What potential members want (generally speaking)

[JimF-LowBari]

Seems like in the past a higher percentage of people were willing to join the local corps, even if the corps was not that good. The feeling was they wanted to just "play Drum Corps" be with their friends, etc, etc. Today, see many posts about how the lesser (IOW not Top 10/12) corps are marching with holes and at times scrambling for enoguh people to field. Also many, many posts on how potential members only want to march for a certain top corps and will stay home if they don't make the cut.

On the surface it looks like these people care more about doing something them can brag about than doing Drum Corps itself. IOW - it's more about 'me' than corps....

Can think of some things that support this statement and some that go against it. But rather open the floor for discussion first....

Edited October 20, 2007 by JimF-3rdBari

[HoltonH178]

Man, this question is baited. "In other words, it's more about 'me' than the corps [for today's members]"? What is it that makes anyone who still marches inferior and of questionable character?

Ignoring the obvious bias and my anger about it, drum corps emphasizes competition and excellence as part of its nature. Maybe if more drum corps AUDIENCES turned out for Semis/Quarters/Open Class, kids wouldn't want to march in the corps that do the amazing things and get the amazing response.

Man, I still can't get over the ridiculousness of the question.

[ravedodger]

Man, this question is baited. "In other words, it's more about 'me' than the corps [for today's members]"? What is it that makes anyone who still marches inferior and of questionable character?

Ignoring the obvious bias and my anger about it, drum corps emphasizes competition and excellence as part of its nature. Maybe if more drum corps AUDIENCES turned out for Semis/Quarters/Open Class, kids wouldn't want to march in the corps that do the amazing things and get the amazing response.

Man, I still can't get over the ridiculousness of the question.

Not to start a flame war at all, but I don't believe the question is baited in the least. Numbers pretty much speak for themselves.

I was at the DCI Classic Countdown and could hear the kids behind me talking about a southern California corps, of which one or two were members. Their friends made fun of them constantly. I could easy tell that it was top 12 or nothing for the majority of this group.

Personally, I know that all I wanted to do was march drum corps. I had hoped to march with SCV or BD since they were in California and up until 89 I didn't know of any other corps in the state except VK. Then I saw the Freelancers in 89 and was hooked. A couple years later I met some Freelancers at my college and knew I just had to go there. VK wasn't an option although it was closer by two hours. I didn't know anyone there.

Edited October 20, 2007 by ravedodger

[bass5]

I think this premise is off mainly because its comparing apples to oranges.

Back when the OP and myself were youngsters there were a ton of corps and most kids joined when they were in middle school or high school.

If you happened to be in a town with a good drum corps you joined a good drum corps, if your local corps was a small not so good corps thats what you joined. Most kids in the smaller corps would march through their high school years and move away for school or just move on with their lives and of course there were always a few die hards who would hang on and age out of their small corps.

Around the time DCI started a lot of the "older" kids from smaller corps started joining bigger/better corps in other towns for their last few years in corps.

I have no idea the percentage of out of towners in the larger corps in the 70's but I know it got exponentially larger as the years went by.

Due to numerous reasons at that time (mostly money) the smaller corps went by the wayside and the larger corps ended up the way they are with

80% to 90% out of towners in their ranks.

Now the top tier corps are mostly college age kids and the open class corps are younger kids - but mostly all from no where near where the drum corps is from.

Drum corps is no longer a neighborhood or local activity. Heck from year to year you have to check and see where a corps is from.

As far as it being about "me" today more than yesterday I think that is just BS. When I was an 11 year old kid and joined drum corps it was more about hanging with my friends and joining an activity where I could get out of town on the weekends and hoping my lawn mowing jobs and paper route would take care of expenses. Now these dedicated kids fly in from all over the country (or the world for that matter) at great expense to be part of one of these great drum corps.

And being in any corps at any time it is NEVER been about "me", it always has been and always will be about "your corps".

Edited October 20, 2007 by bass5

[ravedodger]

Around the time DCI started a lot of the "older" kids from smaller corps started joining bigger/better corps in other towns for their last few years in corps.

I have no idea the percentage of out of towners in the larger corps in the 70's but I know it got exponentially larger as the years went by.

Due to numerous reasons at that time (mostly money) the smaller corps went by the wayside and the larger corps ended up the way they are with

80% to 90% out of towners in their ranks.

Now the top tier corps are mostly college age kids and the open class corps are younger kids - but mostly all from no where near where the drum corps is from.

Drum corps is no longer a neighborhood or local activity. Heck from year to year you have to check and see where a corps is from.

Nice argument. I can go with this.

[dbc03]

Local corps have in large part been replaced by high school marching bands

[PioneerWebmaster]

I don't think the OP is completely off the mark. You really can't compare today's activity to what it was 15 or 20 years ago as the concept of the "local corps" is virtually gone. However, I can support the part about "it's all about me". Having recruited for Pioneer in the past, and now having run the website for the past 7 years, you'd be suprised at some of the stuff that we hear. There are a lot of kids now days who, for whatever reason, desire only to march with a top 15 corps. When those plans don't work out, they occasionally look to corps like Pioneer. However, in communicating with some of these kids, they act like coming to march Pioneer is actually doing us a big favor. It's just a completely different attitude than even what was found 10 years ago. Yes, there were plenty of kids back then that used Pioneer as a stepping stone to Madison, for example. However, they were usually grateful that we gave them the opportunity to march and that they were able to gain valuable experience. There are still some kids where that philosophy applies. However, I always love getting emails in January from individuals who got cut from another corps wondering if we have any lead sop openings or if bass 1 or bass 2 is open because that's all they're willing to play. Once we email them back with what we do have available, we often times don't hear from them ever again. And the sad thing is that some of these kids are local kids who live within an hour or two of Milwaukee. But, if they can't march with one of the top corps, or they can't at least hold a "prestigious" position within our corps, they don't want to march.

[DrillmanSop06]

Loaded question. A ridiculous one, at that.

I wanted to march drum corps because I thoroughly enjoyed marching in high school. Like anything one wants to pursue, you look for the next level. And wow, here it is! In all of its non-woodwindy glory (as a brass player, this was a HUGE draw)! I also knew that I would meet like minded people who had the same passion and dedication as myself. The lure of a marching ensemble doing the things I loved to do and watch made up of the best of the best with few slackers is what brought me to drum corps.

[bass5]

Local corps have in large part been replaced by high school marching bands

I have to agree - even though for an old timer like me thats pretty hard on the ears. (Don't take that the wrong way youngsters)

It is probably why such a larger % of members in DCI are from Texas now, they have great h.s. marching programs.

Its a pity that so many high schools do not have marching bands at all.

In 2006 Yamaha donated the drums to the Scouts Alumni Corps with the intention of distributing them afterwards to local h.s. marching bands.

My understanding was there was only one h.s. marching band in the city of Madison and they had to look out in the suburbs

to even give them away. It all made sense to me then why there was not one Scout from the city of Madison.

When I marched in the Scouts in the mid 70's I'll bet 75% of the members were from within 30 miles of Madison.

[stifled4mallettechnique]

I don't think the OP meant to offend anyone to whom his premise didn't apply, but the fact that some of you were offended says something as well. I assure you, there ARE those who won't do anything if they can't do it with a "winning team" and it's not just in drum corps. I also assure you that there are those who will participate at some level when they are not able to play with the "big boys". IMRHO, I'd rather not have the ones that don't want to be there anyway, especially the ones that think they are (insert your favorite diety/dieties here)'s gift despite not making a top 12 corps. Now, if the top 12 corps would do more to encourage those that didn't make it to get some experience in another corps, that wouldn't in and of itself be bad. I'm not necessarily promoting the idea that all big corps should have feeder corps as some do now, of course.