Guitar1974
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Posts posted by Guitar1974
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Just now, N.E. Brigand said:
The concern seems to be not so much that many kids will get seriously ill --even those who are subsequently getting Kawasaki syndrome as a result are quite few in number-- but that their parents and teachers will get sick.
Yes, good points indeed. The Kawasaki syndrome is very debateable at this point, but kids bringing the virus home is a valid concern for sure. Such a tough situation.
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Just now, N.E. Brigand said:
One of Israel's top health officials testified last week to their legislature that their recent spike (1000 cases per day now compared to 10 cases per day in May) is caused by reopening schools too quickly.
Yes but I would be interested in seeing how many of these cases are actually sick vs. asymptomatic. And of those sick, the severity of their illness. I would be willing to bet most these cases are asymptomatic or mildly ill at best. In my region there is a large outbreak in young migrant workers and virtually none of them are sick. They are all young and in decent health, they all are asymptomatic.
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10 minutes ago, N.E. Brigand said:
No they're not lying. They're reporting the number of positive tests. But we should have been testing a minimum of 750,000 people every day for the past five months. We've only tested that many people in a day on four or five occasions (most recently today). And the CDC (and others) can tell from other metrics, like the positivity rates in Florida, Texas, and Arizona, that the real number of cases is substantially higher than the reported number of cases. And with that knowledge in mind, and a lot of other statistics, they come up with their best estimate for the death rate. Trust me, it's not 4%. Even the worst-case early estimates weren't that high, and by April we had a pretty good sense, from all over the world, that it was probably 1% at most.
CDC's best guess is 0.26 for infection fatality rate. It is really impossible at this point to know for sure since there is no way to know how many actual cases there are.
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2 minutes ago, DAvery said:
So you are saying they are lying and under reporting the number of cases? I suspect there are more cases than have been diagnosed, but the data speaks for itself. You say its not that bad, do you have proof?
Cases are very underreported, by a significant amount. At the onset of the outbreak only those with severe symptoms were tested due to the scarcity of tests. Many, many cases were missed. I work in public health and assure you the numbers are very inaccurate all around. The good news is the virus is much less of a threat to kids and young adults than typical influenza. Flu is much higher statistical risk to young people. It is frustrating to see so much misinformation and misunderstanding about COVID. People have been conditioned to believe the virus is a risk to kids- the data tells a much different story. At the health department we see the actual data and track all the cases daily. None of my health department colleagues with school-age kids want to see schools and activities cancelled.
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5 minutes ago, JimF-LowBari said:
Agree with Buick.. hey I have an interest in old cars so will say Buick. To me there are so many unknowns and never seen befores that it makes sense that projections will be off and all over the place. What bothers me is seeing people upset that we might have fewer cases/deaths than before like people making the projections were clueless. Really hard to make projections when some areas are doing in place a lot better than others. For me just checking around my area for now and see where this all leads. And preparing myself for anything. Including no or modified DC for 2021 including that Alumni type down the road from me.
And I don’t get the freak out about all cases not counted because people didn’t realize they had it or didn’t die in a hospital to be checked. That’s with any flu that goes around.
Fair enough. My point about the case count is that we've made decisions that are going to have long lasting ramifications based on very shaky data. I hope the infection fatality rate is extremely low, that'd be the best scenario. I just hope the data shows this soon so we can get back to life.
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1 hour ago, Guitar1974 said:
Yes, this (above). The data everybody is using to base their decisions on is extremely flawed. Only a tiny fraction of the actual cases are reported due to the severe lack of tests. Add to that most people being tested are ones that show fairly severe symptoms of COVID. This leads to an extreme understatement in the actual infection rate and overstatement in the true mortality rate. We count every death (most have severe underlying conditions) but only a tiny fraction of the cases. This has led to the extreme overreaction we are in now. Nobody will actually admit they were way off in the estimation of the lethality of COVID and when the data shows the fatality rate far, far below what was originally stated you will be told it is due to social distancing and lockdown. This is incorrect. We are still funneling into the grocery store, Wal-Mart, and Target. You are still being exposed. It is just way less dangerous than you were told. I'm sure lots of you will disagree, and that is fine. Pay attention to the data in the coming weeks.
Someone deleted sections of my post, FYI. I made no political comments, only that many people are forming opinions and making decisions based on very, very flawed data. COVID mortality will be proven much less dangerous than you are being told. Wait and watch the actual data unfold.
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21 hours ago, cixelsyd said:
I have to call BS on that one.
We do not really know where the line is between good and harm, nor do we know for sure which tactics are working to what extent. And that applies to the infectious disease experts too. If you need an example, look no further than the nose on your face (and the mask covering it, thanks to a very recent 180-degree reversal of guidance from the experts).
We have to take a lot of it on faith. And we have. We (we the people, at least) have come together with 99+% efficiency to execute extreme, voluntary social distancing and other tactics for
15 daysanother 15 daysuntil end of April to stop the spread. These tactics come at a cost. And I am not talking about mere economics. Fitness routines have been disrupted. Supply chains of health-related goods are strained. If you like your doctor, you are socially distancing from your doctor. Dentists too. There are bans on elective surgeries, some of which are only really "elective" in a short-term scheduling sense.People will die from extending these circumstances longer and longer. The only difference is that no one is counting those deaths.
Yes, this (above). The data everybody is using to base their decisions on is extremely flawed. Only a tiny fraction of the actual cases are reported due to the severe lack of tests. Add to that most people being tested are ones that show fairly severe symptoms of COVID. This leads to an extreme understatement in the actual infection rate and overstatement in the true mortality rate. We count every death (most have severe underlying conditions) but only a tiny fraction of the cases. This has led to the extreme overreaction we are in now. Nobody will actually admit they were way off in the estimation of the lethality of COVID and when the data shows the fatality rate far, far below what was originally stated you will be told it is due to social distancing and lockdown. This is incorrect. We are still funneling into the grocery store, Wal-Mart, and Target. You are still being exposed. It is just way less dangerous than you were told. I'm sure lots of you will disagree, and that is fine. Pay attention to the data in the coming weeks.
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3 hours ago, NewToPosting said:
I have a practical question on Woodwinds (apologies if this has been discussed elsewhere). I'm not a WW person at all, but was curious about woodwinds' feasibility on a corps tour. What happens when it drizzles? I remember in HS marching band, we really couldn't do as much outdoors if it was wet due to potential damage to WW. I'm sure there are more humidity/drizzle friendly apparati for WW, but is there a concern that inclusion would hurt a corps' ability to rehearse or perform in other-than-dry conditions?
Woodwinds are definitely MUCH more finicky than brass, but would probably stand up to touring similar to synths and stringed instruments. Most intermediate-level WW would probably survive with care. The main thing is keeping them dry. They also go out of adjustment really easy and fixing leaks would be a big challenge for a horn tech all summer long. I can't see corps using actual wood instruments due to temp and humidity, they'd likely use the higher end plastic ones. Still very $$$, though- and reeds are really expensive, too. The thing that you need to consider when talking about employing woodwinds is the need to think of them like an electric guitar- they would all need mic'ing / amplification and pricey audio systems would go hand-in-hand. More finicky/delicate, expensive stuff to keep dry, etc... I can't for the life of me think how anyone can believe the juice is worth the squeeze as far as all the potential additional expense, but same could be said for electronics, French horns, sousaphones, trombones, giant props, etc etc... yet they are now requisite.
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One thing I hope that gets discussed when they consider judging and adding A/I is the potential this will further the gap between the corps at the top with funds to provide professional-level, highly engineered electronic support. I see woodwinds and electronics going hand-in-hand, as woodwinds would be at the mercy of amps and audio processing to be heard in the context of DCI. Corps with deep pockets and super fancy audio rigs will have a HUGE competitive advantage over those corps just trying to scrape enough funds to get down the road. The disparity is already huge. Look at the A/E productions of the bottom of the World Class vs. the top. The bottom tier have basically garage band setups and the top have fully professional, Broadway-style A/E rigs. Definitely NOT apples to apples and I find it silly that they are even judged against one another in a competitive manner.
If the A/I rules passes, I envision the top corps using woodwinds will mic every one of them, and run them through a gamut of sweetening studio effects, as is already done for most brass soloists (reverb/delay/chorusing/compression/etc). Those corps with the financial means to provide professional-level live sounds rigs will have a gigantic advantage over all the others- they already do since there seems to really be no limit when it comes to A/E and the use of professional audio engineering, effects, etc. Woodwinds widens the gap and competitive advantage even more.
DCI can steer the activity in any direction it chooses simply by giving credit on the judging sheets and awarding corps doing whatever new thing it wants them to do. Seems if they choose to give scoring preference to woodwind use (which they surely will, if rules change) then the "haves" of the activity will just have an even bigger advantage then they already do. Corps already seem to have so many added expenses for the "extra" stuff now (giant props, a separate line of trombones for the requisite trombone feature and solo, A/E rigs, etc... since BD was successful with strings and a sousaphone we better figure those will now become requisite, too, etc etc). The more extra stuff is added, the sillier it seems to judge it and make this a "competition."
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22 hours ago, Fred Windish said:
JUST CURIOUS . . .
As I don’t participate in Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, etc. and make Drum Corps Planet my only message board source, has there been any chatter of excitement from what we believe to be young woodwind players? I surely haven’t seen any evidence of that here on DCP.
Anyone read a few “Geez, this would be cool if it passes. I always wanted to do DCI as a woodwind player!”
Are accordion players piz’d they’re not being included? (asking for a Mummer) 😝
I have not heard ANY positive comments from anyone on the inclusion of woodwinds, including from the many young DCI-age kids I know. Even all the woodwind players I know who aspire to one day march DCI don't like the idea of ww. The only positive comments I have heard are from the few folks here on DCP who favor marching band. But... Was this not the same for electronics? Same for trombones/french horn/etc? Was there an outcry from marching members to add this stuff? Outcry from audience that we must include this extra stuff? No. If kids seemed to want this, or audiences were excited for the changes, I'd understand. But, nobody seems for this- like most the changes that have made it marching band and taken the "drum & bugle" out of it.
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On December 24, 2019 at 10:12 AM, Glenn426 said:
Imagine being a kid in 7th grade beginning band not knowing anything about DCI or any of its offshoots. and choosing to play Alto Saxophone because you like the sound and your dad always played Coltrane and Charlie Parker on Sunday mornings growing up. Your best friends choose Trombone and Trumpet. You go all through Middle School and you are killing it on Alto, All-state First Chair etc.., Highly decorated. Your friends are holding their own but they don't practice as much and while talented, do not earn the accolades that you do.
Then you go to HS and you are introduced to Marching band, and by osmosis DCI. You and your friends love the Blue Devils and are their biggest fans. You go to see BD live at a local show and you fall in love, Your friends immediately decide they want to be a Blue Devil one day. And your friends start working on their skills. you on the other hand (the better musician of the three and most decorated musician in your school) also want to march BD but you have to learn a brand new instrument to try and make BD because WW's aren't allowed. The three of you go to auditions and your friends both make it, but while you can march just as good as they can, you don't have a great tone quality, your range is limited and your articulation is not as pristine as a natural brass player. You are Cut. and cant march BD with your friends. Even though you are the most dedicated musician of the three, the most talented, the one who would likely pursue music performance as a profession because you already have a scholarship to prestigious music school for Alto performance.
Being in those shoes it would be hard not to think that DCI is discriminating against your kind of musician, One that is just as qualified, one that would make a great member, and contribute more to the organization through your musicianship and professionalism.
Having taught Marching band in South Florida for 15 years, I not only saw this once or twice but numerous times across my teaching career. Often times my best marcher in the program was a Woodwind player that could never enjoy DCI like their Brass counterparts simply because of a choice they made when they where 11 years old not knowing how that would impact their teenage years.
And all because DCI never had WW's in its history and tradition so there is no room for growth and understanding how that impacts the Youth of today.
You wonder why DCI gets a bad rap from certain directors and certain school districts and I'd bet that it has roots in this type of thinking towards a young Woodwind player with dreams of marching DCI but never being accepted in the DCI community as the most evil thing that has ever occured.
Your story of the alto sax player is my story- exactly. But I didn't feel discriminated against, left out, or slighted at all. Drum and bugle corps were drums and brass, and I didn't play brass, I played sax. Just as there are string quartets, chamber orchestras, big bands, and bagpipe ensembles, drum and bugle corps were a unique ensemble with brass-only instrumentation. That is what it was and I never considered saxophone to belong to that ensemble just as I don't consider the electric guitar to belong in a chamber orchestra. I wanted to be in DCI BECAUSE there were no woodwinds. To me, the brass and percussion created such a powerful, unique, and cool ensemble both audibly and visually. It was NOT band it was something way cooler, IMO, 100% because of the unique nature of being all brass and percussion. So, I did what multitudes of other woodwind players did and currently do, I picked up a brass instrument and got to work, eventually making it into a world class corps. Both my kids are young woodwind players (oboe/saxophone) who would like to march DCI in the future. Both HATE the idea of woodwinds in DCI. They like the sound and look of brass and drums. Drum & Bugle = percussion and brass... Why is this so hard to understand and accept? What if the fictitious sax player in the quoted post joined a woodwind ensemble that didn't feature brass? Does his brass playing buddies cry foul and we destroy the woodwind ensemble because it doesn't allow brass? Long live the power and purity of all-brass while we have it, looks like the days are numbered.
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1 hour ago, wilder1966 said:
The only thing the scoutettes will be blowing down is the scored points. It will be sad, and appropriate to bid them farewell. In a sense, they will get what they deserve. No sympathy here.
I am sad to see them go coed simply for the loss of the brotherhood and their all-male identity was unique and cool. That said, we all know males and females can both be equally great at drum corps. I predict they will likely improve over last year. I would imagine there are some very talented females who would like to be trailblazers in the first truly coed Scouts. It'd be interesting to see a breakdown of auditions in terms of how many girls attended. I'll forever miss the Mighty Men but would rather cheer on a coed Scouts than none at all. Hope it works out for them.
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9 minutes ago, Brian Tuma said:
How can I be right when I never made a claim? Lol
Your attempt at sarcasm comes off more like histrionics.
Darn, I was going for BOTH histrionic AND sarcastic! At least give me credit at attempting both!
...Okay now maybe that was a little overly sarcastic...
As long as Scouts go back to blowing down the stands then I'm sound as a pound. I truly hope it is all super awesome as DCI is reporting. Seems a little simplistic to me given the huge controversial changes but I truly hope the best for them.
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46 minutes ago, Brian Tuma said:
I’m curious, what’s the other side of the story?
On second thought, you're right. The DCI reports do state that everyone just absolutely loves the new improved Scouts. All couldn't be more hunky dory apparently. The Scouts are 100% better off thanks to these awesome changes and there is no alternate point of view to these giant changes.
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26 minutes ago, Slingerland said:
Treating each other respectfully is something that will obviously be faked for the sake of news articles, got it. 😎
That's not what I mean- I am just saying the change will be the focus front and center every opportunity possible. It sounds like the Scouts are fine, and I sincerely hope so. I expect to only hear one side of the story, however.
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I wish Scouts all the best and hope it all works out because there is no going back now. That said, I take all of DCI's reports/news etc with a grain of salt. DCI is simply doing what it always does... Takes whatever controversial change is going on and shoves it down everyones throat with stories of how wonderful the change is etc etc. We can expect it all season long.
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5 hours ago, MikeD said:
Why should they, have to in 2019? Yes, there are some who do. But given the audition approach of today, it is much more difficult to just pick up a horn and make the BD hornline.
Yah, it wasn't easy back in the 90's, either. Kids now have way better access to online tutorials, lessons, audition tips, etc than we ever did. A ww kid picking up a brass instrument and immediately making BD's line is far fetched, I agree with you. But that kid certainly could go to a lower placing corps, get experience, and then eventually make BD or whatever. If/when woodwinds are added it won't be much different- a handful of talented we players will get in and the large majority cut. Sounds like your pipe dream is a large/all instruments/give everyone a chance/etc ensemble. Well, you are in luck!! I hear this already exists.. Called high school/college marching band. They do that very thing already!
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Just now, Guitar1974 said:
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54 minutes ago, greg_orangecounty said:
Their inclusion won’t make them better either.
For these WW kids that apparently want to be in Drum Corps so bad, why can’t they learn how to play a different instrument. I did, and so did others. It’s not that hard if you’re motivated
YES- thank you! There are a bunch of ww players in DCI now. Always have been. A great player is a great player. With hard work a talented ww player can certainly learn brass and participate. I did. Lots of other kids I know did. Would any of us rather played our woodwinds in DCI? NO WAY!! Then it wouldn't be DCI, would it? Being a woodwind player made the experience even deeper and more meaningful to me. Opened my eyes to a completely new family of instruments. After starting from scratch and going through all the work it took, I truly learned you can do anything you set your mind to do. Would I have wanted to be in DCI if it were just summer marching band? No way.
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2 hours ago, MikeD said:
The lack of woodwinds does not make drum corps a "better quality product".
I agree with this statement. But, being all brass and percussion certainly makes it a different product, a unique product, and a product that is defined in the very nature of the name "drum & bugle corps." It is not a question of "better."
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54 minutes ago, MikeD said:
We are giving our own opinions in these forums. You and others are free to believe as you wish, as am I.
Instrumentation is not what makes drum corps unique to me...note I said "to me".
Absolutely, to each his own. My prior message was in response to your statement implying "a few" people may find the instrumentation an important and defining factor. My counter to your statement is that it is likely many, many diehard fans/alumni/members feel the all-brass and percussion sound and visual look is THE defining characteristic of the activity.
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6 minutes ago, MikeD said:
I'm sure there are a few who think that way. You specifically noted alumni and parade groups, neither of which are under discussion here, actually.
I look at it from the point of view that there is no logical reason in this day and age to prohibit WW, when the feeders to DCI are scholastic band programs, not old-time small local corps.
Good grief- is it so hard to understand that MANY people, young and old alike, love the all brass and percussion of drum & bugle corps. I can't think of many kids I know who are current corps members who would enjoy clarinets and flutes in the ensemble. In fact, I don't think any current members I know would welcome that change.
For many, the all brass and percussion sound and clean, uniform, muscular look of the all brass horn line is what makes drum corps unique. Add woodwinds and all the other stuff and it kills it forever. Why is this so hard to grasp? Why must we become an all star college marching band and destroy the very thing that makes drum corps so unique? So you can hear a flute solo or clarinet feature? Great if you love that- I highly recommend the mutlitude of bands and orchestras that do that kind of thing already.
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9 minutes ago, Guitar1974 said:
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1 hour ago, garfield said:
You also forgot opening up the idiom to another 60% of music kids, and their parents.
Imagine the ability to start a new corps if your instrumentation looks nearly identical to the HS and college bands most of them came from. Is it easier to birth and grow new corps with common instrumentation? Notwithstanding all of the other challenges of starting and running a corps into sustainability and competitiveness, at least the new corps won't have to retrain it's MM's.
So, a very real question is how the varying voices of instrumentation will be judged.
I joined a world class corps as a saxophone player. I learned brass to be in DCI. I wouldn't have had any interest if it had woodwinds. I wanted in BECAUSE of the all brass instrumentation. There were many other woodwind players doing the same, and feeling the same. Many woodwind players love their instruments but feel the look lame on the field and are simply not the proper tool for the job. I wanted to be in DCI because it was NOT like typical marching band with "clarinets to the box" haha...
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Colorado Marching Band Cancelled
in DCI World Class Corps Discussions
Posted
Interesting article, thanks for sharing. It is unfortunate to hear of kids with severe COVID, it does happen but is extremely rare. Since the outbreak started in March in my county we are close to 3,000 cases are there has not been one severe case in youth. Since I help oversee the epidemiology operation for our health department I see the daily disposition for every positive case and virtually all kids are either totally asymptomatic or have a very mild cold. Not to say it doesn't happen, just that it is indeed extremely rare. COVID is the strangest virus... For kids the incidence of severe illness is extremely rare, much less than influenza. For adults under retirement age and in decent health the incidence of severe illness is still extremely low, similar to flu. Once people hit their elderly years the incidence of severe cases increases significantly. For the large majority of the population the risk is very low, thankfully. In the county my health department serves a surprising number of the nursing home positive cases are asymptomatic or mildly ill, most people that have had severe illness in my county have been nursing home residents with multiple serious underlying health conditions.