cdm

Sounds like what I am proposing should have been tried long ago. It is still possible to try it.

Since it is not one of those that took millions of dollars, and/or huge amounts of human creativity to create, it could be easier to do.

I totally understand that viewpoint. Thanks for your perspective, and insight.

To build on the idea of starting a music instrument manufacturing company/music store as a base for a pro Drum and Bugle corps, here are some examples of revenues in the music instrument manufacturing business: 1.Yamaha Music division 2011 revenues: 46,995,864.90 2.Steinway 2011 revenues as of June 30 2011: $162 million, up 10% year to date 3.Fox 40 Pealess whistles; Fox 40 quality sport & safety products. Total Sales ($CDN): $3,700,000 Export Sales ($CDN): $1,000,000 to $4,999,999 Number of Employees: 35 Yes whistles are music instruments!!

I have been involved with drum corps, and marching entities, since 1978. However, I got out of trying to do day to day involvement with Drum and Bugle corps due to family issues, and running my IT/Computer business, back in 1996. Now that I have run a "real" company for a while, and have a little freedom, I am looking to get back into Drum and Bugle corps. If the level of business acumen in Drum and Bugle corps is reflected by the replies to the OP, then no wonder the activity is having problems keeping Corps alive. I also started a IT/Computer company with $5000(with lots of people telling me I do not look like the type of person who is successfull in Computers) , and now it generates 7 figures a year in gross revenue. Things die off when people give up. Here are few numbers I ran: Say a Professional corps started with 50 members. To pay them $35,000 per year each, a company would have to generate $1,750,000 in revenue. Add in another $1 million to cover touring costs for 12-15 weekends during the summer., and it would take $2,750,000 in order to pay the corps, and tour during the summer. The company could factor in cost of doing business, and shoot for a profit. There are plenty of small businesses who generate that kind of revenue, and much more, per year. ( a friend of mine, who is in smart phone app development, generates more than that with 5 people.) If, as stated in my previous post, the members are employees of the company, and their job description stated that, if hired, they must march in the drum corps, then there would be no problem with it. Also, at $35,000 per year starting salary, it would be enough to get paid doing what one loves. ( I can promise everyone, that If there was a way for me to become a professional drum corps member and get paid to do it, after I aged out, i would have busted ### to be the best player I could, so I could get drafted. That was before I found out about Future Corps.) It looks like too many here STILL think the way society wants them to think, when it comes to Marching music/Drum and Bugle Corps.(that it is a geeky, nerdy thing for people who are athletic) Well, if you look around, it is the geeky, nerdy people who control the world now. It is the geeky, nerdy people who think out of the box, and probably could make this concept happen.

I don't think it has to have mainstream interest in the beginning. I think such a league could build from the existing fan base, and with determination and a long term plan for existence, (a 25 year plan at startup?!!!!) it could slowly build itself into a viable league. People said the Jamaicans were idiots to start a bobsled team.

You are thinking about the current, "musician for hire", model. If a league was modeled after Professional sports, with competitions, then that is another, totally different, animal. Big bands never competed against each other in a organized competition, and didn't have the excitement factor of a possible winner at the end of the day. Blue Devils......Ya Gotta Try

Well, I am not surprised there are a lot of naysayers coming out of the woodwork. That is the nature of humanity. However, if the people who can do, and have done, amazing things in the past had listened to the naysayers, we would still be reading by candlelight, and listening to a oracle recite the events of the past around a bonfire. Naysayers said that same things about:: 1.The Wright Brothers. ("man was never meant to fly, and if mans was meant to fly, god would have gave him wings.") 2.Nascar, as one poster has stated as a example. If the ignorant hillbillys(and that is not far from the truth, because I know some, and they are truly ignorant) that were driving modified stock cars up and down dangerous dirt mountain roads had listened to every cop that was successful in stopping them, and putting them in jail, Nascar would not exist. 3.Major League Baseball, which started with one professional team, the Cincinnati Reds. Many people felt baseball was a kids game to played on empty lots. 4.The US Patent office. In 1899 the head of the U.S. Patent Office sent his resignation to President McKinley urging the closing of the office because "everything that could be invented has been invented." 5.Email: the inventor of email was told that is was useless, and no one would want to use it. 6.a various and sundry other inventions, ideas, and concepts that have gone one to become major products, or parts of society. As for where the money would come from, maybe a Professional Drum corps League could start by following the example of Major League Baseball. Many original pro baseball teams were sponsored by companies, and the players were paid only during the season. My business model (yes I have thought about this for a while.) would be to start a new music instrument company/music store, and try to hire up to 25-30 people to make instruments for the general market, with part of their job description being that they have to march in the drum corps on weekends during the summer season. That way, they would generate revenue to pay for the expenses of the summer weekend shows, and would get income from their jobs. This may work for one, maybe two, of the corps. (I don't think there is enough market for 25-30 new music instrument companies, but I may be wrong.) A corps of 25-30 people could compete professionally to start with, and management could be disciplined, and grow the corps as economics dictated.(just like some corps do now.) There could be other ways/business models to fund a new professional drum and bugle corps. (ie,: a event/entertainment company that would have as part of it's job descriptions that the employees have to march, and compete in professional drum corps, something like a touring version of Blast, where during the summer, the members compete in a professional Drum Corps League, and perform a theater show the rest of the year.) I may have made a mistake in saying that a Professional Drum corps league could be as big as the NFL (me being optimistic, and pie in the sky) , but it could be bigger/more marketable than it is now. I think such a league could follow the example set by Pro sports, and not re-invent the wheel. It could borrow some of the marketing people from Pro sports in order to have experienced people promoting the league. And if the people continue to think of Drum and Bugle corps as a "Niche" product, it will forever be a "Niche" product. As for a fan base, it already exists. If it did not, there would be not such thing as Drum and Bugle corps/DCI/DCA. A professional league would only have to build upon what already is there. Looking at the concept, it looks like all it would take would be creative, motivated people who would want to do it/ have vision, and good marketing campaigns. By taking a slow, careful growth tactic, who know where a Pro Drum and bugle corps League could be a hundred years from now. To all the naysayers, I say look at the Delorean. The company fell apart in the eighties, and and almost disappeared....... BUT, a few people who believed in the car, and had vision, have revived the company, and now they are making new cars, developing a electric version, and have 5 offices around the world. (I know about them, because their factory is 10 minutes from me.)

For a long time, (since I aged out in the 1980's) I have felt that a professional drum and bugle corps league, with paid members in corps, would be a natural next step for drum corps members. I envisioned a 25-30 corps league based on professional sports league models(NFL, NBA, Major League Baseball, MLS, etc.) The corps in the league could use that model as the way to run each corps, with the best players/performers being drafted into the league, via auditions. The members of each corps would be paid to perform, with DCI being the "Collegiate" level for drum corps . Such a league could follow the exist pattern set up for Pro sports. (I.E. middle school band, high school band, College Band and/or DCI corps membership, Professional Drum and Bugle corps.) I even thought DCA could be transformed into the "major leagues" of Drum and Bugle corps, with each DCA corps paying their members. If this model was set up, I think it would be supported in the same way major league sports are supported. I think that if such league existed, it could be as big as the professional major league sports leagues, because of the fact that, at the middle, and high school level, there is the potential to be just as many/maybe more people who in music/performance, as there are in sports, at that level. Couple the idea that a Drum and Bugle corps professional league would also include women, who for the most part are left out of a professional league that would pay them for performing. (WNBA is one exception, maybe the only one) I believe that since this league would pay it's members, it would get the very best players/performers, and the level of quality would go up. This would in turn draw more fans, and inspire younger musicians to want to be a professional Drum and Bugle corp member. (giving musician another way to become a professional musician.) This could begin to create a cycle of improvement in the overall activity: For instance: 1.More young students may get into music, because they saw a exciting performance by a pro Drum and Bugle corps, 2. The new student goes out to buy instruments/equipment to practice with. 3. The instrument makers may see a increase in sales, and start putting MORE money in endorsements in popular pro corps. 4. leading to higher salaries for pro corps members 5. which would lead to more competition for spots in the pro league 6. which would lead to better,higher quality in the corps and shows, 7.which could lead to more people finding out about the activity, and wanting to become professional drum and bugle corps members. 8. which could lead to non-music related endorsements. (Nationally televised regular season competitions, with Budweiser as a official sponsor, LOL) 9. which may lead to a wider awareness, and more interest in the activity. There have been other "professional" Drum and Bugle corps, (Future Corps, BLAST!, etc.) where the members were paid, and in each instance, the corps produced amazing performances (mostly with much smaller ensembles than DCI, or DCA corps.) Theoretically, it may be possible to make professional Drum and Bugle corps big enough to draw in non-music related sponsers/endorsments, such as food, and drink vendors, and TV rights. (if enough eyes are drawn to the activity, it is possible for sponsor/endorsers to see a solid business sense for paying for rights to the activity. Just look at the National Spelling Bee, and cheerleading.) I would love to see comments on this, and what others think.

I think I remember seeing figures for the 1979 DCI championships attendance in Birmingham Alabama being close to 40,000, same for 1980.

There is a Fender stratocaster guitar, and a violin included in the sale, along with some other items. These additional items, if sold, may pay for the purchase of the entire lot!

I hope someone can buy these. If they stay available for any length of time, I will make arrangements to get them. The price is unbelievable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Visit the posting at http://raleigh.craig...3028967885.html to contact the person who posted this. Marching Drums, Tubas, Trumpets, Xylophone, and much more Date: 2012-05-21, 1:09PM I have a number of used instruments for a marching drum and bugle corps that I purchased in an auction. Below is just a partial list of everything I have for sale. I would like to sell it all at one time, but I am willing to part out. I would be willing to let everything go for $10,000 or best offer. The Tubas MSRP is $8,400 each. They are used, but a local music shop said they would still sell for about $4,000, which is $12,000 just for the 3 tubas, leaving massive room for profit if you want to resell, or just a great deal for music directors or drum and bugle corps bands that need instruments, but don't have the funds to go buy all instruments separate. 3 Dynasty Tubas w/cases (retail $8,400 each, an online instrument website has on sale for $6,000) 1 Trombone no case 10+/- combination of Trumpets, Soussophones, etc all w/cases. Sorry, don't really know the difference 3 sets of 6-stack Marching Drums 14 individual marching drums (everything from snares, midsize and large bass) 15 marching drum harnesses (retail $200 each) 1 xylophone w/stand and cover (retail $2,700) 20+ uniforms (baby blue tops, white pants) 20+ marching band hats w/cases and top feathers 1 Box of new drum sticks for drums and keyboards 1 Box of new TreeWorks Tre Chimes Stands, tripods, music sheet holders, and much more. Call to make an appointment to come by and see everything available. Only serious inquiries please. Call Sonia @ 919-333-3458 se hablo espanol Location: Clayton, NC it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests Original URL: http://raleigh.craig...3028967885.html this craigslist posting was forwarded to you by someone using our email-a-friend feature - if you want to prevent these, please go to: http://www.craigslis...dFVM53k1QKVx2SU

I am starting a new foundation for start up corps. The foundation will be setup to insure long term viability for a start-up corps. The foundation will include a instrument loaner bank(similar to the 21st Century foundation), and business consulting/help in forming, and running, a drum and bugle corps. I know there are other foundations/non-profits out there trying to do the same, and I want to work with them, not compete against them. The organization is based in Texas, with a goal of increasing the number of Drum and Bugle corps in Texas, and helping other foundations around the country increase Drum and Bugle corps in their area. Contact me via PM, if you want to discuss it.

I am also working on a Drum corps foundation that will help new Drum corps get off the ground, and get a good, long term footing. I am collecting older, and unused, instruments to form a instrument loaner bank, and filing non-profit docs with the IRS, and the state. I don't want to compete with other orgs that are trying to do the same thing, but work with them.

We are starting a foundation for start up Drum and Bugle corps, and we are looking for instruments for a loaner instrument bank. The Foundation is planning to loan equipment to new corps(under two years old) in order to help increase the number of drum and bugle corps competing in the USA. We are looking for low cost/free instruments(instuments that are gathering dust in closets, storage untis, etc.) We will pay for shipping, and any condition is ok with us, as we will repair them. We posted earlier about wanting vavle rotor horns, and older percussion, and that still stands. We will get our website up soon, and will start accepting instruments after that. Thanks for helping keep the activity alive.

I totally agree with the stament about the Marine Corps Drum And Bugle Corps! They still use 2 valve horns, and sound great. The Marine Corps Drum and Bugle corps uses Kanstul 2 valve G horns, made in 2006.

I totally agree with that! If their main goal is to provide a great experience for their members, then I wholeheartedly support that position, and wish more corps were about the members, and audience, experience, and not about scores, and winning. I think if more corps were about that, the activity would be bigger, and more exciting.

I am looking for valve rotor horns, and/or older percussion. Any condition. Must be willing to ship to Houston Texas. Contact me at cortez@ot3tech.com

I am interested in the Mellophone. I am in Houston. What shape is the Horn in, and can you send me you telephone number? (reply to cortez@ot3tech.com)