Robert Kirby

Preston Scout House, September 10, 1965, 66.300 + September 17 1965, 72.000 + September 18, 1965 72.000=210.300, 70.100 average... Lather, rinse, repeat... Robert

As a fan, my preference would certainly be to see the corps play themselves off. It's actual playing and marching. Robert

I'll give you the same general advice I give to the juniors in our corps. I'll also give you the same caveats. If there's a DCI corps you love march there, at least your age-out year. But... Not if it means you'll miss a shot at a scholarship to university. Not if it means you'll jeopardize the financial stability of yourself or your family. Not if it means skipping a year of formal education. Not if it means missing your only chance to work with a leader in your field. Not if it means missing a class in a rigid course of study, thereby delaying your graduation by two years. You get the idea. Best wishes! Robert

In order to avoid analysis paralysis I'm restricting myself to unis of competitive corps I've seen in the last two years: Kilts and Cabs are absolutely top of the heap. ES, Govies and MCL are also very good. Everything else is much of a muchness. That last remark says nothing about the corps, just my opinion of the unis. Robert

Never pick a fight with anyone who buys electrons by the barrel. Robert

It does make sense, even to me. Thanks again for your remarks! Robert

No worries, stuff happens. I suppose we'll just have to appear at more shows if we want to make sure more people see us. I do feel bad for you, missing me leaning into the wind as I marched. Six foot four, 300+ pounds, with contra on shoulder, leaning into the wind. <SHUDDER> Thanks for taking the time to offer your thoughts, Robert

Thanks for the notes on movement! That is exactly the kind of feedback I think all corps value, or at least they should, even if supporters whine and moan. Thanks also for your other remarks. If we entertained, we won! I'm completely not a visual person, so could you amplify a little if you have time? For instance, we had some segments where a portion of the corps marched at one-half tempo or one-third tempo while the remainder of the corps marched at straight time. Do you think that this feels to the spectator like a block of stop-time instead of a block of motion? Any other remarks you think might inform us? Regarding people jumping your case, I don't know what to say. What is the point of griping at people giving of their time to offer your corps feedback? You either think it is valid and therefore valuable or you don't. You do what makes sense for you, but I valued this review. Thanks, Robert

Reading Buccaneers, an all-age corps from Reading, PA, used four in this years show. They may be letting one or more of them go. Best wishes, Robert

For the three years I've been in the corps, that's when we've rehearsed. The impression I have is that's been the corps practice day for years. Interestingly, we've practiced in churches through the winters. I don't know whether we would have better results if, for example, we went through the winter having a weekend-long camp once a month instead of two half-day rehearsals. I imagine it's difficult as a corps director to balance the varying needs of high schoolers, college students and recent graduates, adults with young families and those established in their jobs. And then there are goobers like me who have no set schedule. Best wishes to y'all! Robert

My faulty memory says... One or two rehearsals a month September through December, 5 to 6 hours each. First, we were rehearsing for our appearances at high school band shows, then trying out new repertoire and finally preparing for the Christmas parade that ultimately got canceled by the town. Every other week January through May, with a little juggling to get around conflicts; six hours each, I believe. We did a stand-still at a preview show for our VFW sponsors sometime in May. This year we added a block of M & M fundamentals to our rehearsals. It really helped when we went to the field. May 'til now it has been every Sunday, 6 to 8 hours on the field. We did four DCI shows, and are delighted to be headed to DCA. Robert

We have just learned that, due to no electricity in the Comfort Inn West, we have been moved to the Riverside Radisson. I&E and Mini Corps Friday right there! The bad news is the rooms only have one king size bed and 1 roll out bed, and only for Friday and Saturday, so some creative rooming may happen. On the whole, Robert

Thanks to both of you! We came last year as a mini-corps, and you better believe some cats made memories that will last for years. But our objective for several years has been to get to DCA as a field corps, and this year it happens. It was an "interesting" year, in the Chinese sense, but we are ready for Saturday. 84 hours, 34 minutes and counting. Robert

"Class A Preliminaries - Order of Appearance: 2:00 - Excelsior 2:17 - Cincinnati Tradition..." I seriously teared up a little bit when I saw this. 95 hours, 5 minutes and counting. Robert

"Round on the ends and high in the middle..." 97 hours, 13 minutes and counting. Robert

Angels and ministers of grace!! Do you know where you store that many GG horns? In the contrabassment, naturally. Cincinnati Tradition is on G horns, although from year to year we may have someone come to the corps that is not comfortable in G-land who will play a Bb or F horn. These (typically) younger folks seem eager to drive a g horn in subsequent years. Robert

Do you mean this corps? They are a junior corps from the Music City. Robert

According to the DCI scores page: Monday, August 2, 2010, in Centerville, OH All age corps 1 Cincinnati Tradition 62.550 A four point increase from Fairfield, despite the handicap of having me in uniform for the first time this season. Robert

I can tell you what the perceptions of DCA and of senior corps were among my friends when I was a "junior." So we are talking about the perceptions in Northern Kentucky, that's Greater Cincinnati for you geographically challenged folks, in the late 70s to early 80s. Those of you from the northeast should put down any beverages now. I will not be held responsible for any ruined keyboards or monitors. 1. We were so unfamiliar with DCA that we weren't entirely certain what the initialism stood for. I think we eventually saw a Drum Corps World or Drum Corps News article or ad that spelled out "Drum Corps Associates," but I seem to recall that "Drum Corps, Adult" and "Drum Corps America" were in the running for a while. 2. It was formed in imitation of DCI. 3. As far as senior corps go, they aren't in this part of the country. 4. They aren't any good. I don't mean not as good as the top few DCI corps, I mean NO STINKIN' GOOD. I believe the expression we heard was "beat and blast brass bands." One of our crew had been to George Parks' Drum Major Academy, and we agreed that George was mondo cool, but we couldn't quite imagine how he fit in with the rest of the DCA world. 5. Drum corps is an activity created for kids our age. Senior corps came later. 6. The members are all adults. It never would have occurred to us that any senior corps would have members our age. I'll let it go at this. In addition to all these things we "knew," all of which are false, the list of stuff we didn't know would have been to long to list. We had no historical sense, no sense of the richness of our activity. I hope things have changed some. My interactions with the young people in my own corps suggests that they may have. Robert

Oooh '79 US open! I don't suppose there's a picture of the Golden Knights of Southgate, Kentucky? Would love to see it. Robert

"SineWave, party of 21, your table is ready." We went to DCA Nats last year for the first time. We went as a mini-corps and had a GREAT time. I'm sure y'all will enjoy your "maiden voyage. Robert

I can't speak to whether the situation used to be different, but out here in the Midwest, we pay for the privilege of being in a parade. Robert

Are there any pictures of these monsters? Am I the only would who would like to try one? Robert

Close, it's Bellefontaine, Ohio. Pronounced, in good mid-western fashion, <bell-fountain>. A nice little town. Robert

http://www.derbycityknights.org/ Robert