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


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4 hours ago, Cappybara said:

I feel like you are trying to present a nuanced stance here, and I appreciate that, but it's coming off as a bit contradictory. 

Yes, not everyone can afford everything. But by that definition, there is a "rich" and "poor." And yes, I understand that those are relative terms as you hinted at. 

For the experience, sure you could say drum corps is "cheap." But the baseline, physical price, for the majority of the country, is not. Especially if you account for the college students who are already in college debt (that's only getting worse and worse!) and are not getting financial support from parents. 

There is also the element of not being able to work a Summer job, where college students can make a bulk of their money needed for the school year.

That makes marching drum corps even more expensive.

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52 minutes ago, Quad Aces said:

There is also the element of not being able to work a Summer job, where college students can make a bulk of their money needed for the school year.

That makes marching drum corps even more expensive.

Exactly. Summers in college are more of resume boosters or opportunities to earn money. I never had a free summer in undergrad because I had to do one thing or the other in order to have a strong enough resume to get into grad school 

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My son managed to complete 5 years of drum corps  earning a gold and silver in open class and two golds and a silver in world class.  He is practically homeless and teaches five drumlines but he did it. 

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1 hour ago, flammaster said:

My son managed to complete 5 years of drum corps  earning a gold and silver in open class and two golds and a silver in world class.  He is practically homeless and teaches five drumlines but he did it. 

many kids take classes in the summer

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15 hours ago, Quad Aces said:

There is also the element of not being able to work a Summer job, where college students can make a bulk of their money needed for the school year.

That makes marching drum corps even more expensive.

This is my concern, how will my kid be able to hold a job down when he is in off season? He is not going to college for a few years after he graduates, so he can spend his time working for his DCI til age out in 2021. I'm fully onboard with this.

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On 8/30/2017 at 5:11 PM, insideout said:

What do you expect from someone who, a couple of pages ago, referred to today's DCI as "summer marching band for rich kids"? Hostile and rude.

But, he's not far off the mark despite what you consider rude.  Drum Corps used to be a youth activity for kids that had nothing.  To be frank it's just another one of those "things" that has been yuppified.  There are kids (with a LOT of talent) that will never be able to have the drum corps experience because of the cost and time needed.  I'm not completely sold that it's worth the money anymore because what you are learning is not "real world" music if that is what you are intending to do.  Don't get me wrong drum corps teaches a LOT of things a LOT good some not so good.

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7 hours ago, flammaster said:

For his major and his job doing 5 years with BD is a pretty serious resume builder.  He is going to be a prominent instructor where ever he ends up. He already is.

Not everyone who does drum corps goes into the music field 

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On 9/1/2017 at 9:03 PM, Mello Dude said:

But, he's not far off the mark despite what you consider rude.  Drum Corps used to be a youth activity for kids that had nothing.  To be frank it's just another one of those "things" that has been yuppified.  There are kids (with a LOT of talent) that will never be able to have the drum corps experience because of the cost and time needed.  I'm not completely sold that it's worth the money anymore because what you are learning is not "real world" music if that is what you are intending to do.  Don't get me wrong drum corps teaches a LOT of things a LOT good some not so good.

It is off the mark and it's not off the mark. Many drum corps were founded in working class communities, but they were not necessarily poor and the kids did not always come from rough backgrounds. At the time some of the areas were solidly middle class. Not all, certainly, and there were corps from poorer areas, but in many cases, especially where Catholic parishes are concerned, the drum corps was part of a larger parish community that included athletics, social activities, most likely a school which was staffed by nuns who did not get paid and priests often organized and directed the corps and they was paid very little. The parents often volunteered. What we did see back in the day was an effort to make sure anyone who wanted to march could march. While I do agree drum corps has become an activity where the majority of marchers are from, if not well to do backgrounds, at least are from financially comfortable families.

 I graduated from high school in 1981. I knew kids who marched with corps that were good, but not as competitive as the local corps who toured: 27th, North Star, Boston Crusaders, and Holy Family Defenders. According to some, these corps were for "rich kids" who did not have to work to pay for college. I knew people who marched with all four corps, they never claimed to be rich kids and would say the corps from California and two from the Midwest, none of whom will be named, were spoiled rich kids.

Drum corps did have a broader range of marching members, no question, and fewer kids can march today, but the perception of it being an activity for the rich is not entirely new.

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