pearlsnaredrummer77

Theres no evidence that adding electronics brings people in. There is ancedotal evidence that it does alienate. Also, the last era of hundreds of drum corps was the 80# these folks may have another 30 years supporting the activity. As far as newer fans DCA is much younger than 20 years ago. Apparantly people are joining DCA corps (future audience members) without electronics.

Amen! Preserve DCA's distinctiveness! I can see adding electronics as alienating the existant fan base, (need to build on the foundation) adding to the expense, and ultimately paying no dividends whatsoever.

Drum corps audiences in general-as Jim pointed out-are going to be in decline. With less people marching, it means less alumni to support shows; less family/friends to attend. Also, individual communities no longer have links to corps. I don't know what the solution is to that, but it will surely be a shrinking critical mass as the last of the 1980s (last era of hundreds of corps) vets fade away.

Lol... In college band, there were some strange substances being used in the back of the bus and most of the drum line came under suspicion. Except for me. The band secretarys vouched that as soon as I got seated on the bus I fell asleep immediately and slept soundly the entire trip! I can't sleep in car for the life of me, but if I just sit on a bus I would fall asleep.

I thought I had heard Sky was to be evaluated by DCA last year, but then never heard another thing about them. Are they still functioning? I also remember several posts about Cru selling everything off.

Good question.. Anyone have answers????

Unfortunately, that is true in the opinions of the judges or staff. But back in the day, there was nothing better than sitting down front and watching lines play their licks. It was a guilty pleasure for a drummer,lol.

Kind of curious about experiences trying to sleep on the gym floors, or in buses, what have you. I now realize that I was already having back problems, so I always lugged an air mattress with me. It wasn't very comfortable, but to me it was better than the floor. Since we had school buses, you could sleep on the floor pretty good or if you were skinny enough (which I was then!) in the luggage racks.

There was a lot of experimentation over the years before 5 became standard. About the second part of your question, are you referring to specific percussion section features vs the modern percussion licks in the context of the larger show?

You'd definitely be better off buying a used set from the marketplace here, eBay or Craigslist. I can't imagine these Trixon drums would be very durable, could hold any level of cranking, etc,

Is Dave Buzzminski still at PSU???

Keith, I'm sorry to see you go. You always write good topic starters on this board. But I certainly understand and respect your decision. Best of luck!!!

I have seen DCI corps at DCA shows. I don't like classic rock hence I don't need to waste time or money going to a classic rock concert for a refresher. A matter of taste is a matter of taste...

Those things that I posted the link too- I'm not even sure how you would play them. It is a bizarre set-up.

Well I did state I that I hadn't been to a DCI show in a few years, and my larger point was that I won't be back because I dislike the sound ( electronics).

Their six packs at least look normal. But look at this mess: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Trixon-Scholastic-Series-Marching-Tom-Set-of-5-/261095237718?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cca7d2856

The tic system has it's pluses as mentioned above: particularly for the elite corps. But for smaller/rookies (but then again, do these exist anymore?) it can be intimidating and create a certain tentativeness in approaching charts. Then there's also the debate over a line playing a bunch of difficult notes, but not executing as well versus the line playing easy charts cleanly.

I agree with the Op & Bryan. I haven't been to a DCI show in a few years because it's not entertaining to me; I hate the electronics, the obscure music selections, etc. Nothing against the performers or fans of DCI, but I only go to DCA shows. The music is more approachable, the shows more audience oriented, you can hear g hornlines and what a beautiful & distinctive sound they make.

Wait: Weren't the trombones supposed to be in this picture?

Personally I enjoy watching the smaller corps as well as the bigger ones. My favorite show last year was Fusion. If you take a long term view of the drama of drum corps, the rise of some corps; the decline in others-looking for bright spots, you can have a blast watching the smaller corps. So I don't necessarily need the top 5 units at each show to find it enjoyable or worthwhile.

I thought the order was correct. Reading & Caba both scored a bit low. Everyone else was fair. C2's show is good, but lacking something. There's little visual/ guard impact compared to corps scoring higher. I also noticed the battery a little /tentative with the drill/playing. Brass looked and sounded good better than Hurcs and maybe Empire. For C2 the talent is there, the question is how much they will improve. Cabs show is so elegant: my favorite of the night. They are strong in all captions. Empire didn't have their mojo last night. I expect to see improvement in the push toward finals. Hurcs battery weaker than in recent past. Hurcs guard still quality: but Bucs & cabs seem to have caught up. Fusions 30 brass sounded good even after c2s 50 something. Fusion's show is just plain fun.

When you consider the amount of folks doing drum and baton corps and drum and bugle corps; plus the fifes: Americans were marching in the 60s/70s/80s. I found a pic of my first drum line-Dan taught it. Gotta scan it and post.

COOOOOOL!!!!!

Drum Corps used to be a shocking experience for the fan. The sound was sooooo unique and powerful-even the small corps-because of the different timbres of the g horns compared to the traditional marching band brass. While I understand the cost benefit to switching to Bflat brass, I think that by moving to the band style instruments, drum corps lost a tremendous amount of distinctiveness. The activity certainly hasn't gained a bunch of new corps because of the switch. I feel the same way about the electronics. Junior drum corps used a brass/percussion line-up since time immemorial. Yeah I know the early horns didn't have 2 or 3 valves: but the sound was so similar that you had to be an expert (or brass player) to tell the early bugles from the latter ones. Anyone can tell the difference between bflat and g horns. It's that big of a difference. I also think it was a bad move to allow the synths, guitars and so on in DCI. It has altered the sound that was once so attractive to fans. The bflat brass and synths have removed some of drum corps distinctiveness and debased the unique sound. I also believe that from the 40s-80s drum and bugle corps were soooooo much better and different than the average HS band that folks were willing to go to shows because drum corps was something completely different. People seem to have forgotten (or weren't around) before say the 90s, most HS bands were show style-kind of like the traditionally black/collegiate style: high steppers, hacking drum lines, goofy dancing half-time shows, etc. In that context seeing even the smallest, most primitive drum corps was a revelation to the musicians and audience. Drum corps was light years ahead of HS band and these days, it's just not. As Cabs jr mentioned the communal/social aspect was/is important. Drum corps was about seeing kids-average kids, probably with no instruction and perhaps a modicum of talent-play like professionals. You could see Johnny from down the street (who used to be a hoodlum!) blow a horn like Louis Armstrong. Plus the selections of the past were universal-my students love when I play big band ( a common music style of past corps) videos-it's an easily enjoyed style. The music choices of today's corps is far less appealing to the average listener or fan. Now, to the music specialists, I'm sure it's great. But to the rest of us, it's just kind of out there.... Being more difficult or sophisticated is not always better. Although the playing and (in some respects) marching ability of today's corps is much better than yesteryear, it's also far less universally pleasing. I think of it this way-the old corps were like a popular publication like a novel, while the DCI of today is like a dry, jargon filled, specialist journal.