How long?

[wesleyrp]

How long will it be til we see woodwinds and a 200 piece ensemble on the field. Am I the only one who thinks this is not a if, but a when.

Here is my reasons why i think it is coming:

1) Bbs- Good change, didn't think so at first but i came around

2)Amplification- First for the sake of the pit and the for the sake of annoying the crowd with narration

3) The move to Indy. BOA is already there and now DCI, are they linked and will they be in the future. (ex. DCI gets annexed and the new product is called World Class BOA as opposed to DCI) Let's face it, the corps activity has long since moved from being a "drum and bugle corps." to a "brass/percussion/guard band."

4) Syntesizers- If you would have asked me 10 years ago if i thought they would ever be used I would have laughed hard. But here we are and there they are.

I know someone will flame me for bringing this up, but the real question is..... How many of you will still be fans of the "New Activity" if the Woodwinds/change over to band happens? just a random thread I started thinking about after drinking my coffee this morning.

Wes Perkins

[bawker]

Two years or so for the woodwind synth patch rule to pass once Hop proposes it this upcoming off season. . .so let's say 2011.

Two/three years from there for Hop or Gibbs to propose usage of amped woodwinds in the pit; that puts us at 2014.

Don't think we'll see more than that for a long while, since there's not going to be a need for a woodwind line if you can replicate the sound or put a few in the pit.

. . .and, yeah, I won't be sticking around for the new activity once the real woodwinds come on the field, since electronics already have me in a "wait and see" mode. Everyone has their final "line in the sand", and woodwinds are mine.

[MikeD]

How long will it be til we see woodwinds and a 200 piece ensemble on the field. Am I the only one who thinks this is not a if, but a when.

I know someone will flame me for bringing this up, but the real question is..... How many of you will still be fans of the "New Activity" if the Woodwinds/change over to band happens? just a random thread I started thinking about after drinking my coffee this morning.

I think it will happen someday...but it's not all that close. There is almost no support (from anything I have ever seen) for the idea among the instructors or directors, at least not right now. IMO it's at least 8-10 years away...unless something drastic happens that makes the DCI board think it needs to pass them in order to survive, whatever that 'something' might be.

Of course I'd still be a fan...IMO it's overdue already.

[contrajedi8]

I agree with Bawker. If they get a woodwind synth patch, there is no reason to have a woodwind section.

I don't think a 200 member ensemble is too far away. Maybe 5 years. 2014-2015ish.

I do eventually think that DCI and BOA will become part of the same parent organization or under the same umbrella. WGI may come along for the ride, too. I'm actually kind of surprised DCI and WGI have never fallen under the same umbrella.

[Aussiehatswithfeathers]

Well i have thought about something for the past few months, since us poor woodwind players don't have what i would consider a <Professional Marching Option> Why doesn't YEA or BOA start a marching band version of DCI with their own events and everything, Now of course this would take years and years of planning and getting units started, and then their championship week could run right after DCI's, this way the whole "Woodwinds need to be given a chance" bull crap can be put to rest, the tradition of Drum Corps (Real Drum Corps) will be preserved, and at the same time everyone will be give a chance to march on a level higher than high school and college(who don't compete anyway) any thoughts on this will be greatly appreciated and any info on people who have tried to start something similar would be helpful to me.

Thank You

[bawker]

any thoughts on this will be greatly appreciated and any info on people who have tried to start something similar would be helpful to me.

Thank You

They tried something out West like that:

http://www.soundmachine.org/sbi/

It failed.

Notice the timeline correlation . . .right after this ended in 1998, Bb passed. Tin foil hat on!

[Aussiehatswithfeathers]

They tried something out West like that:

http://www.soundmachine.org/sbi/

It failed.

Notice the timeline correlation . . .right after this ended in 1998, Bb passed. Tin foil hat on!

Thanks for the info, such a shame it failed, but anyway even if it was still going on I live in Virginia on the East Coast so it would not have worked out for me and my woodwind brethen on this side of the country hahaha

[ouooga]

When woodwinds are allowed (synth patch too) that'll probably be when I bow out. I played woodwind, I played clarinet for years and then sax...when I decided to march, I taught myself baritone. I like the way drum corps is now, and I think most of the fans do too.

Woodwinds will be the end of drum corps.

[Lance]

I'm a woodwind player, but that's my line in the sand when it comes to drum corps. Of course, if syths get too annoying, it might be earlier. I have little doubt that DCI will be able to replace me with somebody who does like it, though.

[CloudHype]

I've never meet many talented ww players that where into corps. The ratio would be 30 brass and percussion to 1 ww player. This wouldn't work and I see no educational value sending your 1st chair flute to the Cadets.