USNA90_Mello

I would be very careful about this conclusion. In fact, apart from the nobody really cares about parades from an IP perspective, it is a totally false conclusion. Doing any type of public performance puts you at risk. It also puts the parade organizer at risk as well (though no parade organizer I have dealt with ever checked this box and even know they are potentially liable for not requiring this of their musical groups). Bottom line is that you are performing publicly their copyrighted work and you are infringing their Intellectual Property. Even were you to publicly perform to a dozen drunk boaters on the pier, YOU ARE INFRINGING. There is no "no harm, no foul" provision in the law. Case in point, a garage was recently slapped for public performance of music being played on a stereo that was audible to the public. Practically, no one cares though, and I would be surprised if any Drum Corps has ever secured rights for parade-only tunes. You would be protected, obviously, for adaptations of your field show music. And yes, I do practice Intellectual Property Law. Cheers, Bob

1989 CBC, without a doubt.

Just '95? This ring knocker is sad. :-) Well, happy to see the redesigned site and the legacy videos, but sad that he can't see himself back in the day. Cheers, Bob

Though I was affiliated at one point with a Class A corps and they remain in my heart, I am no longer officially affiliated with them due to a job relocation. I now live in San Antonio and have no affiliation to any DCA corps. This rule was and is a rule about exclusion. Exclusion because of a short sighted view that smaller corps can have no impact for the crowd and that forcing smaller corps on the show promoters was forcing them to take a less impactful group. The words of the ones voting yea on this, not mine. The future of DCA is in the small corps. A rule that requires a minimum membership will take many of the corps that are just starting look longer and harder at whether DCA is a viable venue for them. If I was starting an all-age corps right now, I would steer very, very clear of the DCA framework. My opinion and I am entitled to it. If DCA is about growth of the all-age activity, it should embrace every group it can. Can a medium sized metro support two or three small corps, probably. Look at Minnesota. If you force DCA groups to be a certain size, you reduce the overall number of corps. So what could have been a nice local show of purely local corps, all DCA corps if this rule was not in place, becomes something less, if it is even held at all. Again, it is a rule that supports exclusion that removes possibilities of new blood coming in and shaking the apple cart. They have their ball and you can't play with it. Has anyone done an anlysis of the make-up of voting membership for DCA over the years? I bet if you did, you wouldn't find much turnover. And when competitive corps have fallen down competitively, the ball holders have changed the rules to give them a break. Then when the break is no longer needed, they yank the carpet out from corps that took advantage of it. (The same rules congress that voted in the 35 member minimum is the same rules congress that restricted membership to the top 10). Yes, this post is a bit of a rant. It is also some stuff that has been bubbling for a while which was never able to come out. Again, I am not affiliated with any corps at this time, and my views are solely my own. Any flaming may be directed solely at me. Cheers,

If that mouthpiece is a good fit, I think mello might work for him. You may need to move to a different Alto/Tenor horn MP though. I played this past season on a Dennis Wick 2 Tenor Horn MP on a King Bb mello, so it does work. Sound is darker, IMO, then the stock mouthpiece. But the cup is huge compared to the stock. There are a few that are smaller cup, in fact gave a Alto 6 to a budding mello player after this past season as a good intermediate that she could be very successful with quicker. Personally, I love the sound of a Tenor/Alto MP in a mello. Never had the chance to play an IYM, though. The Wick 2 shredded me (stamina wise) when I first switched over from a stock 6V, but was able to work into it.

Always a fan favorite with DCA and midwest audiences, Chops is looking to strengthen its instructional staff in 2008. 2008 represents some new beginnings and challenges as current Executive Director, Bob Bohanek will be turning over the reins. Bob has recently moved to San Antonio, TX for a professional opportunity. Bob leaves behind a motivated administrative team, and they are looking to take it to the next level. Chops truly embodies the work smarter, not harder philosophy. Chops commits to its members that they can do drum corps and still do other things. Our members come from all walks of life, with lawyers, dentists, realtors marching alongside high school students. This synergy and Chops performance experience is unique in Drum corps. As we embark on preparations for the 2008 season, we need more motivated instructional staff to ensure that we have good people in front of our most important asset, our members. We will consider interest in any instructional category, but we have particular need in our Brass and Percussion caption head roles. These positions require someone with a large vision and focus. We have been wonderfully gifted with truly motivated people over the last few years and are looking in 2008 to engage those in the instructional community, and will give preference to those who are currently working in the music education field. Rest assured, the time commitment we ask of you is limited as well. Interest in technician positions in all captions is also solicited. The technician should be a highly proficient performer in their field. Are you a snare tech with no interest in what the bass drums are doing. Perhaps you are the greatest mello tech in the world but can only identify a tube because of it's size. We want you. Our members deserve the very best in instructors and we hope you are it. So, what is your next step? Give us a call. Write us an email. Send a messenger (it's okay, we are not Sparta here, and they are safe). You can contact us at 1-800-486-9207. Resumes and letters of interest can be emailed to Bob Bohanek at rbohanek@chopsinc.com. Like everyone that experiences Chops, Bob can't really leave the family and will be coordinating Chops' search for the best people to put in front of our members. Cheers, Bob

Go NAVY, Beat the Zoomies and Coasties. :-)

My personal opinion is that it all comes down to what Pasadena brought to the table and how accomodating they were. I am not out there, and have not talked to any members, fans, or staff, but I would hazard a guess that for everything but the actual show at the stadium that everything is pretty good there. That the community is really welcome, etc. As to the actual venue...meh! Only there once. Not to bring in the all-age discussion, but something of the same ilk is happening on the DCA side. Great community in Rochester, great support around town, less then stellar stadium. And unseeable lines? Try marching after a hurricane rips through. Hell, what about as it rips through. My hats off to GH for sticking to what is important and making sure his kids had a safe experience. I wish more of us in DCA had stood up like he did on Thursday night.

Anyone seeing the active stream link. I am a platinum member but don't even see the link in the upper right to click on. The only way I could even get to the web page to see that the stream wasn't active was to come here. This doesn't bode well for Friday night and about a dozen of my friends.

Chops is Class A, and #### (darn automated forum censor ) proud to be part of the growth in DCA!!!!!!!

Only partial? I'm cancelling my tickets now and staying home. :-)

US Naval Academy Drum and Bugle Corps (See Sig). They are now defending Intra-Service Academy Champions (Current pic below). Cheers, Bob

Chops was in attendance. However, no vote to vote against this.

If you have access to a tenor/alto horn mouthpiece, I would recommend giving it a whirl as well. I have a deeper cup alto mp I have been playing on and love it. I may move to something with a slightly shallower cup. I absolutely adore the tone and the ease at which I play with it. Just my $0.02. Cheers, Bob

Would having members on prison work-release be good enough? :-) Bob

Well stated. Bob

Probably easier than changing it from 68 to 88. :-)

I don't know if you are going to get a response. You can contact Gil directly, and I would hope that DCA's new PR person would respond to it. As to the justification. I believe it has been rehashed in here already. It was to allegedly ensure a quality product for the show sponsors, and was felt that a corps under 35 did not present a quality product to those show sponsors. At least that is what I remember being the justification as was talked about here. My personal opinion is that is a bunch of bollocks. I return to my original post on this thread. If the show sponsor WANTS a corps with less than 35 members to be there and be judged, they should be allowed to contract with them. DCA does not provide a slate of corps to the sponsors. It provides them an idea of who might be available and than lets the sponsor contract. If this was DCI, which does provide a slate of corps to sponsors, I can understand the governing organization saying, "hey, we are worried about the product you are putting out there, perhaps you should perform as an exhibition corps." And I do know this system from both sides and with both organizations. The rule is chilling growth. As to the exact plans of specific corps, I do not know. But just like some of our laws in this country have a chilling effect on free speech, this rule has a chilling effect on the growth of DCA. My personal opinion, let everyone in. Let them perform, pay them what they and the sponsor negotiate as being fair and judge them. Is a 25 person corps going to have the same GE as a 125 member corps. Arguably no. That is the reality. But let them go out there and do what they love, and what some fans love seeing them do. By doing this, it is just a slap in the face of anyone who has marched a smaller corps for the love of the activity. Cheers, Bob P.S. blah-blah, my own views...blah-blah--, no one else's...blah-blah-blah....something witty that I can't think of.

None None and, to continue the trend.....None, I think (there may have been one or two votes in favor of this from corps that didn't have a full 90 member corps. As to the outcry over the rule, and those that were against it, Chops was against the rule. But no vote, so our voice didn't count. And the writing was on the wall, anyway. Cheers, Bob P.S. Blah-blah-my own- blah-blah, not my BoD, blah-blah

w/Stp: or, may hit the field, but not as part of DCA as they decided that becoming part of DCA would be the wrong thing for them as an organization given this rule.

I will notice. And the rest of the activity will notice in a few years when the activity is back to a handful of corps because of it. Hopefully cooler heads prevails at the 2009 Rules Congress after the effect of two years with this rule is felt. That is my hope. Again, the growth of DCA relies on new corps coming in and participating. Anything that does not further that goal is anti-growth, IMO. And this rule will have just that effect. Cheers, Bob P.S. Again, my views and only my views... blah-blah-blah

I have watched this thread with some interest, and have felt a desire to weigh in at a few points, but haven't. IMO, the show sponsor argument is a dubious one for a DCA show. If this were a DCI show, I would agree with the argument. Here is my logic: - Show sponsor does not work with DCA to arrange appearance fees. DCA does not offer a package deal to show sponsors, like DCI does (both ways have merit, mind you, and I am not making a judgment here about which is better) - As the show sponsor deals with corps that are smaller, they can pay them less. They can even say, hey we can give you an opportunity to perform, but the money is not in our budget to pay you, is that ok - judged v. exhibition. The judges are there. Let them judge. If I was a corps at a show and had a choice between being judged versus getting paid (and the pay was $800 for the show), I think I would take the getting judged choice. DCA stepping in and saying on behalf of show sponsors that a 34 member corps is crap and a 35 member corps is worth the money is ridiculous. Let the show sponsor decide. Championships are another beast, altogether. My personal view of the 35 member rule is that it is a bad rule. My biggest support of that is that DCI's minimum number is 30. The next pieces of support are the performances of corps like the Govenaires when they were under 35. As to a blanket application of the 35 number rule across all contests, I would have liked to have seen it applied only to Championships. Let the individual regions (South and Central) determine what is best for their regions. Let the West figure it out too. And let the East take care of their own house with respect to show sponsors. The future of DCA is not in the 100 member corps. Let me repeat that. The future of DCA IS NOT with the big corps. The future of DCA is the smaller corps that can get out there provide a venue for members to perform and entertain those folks. Shutting those folks off before they can even evaluate whether their model works in the DCA system will drive them to other places. I personally believed that when the 35 member rule was passed was that it would result in less corps being created with the intention of going on to DCA competition. I do not have empirical evidence to support that. As to HW being affected by this, or not, I am not going to opine on that either. I do know that if we had a corps with 30 or so odd members going to DCA, you would see some people in our auxiliary that you never have before. Cheers, Bob P.S. The views expressed herein are my own and no one else's. They do not represent the views of my Board of Directors or any of my instructional/creative staff.

I would add in here something that I have not heard opined as of yet. I have recently starting to listening to quite a bit of tenor horn music (specifically, Sheona White). What I am taken with is how much closer the tenor horn is to our marching mellophone than a French horn is. I have actually moved myself away from using any of the stock mello mouthpieces and am trying to find a really good fit in an Alto/Tenor horn MP. Currently playing a Benge 6 Alto Horn MP and finding a very dark, rich full sound in the low to middle register. As I work it, the upper register is slotting in nicely as well. Those are my $0.02, Bob

Recent court decision has laid the foundation to create a true fair use exception, so backing up for your own use may actually be ok: http://www.cepro.com/news/editorial/18137.html Personally, I have about 80 movies and probably 2-300 TV show episodes on my media center. Men in Black haven't gottem to me yet. As for what you are looking for, if you are on Mac, I would recomment either: Mac The Ripper or, possibly Drive-In (this latter one seems to not be getting much development, but it does work. If you don't mind losing some of the features and just want the performances, Handbrake works awesome. I have four or five years on my media center now that I can watch in bed. :-)

Lakeland HS was unavailable this year. Mesquite was the best choice of what was available, according to my highly placed CTU sources. Bob