What place would Bucs take at DCI Championships?

[Donny Drum Corps]

I was in some interesting conversation with knowledgeable people thinking about this topic.

I am not trying to slight any of the corps that werent the DCA Champions, because all of the corps deserve better than that. I am just asking where the DCA winner this year would place. I spent the summer on the DCI tour and saw and heard some remarkable corps, with tremendous programming.

Go ahead and vote.

Donny

[Martybucs]

I think this is one poll where you have to throw out the high and the low and average the median.

Personally, I think they could possibly squeak in the top 12 but it would be close. However, give them the same practice time as a DCI corps and they're definitely in the top 12.

Edited September 4, 2007 by Martybucs

[KoyaanisCABsi]

Didn't vote, but very interesting topic. I actually sat with some knowledgeable DCI folks at finals and asked them to make a fair, unbiased comparison to the DCI corps each of the DCA finalists were most like (total package - not just show concept). Without rehashing the whole discussion, which BTW was very complimentary, Martybucs nailed the gist of it. Given equal practice time, the ability to choose your players from auditions that occur very early, yada, yada yada. I think it's great that DCA keeps raising the bar & has adopted an all-age mentality rather than just a place to go when you age out. There are a lot of great performers out there who have to hold down day jobs! In that respect, DCI's loss is DCA's gain.

[Donny Drum Corps]

I guess then I could be more specific. Would the DCA winners compete with the:

Blue Devils, Cadets, Cavaliers, Phantom, SCV etc

Crown, Bluecoats, BlueKnights

Boston, Glassmen, Colts, Spirit

Academy, Blue Stars, Crossmen,

or below with the remainder of corps like Pacific Crest, SouthWind, Troopers, Mandirins, Pioneer etc.

Of course there are time constraints and talent availablity differences. I think DCA is great for what the products end up being by Labor Day weekend...3 weeks after DCI is over. It is just a poll to see what people think the differences in the 2 forms of the same acitivites actually are.

People are voting but not many are commenting.

[Jimbalaya]

Great to see and 'hang' with you over the weekend Joe. I also believe that the question is rhetorical inasmuch as the judging criteria would be different from the 2 organizations. With amalgamated criteria I believe Buc's would do well. Probably top 10 or 12. If strictly DCI sheets & adjudication.......much lower.

Joebalaya

I guess then I could be more specific. Would the DCA winners compete with the:

Blue Devils, Cadets, Cavaliers, Phantom, SCV etc

Crown, Bluecoats, BlueKnights

Boston, Glassmen, Colts, Spirit

Academy, Blue Stars, Crossmen,

or below with the remainder of corps like Pacific Crest, SouthWind, Troopers, Mandirins, Pioneer etc.

Of course there are time constraints and talent availablity differences. I think DCA is great for what the products end up being by Labor Day weekend...3 weeks after DCI is over. It is just a poll to see what people think the differences in the 2 forms of the same acitivites actually are.

People are voting but not many are commenting.

[AlbionNY Drum Line]

6-9

[SaraNYC]

Maybe the Bucs should take a California tour and do some DCI shows with the Renegades!

[Dale Bari]

I was in some interesting conversation with knowledgeable people thinking about this topic.

I am not trying to slight any of the corps that werent the DCA Champions, because all of the corps deserve better than that. I am just asking where the DCA winner this year would place. I spent the summer on the DCI tour and saw and heard some remarkable corps, with tremendous programming.

Go ahead and vote.

Donny

I remember getting into this kind of discussion 20 years ago at Steel City. We had a soprano player who'd played in Madison Scouts the prior year (and won his ring with them the next year). He was impressed with the talent we had and thought we could make Top 12 at DCI.

Of course, that assumes same amount of practice time, I think. This comparison is as old as DCI, probably, and will never be answered satisfactorily.

From what I saw of Bucs on Saturday, they (along with others in the DCA Top 10) would hold their own against the DCI Semi-Finalists (13-17). That isn't to say that they would beat any of them head-to-head, but they might.

As far as show design goes, Kitchenman's drill is probably their equal - an easy guess since he writes or has written for that level of DCI corps. Umberger's brass arrangements might be equal. The musical choices are an easy fit for the DCI world, since all of Bucs' pieces were played in DCI in recent years. Less obvious to me is the perc book - I'm no percussionist. The guard is an even tougher call, since the Bucs' guard this year was not as strong as the rest of the corps, nor am I an expert in the visual ensemble. The relative youth of Buccaneers' membership makes the Reading corps resemble a DCI corps merely in outward appearance (and in their physical fitness), so the comparison may be more favorable.

At DCI in 1999, I was curious to see the reaction to Brigs from the crowd around me. From what I recall, some people were impressed by them (esp. playing "Channel One Suite"); others thought them a novelty but little more. A lot were appreciative of their performance, much like they were with the other exhibition corps (Div 2/3 & International champs), but merely waiting for the real show to start. (It's tricky trying to gauge a crowd's reaction to the warm-up acts when the headliners are waiting in the wings.) So, it didn't really resolve anything.

I myself have always been impressed with what senior/all-age corps can do, given the small amount of real time they are able to rehearse. The quality performances come from the talent, dedication, and especially the experience accumulated by us weekend drum corps warriors. I've always thought that, given equal amounts of practice time, DCA corps could actually defeat their DCI counterparts. Alas, these academic exercises are the closest we'll ever get to answering the question.

[audiodb]

Of course, it isn't really fair to ask this question without also asking how the same corps would match up at DCA Championships.

Top DCA corps design their programs to excel by DCA criteria, not DCI. Whatever "rank" you honestly believe they'd garner in the DCI contest, the DCA corps would fare comparatively better on DCA sheets.

[Donny Drum Corps]

of course...it is a hypothetical situation.