It's called DRUM & BUGLE Corps

[JimF-LowBari]

Now, have you ever tasted Haggis? It's quite tasty.

I've been waiting for the introduction of, "Stove Top Haggis"mmmmmmmmm.

Never had Haggis... Of course I've has scrapple (everything but the oink) ^0^

Was at a military base in Iceland and had a local delicacy that had "something to do with sheep". Later on found out it was sheeps brains.

[MBbabe]

My point is

drum and bugle corps use to consist of troubled teens being taken off the streets.

Being guided and taught discipline and respect. Taught from scratch how to play an interment. For free!

Taught by instructors who did it for practically nothing. Just for the love of it.

Now those kids aren't afforded this opportunity any more.

That loss pains me!

Now junior corps consist primarily of kids who've been in bands all thru school. Kids with families with resources. Financial support.

FINANCIAL ! Don't get me started on that one!

It's all about the almighty score!

Not enough variety in instrumentation!

Lets incorporate some woodwinds and saxophones!

What is that?

This is drum and bugle corps!

We are slowly loosing, what drum corps is/was, all about. It's history and traditions.

The underprivileged kids!

Every single one of us in here has an opinion on this subject, so don't go disrespecting me for having one of my own.

For feeling passionately about what's been lost.

BTW This is a cool subject for debate.

I have a friend who calls the junior corps of today. "rich kids band camp."

[MBbabe]

Its always fun watching people do push-ups for that mistake. ^0^ ^0^ ^0^

I have to give you that one, since those instruments are convertibles, but that is the only one. Of course then there is also the "wrap around contras" that some play in bands...

[Scarlet Knight]

Now, have you ever tasted Haggis? It's quite tasty.

I've been waiting for the introduction of, "Stove Top Haggis"mmmmmmmmm.

How about "Haggis Helper" ? :mmm: :mmm: :mmm: :mmm:

Jim Ormiston ....Park City Pride

[melligene]

My point is

drum and bugle corps use to consist of troubled teens being taken off the streets.

Being guided and taught discipline and respect. Taught from scratch how to play an interment. For free!

Taught by instructors who did it for practically nothing. Just for the love of it.

From what I've been told.....and I mean no disrespect.....but I believe you've just described the..." New York Skyliners"

[cin4057]

The Royal Airs in Chicago consisted of alot of these troubled kids to.

Sie actually got some of them out of the court system. Judges gave them a choice, juvenile hall or drum and bugle corps? Thanks to people like Sie, those young mens lives were changed remarkably.

I had many of them come up to me after Dads passing to tell me how greatfull they were to have their lives changed/ saved by people like Sie.

People who dedicate their lives to giving kids a better life thru Music.

If I were rich I would dedicate my life to doing just that.

[Piper]

i didn't think you were. i was attempting to provide you with an additional example. i do not believe that they have exceeded inflation. in fact, for all that a touring drum corps provides, i consider it a bargain still. a perfect example would be to look at what a sleep away camp charges for a 2 week session.

yes it may be that the "more privileged kids" get to go, but how many of them aren't really kids anymore in the true sense of the word? how many of them work during the rest of the year to contribute to their dues? my guess would be many, if not the majority.

maybe being a bit younger than some here i see it differently. i don't see where kids starting in band and finding corps through band is a bad thing either. that doesn't automatically lump me into the "bring woodwinds into corps" crowd. what it does mean is that given what kids and young adults have to work with today, very few local corps in their area, their only ability to understand a marching and competitive performance group comes from marching band. why should anyone look down on them for where they got their start? it doesn't sound like back in the day people looked down on the hoodlums who came of the street to join corps or were ordered by the authorities to join a drum corps. yet to read some posts, here and in other threads, it sounds like that is exactly what people are doing to marching band kids. it makes no sense to me. if anyone is working hard to do their part in any organization, should it matter where it is they came from?

Drum Corps' recruit bandos for the same reason the NFL recruits college football players......they're readily available.

[Martybucs]

How about "Haggis Helper" ? :mmm: :mmm: :mmm: :mmm:

Jim Ormiston ....Park City Pride

Well, OK, but you have to slaughter your own lamb for the other parts. :sshh:

[Martybucs]

A lot of people mentioning "troubled teens". They weren't all troubled. Many were just teens. Many were from blue collar working class families. They succeeded not so much because of superior instruction, but by superior work ethic and dedication.

They took almost nothing but raw talent and 2nd, 3rd, or 4th hand instruments and learned what to do with them and most times the results made EVERYONE proud; Parents and kids alike.

Someone also mentioned today's corps as "rich kids band camp", that's funny, but not accurate. These kids work real hard and lot of them scrounge for the money to participate. Just because it's more exclusive doesn't mean they're all rich.

Point is, the real richness is in the experience and that has been stolen from a lot of today's youth because the neighborhood corps is a thing of the past.

[Legalhack]

This point of view, to me, kind of indicates that DCI had a role in the demise of neighborhood or local drum corps.

Expect a reply from MikeD stating that local corps just folded because no one wanted to do it anymore.

I've been back, (I'd say, "and forth", but MikeD only has one direction :P ), to this issue many times. I still believe, as I've stated hundreds of times that DCI killed neighborhood drum corps.

You both may be right. Many corps folded that never had "national" aspirations. There was a time when members of smaller corps in local circuits knew little of what happened in other regions. The standard against which their members compared themselves was the closest geograhpical rival and smaller ponds may have allowed smaller fish to feel bigger. DCI plus technology may have changed the measuring sticks and made smaller corps seem "small time" even though the smaller units required big commitments of time and effort. In addition, (back to bands) as bands learned from corps, beefed up their staffs, bought shows from corps designers and became "corps-like" (or "corps-light"), smaller corps may have suffered in comparison to bands as well. These phenomena may have caused kids in areas served by relatively local-centric corps to lose interest.