A rich kid's sport

[drumcat]

It is a rich kid's sport - that is the biggest change from the old days when in some places every neighborhood had a corps. It gave the kids something posative to do, promoted teamwork, all that good stuff.

For example, When I lived in Belleville IL I was at library looking up something in an old newspaper - there was a front page review of the weekly corps contest - 10 corps from the immediate area (inc 2 all-girl). There was a local contest every weekend . And at end of the season 1-2 went to VFW nationals.

Drum corps is not like that any more.

No; that's high school band. High schools took over that role, and drum corps became the next level.

BTW, for those of you talking about "rich activity", let's look at what it costs to participate in some upper-echelon BOA groups, huh? Whether it's dues, higher property taxes or both... it's not cheap either.

[Martybucs]

The good thing about drum corps, if you were a member, is that it was always fun and a great stress reliever - junior or senior. Even all the hard work was fun, because of the results.

The DCI touring model which requires such an enormous outlay of cash per member sucks a lot of the fun out of the activity.

That one requirement, (money), changes the whole focus of what drum corps is about. DCI, the corps, and their bloated staffs have become parasites on the activity robbing it of any validity as a true youth activity. It has almost consumed the entirety of the activity and what is left only benefits a small minority of what once was a marvelous, inclusive local youth activity. True, money was always necessary, but it used to be an amount relative to the essential needs of the kids, not the staff or DCI.

I'm afraid that MikeD is right about high school music programs having taken the place of local corps. I do not agree that it is better than the old drum corps, (sorry, Mike, I can only go so far.).

If you want local circuits, a local activity, a youth program that has many units spanning contiguous neighborhoods...it just isn't there anymore - DCI killed it.

[Tom Brace]

If you want local circuits, a local activity, a youth program that has many units spanning contiguous neighborhoods...it just isn't there anymore - DCI killed it.

It's dead alright, but CSI has already determined that DCI was not the murderer.

[dbc03]

The good thing about drum corps, if you were a member, is that it was always fun and a great stress reliever - junior or senior. Even all the hard work was fun, because of the results.

The DCI touring model which requires such an enormous outlay of cash per member sucks a lot of the fun out of the activity.

Drum corps is still loads of fun. I don't know what you are talkign about.

Honestly I don't think you do either because you haven't marched in a junior corps in how many years?

[silvertrombone]

It is a rich kid's sport - that is the biggest change from the old days when in some places every neighborhood had a corps. It gave the kids something posative to do, promoted teamwork, all that good stuff.

For example, When I lived in Belleville IL I was at library looking up something in an old newspaper - there was a front page review of the weekly corps contest - 10 corps from the immediate area (inc 2 all-girl). There was a local contest every weekend . And at end of the season 1-2 went to VFW nationals.

Drum corps is not like that any more.

drumcat beat me to it...Mike, too...high school band took over that role. I was senior in high school and King Band-O before I even knew drum corps existed.

The good thing about drum corps, if you were a member, is that it was always fun and a great stress reliever - junior or senior. Even all the hard work was fun, because of the results.

The DCI touring model which requires such an enormous outlay of cash per member sucks a lot of the fun out of the activity.

That one requirement, (money), changes the whole focus of what drum corps is about. DCI, the corps, and their bloated staffs have become parasites on the activity robbing it of any validity as a true youth activity. It has almost consumed the entirety of the activity and what is left only benefits a small minority of what once was a marvelous, inclusive local youth activity. True, money was always necessary, but it used to be an amount relative to the essential needs of the kids, not the staff or DCI.

I'm afraid that MikeD is right about high school music programs having taken the place of local corps. I do not agree that it is better than the old drum corps, (sorry, Mike, I can only go so far.).

If you want local circuits, a local activity, a youth program that has many units spanning contiguous neighborhoods...it just isn't there anymore - DCI killed it.

Something tells me that DCI didn't kill it...it died under DCI's watch, but as others have said, DC's were going away prior to DCI taking over. With DCI coming in all of a sudden VFW and AL weren't in charge any more. Makes sense that local posts gave up and corps 'went away.' Why get involved in DCI when it's in another state and your passion is AL/VFW? Makes SOME sense to me.

Edit: Further thoughts...you old guys correct me where my assumptions are incorrect. WWII vets came back to the US and started going to college. That included NCAA football which in turn included the marching bands. Local bands used those, and not DC's as their model. So MB's became 'like' the cheesy college bands who were in turn there to support the football team, not 'do' their own thing.

Fast-forward to the DCI era. 1980's the activity took great leaps forward in programming and REALLY started to distinguish themselves from MB's, IMO. Wasn't around DCI then, but remember band from that era. By the 90's, there was a tremendous difference in every area...performance level, programming, touring/performances, etc. So much so that bands and directors started taking big-time note and now MB's follow everything that corps do. So much so that now, with the influx of talent into the MB director realm, some of them are coming up with some REALLY creative stuff the corps haven't done yet. Seems to be swinging back and forth like that.

Thoughts?

Drum corps is still loads of fun. I don't know what you are talkign about.

Honestly I don't think you do either because you haven't marched in a junior corps in how many years?

Now, now...be nice. Marty has underwear older than you! :P

Edited November 21, 2007 by silvertrombone

[soccerguy315]

I call BS on whoever thinks that delaying an internship by a year or two will cripple their future finances. You have your entire life to work, and it's not like while you march you will mysteriously forget everything, making you a less-qualified candidate for your future career. Financially, maybe you'll retire at age 66 rather than age 64. You can't seriously argue that you'd trade those memories of aging out for an extra year of the rest of your life.

If that was directed at me, I wasn't arguing it would cripple future finances. I was saying that it can put you behind some other applicants in a competitive applicant pool for limited spaces at some jobs. That said, I did march, one year driving to camps, and one year flying, so I made my decision in the matter. Like you are saying, I decided that I can work later.

[Piper]

Back in the early 60's, Drum Corps was ruled by the Northeast and Midwest, with the Troopers being the major exception, who toured out of necessity rather than design. The idea apparently caught on.

[sburstall]

It's dead alright, but CSI has already determined that DCI was not the murderer.

Nope, just an accessory to it (they turned thier back instead of finding a way to save corps...or at least try to minimize the loss).

[Martybucs]

Edit: Further thoughts...you old guys correct me where my assumptions are incorrect. WWII vets came back to the US and started going to college. That included NCAA football which in turn included the marching bands. Local bands used those, and not DC's as their model. So MB's became 'like' the cheesy college bands who were in turn there to support the football team, not 'do' their own thing.

Fast-forward to the DCI era. 1980's the activity took great leaps forward in programming and REALLY started to distinguish themselves from MB's, IMO. Wasn't around DCI then, but remember band from that era. By the 90's, there was a tremendous difference in every area...performance level, programming, touring/performances, etc. So much so that bands and directors started taking big-time note and now MB's follow everything that corps do. So much so that now, with the influx of talent into the MB director realm, some of them are coming up with some REALLY creative stuff the corps haven't done yet. Seems to be swinging back and forth like that.

Thoughts?

Now, now...be nice. Marty has underwear older than you! :P

I may have underwear that's smarter :P

I didn't mean to suggest that drum corps isn't any fun anymore. I just think it was more fun before the 1980s. Fun is a relative term, so it's hard to gauge. Perhaps impossible, so that is MO.

It's easy to dismiss the "Old back in the day" crowd as not being up on what the kids are doing; being old fashioned; just liking the old ways, etc., etc. However, there is value in what we say because we have seen both sides. We can see trends, where younger people may only see the present and think that all is fine.

To be sure, nostalgia can play tricks on your mind and make things in the past seem better than they were. A prime example would be anyone suggesting that a 1950s corps, or '60s&70s could go head to head with a modern corps. Clearly, the corps of today are better at what they do. That is not to say that had those type of shows been around when we were that young, we couldn't have performed them also. They weren't, so we didn't.

The biggest difference between school bands and drum corps in the early years was simply that they were different.

With the exception of wood winds, that difference is gone.

DCI switched its' focus from kids to profit. VFW and AL made some money, big deal. Back then, the corps were for the kids and lots and lots of kids. It was affordable. It was fun.

It's affordable to some kids now and I'm sure it's fun. Today, DCI exists as a resume/CV booster for the staffs.

After the age of 30 or so, time goes into full warp and before you realize it 20 -30 more years have gone by and all a sudden you're in your 50s giving an opinion that's meant as insight and you end up insulting younger posters that don't need our insight because they, like ourselves at that age, know it all and old people are irrelevant.

Between junior corps and senior corps, I marched almost 20 years on the field of competition. I march in an alumni corps now and have since 1983. It's 2007 now - that's a lot of years - a lot of experience. I'm in no hall of fame, although people are always asking me to play in their hornlines, quintets, jazz bands, etc. I'm proud of that and I owe it to the "old school" drum corps. You know, back when a bunch of poor kids could do it.

Now , if you've read this far, you should be nice to me......because someday you'll have old underwear, too. :P

[dccorpsfan]

I think DCI has been there for a few years now.

That's what I've noticed. It's too rich for my blood now, that's for sure.

DCA, here I come!