MikeD

:P Mike

I guess you want the soapbox back.... :P Just remember, I'll need it for the darks later. :) Mike

Well it's about time...I've got a load of whites I have to wash. :) Mike

Actually, you did just that...TWICE! :P Mike

I was kind of doing mental math...but writing it down. She specifically mentioned the late 80's, so I started at 1990 with her being 7 and backed up to 87-89, where she was 4, 5, and 6. IMO there is a difference between 4-6 and 10 1/2...esp in the areas she is talking about. I'm sure that I would NOT have been thinking about THOSE sorts of things even at 10 1/2! I was there to drum and have fun. Well, actually I only teach part-time, not that it matters.... Yes, you certainly learn a lot at an early age, but as I said above, ages 4-6 are a lot different than "double digits" IMO. At least when it comes to making the kind of value judgement this person seems to be making. Mike

OK...there's the 6-pack... :P Mike

Hhmm..there should be a DCP get-together at J Birney....I'm there on Saturday, but I'll be coming up by school bus with a contingent of our band kids. Mike

Hhmmmm....now it's 5 One more and I'll pick up a 6-pack! Mike

Now I owe FOUR beers.... :) Mike

Oops..sorry...I was using the timpani example to counter Dave's (DrumCorpFan) assertion that drum corps is not evolutionary, as I (and some others) have postulated. You would have had no way of knowing what I was talknig about! :P IMO.... Drum corps has ALWAYS been a niche activity, and it will remain so. Even when we were playing pop tunes back in the Garden State corps I marched with, my friends had no idea why I'd ever want to do this 'band thing'. Plus, what some may consider esoteric, others do not think that way. A lot of folks consider stuff like Holsinger to be esoteric and they don't like it...HS and college concert bands play that type of stuff every day. The kids with the HS band I arrange for were dying to do "To Tame the Perilous Skies" on the field when they played it in concert band. We went a different route, but you get the point. This year we are doing "Ghost Train"...hardly popular melodic music...yet our kids are totally excited about it. It's the type of music these folks are accustomed to. OTOH, you have corps doing Gershwin, Dvorak, Meatloaf, Broadway, etc....I think the mix today is just fine. Mike

Make that three! :P Mike

Actually, the timpani example is a prime piece of the evidence that drum corps has evolved over time... In the 60's, corps laid basses on their sides, took off the bottom head, attached them together as double or triple bases....to emulate a timpani sound.... Then marching timps were introduced to REALLY create the timpani sound... Eventually they were grounded and the idea of the pit was introduced. This all took a number of years...evolution. Mike

Did I ever say they were? Mike

Corps were dispensing with the military side of things even before DCI started. Yes, my corps still did a color pre in 1970...but we also formed a Peace Sign while playing Jefferson Airplane's (pre-Starship!) "White Rabbit". And...many corps back did bogus color pres...using pseudo-American flags to avoid any chance of flag violation penaltie. Mike

Hey! Now I owe both you and Bob Brady one! :P Mike

IMO.... Yes, the current generation should make sure that ...as admins and staff they provide the very best experience they can for their members and audience. ...as members they try to absorb the wonderful experiences they get as a member of a very special group of people, both musical and "life". Mike

I've never used this smilie before, but the above warrents it.... Mike

That's cool..you going there this weekend?

G, Why must you begin your post with such a personal attack lke that? If you disagree with the guy's POV, tell him why, but IMO making statements like the above has no place in DCP. Mike

Exactly what drum corps has been...gradual change over time. Evolution. Mike

Larry, I certainly understand where you are coming from...but please believe this...the people who post in these forums do not represent the average viewpoints of the vast numbers who attend shows. This is a very small subset of the total audience. Rabid fans (in the best sense)? Yes....but not indicative of the audience in general. Just attending shows will demonstrate that. People like to complain about things that are not the way they want them to be...it happened when 2 valves were added...it happened when timpani were added...bells....drills changing from the old (my) start-on-the-left-exit-to-the-right style....just about any change you can think of....only the complaints were more localized "in the day" as there were no forums like these. So...read these forums...learn a few things...bt then just go out and enjoy drum corps. Just MHO. Mike

Favors entertaining shows? Entertainment varies person to person. I find the Cadets very entertaining this year, as I do Crown and BAC (I'll see more on Saturday). Also love Surf for what THEY do. And...I find the Bushwackers and Bucs to be highly entertaining in the DCA field world...plus of course the great alumni corps such as Sky and the Cabs. As for vocals...you have the Cascades and BD doing a decent amount, and Cadets and Coats doing a little. How is that ruining all of drum corps for you? Obviously it must be, but I just wonder why. Mike

Those are, IMO, factual. Adding valves and horn types and percussion instruments that come closer to the band idiom is, IMO, a fact, not an opinion. Mike

It's odd...the gal who wrote this doesn't even post here...it was copied and pasted from another site. However, if she DID post here, of course it is her right...and anyone elses to call her on it if they disagree. Personally, I disagree with just about every word she wrote. Mike

Really? Where? I may talk about legal horns, drums, and the like...but not about intangibles as this person does. Mike