 Mine
------- ------- ----
Chris Thompson (U of Ca, LA) 78/4 85/4 82/2
Jason Kim (U of Ca, LA) 61/5 71/5 65/5
Jonathan Burbank (U SW La) 83/2 89/3 80/3
Benjamin Baertschy (U SW La) 82/3 92/2 75/4
Peter Friedhof (San Jose) 90/1 94/1 88/1
High School Snare Individuals
Roger Smith
Very clean, had some nice rudimental content, and played with power. The
only thing missing was dynamic contrast.
David Stedronsky (Marcus HS, Tx)
Quit a few execution errors, held the sticks near the butt which makes it
harder to control. Backsticking section was too easy, which is to be
expected if you hold the sticks where you plan on backsticking.
Ross Culberton (North Gwinnett HS, Ga)
Nice solo, but way too many errors. Traditional grip looked too awkward.
Andy Kopp (Carroll HS, Tx)
Roll sounded crushed at top speed, execution errors during flam backsticking.
Stephanie Warr (Cabot HS, Ar)
Played "Connecticut Halftime". Many execution errors, no general effect.
James Christian (Princeton HS, Tx)
A few execution errors, but clearly the most demanding solo with highest
general effect. Let's see, alternating swiss army triplets, backsticking
32nd note paradiddles, backsticking stick clicks, fast rolls, matched
grip and traditional grip. I'm not sure what the judges were watching.
Scores and Placement
Judge 1 Judge 2 Mine
------- ------- ----
Roger Smith 92/2 81/2 83/2
David Stedronsky 93/1 82/1 72/3
Ross Culberton 83/5 69/5 40/5
Andy Kopp 86/4 78/4 62/4
Stephanie Warr 75/6 67/6 20/6
James Christian 90/3 79/3 85/1
High School Tenor Individuals
Peter Antunes had an almost flawless performance, played with power and
dynamic contrast. Jason Church had a nice solo, but had more than a few
breaks. James Christian had the highest general effect score on my sheet,
but his solo seemed disjointed at times.
Scores and Placement
Judge 1 Judge 2 Mine
------- ------- ----
Bryan Smith (Bonanza HS, Nv) 93/2 78/3 68/4
Jason Church (Marcus HS, Tx) 90/3 77/4 78/3
Peter Antunes (Dartmouth HS, Ma) 96/1 91/1 85/1
James Christian (Princeton HS, Tx) 88/4 80/2 83/2
