You know drum corps is dying when.............

[CorpsPhan]

Geez Louise. Can the mods just create a "Dinosaur Complaints" sub forum, similar to the World Series forum, where those who want to say that drum corps today sucks can go grouse about how much better it was back whenever they marched?

Yeah, 'cause I just hate it when the form takes control of my mouse and forces me to click on a thread that I know I'm going to hate...

Satire. Some like it, some don't. And as someone already opined, some of these really are spot-on.

[Iplaytimpani]

Yawn....

Here's how I see it. You can feel drum corps is dead. But most of the stuff you complain about, you're whining that drum corps is too much of a broadway show. Well, maybe that's the goal? The most successful drum corps ever to reach the biggest audiences, most of which know NOTHING about music and drum corps and our stupid little niche activity? Blast!. The group that found a way to win that Tony you talk about. Blast! reached out to a incredibly broad audience, and was highly successful. Why shouldn't and wouldn't drum corps want to try and find themselves in a similar model? Because people like the OP feel drum corps has to be what it was 20 years ago? Sounds like bad logic to me. We've seen drum corps reach it's pinnacle in what Star, Cook, and the cast of Blast! were able to do. If I was running a drum corps right now. I'd be trying to reach a similar attraction, while doing it in my 11 minute show in an outdoor venue. Guess what? They had synths. They had mics. They danced. And you know what, it was fantastic. Drum corps of the past bores me and I wouldn't support it or have ever been a part of it. I love having an activity like this, where I can give back my money and time.

[Carl306]

Tough to compete with a generation raised by game consoles, cheat codes, and the easy button. They are now showing their influences on the field and selling tickets doing so.

Please elaborate on this.

[ContraJohn]

My prior post regarding a 20 man tuba line. Add the synth bass to the mix = easy button.

Turning the volume up on the synth at high impact moments = easy button.

This is comming from an ex tuba/hornline member.

Please elaborate on this.

Edited August 26, 2010 by ContraJohn

[DCIHasBeen]

Brilliant.

[WestCoaster]

We've seen drum corps reach it's pinnacle in what Star, Cook, and the cast of Blast! were able to do.

First of all, meh.

Secondly, Blast isn't drum corps.

Thirdly, they did a LOT of things wrong and as semi-successful as it has been (I say "semi" because usually successful broadway shows actually pay their performers more than a pittance...though in true drum corps fashion the producers and staff made a lot more cash than the ones doing the actual work, lol), I think there are plenty of examples of corps on the field surpassing what they put up on that stage in many ways (BD 2010 being one example outright, plenty of other examples abound).

Blast is neat, I like Blast. But to call it the "pinnacle" of drum corps is ridiculous. They're just one successful iteration of marching band stuff (and so far removed from drum corps instrumentally AND programming-wise that they really ARE more like a marching band than an actual drum corps, too).

Having said all that, I think Blast is great, so don't get me wrong.

[bawker]

The group that found a way to win that Tony you talk about. Blast! reached out to a incredibly broad audience, and was highly successful. Why shouldn't and wouldn't drum corps want to try and find themselves in a similar model?

The other side of that argument is that Blast! used quite a few middle-of-the-road drum corps "standards" in their production. For every "Split Complementaries" style piece, there's an equal "Malaguena" to go with it.

[StuStu]

DCI abandons the top 25 concept because there aren't enough Open World class corps left.

Your innovation for 2011 is to include a melody somewhere in your show.

The primary emotion conveyed by the champion's show is narcissism.

[JamMan]

My responses are in bold.

You replace your marching instructor with a choreographer.

I think most corps ADDED a choreographer, rather than replaced a marching instructor. Also, why can't they be both?

You try to improve your front line sound by buying a new amp

Amps don't improve the sound directly. The kids must first play with a better sound, then use the amps to AMPLIFY the better sound.

You publish your repertoire and you play no RECOGNISABLE songs from it

I WANT JUST SONGS I KNOW AND AM COMFORTABLE WITH! I NEED TO BE IN MY COMFORT ZONE AT ALL TIMES!

You feel the need to amplify your soloists

I don't think anyone did this (except for Bluecoats, but they added effects to the baritone).

You have to make room in the food truck for the 30 tons of props you are hauling around the country

Stupid SCV '89 and Star '92 and...

The fans are in the stands complaining that they have to wait for an “exciting” corps……..And they are at the World Finals!!!

Then thank God I didn't sit near those Debbie Downers! Nothing but excitement near me!

You have to make room in your corps budget for MICROPHONES

Heaven forbid we get better sound quality!

It stops being about the corps members and becomes all about the corps administration ego

How is this different than the early days of DCI?

It stops being about horns, drums and pageantry and more about a stage production

That happened when GE was introduced.

You cancel a show because your singer lost her voice.

A corps did that?!?!

Your "The Who" theme show involves smashing your amp at the end.

Wouldn't fans LOVE to see that?

You ditch your Navy oxford shoes for jazz slippers.

I'm completely lost now. Are we still talking about drum corps?!?

You have more brass on the field than ever and still need amplification.

Again, the keyboard percussionists now don't have to pound to produce enough volume. Now they can play with better sound and still be heard! Or did you mean mic'd soloists (which you already complained about)?

Your field show cures insomnia.

Because ever show "back in the day" was super exciting, right?

Your drum line cannot execute a single rudiment but moves like Cirque du Soleil.

Are you sure this isn't against a specific corps? All of drum corps? REALLY?

Your color guard makes male figure skaters look brawny, rugged, and manly in comparison.

Um...homophobe much?

Jazz Running?

Yes?

Your drum major doesn't use a baton or a mace but yells, "Plug it in!"

to start the show.

That's pretty BA!

Your drum corps auditions includes a voice lesson

What? How could that possibly be a bad thing?

Your music is not recognizable ……….. by anyone

ALL ORIGINAL DRUM CORPS MUSIC MUST BE DESTROYED! I'm looking at you, Cavies '01, '02, '03, '06!

High mark time marching is unique and original

Back in the '20s...

someone hears DCI and thinks of old Titleist irons.

What?

there are more people in the pit than on the field.

16 is NOT greater than 134...

rain cancels a show for fear of electrical problems.

So what did it used to cancel shows for?

judges give recaps like Bruno Tonioli critiquing a celebrity on "Dancing With the Stars."

NO! Not CRITIQUING!

drills look like a strand of DNA.

Not an early 2000's Cavies fan, eh?

the music you play is so obscure the composers forgot they wrote it.

Are you really not able to enjoy music you can't immediately identify?

You hear comments like “I play third violin for the Troopers.”

Troopers had a violinist in their show? AWESOME!

You think WGI is the bomb but never heard of drum corps.

EVERYONE IN ANY MARCHING ACTIVITY NEEDS TO HEAR ABOUT DRUM CORPS! EVERYONE!!!!!!!!

A soloist blames cracked notes on his #### reed being too dry.

That's just a bad soloist and...wait, when were woodwinds introduced to drum corps?

They give I&E medals to flute and saxophone performances!

Stop rewarding the kids for having musical talent! Drum corps is all about the FANS!

They start referring to drum corps as BAND!

Um, drum corps IS band.

You are a lifelong drum corps nut and you actually question whether you want to go a competition

Oh the times...they are a-changin'! You can stay in your plastic bubble if you want, I'll just go enjoy what 150 members spend months learning and achieving.

You mention the 27th Lancers, North Star, Freelancers, or the Muchachos to “a drum corps fan” and they say “Who?”

You then realize they're twelve and feel creepy talking to such a young person. Of course, you could just mention "Crown" and sit back and listen to them scream in joy for 30 minutes.

The goal of the corps directors is to win a Tony Award

What about Star of Indiana?

Your show requires an MC to explain what is going on.

Again, how is this different than any other year?

The crowd as a whole does not yell and scream anymore during the performance.

It's because the shows always have something going on, giving the audience no time to react until the end of the ballad/show.

People start to compare drum corps sound to that of a concert band

So...good?

The corps is concerned with conveying nuance rather than giving “that chill”

Nuances can't give chills? Did you receive no chills from Star '93? I DID!

Seriously, I don't think any of that (your comments and my responses) were completely necessary, but it does illustrate the split between the three groups of drum corps people:

1. Fans who only love the old shows and hate what drum corps is turning into.

2. Young fans who love the newer shows because they can relate to them better.

3. Fans who love drum corps and music in all its forms.

[Iplaytimpani]

The other side of that argument is that Blast! used quite a few middle-of-the-road drum corps "standards" in their production. For every "Split Complementaries" style piece, there's an equal "Malaguena" to go with it.

Right, but to 90% of the general audience that saw Blast!, those standards are new pieces of music. Things they'd never heard. So, in drum corps with an audience that's more knowledgeable and has heard those tunes already, you need to find new pieces of music that the audience hasn't heard before.