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Marching Roundtable 638: “Stop Seeing This As A Bugle Activity”


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Stop calling it "drum corps", and I'll stop complaining about all the changes to the activity that make it the opposite of drum corps.  Call it what it is, and we can all go our separate ways.

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it's been drum corps for the hundreds of changes made since day 1. 

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I found the discussion quite circular, starting with a conclusion, trying to rationalize that conclusion with questionable and debatable evidence which omit some causal factors and highlighting only those that serve the conclusion. Any good judge would toss this grandstanding out as salesmanship, not good logic.

I noticed that no credentials were given (or made accountable) for one participant other than "a lot of years in drum corps." Question: does being an administrator of a Winter drum line really qualify for determining summer DCI? They are apples and oranges, not twins.

Not one of T. Hinton's more thorough or well done productions.

 

That all said, I disagree that the activity is an entertainment locus primarily rather than "a bugle thing." The entertainment stress again is giving the emphasis to the designers rather than to the input and development of the mms as maturing persons, not tools or playthings of the designers' imaginations.

Edited by xandandl
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 Well that Marching Roundtable " lecture " really didn't say add anything new of substance to the diiscussion. The good news is that it was brief, and probably did serve the utilitarian purpose for these like minded panelists to exercise the catharsis apparently needed get this issue that seems to be bugging them off their chest.

Edited by BRASSO
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For once I find myself in lockstep agreement with X. One other thing I ponder - if I accept the claim it's an entertainment activity, but, the primary reason I always found it super entertaining was the bugle thing......what does that mean?  Time for me to move on?  Maybe. 

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1 hour ago, HockeyDad said:

For once I find myself in lockstep agreement with X. One other thing I ponder - if I accept the claim it's an entertainment activity, but, the primary reason I always found it super entertaining was the bugle thing......what does that mean?  Time for me to move on?  Maybe. 

That's what I try to get across (and apparently fail miserably at) here...the only reason DCI ever caught on was that it was an alternative to bog-standard marching band, with different equipment, a different ruleset, and a different mentality.  Without those things, it is what it is today; summertime marching band for rich kids.  

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I again suggest of name change for ALL promotional materials. Technically, no more bugles are being used, and drums are but one of SEVERAL percussion instruments. To just say Drum Corps is even less descriptive to potential new audience members. Then, we have the matter of marching/dancing, vocals, strings, electronics, etc.

The name of the corporate "umbrella group," Drum Corps International, doesn't need to necessarily change.

So, for me, whatever continues to emerge going forward would be better described as . . .

SoundSport, presented by Drum Corps International.   There's a nice logo available, all set to go!

Edited by Fred Windish
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6 minutes ago, Fred Windish said:

I again suggest of name change for ALL promotional materials. Technically, no more bugles are being used, and drums are but one of SEVERAL percussion instruments. To just say Drum Corps is even less descriptive to potential new audience members. Then, we have the matter of marching/dancing, vocals, strings, electronics, etc.

The name of the corporate "umbrella group," Drum Corps International, doesn't need to necessarily change.

So, for me, whatever continues to emerge going forward would be better described as . . .

SoundSport, presented by Drum Corps International.   There's a nice logo available, all set to go!

A couple friends of mine (who own an entire two-valve/piston rotor hornline between them) predicted a while back that SoundSport would become the new branding of the activity.  Even I have to concede that 'SoundSport' describes.....whatever is happening on the field today......much better than calling it 'drum corps'.

I think a lot of opposition towards such an initiative stems from concerns that the loss of the DCI branding would be damaging to the activity.  Far as I'm concerned, that couldn't possibly damage the activity any more than the activity has already damaged itself from within.  And...it would get a lot of dinosaurs off their backs.

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 The irony here is that " most people I know have increasingly NOT been seeing DCI as a " bugle activity" anymore. Otherwise, these people in this roundtable audio must not have payed sufficient attention to DCI Finals and saw a Corps with a wretched and completely botched and mangled non Brass/ Percussion musical solos medal. DCI has increasingly become far less of a " Bugle activity " and far more of a" Guard/ Visual activity". In recent years. DCI has not had a " Bugle " in the activity in decades. So this criticism headline is dated, archaic, and not part of the current situation in DCI much at all. I feel bad that these people can so misread what is out and about now in terms of discussions that are current/ relevant to most fans of the activity. Its the emergence of the Guard/ Visual and the subsequent diminuation of the REAL brass and REAL percussion ( coupled with faux sounds created by the electronic manipulations) that is of most current and topical issues of the day. Most  DCP'ers and the many fans away from here that I personally know have long ago stopped  viewing DCI " as a Bugle activity ". Heck, look at the scores. Even the DCI Judging community has long since moved away from this being a  Brass ( " Bugle ) activity.. Most people that have a pulse and that have been following DCI know that DCI has diminished the Drums and the" Bugles "( and elevated the Guard/ Visuals ). Heck, some of the early season  DCI shows no longer have Brass judges and/ or Percussion judges any longer. That says it all right there.  So what are these Masters of the Obvious in this audio attempting to tell us as a " new " insight that most everybody I know doesn't already know, and have known now for a decade or longer ?

Edited by BRASSO
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