audiodb

OK, then. So if I reply to you, now the reply rate just went up. According to your logic, there is now more interest in open-class drum corps. Problem solved!

Wait....what? Last year, the top eight received a significant raise in pay from the TOC series. I find it hard to "imagine" any of them losing $300,000 in the same season this revenue increase took place. If you are indicating that this actually happened with one of them, then my reaction would be that it is high time for the incumbent DCI member corps to undergo the same evaluation that new/recent members have already passed.

OK. Could you be more specific? The reasons I ask: 1. Most ideas are viewed as a zero-sum game, where whatever additional benefit other corps receive must therefore take away from top corps. For example, if DCI pays other corps more, there's less money left for the top corps (generally speaking). 2. If the "lesser corps" get too much better, the "elites" won't be elite anymore. That in itself could be considered a diminishing "effect" on the "elite corps". (Not saying this is a rational train of thought....but it will still require a response if we want to achieve real change.)

Does it? Or does it only tell us where bickering is more prevalent? By the way, looking back at this forum, I see 12 open-class corps with at least one thread devoted to them in the current month. Much of it is in the form of press releases from the corps themselves, diligently reported by the man providing us with the DCP Newsfeed. That's not exactly "dead". (Maybe we can argue about that....)

But there is no such thing. You can't have "elite corps" without "the rest".

Or maybe the open-class corps have chosen to use their own websites, Facebook, e-mail, etc., for updates rather than DCP.

You have that upside down. Unless you meant the Blue Devils' economic model.... And which revenue is that, exactly?

Not exactly. Perhaps if the "lesser" corps are non-DCI, a case can be made for that philosophy. However, for a corps to pass evaluation and get into the DCI tours in the first place, they must demonstrate precisely the kind of business sense that you describe above. Or we'd have no DCI, and who-knows-how-many tours.

(sigh) Hard to say....but probably not as many as some think. Some of these circuits eliminated themselves, and their corps carried on elsewhere. For instance, the Garden State Circuit's five remaining organizations were already attending DCI Championships annually when they opted to turn over operation of their shows to DCI. This post of yours sums things up quite nicely. What really is missing are the people who ran all those local corps way back when. Of course, it doesn't help that today's corps require so much more money, equipment, travel, insurance, music rights, etc....but much of that escalation was an inevitable consequence of the competitive nature of the activity, and/or societal changes. So now it takes even more people to run a corps. Meanwhile, an overwhelming majority of the people who could've/would've/should've done that have opted instead to develop competitive marching band programs with high schools, where there is a foundation already in place thanks to a nine-figure annual tax subsidy for HS instrumental music. Can't blame them for that! Now, cutbacks to those programs might create voids that a local drum corps would want to fill....but there are already plenty of such voids, as 80% of high schools don't have competing marching bands....100% of colleges don't....and none offer summer programs. To some degree, kids will do what adults steer them towards. If a large enough wave of adults established local drum corps and steered kids toward that activity, it would happen.

The article's comment about Legion Nationals being "small" until 1930 is not accurate. The 1929 preliminary was the largest field contest ever held, with 85 corps competing.

As an aside....one reason the DCI off-season has been "boring" is that no corps have folded. In that sense, a boring off-season is just fine with me!

In a different era, Seattle Cascades included it in their Chicago show in 1998.

A timely reminder, as we are once again looking forward to a DCI season with no new corps. Starting a corps is more difficult than it has ever been. Anything that can be done to mitigate that situation ought to be on the table for discussion.

A decent arranger could make the necessary tweaks.

Your count is doubly wrong. There were 16 corps at the 1992 DCA Championship, and seven of them are still competing.

And they did the same thing in '05, '06 and '07. Placements were 3rd, 6th and 5th in class A. I think what matters is how good the corps is, not whether they had a score announced at an isolated show in June/July. Anyway, since Cadets2 will compete in several DCA contests, they don't "need" to be judged in their appearances at DCI events. However, they might want to. Their first DCA contest is July 14, a late start compared to top DCA corps. Getting judge feedback at their DCI appearances June 30 and July 7 would put them on the same timetable with those top corps.

Make that 1959....they were the Hyde Park Crusaders in '56, '57 and '58.

If audiences determine what is excellent, then the degree of excellence would be reflected in how many audiences, what size audiences, and what audience reactions are garnered.

I am not aware of any monetary bonus just for declaring open vs. A....but I'm not privy to all the details. Are you saying that, for example, Fusion Core will get paid more in 2012 now that they have declared open-class? I was under the impression that the class A/open-class distinction only applies to championships, and therefore, a top-ten corps gets paid like a top-ten corps in June-July-August even if they earned that top-ten ranking in the manner of Govenaires and Fusion. But I could be totally wrong....correct me if I am.

You lost me there, especially on that last phrase.

If I remember correctly, full voting status does not go to the "finalists", but rather to the corps with the top ten prelim scores regardless of class. By this system, class A corps have the opportunity to earn full voting status, as two did at the most recent championship.

Really? From 400+ corps to 40+? Drum corps now serves 1/4 the number of kids it served BITD....is that "great" compared to the Boy Scouts? Is it "great" compared to cheerleading? Dance? Youth soccer? Don't get me wrong....it is "good", considering the full variety of challenges the activity has confronted. For instance, it is "good" considering that relying entirely on the $upport of churches and veterans' groups would not have been a viable 40-year plan. On the other hand, the competitive drive among some corps made it inevitable that they would seek support from other sources....sources that would still be vital today. That process began long before DCI's formation, so I don't even find it surprising, much less "unbelievable", that some of these corps have survived this long. ....which proves drum corps can adapt, and choose which people it serves. Given all this, I just find it odd how quickly your responses seek to give excuses for lack of growth, and the prognosis that we shouldn't expect significant growth in the future. Why not? Other youth activities have grown. You claim we are a "niche", as if niches can't grow in size. Yes....you told us this before. You also serve on three non-profit BODs, and stayed in a Holiday Inn Express last night. That's OK. You don't need credentials to have an opinion here. Well, there has been growth....in the cost of running a corps, for one thing. But I am more interested in seeing growth in participation and fan base.

So what? Other youth activities have grown in that same time period....and like Brasso pointed out, cheerleading and dance teams have gained the TV exposure that drum corps has lost (not to suggest TV is essential, or even desirable, for DCI in today's evolving media). Anyway, growth is possible for youth activities, even in the face of declining birth rates. We've seen examples. Why are you so quick to discard the notion of growth for drum corps?

Good point. So many people forget to account for how "legacy fans" are a renewable resource.

What? You can't paint them all with one broad brush? Who knew? By the way, not all current marchers think alike, either.