Dissension in today's ranks.

[MoonHill]

Regiment 81.....the first Spartacus.

Thanks. That was going to drive me batty.

[Big Bad Bari]

Bravo. You see the correlation and you point out another fatal flaw that is contributing to the death of this competitive activity: unlike every other competitive activity only this one disrespects its past. When the retired Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth walked out, there was pandemonium in the ballpark. Today when an alumni corps takes the starting line, it's the regular "fans" who walk out. The "Hall of Fame" is a joke, being mainly just backslapping buddies of the nominators. The rich past is diminished and minimalized by today's members. Unlike every other competitive activity, this activity has no soul.

Although this is a bit on the extreme end of the arguement... There certainly is a fair amount of truth to it!

[Commodore Dave]

When the Nazis came for the communists,

I remained silent;

I was not a communist.

When they locked up the social democrats,

I remained silent;

I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the trade unionists,

I did not speak out;

I was not a trade unionist.

When they came for the Jews,

I remained silent;

I wasn't a Jew.

When they came for me,

there was no one left to speak out.

These "minor" changes over the years have made too much impact, and too many people remain apathetic to them. The article quotes as drum corps being steeped in tradition. Yet, the Blue Devils are wearing uniforms from the same company that makes them for SCV, Madison, OC, Cavaliers and many others. It all looks the same.

I had no problems hearing the bells (the pit) BEFORE the advent of amplification. Yet, last year, the Cadets were actually TALKING all through their show. Which I found personally, to be VERY distracting.

Miking the horns now to make up for the sound of Bb instruments because G's were naturally louder? WHY? Just go back to the G's and stop messing with a beautiful system that's worked since the civil war!

And finally, I don't care how elaborate your music is... if I'm not tapping my foot to the melody, it's just notes. There's a difference! LEARN IT.

I can see you it, but they don't! Does anyone remember the music played by most of the top 12? NO YOU DON'T & the reason is, that the staffs are trying so hard to impress judges that niether the staffs or judges care about us, the paying public. It is all about thier egos. How "hard or technical" something is. That is why I LOVE DCA & I live on the west coast!

[goalieguy]

I've actually had the opposite experiance as far as cost is concerned, however we weren't buying on a large scale (like an whole line) To replace a few G horns that had just faced the world of drum corps wear and tear a little too long, I found it substantially more expensive to replace G horns then the price of Bflats. Again this was just a few horns. Not only that but they seem insanly hard to find if you don't want to buy a new one. And did Dynasty stop producing G horns? Anyway there are only a few open class corps using G horns (2 I think) and obviously no World class corps, so used one's seem to come at a premium if you can find them that is. There are All age corps that resort to using 2-3 differnt manufactures because they seem to be rare, and they don't have the budget for an entire line.

There was also the argument that students found it harder to play g horns because of the pitch difference. Now I'm not much of a horn player, I can play, but I didn't really find it difficult. But maybe that's because I don't play that much. Any truth to this? I've also heard it's harder to tune a G line, no idea if that's true, but having played in a Bflat line we stood in front of tuners for an hour all the time, so if it really is more difficult with G horns, I feel sorry for the staff.

Hey John:

the Bb line you played in had the WORST bass horns on the planet from what I've been told from more than one of your cohorts in crime from last summer. It might have been the players, but it also may have been the instruments..there's enough grief with the low brass as it is. I have a 3 year old bari, and it's a piece of you know what..

Most of the difficulty you describe was inherent to the mis-matched horns that most every drum corps had that were pitched in G..It was a big rarity to see someone buy an entire line of 'matched' horns in G unless it was a total change..Since the change from piston/rotor to 2 valve, then to 3 valve wasn't set up as a complete change at one time..by DCI's design..it was virtually IMPOSSIBLE to get the idiocincrasies out of the different horns to get close..."Close counts in horseshoes" was about the best philosophy for "all-age" lines or non-touring corps..You should ask Paul about having 4 or 5 different horns in a SECTION, much less across a line.

New kids are spoiled..

Pat

Edited July 16, 2008 by goalieguy

[GuyW]

The rich past is diminished and minimalized by today's members. Unlike every other competitive activity, this activity has no soul.

Eh - it HAS a soul....its just that DCI is not the protector, defender nor respository of it (unless there's a buck in it)...

Edited July 16, 2008 by GuyW

[lindap]

Garfield librettos? I'm guessing 1971, maybe 1970. It was that Revolutionary War program they did. I think it was red ink on a cream colored paper folded in half.

I have a 71 program with photo and text but what's a libretto?

[MikeD]

Garfield librettos? I'm guessing 1971, maybe 1970. It was that Revolutionary War program they did. I think it was red ink on a cream colored paper folded in half.

It was 1971, you are correct. The text was also printed on the back of the 71 Shriners album...I have that record.

[sydstranda]

I think we should just ask Hopkins what else he has planned for the future, and go ahead and implement all of those changes right now. That way we could all get used to having the singing, woodwinds, water, paint, fire, disco balls, live animals, etc... now, and we wouldn't have to argue about it all the time anymore. We could change the name to Drum and Pony Corps.

"Dog and Pony show; The term has come to mean any type of presentation or display that is somewhat pathetically contrived or overly intricate, or put on for purposes of gaining approval for a program, policy, etc... "

We should also increase the maximum # of members to 400, and require all brass instruments (if we will still use them at all) to have 5 valves.

I say we just get it over with.

[KeithHall]

Linda, Linda, Linda! Didn't you take music appreciation in school? A libretto is a "text of an opera." In the case of Garfield, it wasn't an opera. In any case, the libretto explained what the show was all about for the audience. I remember receiving this before Garfield went on at the US Open in 1972. I wish I would have kept it along with other things I got throughout my drum corps career.

I have a 71 program with photo and text but what's a libretto?

[KeithHall]

1972 was the War and Peace show...am I correct?

BTW... wouldn't it be nice to change The Cadets back to The Garfield Cadets?

Linda, Linda, Linda! Didn't you take music appreciation in school? A libretto is a "text of an opera." In the case of Garfield, it wasn't an opera. In any case, the libretto explained what the show was all about for the audience. I remember receiving this before Garfield went on at the US Open in 1972. I wish I would have kept it along with other things I got throughout my drum corps career.