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***Moderators: I hope it's OK if I spam this forum a little bit, but it's for a good cause. If this topic is not allowed, please remove it. Thanks!*** Calling all drum corps fans! Each year, Drum Corps Europe runs a free live webcast of the DCE European Championships. Although the crew members of the webcast are all volunteers, it still requires money to run the 13 hour multicam webcast. We would like to keep the webcast free for our viewers, so we can show as many people as possible what a fantastic activity this is! Therefore we started a crowdfunding campaign on Patreon. Drum corps fans around the globe can help by sponsoring the webcast, starting from only $1. We hope that our drum corps brothers and sisters will help us by pledging a small amount to keep us 'on air'. And we have rewards for you if you pledge! Please visit our Patreon page at http://www.patreon.com/drumcorpseurope Thanks in advance for helping us out! Best regards, Marco Janssen Drum Corps Europe http://www.drumcorpseurope.org

It's quite a dilemma - we question Surf for not "investing enough" in the competitive aspects (design, instruction, equipment, etc.), but yet we excoriate corps of yesteryear for "mortgaging their existence" to futilely chase a trophy while flaming out of existence. A few of our "hallowed corps" likely would still be here with a bit more disciplined leadership in this regard. I would seem the most responsible (at least to me) to develop the human resources and infrastructure of the corps as a priority. After that is completely secure, the expensive arms-race to the top can be pursued. As to "what they want to be" - it could be an entertaining corps that give those involved a very positive experience for many healthy years. "Winning" is many things to many people. Why else do so many people invest themselves (as opposed to a $75 ticket) in this activity?

if you are playing whole notes cleanly, and the next corps is playing 16th notes cleanly, who wins? 16th notes cleanly because the judge rewarded them for what they played and how they played it. it's not that hard of a concept to grasp. A judges job is to be sure they link the "what" to the "how". So if they tell you how you are doing what and theres issues, then both boxes arent super high scores. if they tell you how you are doing what is ###### good, you get high scores in both boxes.

I did not see them, but I have friends who were there and said they pretty much blew the house down. Also said the guard was great. Hoping that score was more of a "first read" thing...would love to see them challenge the top corps!

Class A: 1. Excelsior 66.30 Open Class: 1. Caballeros 93.55 2. Kidsgrove Scouts 89.50 3. Sunrisers 84.20 4. Hurricanes 82.95 5. Skyliners 78.30

I think you're overlooking one important thing. Sure, the performance is for the marchers, but the program doesn't belong to the marchers only. It's as much a competition between the organizations themselves as it is a competition between the marchers. When a corps wins the Founder's Trophy, the entire organization wins it, not just those who marched. When a movie wins an award, it isn't just those who acted in the movie who gets to partake in the award, it's everyone who was involved in producing it. So yes, show design IS judged, albeit in an indirect way. A received score reflects not only the marchers, but those who designed it, those who hired the designers, the board, the director, the volunteers, etc. It's a group effort. This is the way it is, and the way it should be, but most people assume the activity is just for those who are performing on the field. They are just a part of the organization. If the staff decides a marcher/performer doesn't fit the criteria to join, they look for another candidate. If a prospective marcher/performer decides a corps doesn't have what it takes to provide the right experience for him/her, they look elsewhere for a corps that does meet their criteria. Sure, the performers are the ones who pay, and it's the staff who normally gets paid, but that's just supply and demand at work. A win for BD, or Crown, or Cadets, etc., is just as much a win for the organization as a whole as it is for those who perform the show. Having scores that reflect only performance and not design is backward thinking. There should be a good balance, and right now I think there is a pretty good balance.

What an interesting concept. When I marched in the Sunrisers (1963-73) there was never any discussion about whether or not you performed cojones to the wall. We did that when we played for prelims, finals, parades or delicatessen openings. There just wasn't any other way.

8/29 DCA-EXETER 94.20 Buccaneers (Guard, Brass, Perc, DM) 92.85. Cadets2 (High Visual) 89.90. Fusion Core 88.60. White Sabers (honor guard) 83.85. Carolina Gold 80.65. Bushwackers CLASS A 68.15 Erie Thunderbirds

40% of the score is still less than half the score. You can take pride in winning drums/horns or any other caption performance award, but if you want to win, you have to have the best overall product. There are a lot of non judged things that have just as huge an effect on placement as the design staff. How well your admin runs the corps, feeds them, good rehearsal space, adequate sleep, riable transportation.

Winning is not just 1st place or even finals . it could mean just any placement or any advancement. There are many competitions championship week including making top 12, top 10 top 5 top 3 and 1st but also, moving up a spot or 2, making semis or top15-17 OC corps beating a WC corps etc etc.... just to entertain and nothing more,,,MANY competitions and goals. Now with that said, one can \choose to be whatever they want and if they give a great experience that's a win win situation. One has to realize though and this doesn't mean bottom corps because it happens in WC established finalists , people and in many cases many people will move on because what one offers is simply not enough or someones goals. It happens often. Honesty also is a part of it. I can't tell you how many kids contact me saying we were told this or that and never delivered on anything close. I first tell them consider the fact it was your corps goal and there are many components to reaching a goal including their part and the members. A corps can choose to be anything they want but with every decision, high goals or simple realistic goals nothing comes without a consequence to a decision. the good or bad , however one wants to look at it.

100% right ! you should "...let it all hang out..." EVERY time you step on the field. Somewhere in the stands, some kid is seeing you for the first (and maybe ONY) time !

I marched in that now would be considered an Open Class corps, and I assure you, no one had more fun than I.

No, not particularly. Lawrence Ferlinghetti was never my cup of java, neither was Kerouac, Ginsburg, et al. 'Bunch of overrated, unintellectual, beatnik wastrels, imo. Some people like their work, and thats cool too.

Let's not forget Les Chatelaines from Quebec. I was at a DM clinic with their DM, and fell instantly in love with her. Alas, she had no idea.

If I had to guess - Lilac Room/Convention Center 9:00 Brig Juice 9:15 Steel City Ambassadors 9:30 Bridgemen 9:45 Rocketeers 10:00 Freelancers 10:15 Minne Brass 10:30 Ghost Riders 10:45 Star United Or not.

Someone has talent. This is a transcription of Cadets 2000. Sounds pretty good and close to what we performed. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qP9w_NS8vZk&index=1&list=FLBe2jD7TrdgAIzpTMIUcimA

In the early 2000's, may have been in 2000, I'd have to look, there was an attempt for a hostile take over for SoA...it was a well planned attack from a couple of individuals associated with a DCA corps who wanted to be DCI...alumni (a small group) blocked the attempt...this is a much longer story, but i'm giving you cliffs notes...at that point the corps created Friends of Spirit under which Spirit would now operate...Ken Bodiford (JSU Director), offered to take in Spirit, which is why it was then changed to Spirit of JSU or Spirit from JSU (can't recall)...after a couple of years and some stability was gained, the corps moved back to GA, and I think it was Spirit of, or from Peachtree City (??), then it was rebranded as just Spirit, until a few years back they were able to move back to Atlanta, and reclaimed the name Spirit of Atlanta. Under its' new leadership (Jeff Nelson - CEO Lonestar Percussion & SoA and BD alum), he is assembling a board of business professionals & being an alum is not a requirement, and as it should be IMO. The alumni have all pulled together, and are joining a movement called the Delta Group, and it is open to anyone, just ask Harvey, he joined earlier this week and is a Phantom fan. The model is a recurring tax write off monthly donation of $20. Strength in numbers!! ...for more information, and if you would like to support a corps heading into its' 40th year, visit www.soaaa.org and join the Delta Group. It takes 5 minutes. Your name will be added to the website, and you will be added to a private FB page that lists out long term investment strategies, monthly statements on bank accounts and an opportunity to have a say on where and what money is spent on...this is 100% transparent. Additionally - There is a CrowdFunding effort that recently launched: http://igg.me/at/SpiritOfAtlantaDeltasUp/x/11942304 If you would click the link, and Like it, Share it, Tweet it, etc. the more of those that happen, the broader it is pushed out onto their platform. Anyone can at least do that right??? There is a really cool video that will replace the one currently on there, and that is coming soon, it is final edits now... Bottom Line!! Help out a fellow corps...the activity needs Spirit of Atlanta!!!

Those difficult "simultaneous responsibilities" become less difficult when muscle memory starts to set in....... and DCI has much more time for that level of repetitive muscle training than DCA. This is why DCI corps are able to make such changes to their closers during the final weeks.....

One last point, and I'll be tacet: For hundreds of years (literally) musicians have argued about which is more "demanding": a lot of technique, or clear, transparent playing. Whole notes can certainly be harder than 32nd notes, depending on the situation. When you consider simultaneous responsibilities, the picture becomes even more muddled. Whole notes in 4/4 time at 210 bpm moving diagonally backward at a 6-to-5 step-length? As someone else mentioned, even the frequency and context of the demands must be considered - for example, BD is notorious for the trumpets not playing for a few phrases while doing body, etc., then popping out a first-inversion triad in the altissimo register at fff while spread out 60 yards. Maybe that was just a whole-note, too.

Could be said about several corps (Denver, Troopers, Boston, 7th Regiment, etc.)

Irony is that all those corps from that section of Northern Jersey (Wayne Monarchs, Hillsdale Valley Grenadiers, etc.) were well before air conditioning and before Wanaque-Ringwood-Pompton-Greenwood Lake became desired zip codes for other than the weekend camphouse that often flooded out with the rivers or lakes in the Spring and were mostly inaccessible due to snow and ice in the winter. One of the prettiest areas of the New Jersey in the Fall. Today few can touch those prices unless you are certain judges who live in Smoke Rise.

St. Therese, Everett used pink and brown at some point of their history when Pat L(u)ongo, Harry & Ginny Sampson's kid, was doing the visuals.

Does this fall into "If I can't see it or hear it, it's not happening" category? Over the years, It seems to me that some corps have done "difficulty for difficulty's sake" and wonder why they're not getting credit. There's an example of that which comes to mind, from a corps in the early 1990s, that I won't get into here, for various reasons. LOL. Other corps make sure that when they do something difficult that the judges, and the audience, can see it or hear it. When a corps moves fast and/or pulls off a physically challenging visual, it's featured; when a corps plays an insanely tough brass or percussion passage, it's featured. That, to me, is good show design.

If Fran uses a neon shirt, will he be accessorizing with contrasting new black pants & shoes for the rest of the season ? Joe Dz

Yeah, we do have many ex cops from Rochester PD, Monroe County Sheriffs and military PD in our "A squad". They have guns, sabers and poles!

There are times where doing less can be more. With one team I worked with in the scholastic field we did just that and got really nice compliments about how we did a more complex show after we actually simplified. Part of it was readability and accessibility. part of it was dumb luck.

i think you just described BD 2010

Yup......

Semi- related to the topic.... I remember back in the day.... circa 1970 or '71 or so... when a 5-point content analysis subcaption was added to the brass sheets for junior corps, pre-DCI. There even was an album made called "5.0"... featuring the two corps (Madison Scouts and Argonne Rebels) whose horn lines had achieved perfect scores in that subcaption in 1971.

Don't be ridiculous. Clearly there was a staff schism, and we can expect Crossmen to win and Crown to be lucky to make finals in 2016.

We plan on shutting them up with the first note we play.

Oh Sure!!! Don't count your chickens my friend - Fran's aloha shirts are a bit hard to top (better use NEON colors) Running and hiding now!!! Pat

Thompson was in charge of business operations in 2012, really?? That must have been tough having that responsibility AND being drum major at the same time. He didn't start working for BAC/Inspire until May 2013. And to answer LabMaster's question, Thompson Vou is listed as being the Chief Financial Officer on Inspire Arts and Music's website.

I know several alums of SOA, one who is in a particular position to know and do something about things. This person dedicated money to Spirit when all logic said they shouldn't. This isn't about logic though... it's about passion, loyalty, and family. My wife and I set aside a percentage of our income every year to donate to charity, and now every penny of that I can spare will be going to SOA. There aren't many activities left that instill the positive traits in youth that drum corps does. When Little League teams cheat to win and high schools illegally recruit football players to win 1 or 2 extra games, I look to support anything that will help kids learn about hard work, dedication, perseverance, and loyalty.

Absolutely... design can put a show over the top. And has... many times. OK... since I now have agreed with a VO Reason post, I feel I need to take a cold shower, make some lifestyle changes, or something.

you can't judge the Reading show wondering what is happening in CT. you judge your sheet and the show of the day

Yes. Admittedly, I'm a total homer for the Vanguard organization. Nonetheless, this corps continually puts out an awesome product year after year, which (IMO) is often somewhat overlooked due to a big blue shadow that's cast all over the bay area. Regardless, SCVC is a fearless competitor that quietly commands respect by consistently delivering high levels of programing and achievement each and every season. SCVC compels everyone else to get better by continually raising the bar of performance excellence, and they're unquestionably saturated with the same distinctive level of class that the Vanguard legacy demands. Excellent work as usual from all of the MMs, staff, administration and volunteers. Congratulations on A WELL DESERVED WORLD TITLE! VANGUARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!