JulesBry

This assumes that DCI judges would actually fail anyone for any reason. When's the last time any judge failed (less than 60%) a G8 corps? Then again, if anything goes, why not also get rid of judging?

Except that it seems to be judged sporadically. I've not seen the sheets, so I can't say for sure, but if the balance is so bad (as in the case of some Cavies shows this year) as to make the show unbearable for a large part of the audience, that should be grounds for a last place finish. Imagine if the percussion were so loud throughout a show that no one could hear the brass. How would that affect scoring? My thinking is, if you're going to use electronics, you had better use them flawlessly--especially if they're being run by a non-youth participant (which also gets under my skin). So it's better to include things that almost no one would miss at the expense of losing certain fans than to eliminate something that almost no one would miss to keep more fans? Is that the trade-off that is best for DCI's future? To me, that makes absolutely no sense. I say plug the hole and fill the bucket faster.

Then let's at least make it a people's choice award. Imagine if a visiting corps wins a crowd award over the hometown corps. It would be a rare occurrence, but that might mean more to certain corps than a DCI championship. And while you're being more open-minded, you might consider voting for someone other than SCV.

Right after I stop being attacked by people who don't read what I've written. (If you had done more than a drive-by, you'd know that I plan to leave when this thread dies down. But you keep stirring it up. Ironic, isn't it?)

Thank you for that. And you make an EXCELLENT point. What would DCI look like today if it had managed to retain a higher percentage of its age-outs over the years? This is exactly what I'm trying to say. It's a lot more difficult to fill a bucket with holes than to fill a bucket without holes. Evaporation is much slower than a leak. DCI, find a way to keep the dinos around without alienating the zygotes. It CAN be done, but it will require some deep thinking and a few changes. Don't give up so easily.

Again, thanks for the benefit of the doubt. I wasn't clear. I meant that as far as I am personally concerned, whether DCI is here or not doesn't really affect me. I then went on to explain that I recognize it benefits others (though I focused more on the participants than the rest of the audience), and if they want to and can keep it around, that's great for them. I don't wish for it to disappear just to spite those who don't agree with me (I'm not really that vindictive). It just doesn't affect me personally one way or the other. Is that clearer?

Not necessarily. Here's what I propose as a compromise: 1. Make all non-acoustic instruments illegal, but continue to allow acoustic instruments to be amplified if desired. Create a place on the sheets for each music judge to judge balance of all amplified instruments related to their area (if the amp covers up the horn line, the brass judge comments, if it covers the percussion, the percussion judge comments, etc.) 2. Make all pre-recorded music of any kind illegal (at least during the official show, preferably during the pre-show, too). 3. Involve fans in some way. Whether that is having them judge an element of the show (general effect?) as part (even a small part) of the overall score, creating a people's choice award, or creating a panel/focus group to have them give input to both DCI and the member corps along the way, give them a voice in the process. How many fans would those three things alienate? Do you honestly think that people will leave because the corps aren't using synthesizers any more? Do people really go to shows just to hear pre-recorded music? Maybe the most controversial proposal is to involve fans more directly in some way, but that would at least make clear who is truly in the minority. If I've expressed my voice and found that no one agrees with me, so be it. At current, there's no really good way to express any reaction to the groups aside from cheering or not, and when you don't cheer, you're accused of "hating the kids". I don't know what all of this would look like, but those are some reforms that would definitely cause me to change my mind about leaving.

Then feel free to stop whining about the whiners. :-) And if it gets too bad for you on DCP, feel free to walk away silently. But whatever you do, don't mention your reason for leaving. Others might call you a whiner. As I've said many times before, I hope you're right about DCI not needing those of us who leave. But if it turns out they do, I hope you'll remember this post.

Thanks for giving the benefit of the doubt. Others would not have been so kind. A lot depends on what you mean by "best". As I've said before, if a corps chooses the theme "random", writes music and drill using random number generators, and then plays and marches exactly what was written on the page, do they deserve to win? They would have done the hardest thing ever put on the field, but it would look "random" and sound "random". That would mean they had accomplished their general effect. And if any judge questioned them about it, they would be sure to explain what they were going for, and the judge would "have" to give them high marks because they executed what was on the sheet. Replace random with any concept you want. It doesn't matter if the concept is good or bad, only that the corps marches and plays what they said they were going to. And then we call it art. But no one can say, "This isn't art. It's trash." If they do, the corps "explains" it to them, and then they suddenly change their mind. It all seems rather fake to me. Perhaps this is the problem, then. If you don't "get it" just by seeing what's on the field (like the fans do), then you shouldn't give them high marks for general effect. If it has to be explained to you, then I don't think it's a good design. Maybe the "critique" should be from the judges without reply from the staff. Maybe we need more judges to get more opinions involved. Maybe we need to change the name of the "General Effect" captions. Because that implies that the judge is judging whether or not the general effect is positive or negative. In other words, does the show "work"? To me, that sounds exceptionally subjective. And if DCI is art, then it should be subjective at some level. I don't have a problem with that being reflected in the scores. Perhaps others do.

Basically, the level of agreement with you.

You know me so well! That's the part of "brass, percussion, and drill" we've ALL been missing.

Maybe it's a fad, or maybe it's an expression of something a lot of people have been thinking, but for whatever reason, not saying. You ask a tough question. One I've really had to think about (both before and after you asked it). From an entertainment perspective, DCI as it is today may as well be gone, because it isn't scratching the itch that it used to scratch for me. Do I want to keep around a form of entertainment that isn't entertaining? No. From an educational perspective, DCI still does good things for its participants, so for the kids' sake, I don't want it to disappear. But at the same time, I'm not willing to throw money after an activity that, to me, is taking an artistic turn in the wrong direction, and only seems concerned with part of the people it used to try to reach. Everyone has to make that choice for themselves, but I feel like I've been asked to cross one too many bridges, and I'm waiting on the shore to see if anyone else in the crowd might join me there.

I tell you what. If, during the offseason, DCI announces major and revolutionary changes (as you say they will) and those changes address my concerns in a meaningful way, I'll give a tentative listen/watch at some point season. I promise to keep an eye out and see what transpires. Is that fair enough?

I try not to "infect" other audience members, but I do ask questions. And the answers I get are not as rosy as the ones you seem to get. Maybe I am infecting them. I should wear a mask if I ever go to another DCI show. That being said, I used to like DCI drum corps. A lot. And I'm really sad about not liking them as much any more. So, I decided to share my feelings with people whom I thought might care. Quite a few did. Others wanted to chop my head off for daring to disagree. And that's okay. I knew this was a hornet's nest when I posted my letter (aka nest-stirrer). But as I've said before, I had to say it. I couldn't just silently walk away when I thought there was something I could do to raise awareness and perhaps make the situation better--even incrementally. Do I think any of this will matter? No. Unfortunately, not. But in desperation, one tends to grasp at straws.

Not necessarily. If judges were truly diverse and free to express some subjectivity (especially on the general effect), I think that would create a similar result. And by diverse, I don't mean diverse in their qualification levels. I do want people who know about drum corps. But if a judge is judging general effect and "doesn't get it", he or she should feel no pressure to give the group a high score just because that's what is expected and/or that's what other judges have given them. At current, I don't think that freedom exists.