musicdesign

Cactus Shadows High School in Cave Creek, Arizona has an immediate opening for a percussion instructor. We rehearse during zero period everyday and have Wednesday evening rehearsals from 6:00pm to 8:00pm. If you’re interested in working with our band, you can email me at musicdesignad00@yahoo.com.

Is there any open class Corps still looking to hire Brass Staff?

Both Klesch and Hannum were on BAC's staff in 1997...

I think alot of people miss understand the meaning of that phrase. I think they are Championship driven but like alot of those corps in the 6-9 placements their trying to find the right mix of being "Old School" and at the same time being current in design and performance. I think the show was a little more old school this year as it should be for the 70th anniversary of the corps but I'm sure next year and in years to come they will put out shows that are probably balanced being innovative and current but at the same time being old school enough it keep the Crusader tradition intact. It is more a matter of just execution and uping the GE factor and then you'll see them right in the mix for top 5 and maybe even top 3.

Here we go without knowing everyone's shows yet here is a guess. Will have to update later in the winter. 1. BD 2. Crown 3. Cadets 4. Bluecoats 5. SCV 6. Boston 7.Blue Stars 8. Phantom 9. Cavies 10. Madison 11. Glassmen 12. Blue Knights Yes Cavies will be this past years Phantom and dropping down to the bottom of the finals lineup. I think Boston, Blue Stars, Phantom and Cavies will fight it out for the 6th thru 9th slots.

There is no guarantee Madison will make finals. On paper yes, they signed some big staff names but that guarantees nothing and being very disrespectful of corps like Troopers and BK. It will all be decided on the field starting in June. Madison is in the mix but there are alot of corps in contention such as Crossmen, Spirit and Colts in addition to Madison.

All I'm hearing on here is the same old excuses!!!! The truth is there has been alot of drum corps that have come and gone who have had bad management and have honestly put no effort into trying to fundraise and be creative about it and put the effort to find corporate sponsors. As far as the belows examples: 1. School ends way too late, sometimes as late as June 28 or 29. A bad excuse, I see Jersey Surf, Raiders and yes even Boston dealing with that issue. 2. People are burned out on supporting drum corps. Too many years of people going to that well, just not true. No one has truly gone after the businesses and corporate sponsors except for Cadets maybe. I have talked to many in the business community who would have supported a drum corps just no one including corps I marched in, instructed or were involved in ever tried to pursue these fundraising options. 3. The cost of living is insane and many cannot afford the costs of drum corps on top of that,I agree cost of living is crazy but were all dealing with that. Look at California the economy is just as bad there and we have corps there so again a bad excuse that has been over used. 4. Bingo is dead. The no smoking laws killed the last successful games and the corps with them. Sorry in todays drum corps activity if your relying on only Bingo to fund your corps your not smart. Again 70's and 80's thinking. You have to be creative in how you raise funds. Saying that I do think the activity has changed alot for the better. I think alot of the corps not with us anymore would still be around if the structure of DCI and the activity as it is now was around back then.

I Believe the scores will be a little higher to begin the season. Cadets- 75.4 Bluecoats-74.2 Boston-73.5 Glassmen- 73.0 Crossmen- 71.2 Troopers- 62.0 Pioneer- 61.4

Congrats on the startup of the corps. I would be interested in a brass staff position. Do have contact info where I could send you my resume?

I believe a Brass Theatre division would be cool or just a brass ensemble division. Of course I think in order to do this from an acoustic standpoint the shows which included this new division would need to be held in an arena of some sort. Instead of a high school gym for example these shows would need to be held in more acoustically friendly venues such as college basketball arenas or even arenas such as Nassau Coliseum on Long Island, NY or Staples Center in Los Angeles etc. Alot of Indoor Professional Football Teams play in these arenas so artificial turf would probably be available for WGI's use if negotiated with these venues for these units to use for movement and it would also help somewhat acoustically. This concept is probably a few years away from really happening but I think it would be a good time for WGI and everyone else in the activity to give this idea some consideration and see what the pro's and cons of doing this would be.

Way too early to guess this but here I go just for entertainment purposes!!!!!!! It will be a few months before you can even make an educated guess!!!!! 1. Blue Devils 2. Phantom Regiment 3. Cadets 4. Cavaliers 5. Bluecoats 6. Boston Crusaders 7. SCV 8. Madison Scouts 9) Carolina Crown 10) Blue Knights 11) Glassmen 12. Crossmen The top 3 will be close. The spread between 5th place and 12th will be really small so 5th through 12th place could be a scamble and a race to the finish and probably will not be decided until Championship week.

Hey! What the Heck,Speculation is good this time of year. As long as you don't take these seriously! Here is just a speculative guess!!!! With probably less then 2 points between 5th place and 10th place. Talking tenths here, that's how close all these corps are based on last season. This could be the top 12 next year with the order being switched around alot!!!!! It will interesting to see what happens!!!!! 1. Phantom 2. Cavs 3. Blue Devils 4. SCV 5. Boston 6. Cadets 7. Bluecoats 8. Carolina Crown 9. Madison 10.Blue Knights 11. Blue Stars 12. Spirit

I believe Blue Devils need to get back to playing Jazz. My idea for a while has been that the Blue Devils should have a Jazz Composition contest. With Wayne Downey and the rest of the staff being the judges. The winners composition would be performed by the Blue Devils during the season on the field. With all the great Jazz schools like Berklee College of Music and North Texas State etc I think they would be able to get some great original Jazz compositions and ideas out of it. Of course Wayne would probably have to arrange it to corpsize it but I think that would be cool. The corps could offer a package to the winner. Maybe a cash prize along with 2 tickets to DCI Championship Finals etc.

With my background in being involved in drum corps on the east coast I can understand the emotions the crossmen alumni and fans are having to them moving operations to San Antonio. In the end though this will be a good deal for Crossmen. Being free from YEA will be a good thing in the long run competitively and financially. I don't know if I agree with them moving to Texas, as I believe YEA could have found a new home for them on the east coast but I do understand the move and there is alot of potential in Texas for this corps. I will be interested in seeing the developemnt of the Crossmen once they're Texas operations get underway!!!! Good Luck!!!!

I agree that the corps have known for sometime about DCI's being held in Pasadena. DCI is doing the right thing by asking for a committment from the DCI Div. 2/3 as to if they will be travelling west for DCI's. I also hope all the Division 2/3 corps are able to go West for Championships. Corps need to think ahead nowadays! In addition to making plans for Pasadena for 2007, all the corps should be making plans for Indy in 2008 also. I will be interested to see how this shakes out as this will be a test for alot of corps management wise and finanically wise. To be fair though the west coast corps have been dealing with these same issues for years. Hope to see everybody in Pasadena!!!!

Patience everyone!!!! You have to remember that this ESPN Broadcast is still in its infancy. Not sure if everyone is old enough to remember the very first PBS broadcasts they were pretty bad. I think as the ESPN2/DCI relationship grows that the shows will be tweaked and improved just like the PBS shows were over the years! Give DCI and ESPN2 sometime!

Easy answer! Academy one has great management and also fundraises and goes after sponsors and recruits. So DCI told you to talk to the corps director. Just shows you that DCI is part of the problem also. Keep bugging DCI and have your write also. The only way things at Jester will get better is if the Administration changes how they operate which sounds like they won't. you would be best off finding another corps to march with next year!

Based on What? It is obvious you don't keep up on what is going on in the activity besides what you see on the field. Alot of you are not thinking beyond that. If you read this newsgroup and talk to people in the activity you would know how messed up things are. I'm not going to name specific corps out of respect for the activity and them as I do hope they are able to rebuild and comeback to the activity the right way. There is no bad intentions by anybody in the activity. Everyone has great intentions. But this is a business from a management end of things even at the division 3 level and there are alot of corps that are not running there businesses very well. It doesn't mean they can't turn things around and no, I'm not advocating division I or advocating smaller corps aiming to become division I corps. I'm advocating a healthy and competitive Division 3. I would be making the same statements if Division I was in the mess that Division 3 is. Yes, Division I and even Division 2 are not perfect and even corps in those divisions have problems but overall those corps are stable from one a financial standpoint but more importantly from a managment and philosphy standpoint.

I'm not tearing any corps down. Just telling you the reality of what is happening in Division 3 right now! What you see on the field is only one part of the story and the activity.

DCI knows that this corps and many more are not ready to be competitive and no DCI or the judges aren't going out on purpose and giving them low scores to send a message. But there is a meaning behind the low scores. Alot of it has to do with the way a staff and administration interpret the scores and judges comments. I agree with your interpretation of the low scores. Anybody who is neutral and looks at it without emotion would see that. I agree that these members of Jester and alot of other division 3 corps are not being given a worthwhile total experience of the activity. There is some value in the process of rehearsing and performing alone but when these kids are not getting quality instruction and quality experience overall and treatment by administration then that takes away from the natural value within the activity. You also have to understand that many of these younger kids who march these corps do not know any differently as many of them have had very little or no exposure to the drum corps activity.

Yes I am very knowledgable about the drum corps activity as a whole and division 3. Again this is not in particular about Jester, it is about Division 3 as a whole! I have nothing but great things to say about the kids of Jester and every corps. If people like you want to ignore what is going on in the activity at this level then that's fine. It would be fine if these smaller corps had good management and instructional teams in general but that is not happening in alot of cases. Small can be good! Yes Mandarins are a great example of that and look at BOA alot of great smaller bands compete but they all have a common thread. They all have quality leadership both Instructionally and Administratively and have a plan in place for competitive but also personal growth for its members both competitively and individually unlike alot of the smaller corps in the drum corps activity.

Yes I have watched this corps perform and rehearse many times. your posting proves my point! In your own positing you are making my point!!!! If I have to tell you why it is embarassing then you must not have been involved in the activity for long and seen many corps! Yes there should be a place for these corps like these to perform and grow but not in the heat of competition. Maybe DCI needs to form a non-competitive and or evaluation division for corps like these with a totally different evaluation/scoring system. Again I give all the kids props for what they are doing.

Good Point! It will be interesting to see how the kids, staff and administration handle a DCI tour. New Territory for eveyone! I'm also interested to see where Academy actually lines up in Division 2 once they go head to head with Spartans, ECJ and the other top Div 2 corps. Should be fun to watch!

Ktown obviously your reading things in my posts that are not there. I have never put down the kids in Jester. I know they are all great kids and working hard. I do know more about this corps then many as I know alot of the people who have been involved in this corps. But I'm not specifically picking on Jester, they are just the best example right now of what is wrong with Division 3. I actually think the opposite, I think Jester along with many of these other smaller corps have alot of potential but that potenetial will never come through with the philosphy these corps have and yes also the administration alot of these corps have. Yes this is a score based activity. The fact they are only scoring in the mid thirties shows very little progress as a total corps. Again this is not the kids fault this is the administration and staff's fault. No reason they should be scoring in the 30's. Jester is not the only corps there are a few corps out there scoring in the 20's and that is really embarrassing. I give Jester along with all of the smaller corps all the props to the kids for going out on the field under the circumstances they have had put on them. But it doesn't change the fact that there are problems with these organizations that need to be fixed for the survival of Division 3. I have nothing against Division 3. Division 3 has the potentail to be really great and really competitive but not as the system is setup now.

Jester scores a 37 and then a 35 huh!!!!! Improvement over last season... HMMMMMM!!!!!! These smaller corps make my point for me!!!! No more needs to be said!!!! They had what a week or a little more of rehearsals and not much improvement score wise.... Interesting!!!!!