audiodb

I've been meaning to ask....how do I join the barigirl78 Fan Club? And if there isn't one, can I start it? Greatly enjoying the voice of reason you add to this board.

First, you say this: And then, this: Apparently, you aren't aware of the difference between drum corps and marching band. (It's the instrumentation.) Just so you know, there are drum corps that rehearse maybe 12 hours a week. And there are bands that rehearse more.

You lost me there. What opportunity are kids being deprived of? And how do people who don't like the change in horns cause kids to be deprived?

How to respond to this? I could go Joe Wilson on you, and exclaim "You lie!". I could ask a ridiculous, rhetorical question, like how you tracked down every single fan we've lost since 1999, and personally verified that not one of them left because of Bb/F brass or A&E. I could point out examples, like the carload of people who still drive 4-5 hours to Allentown every year....just to hang out in the park and meet old friends. They used to go to the show too, prior to these changes. Well, it is clear that you have picked a side on this issue, and you aren't interested in hearing anything that runs counter to your point of view. So let me offer you a bit of advice. Making statements that are absolute, impossible to prove, and worse yet, demonstrably false....it doesn't help your case. In fact, you lose credibility, and all your other posts will be viewed with less gravity as a result.

Adding WW to DCI would be way cheaper for the corps (if any) that want that....and way more expensive for the corps who don't.

If that were true, then bands would approach brass playing (dynamics, balance) in exactly the same manner as drum corps. (In case you really don't know....they don't.)

Many of DCI's core audience are "excluded"....by the age rule. Care to comment?

We did already....more than once. Several corps have converted to summer marching band programs over the years, most notably the Seattle Imperials and Argonauts, both of whom were DCI top-25 units shortly before making the switch. If you are judging how "effective" or "successful" by whether they went away....well, they both went away. In the late 1990s, DCI made two (at least two) offers to incorporate bands into their tours. One was exactly as you describe....offering for two DCI corps to try a full season of experimentation - woodwinds, no maximum number of marchers, anything goes. No one took the offer. The other late-1990s idea was a formally established DCI band division, implemented for the 1999 season. No corps opted to switch then either. Meanwhile, the two bands that had done recent DCI tour swings (Norhtern Lights and Pride of the Lions) both balked at joining in for 1999, and that was also the year the youth bands in California went extinct. End result - no one ever joined the DCI band division.

So what? Overall, 99% of current HS marching band kids are not marching in drum corps.

None is needed....we have reality. Independent summer marching bands competed on the field for decades. They never drew as much interest (fans or members) as drum corps, and they eventually faded to near extinction as a result. Let me know when you can show tangible interest in summer marching band. Right now, all we have on record is one corps director and a handful of DCPers.

Oh, so the sky is falling? Heh....that's one of the points of a flurry of changes. Someone got that one backwards. Or we need more show designers....

I doubt many old-school band fans are going to like to hear this....but the whole drum corps vs. marching band thing hasn't really changed at all. Competitive band programs compare to drum corps about as well today as they did in any other era. There is a difference, though, in how many band programs are "competitive" today vs. way-back-when. In the HS ranks once upon a time, there were so few serious marching programs that unless you were familiar with one of them, any attempt to make sweeping generalizations about bands vs. corps would be comparing apples to oranges. Both your premise and your conclusion are off. Judging from the audition numbers and the size of corps on the field, kids are still sold on drum corps. What great ideas! Feel free to contact DCI and make these suggestions. One word of advice....don't be insulted if they tell you that some of these ideas have already been tried, or are actually being done now. Marching in drum corps is the exception, not the norm. Please, spare us the melodrama. No one is "excluded" from drum corps. Woodwind players are just as welcome as lacrosse players and debate club members. But yes, to do drum corps, you will end up learning one of the roles and associated skill sets that belongs in drum corps, just like you would learn the appropriate roles and skills for the debate club or the lacrosse team. Oh, and those aren't "roadblocks"....those are the rules by which the game is played. Yes....and again, selling that to participants is not the problem. What does that tell you?

True. For that matter, bands competing in a parallel division to drum corps is not new either....it pre-dates organized field competition. Bands and corps both had contests set up when the American Legion organized competitions just after World War I. The idea of staging these contests on the field developed in the mid-1920s.

On that, we agree. I have a better idea....how 'bout letting those corps decide for themselves? Evidently, not enough to keep those summer youth band programs going. And that's the thing....there is no genuine interest in a DCI summer band activity.

Common thread from these two posters.... So you're saying drum corps is not part of the music education scene? Again, contending that drum corps and music education are somehow incompatible? Talk about overreaching. Y'all must realize that marching band, like drum corps, is roughly 50% visual and 50% music. Neither of them are solely about "music education". More importantly, there is no requirement that non-profits be devoted to education. In fact, there are quite a few that are dedicated to the preservation of a particular art form. I'd say DCI falls more into the latter category than the former.

By the way, I do not find it the least bit remarkable that a man who runs a marching band circuit would be promoting marching band instrumentation. Consider the source. I would need more than that before suggesting that a genuine discussion of imposing such an idea on DCI could even begin at this point.

So wait....now the sky is falling? (Again?)

Best post on this thread. We've only seen six corps do their opening weekend run-throughs. It's a little early to say. I will point out, though, that it is interesting how much more variation there is in contest results when the judges don't have access to last night's numbers.

OMG! I just checked into this myself, and it's true - DCI is screwing Eastern fans! No matter what time we get scores out East, DCI makes sure that Western fans get the same scores three hours earlier! And they've been getting away with this for years! If scores are posted on DCI.org at 11:15 out East, I guarantee you they'll be up at 8:15 in California. It's like clockwork!

No.... Completely valid, Mike. But that's not quite what I was thinking about. My fault for not explaining correctly. My concern is that with the sheets specifying not just "balance and blend", but also "sonority", with no mention of other brass tonalities, that there may be a school of thought that a sonorous, balanced blend is the only proper brass sound, and that all corps should sound the same. Taking those words too literally might discourage "in-your-face" brass moments, brasher sounds of jazz/rock, or who knows what else. Could corps like Blue Devils, Phantom Regiment or recent Cavaliers who stage and score sectional features for maximum impact be marked down for deviating from the prescribed norm? (Again, I don't really expect the judges will do that....but I'd prefer to see the sheet wording a bit different.)

Pro: glad to see the language that effectively mandated the use of amplification is gone. (I know, we're closing that barn door long after the horses got out....but the compliment still stands.) Con: I see "sonority" and "blend", but I don't see the word "variety" anywhere on the music analysis sheet. I don't think this will be an issue in practice....but if you took the sheet verbage literally, it would work against corps who bring other flavors of sound (jazz and rock, for example) to the show.

What kind of fight....a refereed boxing match? A barfight? A spat on Facebook? The outcome depends on the situation, to some degree.

I think the choice between DCI and DCA is more about the weekend-only model vs. the short tour. So I hope that corps continue to choose what works best in each of their own unique situations.

Much good advice already. Another possible idea....ask the dealer to make their donation in the form of a car, which you raffle off at the show. This puts an entirely different face on the transaction. Now, it is no longer a greedy company paying to have their name plastered annoyingly on everything....it is a donation, and something I can win that night. Now I want to look at this car. Now I am not annoyed to see/hear that dealer's name 79 times in one night. Now you are justified to announce the dealer's name in all your advance advertising and over the PA every two minutes at the show....as part of promoting the raffle. Great PR opportunity for the dealership. Downside is that you have to work for your money by executing the raffle. Upside is you can make even more money by selling more raffle tickets.

They posted the announcement at the exact same time the Department of Homeland Security tested their new Internet "kill switch".