Jump to content

How do we save Drum Corps


Recommended Posts

Some kids also do civil war reenactments... which is basically what this seems to be, reenacting mediocre 70's drum corps.

Right - I forgot. In your worldview, if it ain't Blue Devils it's worthless.:thumbdown:

But at least you seem to be admitting your earlier characterization of only adults in SDCA was misleading at best. A step in the right direction.

Edited by Grandpa
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Right - I forgot. In your worldview, if it ain't Blue Devils it's worthless.:thumbdown:

Huh? I've been involved with various corps over the years... loads of winterguards, marching bands, etc.

But at least you seem to be admitting your earlier characterization of only adults in SDCA was misleading at best. A step in the right direction.

I didn't see any kids. I simply took your word for it. But, no, that doesn't change much... I don't think kids should be mixing with adults in a sort of peer situation like that. It is the same criticism I've had of DCA.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Such a thing as the OP describes already exists and it is called marching band. Flame away but that activity provides local and regional performance opportunities

for far more kids than any drum corps circuit ever could and it is much more economically sustainable. Furthermore, WGI's winter guard and winter percussion

programs also serve that purpose. They have been successful because they have found a way to be compatible with the public school system.

If you insist that the drum corps activity absolutely must be a summer activity then I suggest you look closely at the DCI Open Class model. They only tour for 2-3 weeks

and get to perform at one big event in a big stadium at the end of tour (DCI Finals). The corps do not get paid for performances which allows the show producers to pay

their bills and make a little profit. Shows cost around $10 and get 500-800 attendees. Quite fun actually.

The common link is that to make a small circuit work it has to latch itself onto something much larger to get economies of scale. The best bet for that is the public school system.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Huh? I've been involved with various corps over the years... loads of winterguards, marching bands, etc.

Yet all your posts show a marked distain for units that don't live up to your standards of quality. You constantly refer to anything below the DCI standard as "mediocre" and keep saying "quality>quantity" which to me says that you have no respect for what is achieved in anything but a corps that successfully entertains - you.....

I didn't see any kids. I simply took your word for it. But, no, that doesn't change much... I don't think kids should be mixing with adults in a sort of peer situation like that. It is the same criticism I've had of DCA.

So you are taking the knee-jerk reaction of trying to write off SDCA without any real knowledge of them. Please have a look at the link I posted. Check out the facebook SDCA group and link through to the website. Ask your questions of the management there. Rather than dismiss something out of hand without even bothering to investigate, you might find a few facts and a little information would go a long way....

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Such a thing as the OP describes already exists and it is called marching band. Flame away but that activity provides local and regional performance opportunities

for far more kids than any drum corps circuit ever could and it is much more economically sustainable. Furthermore, WGI's winter guard and winter percussion

programs also serve that purpose. They have been successful because they have found a way to be compatible with the public school system.

If you insist that the drum corps activity absolutely must be a summer activity then I suggest you look closely at the DCI Open Class model. They only tour for 2-3 weeks

and get to perform at one big event in a big stadium at the end of tour (DCI Finals). The corps do not get paid for performances which allows the show producers to pay

their bills and make a little profit. Shows cost around $10 and get 500-800 attendees. Quite fun actually.

The common link is that to make a small circuit work it has to latch itself onto something much larger to get economies of scale. The best bet for that is the public school system.

I taught Open class (when it was called Div II/III) and agree it's a great venue for nurturing talent for the big boys, introducing drum corps to brand new members, etc. Problem is that even these corps are in many cases struggling to keep up to even the reduced touring schedule. Fees for even those corps can approach or exceed $1,000. We need a tier of competition one step lower than Open class.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Marching band has replaced the local drum corps circuits for better or worse. Personally, I like it better.

-You're building school pride in the kids.

-More intimate instruction setting, as they're your band director and you spend all year with them.

-"Create your own Tour", you can choose to go to USSBA/BoA or you can stay at home and compete only at competitions within an hour of you. Or not compete at all.

-Stronger recruiting tool for the marching arts as a whole (more people at the football games than at a drum corps show)

In my perspective as an 18 year old auditionee, the allure to marching in DCI is making the "Primetime". It's playing in the NFL for a band geek. Getting to travel the country playing in front of huge crowds every night and practicing all day.

That's why I think that DCI will succeed for a long time in its current capacity. It's the top of the mountain for so many kids marching in high schools. I think DCI will sustain pretty well with this same number of corps, and a few extra may pop up as the demand for one in areas without a DCI corps piques.

My $.02 anyways.

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good grief, danielray, your attitude about the small corps is really disturbing. Those groups live or die on amounts less than the cost to custom paint Carolina Crown's bus and semi fleet, and you begrudge them and their members opportunities to perform or any assistance they might get from DCI?

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Marching band has replaced the local drum corps circuits for better or worse. Personally, I like it better.

-You're building school pride in the kids.

-More intimate instruction setting, as they're your band director and you spend all year with them.

-"Create your own Tour", you can choose to go to USSBA/BoA or you can stay at home and compete only at competitions within an hour of you. Or not compete at all.

-Stronger recruiting tool for the marching arts as a whole (more people at the football games than at a drum corps show)

In my perspective as an 18 year old auditionee, the allure to marching in DCI is making the "Primetime". It's playing in the NFL for a band geek. Getting to travel the country playing in front of huge crowds every night and practicing all day.

That's why I think that DCI will succeed for a long time in its current capacity. It's the top of the mountain for so many kids marching in high schools. I think DCI will sustain pretty well with this same number of corps, and a few extra may pop up as the demand for one in areas without a DCI corps piques.

My $.02 anyways.

Band is certainly a great program, I wish we had it here in Canada, but for the most part, we don't. I understand many regions in the USA are in the same boat as funding continues to be cut back. We all know it's the arts that get axed first.

For that reason alone, drum corps at the lower levels is vital.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yet all your posts show a marked distain for units that don't live up to your standards of quality. You constantly refer to anything below the DCI standard as "mediocre" and keep saying "quality>quantity" which to me says that you have no respect for what is achieved in anything but a corps that successfully entertains - you.....

Correct.

I also don't watch... Bad B movies simply because the actors really enjoy doing it or a game rematching the '80 line up of the Lakers and the Sixers, etc. I don't enjoy it and I am ok with not pretending that I do.

A specific example that is sort of similar to my view of alumni corps and SPCA or whatever they are...

In the late 90's I went and saw Cheap Trick play at some dive in Salt Lake City. I was pretty excited to be able to see them, especially in such an intimate venue... could hold 200 max, maybe. While the music was ok, I left the concert actually sort of feeling bad for the guys. I mean, here these guys who once had this incredible success... playing not nearly as well as they once had, doing a gig at a ###### dive in SLC, for a fraction of the money they used to, and playing the same stuff they have for decades.

So you are taking the knee-jerk reaction of trying to write off SDCA without any real knowledge of them. Please have a look at the link I posted. Check out the facebook SDCA group and link through to the website. Ask your questions of the management there. Rather than dismiss something out of hand without even bothering to investigate, you might find a few facts and a little information would go a long way....

Watching/hearing was enough to know I wouldn't go watch (see rematch of the 1980 Lakers/Sixers).

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good grief, danielray, your attitude about the small corps is really disturbing. Those groups live or die on amounts less than the cost to custom paint Carolina Crown's bus and semi fleet, and you begrudge them and their members opportunities to perform or any assistance they might get from DCI?

Why should the fact that they are not able to raise much money be seen as a something honorable? The activity is competitive... the first round of the competition is raising cash.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...