shaners Posted July 1, 2008 Share Posted July 1, 2008 just because you do not like something, does not mean it is bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beavs Posted July 1, 2008 Share Posted July 1, 2008 Seriously though, since 2000 I feel drum corps has only gotten better minus 2005 (that year was a big let-down for me). I do agree after 2000 people started watching drum corps differently. I mean shoot, 2000 was maybe the best year for drum corps ever. After experiencing the last 8 or so years of drum corps I can't watch most of those old shows the same way anymore. They sound so...bleh...and are kinda bland visually. Its just music and marching for music and marching sake. I can still jam to them in my car (jammed to 97 phantom not too long ago) but I guess I've been conditioned to react negatively to sub-par-quality drum corps products. I really do feel the par for quality drum corps product (execution and design) is raising every year, which is making it hard for show designers to keep up with new levels of demand and innovation and entertainment, while making a strong competitive show. Maybe thats why some of us feel like drum corps shows are getting "worse"...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrunchyTenor Posted July 1, 2008 Share Posted July 1, 2008 Agreed, though sometimes the pieces used just don't work. Which is okay, as long as they are trying to come up with fresh ideas.Put it this way: If corps and bands didn't try new and not necessarily recognizable music, everyone would still be playing Sousa marches. I always love it when people use this reference, so I did a little research. In the DCI era... 1972 Argonne Rebels Stars and Stripes Forever 1972 PAL Cadets Stars and Stripes Forever 1972 Sacred Heart Crusaders Fairest of the Fair 1972 Vagabonds (NY) Washington Post March 1973 Americanos El Capitan 1973 Argonne Rebels Stars and Stripes Forever 1973 Boston Crusaders El Capitan 1975 Velvet Knights El Capitan 1976 Bridgemen Stars and Stripes Forever 1976 Madison Scouts Stars and Stripes Forever 1978 Argonne Rebels Stars and Stripes Forever 1979 Argonne Rebels Stars and Stripes Forever 1984 Argonne Rebels Stars and Stripes Forever 1987 Black Knights El Capitan 1987 Madison Scouts Stars and Stripes Forever 1989 Coachmen Stars and Stripes Forever 1990 US Naval Academy Stars and Stripes Forever 1991 Lone Star Stars and Stripes Forever 1996 Glassmen Stars and Stripes Forever 2000 Troopers Stars and Stripes Forever 2005 Jersey Surf Stars and Stripes Forever 21 times, total, that a Sousa march was played. Out of how many drum corps shows? 12 are way back in the 70's; 4 times in the 80's; 3 tmes in the 90's. Only twice in the eighth year of this decade. So, where are all the shows with Sousa marches? And do you really think it's all we played? Try CorpsReps.com to educate yourself. Garry in Vegas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2000Cadet Posted July 1, 2008 Share Posted July 1, 2008 (edited) I ask one thing, and one thing aloneAre we so afraid of something diverting from the norm that we refuse to even hear SOUNDS (that's all music is folks, sound) that aren't particularly like other SOUNDS one has heard before? For god's sake, I discovered some incredible composers/musicians in high school (hell I'm still discovering them now) BECAUSE of drum corps. Now I can understand someone wanting the music and/or arrangements to be good, I totally get someone having standards, but honestly? I'm tired of the "oh my god I don't know this piece/song, this show sucks" rhetoric with with drum corps people. I'm pretty glad every corps doesn't high step onto the field blaring 1812 Overture, The Mexican Hat Dance, and You're A Grand Ole Flag. But I don't know, maybe I'm just a snob. I agree. Some of the comments on here about music seem extremely close-minded to me. Not everyone wants to keep hearing the same old thing, the same music over and over and over again. There is so much music out there and I don't see why corps should play the same music that everyone knows. Geez. Broaden your horizons a bit. There are so many possibilities for drum corps these days. I have learned so much about music from drum corps bringing something new and different to the field and I wouldn't want to change that for anything. Edited July 1, 2008 by 2000Cadet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt_S Posted July 1, 2008 Share Posted July 1, 2008 Drum corps is almost like a show and tell for me, with staffs and designers bringing something new that they've heard to the field every year. I've been exposed to so much great music through drum corps over the years, I wouldn't have that change. And really, hasn't that always been the case? Think of many of the staples of drum corps history, such as Don Ellis and Pat Metheny. Many of us are musicians and so some of us would have undoubtedly heard these names even without drum corps, but not in near the same numbers. Reflect on this: in the drum corps world Strawberry Soup is considered recognizable music. Hell, we have polls debating which version we enjoyed more - and two of the versions are twenty years apart. Can you imagine walking up to someone in the street and asking if they've ever heard Strawberry Soup by Don Ellis? The only way that Don Ellis became a staple is because someone took a chance and put his music on the field for the first time. Instead of clamoring for something familiar, I'd much rather hear a composer or artist introduced that I may never have heard of before, but might now have a chance to fall in love with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2000Cadet Posted July 1, 2008 Share Posted July 1, 2008 Drum corps is almost like a show and tell for me, with staffs and designers bringing something new that they've heard to the field every year. I've been exposed to so much great music through drum corps over the years, I wouldn't have that change.And really, hasn't that always been the case? Think of many of the staples of drum corps history, such as Don Ellis and Pat Metheny. Many of us are musicians and so some of us would have undoubtedly heard these names even without drum corps, but not in near the same numbers. Reflect on this: in the drum corps world Strawberry Soup is considered recognizable music. Hell, we have polls debating which version we enjoyed more - and two of the versions are twenty years apart. Can you imagine walking up to someone in the street and asking if they've ever heard Strawberry Soup by Don Ellis? The only way that Don Ellis became a staple is because someone took a chance and put his music on the field for the first time. Instead of clamoring for something familiar, I'd much rather hear a composer or artist introduced that I may never have heard of before, but might now have a chance to fall in love with. Could not have put it any better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted July 1, 2008 Share Posted July 1, 2008 I always love it when people use this reference, so I did a little research.In the DCI era... 1972 Argonne Rebels Stars and Stripes Forever 1972 PAL Cadets Stars and Stripes Forever 1972 Sacred Heart Crusaders Fairest of the Fair 1972 Vagabonds (NY) Washington Post March 1973 Americanos El Capitan 1973 Argonne Rebels Stars and Stripes Forever 1973 Boston Crusaders El Capitan 1975 Velvet Knights El Capitan 1976 Bridgemen Stars and Stripes Forever 1976 Madison Scouts Stars and Stripes Forever 1978 Argonne Rebels Stars and Stripes Forever 1979 Argonne Rebels Stars and Stripes Forever 1984 Argonne Rebels Stars and Stripes Forever 1987 Black Knights El Capitan 1987 Madison Scouts Stars and Stripes Forever 1989 Coachmen Stars and Stripes Forever 1990 US Naval Academy Stars and Stripes Forever 1991 Lone Star Stars and Stripes Forever 1996 Glassmen Stars and Stripes Forever 2000 Troopers Stars and Stripes Forever 2005 Jersey Surf Stars and Stripes Forever 21 times, total, that a Sousa march was played. Out of how many drum corps shows? 12 are way back in the 70's; 4 times in the 80's; 3 tmes in the 90's. Only twice in the eighth year of this decade. So, where are all the shows with Sousa marches? And do you really think it's all we played? Try CorpsReps.com to educate yourself. Garry in Vegas I think you just proved his point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hup234 Posted July 1, 2008 Share Posted July 1, 2008 Could not have put it any better. Just a respectful question about the slogan you appended "For Holy Name shall always be": 2008 marks the fiftieth year since the Holy Name parish dumped on the Cadets by confiscating all their equipment in mid-season, a major scandal in the D&BC community at the time. The Cadets, to their eternal credit, quickly regrouped with borrowed equipment and makeshift uniforms and went on to survive and prosper. Please clear up that longstanding mystery for me as to why the shameful actions of Holy Name are glorified in that slogan rather than the heroic 1958-and-later Cadets themselves. I've witnessed a number of parish-affiliated corps intentionally hurt in this manner by the oh-so-worshipful Pillars of the Church of which they were a part. All I could ever deduce on such disgraceful actions was that the parish leaders were jealous of the glories the corps and staff were achieving without the input of the backlapping politicos within the parish advisory councils. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobrien Posted July 1, 2008 Share Posted July 1, 2008 Next stop on the ThreadJack Tour, Planet Zenon.... As far as this year being "the worst", it's no better or worse than any other year. There are some warhorses (or segments of warhorses), there is some new music (the score for "Samurai" is among the best 'program music' for drum corps I've heard yet..), and there are some attempts at mixing styles that succeed, and some that don't (I don't care for what BD is doing with the LeGrand piece myself, but others seem to like it). So it's a mixed bag, which could be said about any number of other years going back to the mid-70s when I started marching. That being said, I'm always more interested in hearing new music than old music on the field, both because the nature of the beast is that each time a warhorse is resurrected, it seems to pale in comparison (every "Strawberry Soup" since the '83 Madison version seems less interesting than the one before it) and because I like the corps' musical staffs to program what THEY're interested in. I can talk all day about new or neglected artists in my field, and I like it when those who work in the music vineyard do the same in their own field, using drum corps as a medium to make their cases. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gellio Posted July 1, 2008 Share Posted July 1, 2008 One thing I definitely believe is leading to the decline of DCI is the lack (or lesser degree of) recognizable music. I don't know about you, but the first time I saw Glassmen 2001, I was thinking to myself "WTF is this?" It got 5th place and the show may have deserved it for being clean, but I was just golf clapping it off the field. A bunch of music I'd never even heard of. I'm not bashing the '01 Glassmen members by any means, just the show choice. Funny - that was BY FAR my most favorite show of 2001. I thought it was AWESOME! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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