irishbugle Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 The only advantage DCI corps would have is choreography, and most of that is due to the time factor. With that aside I would put DCA's perc and brass lines up against the best of them. Ehhh. Not so much. I think we, as passionate fans, sometime loose sight of the big picture of our activity. Sure, DCA puts out some decent hornlines. But any DCI World class corps would blow even the best DCA hornline away in all areas ranging from volume, tone, clarity, balance, and blend. It's simply a matter of more bodies and more time to clean. IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skeptic Posted June 1, 2012 Author Share Posted June 1, 2012 Ehhh. Not so much. I think we, as passionate fans, sometime loose sight of the big picture of our activity. Sure, DCA puts out some decent hornlines. But any DCI World class corps would blow even the best DCA hornline away in all areas ranging from volume, tone, clarity, balance, and blend. It's simply a matter of more bodies and more time to clean. IMO. I wouldnt say any. Pioneer marched 20 horns last season. Im pretty sure a 56 member DCA hornline would put out better and louder sound. But that is the one exception. You put MBIs hornline against Crowns hornline (best in each organization)... no contest. Like I said, put MBI and Bucs against the Open class and lower world class corps and they might have a shot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irishbugle Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 I wouldnt say any. Pioneer marched 20 horns last season. Im pretty sure a 56 member DCA hornline would put out better and louder sound. But that is the one exception. You put MBIs hornline against Crowns hornline (best in each organization)... no contest. Like I said, put MBI and Bucs against the Open class and lower world class corps and they might have a shot. Agreed. I should clarify I was looking more towards the G7 group. I forgot World Class includes some of those other corps. I will amend my original statement to say that any Top 7 DCI corps would blow a DCA hornline away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kamarag Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 (edited) Agreed. I should clarify I was looking more towards the G7 group. I forgot World Class includes some of those other corps. I will amend my original statement to say that any Top 7 DCI corps would blow a DCA hornline away. Teal Sound performed at the early Bridgeport DCA show in 2009. They got a huge crowd reaction, and were easily the best corps on the field that night. If it had been judged, it wouldn't have been close. In all honesty, any of the DCI world class corps, and several of the open class corps would beat any DCA corps, especially on DCI World or Open sheets. They'd probably beat them on DCA sheets as well. There are rare exceptions to this, most notably 2009 Buccaneers. That is the only corps in the last ten years or so that could have realistically competed against any DCI World Class corps (beyond the bottom one or two, like the Pioneer example given earlier). Even so, they probably don't make the top 12 (though they would have in some captions). Edited June 1, 2012 by Kamarag Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron H Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 (edited) Just curious as to what people think. Where on this list would you place a 2011 DCA corps? Below is the quarter finals rankings from DCI 2011. I dont think anyone would say a DCA corps could make top 12 so I started the list at 13th place. I think that the top few DCA corps would fit right around the Jersey Surf area (25th). 13. Glassmen 14. Troopers 15. The Academy 16. Colts 17. Crossmen 18. Pacific Crest 19. Mandarins 20. Teal Sound 21. Blue Devils B 22. Oregon Crusaders 23. Cascades 24. Vanguard Cadets 25. Jersey Surf 26. Spartans 27. Pioneer 28. The Yokohama Scouts 29. Revolution 30. Genesis 31. 7th Regiment 32. Music City 33. Jubal 34. Legends 35. Raiders 36. Forte 37. Colt Cadets 38. Les Stentors 39. Racine Scouts 40. Blue Saints 41. Spirit of Newark Read more: http://www.dci.org/scores/index.cfm?event=7ad6facc-cc50-4cf4-bd6b-54f8741f61fa#ixzz1wKZi1Sqx OK, getting away from the apples/oranges thing (which is valid, mind you) I've seen Minnesota Brass in many, many shows right alongside DCI corps. The majority of MBI's shows are with the juniors, actually. Last year MBI went on at DCI Minnesota just after Teal Sound. I felt that they weren't as good as Teal, but they were better than the Oregon Crusaders. There's a big caveat though - That was MBI's 3rd or 4th show of the year if I recall correctly, while it was in the middle of the DCI season. MBI got vastly better in August. So, yeah it's almost impossible to compare DCI/DCA corps directly because of the big difference in schedules. Eliminate the direct competition question and just go with entertainment value and I think most top DCA corps hold their own very well with many DCI corps. Edited June 2, 2012 by Ron H 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hairbear Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 It seems every so often, we in DCA get a corps so good, that we want to compare them with all the DCI corps. Sunrisers, Bushwackers, Steel City, Buccaneers, Brigs and so on. Here we go again. Take any one of the aforementioned corps, have all the members free up their summer scedules, be fit enough to rehearse every day all summer, compete several times each week, eat breakfast lunch and dinner from a food truck, sleep on busses and gym floors, etc. (leveling the playing field) and then you can compare them with the DCI folks. Reverse the senario, cap your age requirements at what is it? 25 years old? and you have Cadets 2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goalieguy Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 (edited) OK, getting away from the apples/oranges thing (which is valid, mind you) I've seen Minnesota Brass in many, many shows right alongside DCI corps. The majority of MBI's shows are with the juniors, actually. Last year MBI went on at DCI Minnesota just after Teal Sound. I felt that they weren't as good as Teal, but they were better than the Oregon Crusaders. There's a big caveat though - That was MBI's 3rd or 4th show of the year if I recall correctly, while it was in the middle of the DCI season. MBI got vastly better in August. So, yeah it's almost impossible to compare DCI/DCA corps directly because of the big difference in schedules. Eliminate the direct competition question and just go with entertainment value and I think most top DCA corps hold their own very well with many DCI corps. Along with my friend Ron - the query submitted is interesting, but as a number of folks have posted, the perameters between DCI and DCA corps has really only been tested in the old DCM circuit. For about 10 years or so, the DCA corps in the midwest (MBI, Kilties, Govies, '76, Vanguard, Chops and the others who got judged in the circuit) were judged on the same sheets as any of the "big boys". That made perfect sense for two main reasons..It made the DCA groups better utilize their time to reach a level as close as they could to the upper eschelon corps, despite the desparity in rehearsal time and performances. The other was to be more fair in the overall placement at DCM Championships, which is what partially affecxted performance fees for the next season. With that being said, Ron's comment about MBI going up against the big boys is correct. I cannot believe that Brass ever had the illusion that they were going to knock off one of the local top 12-types in DCM, but as someone who marched in many of those contests I can assure you that our performances against the DCI criteria had a number of positive effects. Of course, most of us realized that in some cases, we put the fear of God into some of those DCI corps heard our placements or looked at the recaps. DeKalb was always the show where anything could happen..I know one season in particular when the Sky Ryders spent the early summer in the DCM circuit, and attended DeKalb for Championships..After Prelims and Finals, MBI was about 2.5 points behind Hutchinson..That may have lit a candle under someone, 'cuz 10 days later at Drum Beauty in Minneapolis, they beat us by a full 10 points..There is where you can say the experiment had some validity.. Unless all rehearsal and performance criteria get evened out, you REALLY can't do anything but speculate..I for one think the outcome will be closer than a lot of DCI fans care to imagine, whether it be apples or oranges..To those that don't think the DCA groups can compete, the days of that disparity are long gone. Rant off now! I haven't been on DCP for awhile since I lost my job, so I'm making up for lost bandwidth. Pat Edited June 2, 2012 by goalieguy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VOReason Posted June 3, 2012 Share Posted June 3, 2012 Of course any WC DCI finalist can postively smoke the reigning DCA champions, likely in a caption sweep. And sure, the DCI folks spend a whole lot more time on the practice field, however the talent level in DCI is also much higher. This is because your WC DCI finalist get to pick their members from an exhaustive audition process and get to select from the best of the best. Your DCA corps, including the champions, pretty much take what they get. It really is a ridiculous argument. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill Posted June 3, 2012 Share Posted June 3, 2012 (edited) Of course any WC DCI finalist can postively smoke the reigning DCA champions, likely in a caption sweep. And sure, the DCI folks spend a whole lot more time on the practice field, however the talent level in DCI is also much higher. This is because your WC DCI finalist get to pick their members from an exhaustive audition process and get to select from the best of the best. Your DCA corps, including the champions, pretty much take what they get. It really is a ridiculous argument. I beg to differ especially in reference to the highlighted portion within the above statement. There are certainly different levels of talent and skills moreso within an open age corps (DCA), but to assume the talent level is, across the board, higher in a restricted age corps (DCI)....that is simply not true. Rather, I would contend on the vast individual basis the highest talent and skill level is found in open age corps. If I recall correctly, JD Shaw mentioned at one time on how underwhelmed one would be with the talent and skill level in one particular season with Phantom, but they worked as an ensemble and team to be successful; I believe his statement can be considered more the normal of all the corps in the activity. Bottom line, I suggest those involved and interested in this activity support every drum corps out there, no matter what category.....if not, the activity will be gone sooner than everyone would like. Edited June 3, 2012 by bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VOReason Posted June 3, 2012 Share Posted June 3, 2012 (edited) I beg to differ especially in reference to the highlighted portion within the above statement. There are certainly different levels of talent and skills moreso within an open age corps (DCA), but to assume the talent level is, across the board, higher in a restricted age corps (DCI)....that is simply not true. Rather, I would contend on the vast individual basis the highest talent and skill level is found in open age corps. If I recall correctly, JD Shaw mentioned at one time on how underwhelmed one would be with the talent and skill level in one particular season with Phantom, but they worked as an ensemble and team to be successful; I believe his statement can be considered more the normal of all the corps in the activity. Bottom line, I suggest those involved and interested in this activity support every drum corps out there, no matter what category.....if not, the activity will be gone sooner than everyone would like. Please don't get the wrong idea. There is certainly a great deal of talent throughout the DCA. And individuals (Joey Pero comes to mind) that none of these DCI kids can come close to. However I'm sure that top to bottom, the overall talent of the hornlines, drumlines and guards of your WC DCI finalist are at a much higher level that of the DCA champions of any given year. This is not a knock on DCA corps. It is just a function of your upper echelon WC DCI corps ability to draw and pick from a larger talent pool. Edited June 3, 2012 by VOReason 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.