JulesBry

And I'd rather be at home than complaining about something I paid $50+ to attend. And maybe nothing will change, but I'm at my wit's end. I've written letters before, and nothing happened. Short of leaving the activity, I don't see any other choice.

I don't hate BD. I just haven't liked several of their recent shows, and I really haven't liked that DCI has rewarded those same shows. I've loved many of their past shows, just none recently. Please don't put words into my mouth. I don't like the general direction DCI has taken of late. It's not just one corps. There are some good shows this year, but not as many as I've enjoyed in past years. BD is just the number one example (in more than one way) of what I don't like about DCI and the direction it seems to be trending.

Thanks. I'm glad someone enjoyed it. Perhaps it will end up winning more people to Drum Corps than it will chase away. I still stand by the idea that if this is the future of Drum Corps, I'll be happily stuck in the past. The saddest part is that there are several shows that I enjoy from this season. I just can't get past DCI's judges panning those shows in favor of ones that I find awful. I'm the one missing out in the long run, but I can't think of any other way to make the point, and it's way too much of an annoyance for me just to keep sitting through the disappointments. And for the record, I already miss drum corps. (Not so much the synths, amplification, and dance, but actual drum corps). :-)

Dear DCI, Over the past 15+ years, I’ve been a faithful fan. I’ve gone to at least one live event every year, save one. I've watched a theatrical presentation at least every other year. I’ve subscribed to the FanNetwork for the past two years. I’ve bought several DVDs and CDs from new releases to legacy collection DVDs. This year, I volunteered to serve as a DCI ambassador and hosted multiple DCI-watching parties at my house early in the season. However, I will be taking some time off from DCI, and I wanted to let you know why. I fell in love with drum corps because I loved the power of brass and percussion matched with beautiful visual designs. However, performances in recent years no longer highlight the qualities that made me such a rabid DCI fan. I didn’t like vocal elements, especially voice-overs, but I tolerated them (though a very few notable exceptions were well-planned and well-executed, including this year’s performance by Spirit). Even so, I bristled when it seemed that judges failed to reward excellent usage and/or penalize poor usage. I also object to the idea of a non-youth soundboard operator having so much control over what is supposed to be performances of a youth activity. Worse yet, I absolutely hate the idea of using synthesized sounds (how is it fair that a single key-press can overpower and/or cover an entire tuba section, for example?), and in almost every case, I still find them offensive, especially when, again, judges ignore blatantly tasteless applications (for example, the hideous patch that echoed the beautiful solo in the Cadets’ “Do You Hear What I Hear” this year). However, because of my love for brass, percussion, and drill, I’ve tolerated them, too. As this season wore on, I found myself caring less and less for drum corps. I watched fewer FanNetwork events. Instead of watching tonight’s semi-finals, I watched the Olympics, chatted on Facebook, and wrote this letter. A big part of my disappointment is the DCI judges’ continued approval of the Blue Devils’ show (following on the heels of several confusing, annoying, and critically acclaimed BD shows). Despite the many scatter drills, absurd theme, disjointed music, and general disregard for audience enjoyment, DCI’s judges have consistently rated them as the best show in the competition—this despite at least a few shows that seem equally difficult, clean, and stylistically unified, while presenting greater entertainment value and artistic quality. If Blue Devils 2012 is DCI’s picture of perfection, then DCI is no longer a place where I can feel at home. It is no longer an organization dedicated to brass, percussion, and drill. It is more concerned with synthesizers, amplification, and dance. When I want to see and hear such things (which is rare), I can find all of them in other places for a whole lot less money. When I want to see and hear brass, percussion, and drill, I no longer have a place to go—there are no DCA competitions in my area. Instead, I’ll go back and enjoy the great shows of the past via the FanNetwork (until my subscription runs out) and the DVDs in my collection. I will not be going to any DCI shows next season, I will not subscribe to the FanNetwork, and I will not buy any DVDs or CDs. After a year, if I find I’ve missed the activity, perhaps I’ll come back. If rules change, perhaps I’ll come back sooner. In summary, the great moments of Drum Corps have become fewer and farther between, while the tolerated annoyances have become more and more common, and I see no evidence that DCI is willing to do anything to shift the balance in the opposite direction. As a side note, I have made a point of asking other audience members their opinions, including new and old fans, of a variety of ages, in several different locations. I have found only one who found the Blue Devils’ show interesting (none used the word “entertaining”, and several described it with an expletive), and none who specifically complimented the synths. On the contrary, the most common description of them was something to be “tolerated”. On the other hand, everyone commented on big brass moments, blazing percussion features, and fast drill patterns. My survey is completely non-scientific, and I’m sure it will sound to you like I cherry-picked my respondants. Even I have been surprised by the uniformity of reactions, but I swear that what I’ve reported is exactly what I’ve heard. I know that this is a letter from a disgruntled former fan—something likely to be ignored—but I sincerely hope that the DCI membership will take it to heart. I am not the only one who shares this opinion, and I don’t think I’m even in a minority. Perhaps others will stick around for a few more years, but in this era of limited financial support for arts organizations, I can’t imagine that losing even a few long-time, dedicated fans is an ideal organizational model. Furthermore, I miss the DCI that lit so many fans on fire for so many years. I long for the day when I will be able to feel that energy and excitement again. Sincerely, Julian Bryson Poll update: I eliminated one of the answers, and I sincerely hope those who chose that answer will now choose a different one. I wish I had never included that answer, but I just didn't think it through well enough from the start. Sorry for that. For the sake of accuracy in figuring future percentages, there were approximately 40 votes for "Not really, things have changed, but I don't think they're as bad as he says" when that answer was removed. And before you jump on me, my purpose in removing it was not to inflate the percentages for other answers. Those who completely agree with me should still be in the neighborhood of 15% (not 20% as it now shows).

I was surprised to see Crown marching a different drill to their show during the clinic performance part. Kudos to them for learning "extra" stuff in the name of music education. Even if it was simple and easy, it still took time away that could have been spent rehearsing and preparing for finals.

Every time I hear the synth bass lick, I think, "how much cooler would it be to hear the low brass play that?" Especially since the low brass isn't playing anything else when that lick is happening.

Then again, when have the Cavies NOT had strange guard uniforms? As much as I liked Machine, you can hardly call those outfits "normal". And Spin Cycle is my favorite show of all time, but I have to watch it on the high camera to avoid close-ups of the guard. No one should wear those colors together. :-)

I've been hoping for a new ending. Honestly, I think that's the big piece this show is missing. The reason the fans aren't going crazy for it is that it doesn't have much of the classic "Green Machine" drill. There are a couple of hints at it during the pre-show, and one substantial bit about halfway through on the right side of the field. But the ending is kinda boring. If they rewrite it with a classic Cavies ending, I think you'll see people throwing babies. They may not end up in 2nd, but I think that alone would keep them in the TOC.

Actually, I think it has more to do with limited rehearsal time and audience wishes than it does with composers. I know plenty of composers who continue to write symphonies, but no one is willing to play them because they're too difficult to fit into limited rehearsal schedules (longer rehearsals require more money and longer hours, neither of which is available in most orchestras) and the music often isn't anything their patrons want to hear. When composers come up with pieces that sound really interesting and aren't overly difficult to play, they have much more likelihood of being performed. Every symphony I know premiers a new piece or two every season. Some premiere a new piece on every concert. Maybe the plethora of new music is also a contributing factor to the demise of innovation in the orchestra. In any case, DCI can learn from orchestras. Namely, if you ignore your audience's wishes, your money dries up, but if you never push ANY boundaries, you get stale and your audience gets bored. It's a balancing act. Currently, the pendulum has swung toward pushing too many boundaries (in my opinion), and WW would be the straw that breaks many audience members' backs.

And if all string quartets did exactly what the Kronos Quartet does/did, what would that do to the sustainability of the string quartet as an art form? My guess is that the same people who go to see the Kronos Quartet might see a couple more shows, but all the people who don't enjoy the Kronos Quartet, but do enjoy more traditional quartets will stay home. You wouldn't gain audience members, you would lose them. If you add woodwinds to drum corps, you'll keep the people who already like that instrumentation while losing those who prefer the current set up. You don't gain anything, but you lose a lot. Except that I know all kinds of performers--including vocalists, woodwind players, dancers, and thespians--who like brass and percussion on the field. They don't like woodwinds in marching bands. They don't like esoteric shows. They go to DCI because they want to hear ear-splitting brass and fiendishly difficult percussion performed while people run around a field making interesting pictures. Everything else either enhances or gets in the way of that core mission. Maybe everyone I know is part of the minority, but the odds are against that.

Because those are available in all kinds of places. Brass and percussion is not. In short, those things are not Drum Corps, and if they become a part of DCI, the world will lose a certain level of variety.

You don't see instrumentation as a fundamental change, but I do. And there are nearly 40 years of DCI history (and in some cases 50 more years of pre-DCI history) on my side. At no point before the advent of a&e did any corps legally use any instruments other than brass and percussion. That's what made drum corps unique. We may argue over valves or no, bugles or no, keys, pit or marching timpani, but at the end of the day, it has always been brass and percussion in some form or another. Synths changed that. Woodwinds will change it further. You may like the sound of synths and woodwinds, and that's fine, but they aren't a part of drum corps. If they become a part of DCI, I'll be watching DCA shows or staying home watching Legacy videos. And I'll be very sad to no longer be able to enjoy the live, powerful sound and inspiring visual designs that drum corps used to provide.

I've been thinking this since the beginning of the thread. If you allow woodwinds, but don't change the size of the corps or the number of corps, you don't involve MORE people. You just involve DIFFERENT people. That doesn't grow anything, but it changes everything.

Maybe, but when baseball went on strike in the 90s, I said I'd never watch it again. Guess what, I've never watched it again.

Really? Which is more creative, figuring out how to play Rhapsody in Blue without a piano or playing the original piano part (on a synth)? Which is more creative, trying to use several different percussion instruments to create the sound of a hurricane, or pushing a key on a synth to do the same thing? Which is more creative, playing Holst's First Suite as written, but on a football field, or transcribing it for brass instruments to play it (in non-idomatic ways)? Instrumentation is a major factor of creativity. (Slightly off topic, but I had to cringe when the Cadets used a synth to play sleighbells. Really? You couldn't bring along real sleighbells? You replaced one of the easiest, least expensive instruments with a synth?)

I'm no fan of George Hopkins, but I will give him credit for this. I can't tell you the number of times I said "I wish they would just shut up and play!" during the voice-over years. And now, I'm again a tentative Cadets fan (meaning I like their last several shows, but I'm always nervous they're going to do something ridiculous again). I used to respect and even like BD shows (I watched 2003 again tonight and really enjoyed it). I'd love to be able to enjoy them again.

First, anyone who accidentally makes quiche should not be in the kitchen. That simply doesn't happen. :-) Second, in this case, it didn't work for the audience. That's the point. The judges may love a show, but if the audience doesn't, over time, the audience will quit paying to see the show. And if there is no audience, there will be no drum corps. If you want to help the students, the best way possible is to build the audience. And you do that by giving the audience things they want to see. You can still stretch them, but you can't do an entire show where everything is a stretch. And you certainly can't do several all-stretch shows in a row. And worse yet, you can't have 12 corps doing all-stretch shows for several years in a row. Right now, we're somewhere between the first and second levels--one corps doing mostly stretch shows for several years in a row. The further DCI goes down that row, the less likely the audiences are to pay for future shows.

This is my point exactly. Kudos!

Another good example. I have seen shows where it worked well, but I've seen many where it didn't. You're right about the number of people doing it, though. Anyone who thinks there are no lemmings in DCI is unfortunately fooling themselves.

It wasn't your story I was referring to. Also, I didn't mean to imply that we should only respond when we think that's what the kids want. Moreso that we should help and encourage kids to be the best they can be. Most importantly, though, show designers should create products that lead to the kinds of magical responses that make any artistic endeavor rewarding. I don't think respectful pity applause rises to that level, but maybe I'm wrong.

I agree in part. The idea of branching out into new musical opportunities is excellent. However, half of the fun (in my opinion) is the adaptation. Why use synths and samples to present the original on a football field? If you want that sound, go hear a concert of the original artists or buy a CD. What makes Drum Corps special (or at least used to) was hearing a piano concerto (or string and woodwind parts) played by brass and percussion. It's a new twist to an old idea. I would love to hear more world music come to DCI, and there are a ton of classics, jazz, and pop tunes that no one has touched. If we want diversity, let's tap into those sources and see what happens. There's still WAY too much out there to have to go to synths just for the sake of diversity. (As a side note, I'd love to hear Le Jeune's Musique Mesuree style or Janequin's programmatic chansons translated into brass and percussion--the originals are so rhythmic, I think the right arranger would have a blast with it.)

One that comes immediately to mind is the Bluecoats version of Summertime from 1998. I still find myself singing along (even when the recording isn't playing). And whenever I talk about arranging, that's an example I'm quick to share. The Glassmen's approach to Beethoven's 9th also strikes me as a really cool example of taking an original and adding an artistic commentary. I'm not sure I would call it "better" than the original, but certainly different in an engaging way. I think SCV's take on the Planets from this year may turn out to be really memorable, but it's still too early to tell. I just remember being impressed by the new twists. (Again, perhaps not better than the original, though) After hearing the Scouts' Maleguena, Lecuono's (and to some extent Stan Kenton's) versions just don't carry the same punch (and I've played the piano solo version for several recitals--it's great fun to play, but not nearly as much fun as it is to hear when the Scouts play it). And then there's Copland. Appalachian Spring, anyone? Shaker Tune? Ballet for Martha? (I wonder if SCV paid the Copland estate or a Shaker Village when they went to procure rights). :-)

...he says after only 3,558 posts. :-)

I disagree. Here are a few examples of things that one corps did and then lots of corps did and/or things that became legal and were immediately picked up by lots of groups. In some cases, "every" group did it together or followed suit very quickly. In other cases, "more" groups did it, but not everybody. Either way, there was an increase in the usage of whatever was "new". Some of them were changes for the better. I would argue that some of them were not. Asymmetrical drill Multi-key horns Kevlar snare heads Drum "racks" (sometimes moving and spinning racks) and/or multiple drum sets Marching timpani Sideline pit instruments Synths Giant props (Red Poppy/Chess/etc.) Uniform/costume changes Dancing/calisthenics/horn flares Narration And ironically, what you cite as an example did happen. Look at Crown's and the Bluecoats' shows this year. They both have a good amount of geometrical drill, and they are neither the first nor only corps to attempt it. And I would argue that the Cavaliers' geometric drill was the direct descendant of the Cadets' "frantic drill", which was a direct descendant of SCV's asymmetric drill. Given time, I'll bet we could come up with a far longer list of "innovations" that were quickly or immediately adopted by lots of corps. The one that concerns me most is that since BD started "pushing the envelope" in 2008, a FEW (I recognize it is only a few) corps have followed suit, most recently, the Blue Knights show this year (IMHO). Is this a trend? It's too early to tell. Certainly, it isn't the tidal wave that many of the innovations on my list were, but the ramifications are far more serious. A&E ticked off a lot of people, mainly those of us who have been around a long time and enjoy a more traditional sound. I'm sure a few fans left when corps dropped the militaristic content, started marching beyond the sidelines, or added a pit. However, my experience with BD 2008, 2010, 2011, and 2012 is that people near me at performances have either not understood or flat out hated the shows. Maybe I need to sit with more diverse company, but I'm nervous that if the BD style catches on, there will be a lot of people who stop supporting Drum Corps. And it won't take 100% compliance to keep people at home. I know if 4 corps out of 8 were performing BD-style shows, I wouldn't drive 100 miles and pay $30 to see it. And if 4 out of 12 finalists adopt it, I'm not sure I would buy a $65 Fan Network pass or a $100 DVD to watch it. (The other 8 corps would have to be absolutely incredible.) Maybe I'm over-playing my point, but that's why I said potential long-term danger, not guaranteed death of DCI. I'm sounding the warning, not prophesying the demise. As I've said before, I would love to love the Blue Devils again, but I can't bring myself to enjoy the product they're currently putting on the field.

Either that, or you'd clarify that "themes" have absolutely no impact on the judges' scores. But how can a general effect judge completely ignore a theme? No one's that impartial.