Old Corps Guy

I didn't state a single word of any negativity toward The Cadets. In fact, several of my former students marched with the corps as recently as this past year and plan to march again this coming year. The path forward was my original discussion. The fact that there is a "Path Forward" is a positive. Let's try to keep that in mind.

>40 pages of comments from people that didn't want to read >200 pages of comments is the reason for this separate thread.

Semper Fi to my former unit. Watch out for the Sand storms.

I know the school I worked with left USBands after 2018 and joined a new circuit in Virginia. Many others in Northern VA did the same. I doubt there will be any issues with other circuits absorbing bands if USBands truly folds. Over the past few years, we noticed the quantity of bands at USBands competitions dropping in Virginia and the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia.

It is yours to read as you wish. I am not commenting on the visuals for this one. Too many possibilities of misinterpretation.

We now have an announcement. https://yea.org/news/cadets-usbands-move-forward I am providing this as a separate topic since many don't read >200 pages of the Cadets 2020 Topic.

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That's hot!

I thought "Frameworks" was The Cavaliers circa 2002. I knew I could find a way to insert myself into 192 pages of conversation.

Let me put this in a way currently being debated in our country. The idea of adding even more expenses to an activity that has expenses spiraling out of control is like Socialism. It's sounds like a great idea until you run out of other peoples money. Oops, I started a political arguement.

Ditto!

A simple comment on WW judges from the Marching Band world. Every year, we faced a judge at a specific competition. We were guaranteed to hear the same comment every year, "I Can't hear the woodwinds"! Even during a woodwind feature with no one else playing we received the same comments from this judge on the comments audio. 60-70 Brass reduced to 50-60 brass with a dozen WW will result in the same comments from "Woodwind" judges unless they're mic'd up. Mark my words, that is what will be coming.

They don't care if you leave. They will just replace you with all of those piccolo parents they are expecting.

I beg to differ. Most elementary school students (not playing Suzuki strings) get their first musical instrument experience playing a "recorder". Two hand fingering of a recorder has much more in common with any woodwind instrument than with a brass instrument. By your logic, that puts the brass players as the ones running the 110M.

Let me ask this question. How many of you have been to a "local" marching band competition outside of Texas, California or Indiana? I state this as someone that has gone to many competitions throughout the Mid-Atlantic over the years. A day long competition tends to be broken up into multiple segments. The smaller classes in the morning/early afternoon and the larger classes in the evening. Even regional shows tend to fall into this same break-out of classes. Most of the "Marching Band" shows I have been to over the past couple decades have two groups of fans. The first group of the fans tends to be the parents of whatever band is performing at the time. The second group are all the band students that have already performed and are waiting for scores. If you doubt me, go to a competition right before the first group of scores are announced and watch the mass exodus once the score are announced. They don't return and the sequence starts all over for the next group of classes. "Drum Corps" shows tend to draw a different fan base. This fan base includes alumni as well as fans of Drum Corps. Many spend some time in the parking lot and then go to the stadium for the entire show. They tend to drive longer distances, stay for the entire show and spend more money. Often these fans have no ties whatsoever to the competing corps they are going to see at the local competition. That is what makes Drum Corps unique. Once it becomes a marching band, it loses that uniqueness and subsequently, its fan base. I have gone to many drum corps shows over the years that did not include a single corps I had any ties with whatsoever. I can't say that I have ever been to a marching band show where none of my kids were marching or I had not taught at a competing school. I have driven or flown to dozens of drum corps competitions over the years. I doubt I would do the same for a marching band competition when I can see them locally with schools I have taught at in the past. As I stated earlier, you can see a marching band at any local competition. The desire to go and see one that is the same thing, only cleaner is not as big a draw as going to something as unique as Drum Corps.