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I've been noticing many people say that drum corps are turning into "glorified marching bands" but in my opinion they're turning more into an outdoor version of WGI what with the changes in uniform style, more choreography, etc.. Any thoughts or opinions on this? 

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If you search the archives, this topic is discussed to death multiple times a year.

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Welcome to DCP, where opinions are easy to come by, but there is a drought on forgiveness! :whistle:

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7 hours ago, shmeg212 said:

I've been noticing many people say that drum corps are turning into "glorified marching bands" but in my opinion they're turning more into an outdoor version of WGI what with the changes in uniform style, more choreography, etc.. Any thoughts or opinions on this? 

 I assess the the Scholastic Marching Band Community influences on the Drum & Bugle Corps genre as a bit more impactful than that from Winter Guard International's influences on the Drum & Bugle Corps genre.... principally as a result of the transformation on the instrumentation utilizations. I also assess the Scholastic Marching Band having significant impactful influences on Winter Guard International Circuit as well. Again, principally as a result of the incorporation of conventional MB musical instrumentation into a circuit ( WGI ) that originally was reserved for just Color Guard equipment competition. But there is really no right, nor wrong answers here regarding this. Its all a matter of opionion. As such, if it is your opinion that WGI has had more impactful influences upon the Drum &  Bugle Corps genre over the decades, its hard to quibble with that assessment, imo... as WGI ( particularly in the DCI Visual show design side, costuming, staging, etc ) has most certainly had its impactful and noticeable influences on the Drum & Bugle Corps genre as well.

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I've been a fan since the late 80s, and have always thought of DCI as a high level marching band. That's not a pejorative sentiment for me, either. 

And DCI shows are becoming more and more like WGI shows on a bigger stage. That's not a criticism for me, either, just an observation.; 

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I am from the Boston area, marched with a CYO band that competed in two circuits with drum corps and drill teams. My first season was 1975. Around that time the better corps, 27th Lancers, Boston Crusaders, and a year later North Star were the top corps and my guess is Holy Family Defenders should be in this mix too. These corps required members to read music. At that time some very good corps still taught kids to play without teaching how to read music. Many of those who instructed the drum corps also instructed the bands. A common critique: drum corps were becoming bands. So two old school darlings and a corps whose struggle is often cited as what it means to be drum corps were critiqued as bands because their musicians could read music and their instructors insisted on it.

BOA and WGI started around the same time. Drum corps people often instructed some of the bands. Some tried innovations with the bands to see what might work on the drum corps field. Go back and DCI folks will claim BOA has taken over drum corps, BOA folks have claimed the bands are being used for experimentation.

WGI in its earliest years had guards from the top drum corps, namely Cavies and Phantom. What we saw resembled their summer shows. What happened is the activity evolved, as has drum corps and bands. We forget that many of the same folks involved with WGI are also involved with DCI and BOA, YEA, etc. 

Due to my real life, weekends are usually tied up so I do not see too many WGI events and I only follow high school bands if I know a young person involved which would be a relative or close friend's child. When I did get to more shows, I can't recall seeing exact replicas of what a guard does in WGI on the field. For one thing, the difference in venues matters. I have seen certain styles, but add a horn or drum line and pit and what happens in the more intimate setting of a gym gets lost on a football field. The same holds true with percussion ensembles. 

I've never thought one is taking over the other. It's more a matter of guards and instructors involved in both WGI and DCI.

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1 hour ago, Tim K said:

I am from the Boston area, marched with a CYO band that competed in two circuits with drum corps and drill teams.  We forget that many of the same folks involved with WGI are also involved with DCI and BOA, YEA, etc. 

 

 True... so there is no misunderstanding,  1)the CYO circuit your MB competed in had 3 Divisions... one for" Marching Bands", one for" Drum & Bugle Corps", the third for " Drill Teams"... ( females marching, no musical instruments ) The 3 divisions  had the same judges, judging all 3 divisions, usually competing on the same day, same show. Announced placements and scores were announced for each of the 3 divisions................. 2)  The principal thing that kept the 2 musical divisions separate was the musical instrumentation. There was no interest by anyone at the time in blurring the 2 divisions, or melding the 2 divisions together. As such, there was never any confusion, nor conversation even as to what was a " Marching Band " and which was a " Drum Corps ". It was clear to all......... 3) the Founders of DCI... to a one.... were not interested in any blurring of the MB with the Drum Corps. For example, Corps Director Gayle Royer of Santa Clara Vanguard made it explicitly clear his position.. on the public record too... that the Drum & Bugle Corps genre remain a wholly separate entity than the Marching Band genre. Same with Jim Jones, Troopers, George Bonfiglio, 27th Lancers,  Don Warren, Cavaliers, etc and every single one of all the other Founders of Drum Corps International ( DCI ). However, times move on, different people come into positions of power and influence in DCI, and their views are 180 degrees different than the Founders of DCI, and so over the years, things do merge, and so we arrive at a time of today where its accepted that these musical units are specialized Marching Bands now, and increasingly both the newer generatiion and the older generation come together in agreement now on what these summer units now are. It took us awhile to get here, and for the generations to agree on this, but with each passing day there is agreement, and one less person remaining that disagrees that these summer units are anything but " Marching Bands ".

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10 hours ago, shmeg212 said:

I've been noticing many people say that drum corps are turning into "glorified marching bands" but in my opinion they're turning more into an outdoor version of WGI what with the changes in uniform style, more choreography, etc.. Any thoughts or opinions on this? 

You should probably specify "WGI Guard" or "WGI Percussion" (although I think I know to which you're referring.

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