At what point and time did we lose Drum Corps

[jjeffeory]

1995 was the peek and 1996 began the slide - it’s when shows really became esoteric and were written more for the judges and the music majors as opposed to us regular Joes, fans. The changes passed afterwards were just a reflection of those forcing the changes gaining control. I do wonder how the entire Orlando debacle played into this as they were some of the smallest crowds ever at DCI. It’s much easier to push change with fewer people around. Some of the late 90s shows are beyond the pale, intense navel gazing of music majors trying too hard with their self indulgent proclamations of ‘what is good’.

1994 was the peak and 1995 began the slide. Most of you like the BD '94 show, but that was one of the shows that I think began the choppy arranging for effect style that was popular after it. Star 1993 ( & Cadets 1993) started some of the esoteric music that you heard later.

[Triple Forte]

To quote one of my drum instructors...

..."You can play all the technical s$^% you want but at the end of the day people want to hear rock n roll.

DCI is in the business marketing entertainment. If the people paying the bills (the fans) decide they don't like the entertainment value any longer then just watch how fast this activity changes to accomodate them.

The only problem is that DCI is going to the marching band capitol (Indiana) for a long while. There going to a place that will embrace the artsy way of doing things. I think for a good number of us who remember the rock concert feel of a drum corps show (Multiple ovations, roars, in your face music/solo work) are going to be hung out to dry........left in the dust.....lost in the sauce....... :(

[bawker]

The only problem is that DCI is going to the marching band capitol (Indiana) for a long while.

That may well be true...being close by to BOA will inevitably lead to more cross-pollination across the board.

It can go either way...that we see DCI take this opportunity to step up and be a leader in the marching arts...with its own distinctive branding, truly "Major League". ...or it takes a swerve to fall in line, homogenize itself, and become nothing more than a summer version of BOA, replete with better executed show ideas that were thrown against the wall the previous year at Grand Nationals.

Going the second, vanilla, route in the next decade will hurt the activity creatively more than any rule change will.

[Brassop]

I've been involved with drum corps since 1978. I've seen a lot happen since then. I began my marching career with the Spirit of Atlanta in 1980 and 81 and then the Cavaliers in 1983 and 84. The changes I was a part of were moving the bells and timpani to the front ensemble (the beginning of the front ensemble) and going from loud in your face ALL THE TIME drum corps to a more musical and artistic approach. That was the really big things when I marched, besides the fact that knowable music was played. I thought the best show I've ever seen was the 1990 Star of Indiana "Beltshazzar's Feast". Awesome hornline and amazing run your butt off will playin' that hard crap drill design. The next would have to be "Frameworks" in 2002 by the Cavaliers.

I was okay with being allowed to have the show go off the field without penalty, I was okay when they went from two valves to three, afterall they were still bugles. But then I started getting concerned when they went from bugles to band instruments. No longer in my mind was it Drum and Bugle Corps, but Drum and Brass Band, but I lived with it because it didn't change the fact that it was still brass and drums, but someone please tell me why it is necessary to have amplification? And the shows the past couple of years have gotten so artsy for art sake that there's not a recognizable tune in the bunch or not much time is being spent on a theme before it's off to something else. The Cavaliers show this year is based on the music of Billy Joel. Well I've seen and heard the show and if they played Billy Joel stuff it must have been his obscure stuff because I heard nothin' that called my rememberance to Billy Joel.

Don't get me wrong I love drum corps. The talent of these musicians is awesome. Their work ethic and dedication are to be commended and that has never changed. But I miss the tunes man, the music. I want my drum corps back.

Coop

Firstly, it had to have been a gas for you to march '80 Spirit! You guys were fantastic and almost pulled it off! Just .8 from winning it all!

I'm not quite sure at what point and time we lost Drum Corps - but I know what the last nail will be for me. That will be when woodwinds i.e. clarinets, saxes, flutes, and one would assume trombones, are finally allowed. That likelihood increased dramatically when DCI recently either proposed and/or ok'd increasing the membership limit to 150 from 128. I believe they did it to make room for the full compliment of band instruments.

One reason I went to the Atlanta regional was to experience the vestiges of drum corps. I went because I know the tail end of drum corps is near.

The changeover is about money. It's about advertising and sponsor dollars from more, larger, and varied instrument manufacturers. It's about clinic income for the top corps and participant fees. It's about expanding from an umbrella organization over a paltry 50-100 corps of narrow brass instumentation to influencing thousands and thousands of bands and the money decisions they make. Direct influence and control translate into ching. It's no longer about you and what you want as a spectator; DCI won't change for the traditional drum corps fan. In losing those who'll bale at the changeover to full band, they'll pick up tons of BOA spectators once they go head-to-head with BOA - or merge with them altogether. What a coincidence that DCI happened to move to the same city as Bands of America. What are the odds?

Like you, I miss the days when whole crowds would ...

Edited July 20, 2007 by Brassop

[MARK74]

Firstly, it had to have been a gas for you to march '80 Spirit! You guys were fantastic and almost pulled it off! Just .8 from winning it all!

I'm not quite sure at what point and time we lost Drum Corps - but I know what the last nail will be for me. That will be when woodwinds i.e. clarinets, saxes, flutes, and one would assume trombones, are finally allowed. That likelihood increased dramatically when DCI recently either proposed and/or ok'd increasing the membership limit to 150 from 128. I believe they did it to make room for the full compliment of band instruments.

One reason I went to the Atlanta regional was to experience the vestiges of drum corps. I went because I know the tail end to drum corps is near.

The changeover is about money. It's about advertising and sponsor dollars from more, larger, and varied instrument manufacturers. It's about clinic income for the top corps and participant fees. It's about expanding from an umbrella organization over a paltry 50-100 corps of narrow brass instumentation to influencing thousands and thousands of bands and the money decisions they make. Direct influence and control translate into ching. It's no longer about you and what you want as a spectator; DCI won't change for the traditional drum corps fan. In losing those who'll bale at the changeover to full band, they'll pick up tons of BOA spectators once they go head-to-head with BOA - or merge with them altogether. What a coincidence that DCI happened to move to the same city as Bands of America. What are the odds?

Like you, I miss the days when whole crowds would ...

ODDLY ENOUGH while DCI and it's member corps contemplate adding more variety to the instrumentation available, WGI does winter percussion, and colorguard and in '06 had 11,000 performers at their championships in Dayton Ohio. Not a clarinet or saxaphone in the place. YES ,I know they amplify,yes I know they use electronic keyboards and bass guitars HOWEVER for the most part it's good old percussion and the performers attending and competing there outnumber DCI summer contingent 2 to 1 .

[Aaron Guidry]

As a music designer and performer, allow me to add this thought:

It's NOT about the music.

It's about the PRESENTATION of the music.

Think about totality, and you'll find your answers.

Enjoy the music,

Aaron

www.yataforluda.com

[audiodb]

The reason I ask is because it seems that most people's favorite years of drumcorps are the years that they were introduced to drumcorps and/or marched and then tend to not favor as much the years after aging out.

My introduction and marching years were in the 1980s, yet I prefer both the 1970s and 1990s.

[ScribeToo]

"Permanantly Relocated to DCA":

Good shot. Well said. The ALUMNI CORPS never lost sight of what DRUM CORPS is WAS at one time.

Elphaba

WWW

There you go. All fixed!

I, for one, prefer the opportunity to see MORE styles of drum corps than LESS.

I have enjoyed watching alumni corps, DCA-style corps AND DCI-style corps (both old and new). Seems to me it would be a huge mistake to take away MORE options for LESS options. People who prefer or like the one or two styles that get eliminated would be lost to the activity as well.

In this case, More Is Better.

Stef

[Shimes]

Lost me right around 95 or so... became less of a "in your face" kind of thing.

I like the musicianship of today no doubt but why the heck can't that be used to incite standing ovations during a perofrmance rather that a polite one after? Isn't that what the GE caption should be all about?

I like the visual but isn't it just as hard or harder to do that same awesome marching at something other than breakneck speed. I world famous drum instructor put it to me this way in Allentown...

It's become "velocity of movement"...

The amps have gotta go... and let me tell you ... THIS I BELIEVE.... shut up and play the freakin music will ya.

and slow down... you all have a whole life in front of ya...

[Richard]

I never realized how wide the gap is between the ‘traditionalists’ and the ‘current generation’. Being a member of the latter, I love drum corps for what it is now (I guess you could even say, I believe in now…), and certainly not for what it was back in the 70s and 80s (no offense).

I wonder how well the current fan base would receive a junior corps that marched symmetrical drill, played a show that appeared to be a random assortment of songs, played 3 of those songs EVERY year and cranked with abysmal tone quality. Personally, I would not be entertained in the least. I like shows performed at close to perfection with a high level design (e.g. Cadets 05, BD 04, Phantom 06 to name a few).

Even a lot (but certainly not all) of the shows in the 90s don’t compare favorably to modern shows in my opinion. The quality of playing, writing/design, marching, demand and performance has only escalated. What’s wrong with that? If drum corps hadn’t evolved to what it is today, I (and I imagine others) would have no interest in it whatsoever. Just offering a different point of view.