madscout96 Posted November 24, 2007 Share Posted November 24, 2007 Yes, believe it or not the audience is a high priority for George Hopkins. Then he should find out from them what they are looking for in a drum corps show and what they aren't looking for. Because clearly he doesn't know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbc03 Posted November 24, 2007 Share Posted November 24, 2007 It doesn't seem to be very hard to break down some of the arguments they try to make. If there were so many dedicated woodwind players that really wanted to do drum corps at any cost, every corps would surely be maxed out and be teaching them how to play whatever instrument they could. I bet 'Open Class' would relish the opportunity to teach new instruments to the already musically trained woodwind players. Having figured it out, I cannot understand why anybody would want these kind of people inside their corps with or without a rule change. Well, to be fair, these kind of people are already inside the corps. Imagine a hypothetical world where drum corps is woodwinds and drums, and is just as popular as it is now for some unholy reason. Do you think that all the current members would learn woodwinds to march? No, for the vast majority they would be the same as the woodwind players now that don't want to learn a brass instrument. They have just never been faced with that decision Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbc03 Posted November 24, 2007 Share Posted November 24, 2007 Then he should find out from them what they are looking for in a drum corps show and what they aren't looking for. Because clearly he doesn't know. Well, he clearly doesn't know what DCP is looking for in a show (Well, he knows, he just doesn't care). However, DCP is a small subsection of the DCI fan community, and their show got some great crowd response when I saw them this past season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tekneek Posted November 24, 2007 Share Posted November 24, 2007 (edited) Well, to be fair, these kind of people are already inside the corps.Imagine a hypothetical world where drum corps is woodwinds and drums, and is just as popular as it is now for some unholy reason. Do you think that all the current members would learn woodwinds to march? No, for the vast majority they would be the same as the woodwind players now that don't want to learn a brass instrument. They have just never been faced with that decision If I really wanted to march drum corps, and the only openings were in woodwinds, and the corps would teach me how to play? I would be all over it. In my opinion, anybody that would balk at that is not mentally prepared for drum corps. At least half of it, to me, is having the attitude that you will do whatever it takes to be a part of it. Not just what you think is fancy enough for your perceived status in the world. Anybody coming in with those notions is probably not ready to invest the blood, sweat, and tears required to push through to the end. Edited November 24, 2007 by Tekneek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbc03 Posted November 24, 2007 Share Posted November 24, 2007 If I really wanted to march drum corps, and the only openings were in woodwinds, and the corps would teach me how to play? I would be all over it. In my opinion, anybody that would balk at that is not mentally prepared for drum corps. At least half of it, to me, is having the attitude that you will do whatever it takes to be a part of it. Not just what you think is fancy enough for your perceived status in the world. Anybody coming in with those notions is probably not ready to invest the blood, sweat, and tears required to push through to the end. But the vast majority of brass players currently in drum corps would not march if it was all woodwinds, but they still invest the blood, sweat, and tears required because they have never been faced with the decision. Brass players are not automatically more determined to do whatever it takes than woodwind players, but they have been given a distinct advantage when it comes to marching drum corps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tekneek Posted November 24, 2007 Share Posted November 24, 2007 (edited) Brass players are not automatically more determined to do whatever it takes than woodwind players, but they have been given a distinct advantage when it comes to marching drum corps. They have not been 'given' anything. It's just unfortunate that bugles weren't woodwinds. When I marched, I had about 2 or 3 weeks of brass experience and it was roughly 7 years before. I learned the Euph from the ground up. I had only played percussion instruments in the years between. You can learn it if you want to. Edited November 24, 2007 by Tekneek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbc03 Posted November 24, 2007 Share Posted November 24, 2007 They have not been 'given' anything. It's just unfortunate that bugles weren't woodwinds. When I marched, I had about 2 or 3 weeks of brass experience and it was roughly 7 years before. I learned the Euph from the ground up. I had only played percussion instruments in the years between. You can learn it if you want to. But they HAVE been given a distinct advantage over woodwind players when it comes to making a drum corps. I don't see how you can say they haven't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tekneek Posted November 24, 2007 Share Posted November 24, 2007 But they HAVE been given a distinct advantage over woodwind players when it comes to making a drum corps. I don't see how you can say they haven't. Maybe I am arguing semantics with you. An advantage may exist because of the instrumentation of a drum corps, but they weren't "given" that advantage. A drum and bugle corps being brass and percussion goes back quite a ways. It was not something they dreamed up as a way to keep woodwind players locked out, was it? Perhaps it is just too bad that drum and bugle corps replaced the drum and fife corps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CVQuesty Posted November 24, 2007 Share Posted November 24, 2007 It rains. The woodwinds go in the cases. If they get wet at all, leave the cases open while they dry. Obviously, don't use them during exceptionally dusty rehearsals. Sometimes it's not feasible to have the "sensitive" horns run of the field to have thir horns "take cover". This also breaks continuity of the lesson being delivered, and breaks the concentration of the hornline on the field (brass, I mean). I'm assuming here (and I know that's a bad thing to do) that you haven't staffed at the DCA or DCI level. Not that it akes any difference, but to take a note from some of the earlier conversation, you really can't speak fully to the educator's side of the equation unless you've been there. I have, and I know how poorly it can reflect on a rehearsal to have multiple interruptions. I also know what it is to keep powering through a rainstorm whether it's a performance or a rehearsal. Heck, even Tom Blair uses a torrential downpour regularly in his montages at the beginning of theater events and DVD sets. What of drum corps with exceptionally dusty standard rehearsal fields ("Dust Bowl", "Mars", etc.) What of fields you're given to march on that are exceptionally dusty? Do you forego rehearsing musically that day because of dust? How will that affect your performance that evening? Part of professionalism is learning to overcome obstacles. I'm sure they'll survive without the rehearsal time. Show me a professional woodwind performer (no offense to you at 20, I've been performing professionally longer than you've been around <gulp... I'm old>) that will subject their best horn to that environment. You have a lot of professionals out there that will definitely overcome just about any situation during a show (not field, just show...). But I know of a very few that will subject their best horns to the rigors of an outdoor season. I mean, we *do* want them playing their best gear, right? EDIT: What's more, I've marched with woodwinds, 27+ hours a week of rehearsal, outside in Michigan Fall/Winter weather, which is worse than anything tour could ever muster. Never had a single pad job or cracked clarinet. No, I disagree. I've taught in the very same conditions, and we've had to put the woods away in the worst of circumstances, and we've also put them away EVERY time it rained. The band director and myself learned how to do pad jobs because they were needed so much, we just got the kids to buy the kit and we did the work. It was MISERABLE. I can also guarantee you that if you get caught in a 12 minute downpour (without lightning, otherwise you'd be pulled from the field) that you would most definitely need a pad job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CVQuesty Posted November 24, 2007 Share Posted November 24, 2007 But they HAVE been given a distinct advantage over woodwind players when it comes to making a drum corps. I don't see how you can say they haven't. Well it was and is a "Drum and Bugle Corps" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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