Copy or Version?

Direct Copy

Let’s say I watch a movie, Men in Black, and I really like Will Smith’s song at the end and I’d like to listen to it from time-to-time. I look it up on a music service for my smart phone and find it. I buy and download it only to find out it’s a generic version of the song. It’s a man who sounds little like Will, but it’s not the song that I wanted even though the man singing is doing his very best to copy every nuance of the original song.

Rendition/Version

I like Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony (especially, I. Allegro Con Brio) and, again, I go on the web and find many variations so I begin to listen to samples. Of these samples I find limp, lifeless beginnings or tempos that are super-fast and then, I find what I like: a powerful beginning and a great tempo that is not rushed. For classical music it is all down to the conductor as to what the symphony orchestra sounds like for any given piece of music. The conductor decides what to do when and where. Some conductors are simply marvelous at allowing the listener to be a part of the music through the emotion generated, the conductor makes that piece of music his own, so to speak. Some do not have that gift and can produce stale music that is difficult to appreciate.

Tying it in to Drill

Exhibition Drill is the same way: You can flat out copy what Adam Obregon* or Matt Wendling* did in either of their latest outstanding performances, or you can watch their performances and take a particular move and try to make it your own and see if it works for you. If the whole move doesn’t work for you, that’s not a big deal, maybe you can use part of the move and create something else that is specifically yours. But to attempt to copy and entire original move that someone else developed, while flattering, is not something that anyone needs to concentrate on. It looks bad- unless you ca perform it 10 times better than the originator and that doesn’t happen all too often at all.

*If you do not know of either of these amazing civilian soloist Drillers, you’re missing out!