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2008: Worst Drum Corps Year Ever?


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Is it just me or has the quality of DCI declined significantly in the past two years? To me it doesn't seem to be the level of talent among the members of the corps that is lacking, but in the the designs of the shows themselves. It is especially apparent this year in the top 6 or 7 corps (Cavaliers, Blue Devils, Cadets, etc...). The narration in the Cadets' show is an unmitigated disaster, the level of sophistication in the BD and Cavalier shows is that of a high school marching band. The only two shows I saw with any sort of potential were SCV and Bluecoats, but even their shows have significant design flaws.

Here are a few specific things that I think need to be done in order to reverse this trend of vapidity and save DCI from destroying itself:

- NO MORE AMPS. period. Yes, there have been corps that have used them tastefully, but this narration crap has to end NOW.

- NO MORE MEDLEYS. This is something that only the music arrangers can fix. For once I would like to hear a complete song. Nothing sucks the life out of me more than listening to medleys. A perfect example is the Bluecoats' show this year. There was absolutely no reason in the world to mix in clips of "On The Waterfront" between the Rocky music. Very difficult to listen to and it makes no sense thematically.

- MORE MEMORABLE MUSIC. No more of this arcane and abstract crap that seems to go on forever. Maybe it will impress a bunch of highs choolers, but it's growing old on me. Also, no more shot notes every 5 bars, and no more drum breaks that last forever while the horn line is off in the back corner doing choreography just for the sake of doing choreography. If you pick music that people are familiar with, the will be able to relate to it more. You can still do a lot of crowd pleasing stuff without sacrificing difficulty.

- NO MORE PROPS. They're distracting to look at and they take up too much space on the field that could be used for drill. I have never seen a show where I thought the props enhanced the show in ANY way. If you need props (and narration for that matter) to help the audience understand the theme of your show, it's probably going to be a bad show anyway.

I hope there is someone out there who understands what I'm talking about here. With the exception of one or two shows, I felt 2007 was a bad year for DCI and I didn't think it could get any worse until I saw this year's shows. I know this whole post sounds very negative and pessimistic, and I know there's a whole brigade of pollyannas out there who will disagree with me, but I feel DCI is slowly metastasizing in to some sort of nightmare out of a BOA contest.

What does everyone else think?

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Is it just me or has the quality of DCI declined significantly in the past two years? To me it doesn't seem to be the level of talent among the members of the corps that is lacking, but in the the designs of the shows themselves. It is especially apparent this year in the top 6 or 7 corps (Cavaliers, Blue Devils, Cadets, etc...). The narration in the Cadets' show is an unmitigated disaster, the level of sophistication in the BD and Cavalier shows is that of a high school marching band. The only two shows I saw with any sort of potential were SCV and Bluecoats, but even their shows have significant design flaws.

Here are a few specific things that I think need to be done in order to reverse this trend of vapidity and save DCI from destroying itself:

- NO MORE AMPS. period. Yes, there have been corps that have used them tastefully, but this narration crap has to end NOW.

- NO MORE MEDLEYS. This is something that only the music arrangers can fix. For once I would like to hear a complete song. Nothing sucks the life out of me more than listening to medleys. A perfect example is the Bluecoats' show this year. There was absolutely no reason in the world to mix in clips of "On The Waterfront" between the Rocky music. Very difficult to listen to and it makes no sense thematically.

- MORE MEMORABLE MUSIC. No more of this arcane and abstract crap that seems to go on forever. Maybe it will impress a bunch of highs choolers, but it's growing old on me. Also, no more shot notes every 5 bars, and no more drum breaks that last forever while the horn line is off in the back corner doing choreography just for the sake of doing choreography. If you pick music that people are familiar with, the will be able to relate to it more. You can still do a lot of crowd pleasing stuff without sacrificing difficulty.

- NO MORE PROPS. They're distracting to look at and they take up too much space on the field that could be used for drill. I have never seen a show where I thought the props enhanced the show in ANY way. If you need props (and narration for that matter) to help the audience understand the theme of your show, it's probably going to be a bad show anyway.

I hope there is someone out there who understands what I'm talking about here. With the exception of one or two shows, I felt 2007 was a bad year for DCI and I didn't think it could get any worse until I saw this year's shows. I know this whole post sounds very negative and pessimistic, and I know there's a whole brigade of pollyannas out there who will disagree with me, but I feel DCI is slowly metastasizing in to some sort of nightmare out of a BOA contest.

What does everyone else think?

I'M A DINOSAUR!!! RAWR!!!!! :-P

Edited by Senisa
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Is it just me or has the quality of DCI declined significantly in the past two years? To me it doesn't seem to be the level of talent among the members of the corps that is lacking, but in the the designs of the shows themselves. It is especially apparent this year in the top 6 or 7 corps (Cavaliers, Blue Devils, Cadets, etc...). The narration in the Cadets' show is an unmitigated disaster, the level of sophistication in the BD and Cavalier shows is that of a high school marching band. The only two shows I saw with any sort of potential were SCV and Bluecoats, but even their shows have significant design flaws.

Here are a few specific things that I think need to be done in order to reverse this trend of vapidity and save DCI from destroying itself:

- NO MORE AMPS. period. Yes, there have been corps that have used them tastefully, but this narration crap has to end NOW.

- NO MORE MEDLEYS. This is something that only the music arrangers can fix. For once I would like to hear a complete song. Nothing sucks the life out of me more than listening to medleys. A perfect example is the Bluecoats' show this year. There was absolutely no reason in the world to mix in clips of "On The Waterfront" between the Rocky music. Very difficult to listen to and it makes no sense thematically.

- MORE MEMORABLE MUSIC. No more of this arcane and abstract crap that seems to go on forever. Maybe it will impress a bunch of highs choolers, but it's growing old on me. Also, no more shot notes every 5 bars, and no more drum breaks that last forever while the horn line is off in the back corner doing choreography just for the sake of doing choreography. If you pick music that people are familiar with, the will be able to relate to it more. You can still do a lot of crowd pleasing stuff without sacrificing difficulty.

- NO MORE PROPS. They're distracting to look at and they take up too much space on the field that could be used for drill. I have never seen a show where I thought the props enhanced the show in ANY way. If you need props (and narration for that matter) to help the audience understand the theme of your show, it's probably going to be a bad show anyway.

I hope there is someone out there who understands what I'm talking about here. With the exception of one or two shows, I felt 2007 was a bad year for DCI and I didn't think it could get any worse until I saw this year's shows. I know this whole post sounds very negative and pessimistic, and I know there's a whole brigade of pollyannas out there who will disagree with me, but I feel DCI is slowly metastasizing in to some sort of nightmare out of a BOA contest.

What does everyone else think?

If you felt 2007 was a bad year for dci you need to get out from under the rock you're living under. Corps are far more talented than they were 5 years ago.

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Is it just me or has the quality of DCI declined significantly in the past two years? To me it doesn't seem to be the level of talent among the members of the corps that is lacking, but in the the designs of the shows themselves. It is especially apparent this year in the top 6 or 7 corps (Cavaliers, Blue Devils, Cadets, etc...). The narration in the Cadets' show is an unmitigated disaster, the level of sophistication in the BD and Cavalier shows is that of a high school marching band. The only two shows I saw with any sort of potential were SCV and Bluecoats, but even their shows have significant design flaws.

What does everyone else think?

OK, I did a big snip because I agree, but for totally different reasons.

I used to think the kids drum corps recruited were pretty much equal in talent. This is as of the end of last decade. Things have definitely changed in this area.

The highest quality of performers from high schools and colleges are fewer in number now than in 1999. These kids are out there...they are just not paying the fees to march in drum corps anymore.

We have reached a tipping point. Scholastic band is about all some of these families can afford and we are left with fewer and fewer "die hards" that absolutely HAVE to march drum corps.

The top corps (maybe 6-7 of them) are getting the bulk of these young people. The rest....oh well, as the saying goes...you gets what you pays for. Hense...the shows we are seeing more and more are accessible to students with less talent overall than 10 years ago.

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and no more drum breaks that last forever while the horn line is off in the back corner doing choreography just for the sake of doing choreography.

i'm with you on this, but it's not for the sake of choreography, usually it is to give the horn players a little time to rest their chops so they can blow you down with their closer. i would try to find a better way to do this but at least i understand.

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I know this whole post sounds very negative and pessimistic...

When you're asking if the current year of DCI is the "worst ever", yeah... it comes across a tad negative.

I can't speak to the shows as I've only seen one corps so far this year. But I will say that the 2008 DCP season seems to be shaping up to be among the most angry, bitter, and miserable in recent memory.

When you got threads popping up knocking the Scouts, you know something's going down.

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I have seen some questionable visual designs creeping up into some of the upper-echelon corps this year...It seems like readability is sacrificed a lot for velocity; and frankly some of the forms resemble mass clumps rather than designs and progressions. (It is also the reason why the very top corps stay on the top...they KNOW this and are careful to open up their blocks and forms to read). It was painfully displayed at Madison last night; especially when you had block progressions and layering of lines/arcs.

Actually, the arrangements seem to be improving a bit. More development and line rather than rhythmic impacts and 'bleeps and bloops' that invaded a lot of the writing a bit back. Hope that continues...

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I have seen some questionable visual designs creeping up into some of the upper-echelon corps this year...It seems like readability is sacrificed a lot for velocity; and frankly some of the forms resemble mass clumps rather than designs and progressions. (It is also the reason why the very top corps stay on the top...they KNOW this and are careful to open up their blocks and forms to read). It was painfully displayed at Madison last night; especially when you had block progressions and layering of lines/arcs.

Actually, the arrangements seem to be improving a bit. More development and line rather than rhythmic impacts and 'bleeps and bloops' that invaded a lot of the writing a bit back. Hope that continues...

It's June... it takes time to clean that high velocity stuff.

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