rmurrey74

I agree. I would have not missed a rehearsal for graduation. It was pointless.

Is this a joke? That is just ridiculous.

You're right. From everything I've heard, Brian is a wonderful corps director. I wonder if Sal would return to Glassmen? hmm....

Exactly! We would even take our horns and rehearse on our own at laundry mats.

And there are plenty of corps like that if that's what you want your summer to be. Why make every other corps conform that that type of schedule when there are many people that enjoy the intense long rehearsals? For me and most of my friends that I marched with, that was one of the reasons we wanted to join a drum corps. Because we would rehearse like machines with other people that wanted to do the same thing and create an amazing show because of it. I have all off season to go sight seeing.

Also, winning is not everything in division 1 so that blanket statement is untrue. I marched in a very good top 12 corps that never mentioned winning, never hung up recaps, and never talked about our competitive results. We were out to put out the best show we could every single night.

I would have hated it if rehearsals were limited to 10 hours. I often wished we would have rehearsed later into the evening. This was drum corps and I wanted to do drum corps, not have some extra free days.

Wow, just got the CD's. They are really soft! I have my car volume cranked all the way up to just hear them normally. The quality is decent, volume is terrible.

No, they're not required to follow those requirements, but the drum corps food has better nutritional value than McDonalds, Wendy's, Denny's, etc.... Every meal that my corps served had the nutritional information printed in the corps meal planning book that they used.

Fine, use 58. I also counted the move in period. That's where 90 came from. That's still $870. More than what my tour fees would have been.

It's also a benefit of tour. I loved that I didn't have to worry about what I was going to eat for the summer. I had enough to worry about with my show. Sometimes the attractiveness of drum corps is not just performing, it's the ability to get away from real life for a short period of time.

You also still did not answer the other question. How does the corps eat when there's nothing around the rehearsal or show site?

Maybe for fast food, but you're saying a decent meal at a normal restaurant which on the extreme low end would probably be at least $5. Even at $15 a day for all 3 meals plus a snack (which again, $15 would be on the extreme low end) that would be about $1350 a member for 90 days of tour. When I marched, tour fees were $600. How does your math work?

A majority of the kids marching today are not smart enough to always eat healthy. That's reality. Stop in a truck stop after a show while a corps is gassing up. Count how many of the kids are buying healthy food and how many are buying junk food. Rarely will you see someone getting something healthy. I've witnessed this every summer for the past 4 summers. Many corps have put in rules to not allow anyone to buy anything at rest areas because of this (and also time). College kids are smart enough to eat better? This was the total opposite when I was in college. We ate the cheapest food we could find. I ate better before college.

You didn't answer the question. You say that CR really didn't need to provide food, but what about rehearsal venues or dismal show sites? The last time I toured, a majority of the places where we stayed had NOTHING around them. How does this work? The corps jumps on the busses every day during lunch to go to the local mall? 2 hours later, they start rehearsing again? Not feasible at all. I would never have marched if I had to worry about my own meals. As a college student, I wouldn't have been able to afford it. Back then, I would not have been smart enough to eat healthy every meal. Most likely I would buy the cheapest food I could find. I have a feeling most cash strapped members currently marching would do the same thing. And of course there are meals that aren't as healthy as others. I'm sure they may also be some of the favorites. They're not being served everyday.

I can't imagine this ever working! For one thing, it would be more expensive. I marched in a corps that fed us extremely well. There was always food left over. Even with all this food, buying in bulk, and making it themselves, the actual cost of the meal ended up being around $1.25 per member. Secondly, although I missed fast food, I can't imagine eating it every night. At least with my corps (and I know of others) there was a nutritionist that designed the meals. I sometimes didn't like some of the meals, but they were all, for the most part, balanced. This is extremely important for the type of activity that these kids do. You can't just give everybody money and expect them to eat smart every night. Div 1 - 60 minutes? right. Eating at the show site...Hot dogs and pizza every night? I can't see how this would work at all.

I should have said album....meaning CD's. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12093815/

By the way, I teach a high school drummer that just bought the DCI CD's for the first time. Why? Because they were $19 and not the $29 or $39 that they used to be. When I first learned about drum corps and bought CD's, I only listened to the top 12 because that's where I was going to march. I would have loved to have bought my cd's for $19. Maybe that's wrong, but that's reality for a lot of kids these days.

I can't believe this is such a big deal. They're all still available. CD's are going slowly going away. Since digital music has come around, CD sales are down. Shame on DCI for using current technology and not wasting money on making extra CD's that will sit in inventory for years.

I saw a marching band in the mid-90's using a string section. They were amplified. I can't remember the name of the school, but it's been done before. I also remember two others with solo violins. There was an indoor drumline last year that also used a string section (unsuccessfully because they later found out it was illegal).

Number 4 here

I would love to see some stats (I doubt they exist) which showed how many "locals" actually attended a show in their hometown during finals week. The newspaper articles and local tv exposer is good, but I wonder if many people actually ever attend a show because of it.

Terrance, are you RC_Stinger? I noticed the xanga link in your signature.

I've been to the last three finals at Madison. While the city is decent and the weather is usually great, I'm not sure where I'm seeing this history? Have you been there Conner? I was a little disappointed in the crowd at finals this year (since it's such a "great" drum corps city) and the stadium has uncomfortable seats and it really isn't an impressive facility. At least for me, it seems like it's an expensive place to fly into. Is it great because the bars next store have welcome DCI signs? I would hate to have finals in Madison for 10 years if it was a choice between Madison and Indy. We're getting a state of the art facility. There are numerous great restaurants and bars within walking distance. There are a lot more great band programs in Indiana and Ohio then there are in Wisconsin. That is not going to be a negative for the attendence. I don't know. Maybe I'm missing something. -Rick

I heard from one of the members that they sent in Fred Morris. (New Troopers Director)