Dale Bari Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 Hardly....if attendance....and revenue...took a nosedive after some change(s), whatever it/they may have been...I would certainly think the BOD would relook at them.Equipment changes ARE looked at carefully....it took a dozen years just to get amps passed. And marching bands' experience with them goes even further back than that. Yet, we still get annoying interruptions during shows with malfunctioning/misused/poorly handled equipment. And that's not including narration, which has all of its own annoyances. Woodwinds bring on a new set of challenges that proponents claim can/will be overcome. When that passes (after X years of "looking carefully" at it), how long afterwards will the apologists for that nightmare be saying "give us more time to work out the bugs, the design/instruction/technology isn't mature yet"? There's a great line near the beginning of "Fellowship of the Ring" (film) where Bilbo Baggins complains of feeling thin, stretched "like butter scraped over too much bread". The definition of drum & bugle corps is always being stretched further and further. Eventually, it too will get "scraped over too much bread". Whatever it becomes, it will not taste good any more - to anyone. And once spread thus, no one can "unscrape" it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madscout96 Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 I find it to be as unimportant to the purpose of drum corps as those who still spout the "if you can't carry it don't use it" idea to get rid of the pit...or the "If it's not in 'G' it's not drum corps" idea that some also put forth. Just irrelevant to the idea behind what I...repeat...I....consider drum corps to be. We each have our own ideals. What do you consider drum corps to be? As you have said, some people consider it to be valved bell-front brass and percussion. Some consider it to be valved bell-front brass in G and percussion. Some consider it to be valved bell-front brass and percussion, without any electric amplification. What do you consider it? Give us your definition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrumCorpsFan27 Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 Equipment changes ARE looked at carefully....it took a dozen years just to get amps passed. Didn't some directors say, after amps had passed, that they didn't really understand them? That's not what I call looking at them carefully. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrumCorpsFan27 Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 What do you consider drum corps to be? As you have said, some people consider it to be valved bell-front brass and percussion. Some consider it to be valved bell-front brass in G and percussion. Some consider it to be valved bell-front brass and percussion, without any electric amplification. What do you consider it? Give us your definition. Oh, he will. And you won't see a word about instruments. That's his opinion, amongst others. It's not mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markdewine Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 If I had to hazard a guess as to MikeD's definition of Drum Corps it would be...... Drum Corps- A marching musical ensemble, that is constantly changing into something different than it used to be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dale Bari Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 I find it to be as unimportant to the purpose of drum corps as those who still spout the "if you can't carry it don't use it" idea to get rid of the pit...or the "If it's not in 'G' it's not drum corps" idea that some also put forth. Just irrelevant to the idea behind what I...repeat...I....consider drum corps to be. We each have our own ideals. Excuse me, but that's bullsh--! That's rhetorical non-sense. What you're describing is anarchy. We can't all have our own idea of what drum corps (or anything else) is or should be, in a vacuum. If there is no shared identity, no shared ideal, the activity ceases to exist. That's why we have a dictionary, to have a common language. We can't make up our own meanings for words. Otherwise, we couldn't communicate. Sure, we can all have slightly different takes on drum corps, but there has to be something to unite us all. The political parties are home to people with diverse viewpoints and priorities, but there are some basic fundamentals that unite all of the believers in each one. As fed up as we may get with them, no one has seriously attempted to ban their existences or force them all to be one big universal party - with no platform, BTW. (You don't need one, if you're the only party there is, i.e. no need for differentiation.) And for that same reason, the definition of drum corps should not be left up to the pure whims of some oligarchy, cut off from the people who allow them to exist in the first place. (Without fans, there are no corps - hence, no directors to serve as DCI's board.) There is a tradition that informs (or at least, it should) the decisions made by that oligarchy. Willfullness in that definition leads to the same anarchy I mentioned above. Fans would not continue to support an activity that drifts aimlessly, or chases its own tail in pursuit of a mystical idea. To claim that drum corps is for the kids, or to provide one a chance "to excel as a member of a team" or "to enjoy marching music at its finest" or any of the other meringue-like (all air - no substance) "definitions" that I've read from time to time here, is to destroy the things that unite the drum corps community, that make corps unique (and therefore most attractive) amongst the universe of leisure activities from which we can choose. Yes, there are many genetic traits that the drum corps shares with its cousin, the marching band. But, the desire to force a marriage between the two and be stuck with only the mutant offspring that results is bizarre and completely foreign to me. MikeD claims to be so open-minded that he can enjoy anything that DCI puts out on the field (though he's less than entertained when some corps "drag" out old music), yet he's not open-minded enough to understand or care that those corps fans who prefer there to be two strains of "marching music" will be lost when the two strains become one in his perfect world. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madscout96 Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 If I had to hazard a guess as to MikeD's definition of Drum Corps it would be......Drum Corps- A marching musical ensemble, that is constantly changing into something different than it used to be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pokey Posted December 4, 2007 Share Posted December 4, 2007 The only reason I see woodwinds being considered is that there are kids already playing them and some corps would use anyone to fill the corps up. Now I'm talking smaller corps here. I have been watching Florida Band Competitions and the better bands are brass heavy and one was a drum and bugle B-flat corps. The band directors know they can't get the volume of sound they would like unless they had about 100 "winds" and or put a wireless mike on all the instruments. Do all these changes mean that the judges are going to go for it? That the crowd won't hear the difference? woof..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrumCorpsFan27 Posted December 4, 2007 Share Posted December 4, 2007 (edited) MikeD claims to be so open-minded that he can enjoy anything that DCI puts out on the field (though he's less than entertained when some corps "drag" out old music), yet he's not open-minded enough to understand or care that those corps fans who prefer there to be two strains of "marching music" will be lost when the two strains become one in his perfect world. Wouldn't an open mind be more open to two great marching activities instead of just one? Open minds value diversity, IMO. Edited December 4, 2007 by DrumCorpsFan27 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted December 4, 2007 Share Posted December 4, 2007 What do you consider drum corps to be? As you have said, some people consider it to be valved bell-front brass and percussion. Some consider it to be valved bell-front brass in G and percussion. Some consider it to be valved bell-front brass and percussion, without any electric amplification. What do you consider it? Give us your definition. Drum corps is the premier marching/music activity that provides the members and audience with exciting and entertaining choreographed music presentations and performances. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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