In a drum corps, you have to have the loud. A brass quintet can give you great quality of sound, but it won't move you musicaly if you can't hear it.
Yes, some of the greatest musical moments are soft and you have to strain to hear them, however, drum coprs is ment to rock your world.
The greatest sounds will come from those corps who can use intonation, ballance, and volume to push you over the edge.
Dynamic contrast is just a "trick" to help make the louds louder. I love them! The reason we play soft, is to give you the louds, and it's not really playing loud if you can't get soft. Ummm...Chris...we might have a problem here ;)^