bhs alumni

its a failure in the way DCI doesn't market the product at all and everything always showcases the "big boys." its a failure in how few fans are in the seats for open class only shows before finals week. the fact that the cash flow might be in the positive actually surprises me because with so many of the corps being so small hurting for members and even some having to (in the past) pull people out of the crowds to put on the field to get to the 30 member minimum, and yes this has happened in previous years, it can at times seem hard to believe that the division is doing well...but a lot of this is on the individual corps not DCI as an organization, and you can tell how some are doing by the recent drop off of a few corps going inactive or ceasing operations.

i really doubt MACBDA is any threat to luring corps away...three corps participated in 2008. one was a DCA corps (kilties), one was a first year DCI group (Legends), and the Racine Scouts and it looks like the only one of last year's three returning to MACBDA this year is Kilties. 2007 the only group was Legends, which at that time wasn't a DCI approved corps. before that you have Capital Sound and Allegiance Elite, unfortunately (and not related to) neither of these groups exist anymore. however if circuits like this or SDCA pick up steam and grow, they could become a factor, but i still think if everyone (exuse the pun) "banded" together and moved to DCA that's probably the only way, but again with Colt Cadets, BDB (& BDC), and SCVC you would never get the entire division on board with that.

actually this post isn't as far fetched as some might think...though i will say adding "hearsay" might (not definitely will) get you involved. take this as more DCP rumor, but a former corps director (good friend of mine) once told me that DCP topics might have become subpoenaed as part of a potential lawsuit because of the rumors being spread about Cap Reg (before going inactive a couple years ago) and because information was shared that, if true, had huge rammifications against those in charge. of course this (to my knowledge) never happened, and that story has a happy ending as we all know CR is back, but it could happen

write letters! i wrote to my junior high teacher, congressman, president of the local bank (friend of the family), head of the all-district honor band, and possibly others...all i got was enough to cover my corps jacket, but it was something. a member of the corps i worked with in 2007 had his entire tour paid for by second camp by writing to his whole family.

haha, and of course that's always the way....things were really changed after 2003. (as previously discussed) they abolished the old rule after the 2002 season for div II corps to move up from finals, and what really made it hard was what to do about Pacific Crest? After competing as a div I corps in DCI-west since 2001, when Pac Crest made the decision to go to finals in 2003, they kinda fell into a trap...they couldn't go div I because the old rule was gone and they hadn't been to finals in '02 anyways, but the new rule about the competition committee wasn't suposed to take effect until the end of the 2003 season, so what to do? after many meetings and trips to DCI and letters of support from DCI-West and all its members, DCI finally said ok, go compete in Div I. now after confirming dates and writing all that, i forgot what it had to do with the point i wanted to make, but it brought back some good times....if i remember i will bring it back, but i know i had a point to make and this was all part of it, oh well, my bad.

enter Ohio State University Marching band......duck and cover

think of it more like male voice choir: t - trumpet t - mello b - baritone/euph b - tuba if you want to relate it to mixed choir just keep in mind the split parts per horn...generally: 3 trumpet parts, 2 melli ($1 to bill clark), 3 bari, 1 tuba...that's 9 voices right there

true but in your example remember: The Arizona Academy of the Performing Arts began in 2001, grew the operations for years, but the brass and percussion ensemble on the field in 2003 to exhibition and didn't begin the competitive drum corps unit until 2004, and than didn't move up to Div I until 2007 (and they actually were planning to return to div II for that year, but well it's a long story that i only have scant details of so i won't bore anyone). so it was after their first appearance at finals that they moved up, but it was their third year as a competitive DCI corps with years of building behind it. so yeah i'm pretty sure i can say with some certainty that a brand new group in its first year of existence wouldn't be able to become a World Class drum corps. even if it could prove strong financial backing, fine instruction and tons of stability as a group for the future, i think DCI would still want at least one year for the group to prove itself. that said, i highly doubt a group like that could even be ready in its second year...can it be done? probably, but that would probably take years of planning behind it. and keep in mind with the Academy...they applied for (div I) evaluation every year because they wanted to see how they were doing as an organization and get that feedback, again they weren't intending to go WC even after they were accepted but sometimes you gotta make the jump and see what happens

on staff with a corps a couple of years ago, i was asking for a marching tuba in C to make playing much easier for our soloist....a piece in D doesn't work all that well on a Bb horn (specially with a horn that is terrible in the tuning department)

could be that whoever updates the website just doesn't feel like it or has been asked to stop or something along those lines...when Capital Sound decided to go inactive the site was stripped of all internal links and just a public message was put up (and another one more recently) yet the webmaster is still out there somewhere. don't know the story of what's going on there, just noticed it. so perhaps something is similar with Spartans

true, but that being said, it is very unlikely that any corps would be allowed to participate in World Class as a first year corps (neigh impossible), and tough for a returning corps (depending on what was the cause for the inactivity and depending how well they proved themselves to DCI, yes I know Cascades are back as WC)

he's not talking about the moving up rule, he was talking about the "they had to compete in Div 2 because they were inactive for more than 2 years" rule. that being said, i still haven't confirmed that rule still exists, but yes the moving up for corps in the top 5 was abolished after 2002, but Cap Reg can start applying after this year if they desire...however...HOWEVA...i feel pretty confident in saying DCI would not approve them for WC action for a couple of years to make sure CR proves themselves that all the past baggage is indeed stowed (any flight attendants out there?) and everything is back on the up-and-up

his nephew, Paul LaFlamme Jr., is the one given credit for the information about Peter stepping down, and Paul is also the one with the "we" quote...the article should have just used first names as well, ha

while not exactly folding, i think taking two years off kinda eliminates Cap Reg from your argument here....glad to see them back though

well actually sweet pea is a good friend of mine.... to answer the other question...i think it is the goal of most corps to put a quality product on the field and to provide a positive experience for young adults. the want to go world class may be in the back of the mind, but i doubt it is the immediate goal of any new corps to become a world class corps off the bat.

but it IS up to the corps to decide they are ready to file the paperwork and try to move up

i find it hard to see that Legends, entering its second year of competition, could really be ready in such a short time. originally i was going to question Music City, but further research uncovered who they are, but has produced a different question....is there a connection between them and music city legend? both are from Nashville, and both have mostly the same name. either way, i find it harder to see them ready to move in 5-6 years seeing as (while pictures show great turn outs) they haven't even been approved yet by DCI of course i could be wrong about both, but i would say long shots as of now

"The piece was brought to the United States by the Cornell University Glee Club in 1970...The Ave Maria quickly gained popularity, most notably after becoming part of the repertoire of Chanticleer", an all-male chorus in San Francisco, and it has been used by Pacific Crest as its corps song for many years. part in quotes taken from wiki-pedia

guessin this will be closed soon, but the salute is to recognize the judges and the crowd as well as the smile. most salutes aren't that fancy at all expcept the few that have been the corps' signature salute for years, ala Cavies or Madison. btw: since i see you're new, i'm gonna let you in on a secret: they allow female drum majors now too!!

well after looking at the list of the open class corps... i'd say Cap Reg would probably be the best bet, but they would probably be scrutinized a little more than normal because of whatever caused them to go inactive (depending on what is true in the rumors) and they might have to do a lot to prove that it's all fixed and the corps will be around for a while. i know impulse was a season away from applying for moving up a few years ago but they would have to do some serious growth and secure themselves amongst the loads of other corps in the area. the new VK would probably be the setimental pick for old times sake, but if they're smart about it, they would want to take baby steps ala Academy to secure their position and not try to move too fast. not knowing too much about the other groups (not that i know all that much about those i mentioned)....i suppose Teal, Raiders, Citations or Memphis might be the other ones in the discussion, but i doubt we'll see a new world class corps for a while.

hasn't worked yet, why assume it could change?

i have always disagreed with groups "requiring" or recommending you get the same mouthpiece. the way i sound on my Schilke 67 or my Faxx Helleberg may be completely different from the way the person next to me in the line sounds on the exact same mouthpiece. it's always different player to player because everyone does something a little different. i know that BD has (or used to have) a book they have compiled on tuning for different conditions and they have measured every instrument to know exactly how far a tuning slide needs to be pulled even so much to have heard about "notches" on the horn. again this is not a good practice IMO because yes BD has very fine players, but again everyone is different and what works for one can't always work for everyone so there is never an exact science to it at all. and hey, if you were good enough to make the line on your piece, why go buy another one you may not use again?

no, many expected things would only get worse...however i haven't been on in a few days and haven't seen any of the other topics in this forum so my first reaction was: wow here it goes

false alarm i guess...website is back up, my bad...we now return you to your regularly scheduled topic

without even reading past the headline i can already point out a flaw with posting this article....1973 Boston Crusaders. i'll read and give my thoughts about the article when i have more time, but DCI was a baby at the time...now they would watch something like this closely and not allow the corps to field IF there is a hint of an unsuccessful season