When did drum corps become marching band?

[kusankusho]

I think the real determinant of DC becoming marching band has more to do with the straight ahead non traditional elements of marching shows.

I can't say the grounding of the pit bothers me that much, although the actual introduction of keyboards made me raise an eyebrow (remeinded me too much of glochenspiels).

In all other respects, from amps on, I'm with you. Amped voice was where the slide started to accelerate to an unacceptable rate for me.

Maybe we should restrict our discussions to drum corps and leave religion, climate change and politics aside - we'd get on famously...

[Scerpella]

I can't say the grounding of the pit bothers me that much, although the actual introduction of keyboards made me raise an eyebrow (remeinded me too much of glochenspiels).

In all other respects, from amps on, I'm with you. Amped voice was where the slide started to accelerate to an unacceptable rate for me.

Maybe we should restrict our discussions to drum corps and leave religion, climate change and politics aside - we'd get on famously...

Yeah drum corps is it seems one point of commonality for us.

I wasnt all that bothered by the creation of the pit either but it created a precedent. Up until then everyone but the American flag and squad moved, it was "pure" in that respect. First it was timps, then marching keyboards became full keyboards, then every thing in the percussion arsenal got placed on the front sideline.It being the 80s and considering who was running the activity then (people with its best interests at heart) the rate of change was slow and painstakingly considered. By the late 90's, using the precedent of moderately improving from 2 key to 3 key and then from G to Bb, people who now relied on their livelihoods from this niche activity started to to transform it not for the betterment of it in itself or for the entertainment concerns of generations of diehard fans, but to follow the dollar. Ironically in pursuit of the dollar they bankrupted scores of corps who could no longer compete not being able to afford all this "optional" equipment that somehow it seemed you needed if you wanted competitive success and the subsequent ability to continue financially as an organization.

Now with virtually no one to oppose them, Hopkins and a few lemmings are turning Drum corps into the aforementioned "Superbowl half time show" Who benefits? The people who are looked on from the band world as the consultants they must have, the folks who have locked up endorsement deals and consulting arrangements from the instrument manufacturers. Its pride and self aggrandizement. They have created an appeal thats now miles wide but ankle deep. Which as long as there are band kids coming up ever year being funnelled in by school programs is perfectly ok with them.

When drum corps was run by Scout troops and Churches and YMCA's and police athletic leagues, THATS when it truly was about the kids. ALL kids, not university fine arts majors with $4K to spend and nothing better to do.

[liebot]

Now with virtually no one to oppose them, Hopkins and a few lemmings are turning Drum corps into the aforementioned "Superbowl half time show"

There's no way anyone would watch the Super Bowl halftime show if it was a typical drum corps show.

[WWonka]

There's no way anyone would watch the Super Bowl halftime show if it was a typical drum corps show.

It would depend on what the guard was wearing...

[ChildProdigy'89'05]

I heart Drum and Bugle Corps...today especially, or else I wouldn't do it.

[mello_laurel]

Wow, is anyone who keeps making these presumptions about marching band actually INVOLVED with any marching bands? I have been marching and teaching bands since 1997, and I have never been involved in a marching band that had "pom-pom girls" or baton twirlers. I have never been involved in a group that has placed any heavy interest in the athletic department of the school (in fact, my university doesn't HAVE a football team, so all we do is perform exhibitions at marching band shows and perform a few times at school functions and in the community). NOT all marching bands are BOA bands, nor are those exempt bands "Drumline" bands.

A drum corps is a marching band. It may not be Marching Band, the way we have come to connotate it, as being "flashy" and "over the top," but regardless, it is a marching band.

Definition: BAND:

a group of persons, animals, or things; especially : a group of musicians organized for ensemble playing

(do we want etymology too? I do love words, and their history: Middle French bande troop, from Old Occitan banda, of Germanic origin; akin to Gothic bandwo sign, standard)

Definition: MARCH:

(as an intransitive verb) 1: to move along steadily usually with a rhythmic stride and in step with others2 a: to move in a direct purposeful manner : proceed b: to make steady progress : advance <time marches on>3: to stand in orderly array suggestive of marching

(etymology: Middle English, from Middle French marchier to trample, march, from Old French, to trample, probably of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German marcōn to mark)

QED: Drum Corps is a marching band (we can call it "lower-case marching band," if you want. If we need to define it seperately from Marching Band, we'll do it that way. Just like God is different from god, so is Marching Band different from marching band).

Definitions are from the Merriam-Webster Dictionary; I would have preferred to use the OED, but I don't have a subscription, and I'm not at school.

Edit: I can't believe I'm arguing this. It's an absolutely moot point, as we all have our own definitions of the idea of "drum corps" and "marching band," so there is really no way to find an answer. I just felt like someone needed to represent the idea of marching band versus the connotated, loaded definition of the BOA band that we all seem to be using (except for people who see it as football band, I guess)...but now I'm really just rambling because it's 2 in the morning, so I'm out. Probably.

Edited February 2, 2008 by mello_laurel