bonesinPA

Theres always been a very close bond between the two corps. even going beyond the story thats been posted and well known. The delta that the contras made in '04 is not only a testament to the true friendship of the corps but also something within the contra sections themselves. In '04 like this year, the two corps were neck and neck every show trading off positions. and most of the time the corps would be next to each other at retreat. well spirits contras, to pass the time, and just have a good time, would randomly bang out the green acres lick on the tops of the horns, with the whole line joining in on the last two beats. well after about 5 shows we caught wind of this and started joining in. and it became a little thing between the 22 contra members. and it was solidified at allentown when the two corps combined to play both Russian and Georgia. 22 contra with a nearly perfect ripple up and blowin away at georgia b**bs we were truely playing as one line. i know theres a video out there somewhere of it. anyway thats just more to had to the rich history of the two corps. PS- i'm the front left corner of the delta

its all a fine line IMO, i've given up fighting for each side and trying be everyones advocate. DCI alienates older fans because it strays from the drum corps they grew up with in order to attract the new generation, which is growing up with a more developed competative marching environment. its a catch-22 situation that i think they are handling as best they can: keep potential new marchers interested without sacrificing the audience. thats my 2 cents

with the score crossmen posted last night and the score spirit posted last night at a different show nothings solid for spirit. crossmen - 85.000 up from 83.650 at allentown (saturday) spirit - 85.350 up from 85.250 at allentown (friday) 1.350 jump in one night compared to .1 in 2 days i'd say they're gonna make it interesting. oh and also glassmen only scored a 85.900 so that means there less than 1 between 13th and 11th. all i'm saying is that bones has always been a darkhorse and with this group of kids i dont see them not making saturday night. GO BONES

#### that would have been a sweet show, i can only imagine the crazy book you'd write for that.

I love when george does this, its the most humble think a director can do, point out where they made mistakes. But in all seriousness, on sunday night after finals George will be sitting in a hot tub somewhere with some cheap alcohol whistling the theme from kill bill........It's Monday morning, with that bad hangover that he will start thinking about why crossmen didnt make finals. (even though i think they will, but thats a little favoritism) But he cant really be that angry, even though he is exec of YEA and oversees the crossmen, the past couple of years he's stepped back in terms of his involvement overall with the corps, to try and let them become more independent. so i guess this tells him, hey that might not have been a good idea. sidenote: on a very light-hearted comment, don't you think it would just be hilarious and totally ironic if while drunk and celebrating he ran into a closed door

This is in no way a generational war. I'm merely stating that, as with most things, with time and change the generational gap takes control of some things. And yes, obviously you have been my age, but you are not my age now. Meaning, as I said in so many analogies, that there are big differences between growing up now and growing up (taking a modest guess seeing as how you said you had a grand daughter) pre 1960s (sorry if i'm off). And yes, your grandchildren might think i'm old, and i can assure you in 10 years when i'm a teacher, teaching children her age, i won't understand or be hip with the trends in their culture. And that's just the nature of things. I mean isnt it crazy how "oldies" radio stations are now playing bon jovi? And for obvious reasons, because thats the music, and part of the culture of that generation! As much as drum corps has its roots in the older generation, it can't target that audience cause thats not the way it works, its simple marketing. I have nothing against older fans. ####, i love to hear stories from the old days. I think its amazing that when i was 5, i watched, unknowingly, my old marching tech, director, and brass caption all march! One of my favorite personalities in DCI is my old bus driver Ted, who i would sit and talk to on the night bus rides about all the stuff that went down in the 80's in DCI. So, i'm not just some smart ### kid talking hear, i have (at least i hope) a valid argument for our discussion. See i'm calling this a discussion. The reason i started this thread was to vent a bit, it was because i was getting dragged down by thread after thread of people saying they want nothing to do with Div 1. and you know what thats cool, and this is a discussion board, but being someone who had to miss marching this summer in Div 1 because of monetary issues...... I just think topics like that do nothing but give a negative vibe to DCP. Instead just constructively criticize what you dont like instead of bashing. Maybe that sounds too candy-coated and Miss America like, but that's my thought. And if you would please MiamiSun76, please do not attack my education in any way. I am a dean's list student at Florida State, majoring in Music Education and Geology. I have in no way insulted you, and i would be more than happy if you would please give me the same respect.

So i figured with 6 pages already i'll comment again on what i said in the beginning: my "just leave already" comment was pointed towards individuals i've seen on here who have said that they never want to go to another Div 1 show again, etc, etc. i just feel that instead of just stating these opinions on here, do something with action and not attend. I believe Lancer Lady even said that its not just going to be a few people leaving but a whole generation of fans. that much of a drop in sales would certainly send more of a message than wasting your breath on here. But in defense realize this....... That generation of people that were filling both sides of the stands......you're now the generation in charge of DCI, as directors, show designers, captions, techs, etc of these corps that you no longer enjoy!!!! odd situation isnt it? i know also that this thread has taken a "DCI: love it or leave it" feel and thats wrong. drum corps should be appreciated through and through, and i have no doubt that the talent and dedication of the members is not unnoticed by all of us here. i just think this is something very pure and steadfast it terms of what the members and fans gain out of it, no matter how it changes/evolves whatever. and in closing, to that older generation (this is not an attack), realize you are just that, the older generation. and despite being a percent of the DCI audience, realize this......DCI is in the future of MY generation, the high school/college age generation. we are the target audience. We are the ones whose children will be marching someday, we are the ones who will be teaching future members, writing the shows, creating the ideas, etc. and realize we are a generation raised with TV, Internet, cell phones, a whole global network basically at our disposal. No longer does the youth have to go to a gallery/textbook to see a picasso, or pull out a 33/cassett to listen to mahlers 2nd. with the touch of a button we have that in front of us!! and so has society changed. in the 50s, TV producers would only show elvis waist up because he was thrusting around on stage, now every rap video has atleast 5 half naked women shaking their #####. i think i've used up my anaolgy quota for the summer so i hope you get the point. just realize things are going to change, I'M NOT SAYING YOU HAVE TO LIKE IT, i'm just saying if you dont and it bothers you that much stop #####ing on here and do something about it, like maybe....leave. ^0^

Ok, here is it, i'm tired of it all. whats it you asked. people on here saying they've lost interest in DCI, DCI's changed, i'm not going to go to shows anymore, blah blah blah blah blah. heres what i say to this: Just go already. if its that much of a problem, go! it's all the negative nancys out there that are causing the drama today in drum corps. look, if DCI was in that big of trouble then they wouldnt have had the biggest crown at finals they've had in years. corps would be begging for kids rather than cutting them. dci's been growing, there have been new corps developing, corps that had been struggling now getting back into things. go ahead and say "well it wasnt like in 1960 when there were 200 corps" and i'll say. exactly it was a different time, most of those corps were small town corps that were either sponsored by the towns, VFW posts, etc. not gonna happen today when you have to supply instruments, food for 150 people four times a day and gas for a caravan of vehicles traveling 20000 miles. as for the aura of drums corps, yeah its gonna change too, but i can tell you, the traditions of these corps stay alive. I saw my first DCI show in '91 at allentown when i was 5 years old. so i've seen DCI evolve and change and grow, and now 13 years later i'm still a fan, and if it wasnt college summer classes, i'd still be out there, and you can guarentee i'll be marching the last two years i have before i age out. you just have to accept change. in 91 when i first saw my first show, Nirvana was a big deal, Terminator 2 had jsut come out, and michael jordan and the bulls won their first championship. fast forward to now. you have more rap music than you can shake a stick at, the terminators the govenor of Cali, and MJs retired. sorry for the rant everybody, but c'mon listen to bob dylan "these times, they are a changin'."

i cant really speak for high brass but for your low end: lead baris - F below middle C to Bb in the treble clef euphs - G on the bottom of bass clef to Bb below middle C Contras - normally G (3 leger lines below bass clef) to Eb in bass clef if you play on the Kanstul 4 valves (not sure about the new king 4 values) you can go to low F's Eb but not for much besides long tones in ballads

simply put, from the words of my college professor, play on a mouthpiece that feels good to you. its all about your embachure, breath support, etc. all a "better" horn will do is make your short comings more obvious. so in conclusion, play on a mouthpiece that you like, and through practice, and reping the crap out of your basics your range, color, etc will improve. but i could totally be wrong considering i play tuba but whatever.

being a contra player i'm biased to my own corps, but BD has always had pretty solid lines, and cavies have a pretty solid lines the past couple years.

everything said so far is true, but remember the hornline marches too. just like the guard they are responsible for dressing lines, horn positions, and other visuals. the opening of cavies 2001 show is an excellent example of this, though not the only, it was just the first to come to mind. even the simplest things such as horn angles play just an important role as stick heights do with the drumline.

Founded in 1956 the Chessmen were a small drum corps based out of Easton PA sponsored by the local VFW post 1290. I've asked the Post if they had any info on the chessmen and have yet to get back to me. This is what i have so far. founded in '56, colors - red and white, active through '76 then became Regency One. All gathered on corpsreps.com. I'm interested because Easton is my hometown and its disappointing that this corps has just kinda faded away. I've managed to find one member, one of my english teachers, but thats it. If anyone has any information, or can point me in one direction or another thats be cool. Larry M Bones Contra '03 '04 DCI class of 2008