Jump to content

doylejd

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    165

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Posts posted by doylejd

    Bluecoats Drumline Lot Warmup Method

    in DCI World Class Corps Discussions

    Posted

    No decent DCI drumline warms up to someone clicking sticks all summer. Why would anyone want to do that and not have the accuracy instead of a met? No one wants to change what they've done all season for the last three most important shows of the summer.

    That is not true. There are dozens of videos of Paul Rennick lines having someone click sticks in front of them all the way up to finals, including years when they won the Sanford. Ellis Hampton does this as well.

    • Like 1

    Phantom's Percussions future....

    in DCI World Class Corps Discussions

    Posted

    Shame it didn't work out for Shane. At first, looking from the outside, it seemed like a good fit.

    I wonder what kind of carrot could bring Jim Casella back into the game? His stuff is absolutely made for Phantom - by far the most "musical" drum writing I've ever heard / seen in DCI.

    Mike

    Absolutely! See if you can get the old team back together from early 2000s Vanguard. Jim would be the best choice I can think of.

    My second thought is that Brian Mason isn't doing much writing nowadays either. His 2001 line was pretty good and, if memory serves, was pretty close in score to a really good SCV line and an even better BD line.

    • Like 1

    Front Ensemble Audition

    in Percussion Planet

    Posted

    -Work on your timing with a met. The front ensemble is not exempt from perfect time and there always seems to be one person who hasn't learned that who shows up to audition.

    -Make sure you are not just practicing scales, but also ways to move through them - chromatic, circle of fifths, circle of fourths. Also, learn your modes.

    -If there is a packet, know it backwards and forwards. Have your technique set as close to the description as possible, but still be prepared to make changes on the fly.

    -Finally, this is important, if you don't get offered the instrument you want to march, march anyway. You'll learn more playing glockenspiel or synth than you will playing video games all summer, and you'll be much closer to that marimba or vibe spot next year.

    Good luck!!

    Drums 2013

    in DCI World Class Corps Discussions

    Posted

    I imagine the Phantom contract was because of Paul Rennick, and perhaps now that deal has expired and the new Caption Head is a Pearl guy (that's my assumption).

    Yes and no. Shane was a Dynasty artist when he took the caption head role at Phantom, but has long used Pearl Drums with MCM. When Phantom made the switch this year he did as well.

    Glassmen have an opportunity to reinvent the way things are done

    in DCI World Class Corps Discussions

    Posted

    You're right on every point. Apparently En929 is a bit sensitive about DCA vs DCI and is looking to (re-)start that tired old argument. Your point regarding the experience of marching with performers in the same age group is right on target.

    I think the "do 1 regional and you qualify for finals" is a pretty cool idea. But you skipped one item! The big difference between DCI and WGI: WGI runs everything and it's pay to play. You pay to join, pay to compete, and pay to go to finals. Those costs are containable for an indoor venue -- not sure the idea scales to outdoor/summer time. Maybe it would -- haven't really thought it all through.

    That is something I hadn't thought of. For a standard one day show, WGI charges roughly $300 for a group to participate. For a regional of twenty groups, that is a cool $6000 in their pockets. If DCI charged the A Class groups for these shows in a similar manner, surely it would ease the burden of hosting said show. In fact, it would give DCI a reason to promote the new class!

    Now I have no idea of the costs of an outside venue, but it wouldn't seem difficult to try...

    Glassmen have an opportunity to reinvent the way things are done

    in DCI World Class Corps Discussions

    Posted

    You are looking for arguments that do not exist. I never said DCI members enjoy the joy of music more than DCA members. I said that DCI provides an opportunity to focus on the joy of music amongst their peers, something that DCA does not. Young people act different among other young people than they at when there are adults present. Based on my years of teaching I gather that many of them prefer the company of their peers in a situation like drum corps. There are always exceptions of course, but how many times do we see a kid go to DCA for experience, march DCI for a couple of years and return to DCA when he or she ages out? If the experiences were as similar as you are saying they are this would never happen. The person would just march DCA.

    DCI offers something more, and it isn't just being gone for the entire summer. It is the change in the environment.

    That’s just not true. DCA members “focus on the joy of music amongst their peers” too. Why would the enjoyment amongst friends and all that be any different in DCA? Heck, that’s a reason people join drum corps besides playing the music; honing skills, strives toward excellence, and the enjoyment of the drum corps activity itself. I’ve actually been in one of those groups and to me it honestly wasn’t that much different! The kids didn’t give a darn whether adults were around or not. They did what they did and did what kids do! Everyone was practicing and performing like what all do in drum corps. How many times do we see kids go to DCA to get experience to march DCI? ALL THE TIME!!! When I was in a DCA corps, half the kids in there were marching in the DCA corps just so that they can have enough experience or get the skills they need to march their age-out year in DCI and the corps gave them a venue for that because they didn’t have any other place to get the skills (for example, the DCA corps was closer to home, etc). There were other kids who got into the DCA corps and stayed in! “Why go anywhere else and I can get the same experience and march as much as I want, do what I enjoy and not have put up with that about age out stuff and “why waste talent?” etc.” is what some said)! And by the way, some DCA corps DO kick ###. Go see some of their shows!!

    I am not sure if you are just choosing to read what you want or if you are just reading through my posts without taking the time to comprehend them, but this is the second time you have attacked me for something I have not said, and at one point you actually agree with me. Let me make my points very clear:

    - There is a difference between a young adult and an adult. They are not peers. They are of different age groups and act differently around members of their same age group than they do around members of a different age group. If you disagree with this, okay, but It is my opinion formed on my own anecdotal evidence.

    - I know kids go to DCA to get experience to march DCI. I said that in my post - the post that you quoted. What I also said is that obviously there is a difference in the DCI experience from the DCA experience in the eyes of the youth. As for the kids who just marched DCA, I mentioned them too when I said "there are exceptions of course."

    - I never questioned the ability of a DCA corps to "kick ###." I enjoy many DCA shows each and every year from the comfort of my home as there are no shows within a reasonable distance of me.

    If you are looking to have an argument, it is very easy to find a thread that Stu has posted in (I jest, I jest), but I would prefer to have a civil discussion about what we can do to fix DCI as opposed to what DCA is already doing. I have proposed my model of change, and if you have a better idea I would very much like to hear it so we can discuss it. I am quite passionate about this activity and wish for it to be around still (in whatever form that might be) when my children reach marching age. I apologize for any misunderstanding that I may have caused.

    • Like 1

    Glassmen have an opportunity to reinvent the way things are done

    in DCI World Class Corps Discussions

    Posted

    Who says the members in DCA don't march drum corps for the same reasons and don't have as much fun as those in the DCI circuits do?? The DCA circuits DO have fun!!!! They have A LOT of fun. And trying to say that DCI members can focus on the "joy of music" more than the DCA corps do is just completely untrue. And how can the perception be that much different? For one thing, people are people. Whether mature or immature the whole spectrum exists in DCA too! Nevertheless, people march DRUM CORPS (and I emphasize DRUM CORP) whether DCI, DCA, DCE, DCJ, etc. because they enjoy the activity or want to improve on their skills, etc. So in that aspect, I don't think DCA is any much different except for the age requirements and DCA rehearses mostly on the weekends; their schedules are shorter than those in DCI, and members in DCA can march as much as they want. But the drum corps aspect and reasons people march drum corps are generally all the same.

    You are looking for arguments that do not exist. I never said DCI members enjoy the joy of music more than DCA members. I said that DCI provides an opportunity to focus on the joy of music amongst their peers, something that DCA does not. Young people act different among other young people than they at when there are adults present. Based on my years of teaching I gather that many of them prefer the company of their peers in a situation like drum corps. There are always exceptions of course, but how many times do we see a kid go to DCA for experience, march DCI for a couple of years and return to DCA when he or she ages out? If the experiences were as similar as you are saying they are this would never happen. The person would just march DCA.

    DCI offers something more, and it isn't just being gone for the entire summer. It is the change in the environment.

    Glassmen have an opportunity to reinvent the way things are done

    in DCI World Class Corps Discussions

    Posted

    DCA?

    Isn't that comparable to the WGI model, if so this already exists. And for better or worse, DCA drum corps isn't as popular as DCI drum corps. While financially it "makes sense" to continue to grow DCA in other states you can't create a corps simply based on it's economic viability. You need kids that want that experience and I think that a lot of kids aren't looking for a weekend only drum corps experience... hmm...

    There is a clear distinction between the environments of DCA and DCI from the top down. The experience feels different with adults in the mix, as is the perception of the activity. Part of the fun of being in these youth activities is getting to be immature and focused only on the joy of music in a world that is causing kids to grow up faster all of the time. Having older people, even if they are freshly aged-out, changes that. As long as DCA remains all-age, it is not the solution to DCI's problem.

    The regional problem is another issue with DCA. A reason I believe my idea would work is that DCI already has a national tour infrastructure in place. There are regionals that are actually split up amongst various regions in the US and dozens of local shows with an even further reach. It would be much easier for a group to attach to one of these shows than to book it across the country for even one weekend.

    I guarantee you kids would be down for a weekend-only experience if it was youth focused. One only needs to look at Surf and C2 to prove it.

    Glassmen have an opportunity to reinvent the way things are done

    in DCI World Class Corps Discussions

    Posted

    Great post, I'll just use it as a jumping off point. There was a time when drum corps was all volunteer, or mostly so. It was different then of course. What will happen to WGI when a line decides they are going to all move in together and play every day? Maybe they'll make enough money to pay for someone to run the organization full time. Maybe they'll be able to put so much time and money into shows that they start winning more than others. Probably one or two other corps will ease into the full time staff and money raising thing. Maybe the corps with the money will attract the best instructors and players. Can't take a whole winter off to march? Go march Open Class then....or don't march at all.

    It's a stretch, but in 20 years will World drum lines have $250K budgets, and if you don't spend the cash you just can't compete? Americans are competitive by nature, bigger better faster stronger, win win win. I'm rambling now, but this is what drum corps has become. Those that can't play the game have to quit the game.

    I would assume that many groups already have budgets in that vicinity, and I know for a fact that some of the top World Class WGI lines have people take a semester off of school to move to a house nearby with other members. The way WGI addresses this problem is that the classes are structured off of the level of skills attempted in a show. It's the reason I can take a bunch of kids who have never marched indoor, rehearse half as much as other groups, borrow instruments and still be competitive in the activity: WGI encourages groups of our size and skill level. If a group becomes a game breaker, they get bumped up. The people in World Class are consistently pushing the boundaries of what a drumline is and can do, and for those twenty-five or so directors who want to mixed up in that, they have an avenue. But my kids, on a much lower level competitively, have an avenue to compete and feel successful as well. The same cannot be said for DCI.

    Glassmen have an opportunity to reinvent the way things are done

    in DCI World Class Corps Discussions

    Posted · Edited by doylejd

    So if you aren't aware, the vast majority of WGI percussion is run in a true volunteer capacity. This goes all the way from the lowest of A Class up to the multi-year World Class champs Music City Mystique. The main thing that makes this possible though is the fact that rehearsals and contests only take place on the weekends and the staff is located close enough to drive out every week. As a director of an independent program over multiple years, I put in about ten to twenty hours into the program during the week and ten to twenty hours on the weekend. I am able to do this because I live within an hour of our rehearsal sites and can hold a full-time job during the week. There is absolutely no way that I could sustain this lifestyle if touring was in the equation.

    I would propose that if DCI wants to keep the class model that they have based on touring and revenue, they add an additional third class. However, unlike what was expected of Div. III groups, the new, let's call them A Class, groups would only be required to attend one regional show and championships just like the WGI model. Even in my state, which has no drum corps of which to speak, there are five small DCI shows within a five hour radius. I think that doing four or five shows counting champs would be a wonderfully fulfilling experience for kids, keep costs down, and it is very much in line with what we do all winter.

    EDIT - I understand this provides no solution for the big dogs, let them figure out what to do. What this does do though is grow the activity following the footsteps of a proven model.

    • Like 2
×
×
  • Create New...