Woodwind players on DCP

[shawn craig]

I play flute and tuba. I would never march in any group with my flute. It's fairly useless outside.

I would only play Contra in corps. In a marching band I would play some type of low brass; marching tuba, sousaphone, euphonium.

Edited July 22, 2008 by shawn craig

[apsb1b]

As a woodwind player (clarinet and sax) I think that adding woodwinds to DCI would be horrible.

After I saw my first DCI show, I was hooked and wanted to march in a corps. My teacher in school asked if I would learn brass (euph) for a school ensemble and I saw that as a great opportunity to learn brass, which I would never have had otherwise. I have put forth the effort, little bit at a time, to get my chops drum corps worthy. I may never get that baritone/euphonium solo, but I still can play the instrument. I march DCA corps this year to get used to marching with the baritone so I won't kill myself in November. I shudder at the thought of a drum corps bringing woodwinds on the field.

Another couple of things.

1. If DCI allows woodwinds I think a lot of people will leave the activity.

2. If you want to march woodwinds join your school's marching band or a community band

3. Being a woodwind player does not prevent you from joining a corps, the only one preventing a woodwind player from joining a corps is said woodwind player.

4. When you first start you don't have to be able to play everything on a brass instrument, do it in chunks, start with one fingering and go through the partials, then another, etc.

5. It won't kill you to learn a new instrument, especially for music majors, you can add that second instrument to your resume.

I don't like some of the current changes, but I can deal with those, Woodwinds would however would turn me off from DCI, they would be shooting themselves in the foot if the allow woodwind rule ever came up for a vote and passed.

[patblamo]

Bassoon and Alto Sax. Marched rifle line in college band and finally got to march drum corps in DCA in the colorguard. I vote a big NO to all things useless on a football field, sabers and woodwinds.

[BozzlyB]

UNITE BROTHERS OF THE REED! I played sax all through middle school and high school. Marched bass drum and snare all 4 years in corps. I implore all woodwind players out there to march drum corps, but leave your woodwinds at home. Learn a percussion or brass instrument. It will be WELL worth your time.

[DCKMelloGal]

I play clarinet, saxes and bagpipes. I taught myself mellophone the summer after I graduated high school (so I've been playing for two years now) so I could march corps and I found out about Derby City Knights (all-age corps based in Louisville, KY) and have marched there for two seasons (counting this one).

I could not live with myself if I ever marched corps with my clarinet. I just wouldn't do it. Corps is corps for a reason and it should not ever include woodwinds. But that's just me.

[kyushujet]

Played saxophone from jr high thru college. Marched bass drum in high school. Talk about being intimidated by all the drummers around you doing paradiddles and flam drags in drum corps.

But a lot of you say that you would leave drum corps if the WWs came in or that drum corps would lose a lot of people. Might I suggest that the numbers that drum corps would lose would be replaced by those WW folks and their parents, etc. And it might just increase the numbers for drum corps for awhile.

It's all about the numbers (read: money). Why else did we switch from 2v G to 3v Bb? Why else go from 128 to 135 to 150? I'm still waiting for DCI to allow drill teams so that some folks down here in Texas will have something to do during the summer. (read: Not a big fan of drill teams in Tx marching bands, but it's a way of life down here)

[DrumCorpsFan27]

Ok, here's a hypothetical situation for you all.

As most of you know(and love to point out) I play the saxophone.

Now woodwinds in drum corps has been a fear for many years for the people on this board, so this thread for the woodwind players out there in DCP-land.

If woodwinds were legalized by DCI, would you march a traditional drum corps instrument(or do guard), or would you play your woodwind instrument?

I personally would learn a traditional drum corps instrument, although if that rule passed, I'd probably never want to march.

I'm interested to hear what the rest of you have to say, so go ahead.

-Ross

I think my signature answers that question.

[Lance]

I'm a lifelong woodwind player (clarinet and a little bit of sax), and I marched in a Marine field band for 4 years. I don't ever want woodwinds in dci. One of the things that got me into drum corps was the all brass hornline. I just like the sound.

Plus, the warping of reeds in awful weather conditions for them will make for some hideous sounds, no matter how good the person behind the instrument might be. Plastic/composite woodwind instruments are just nasty sounding no matter who's behind them, either, and plastic/composite is the only realistic option for marching oboes and clarinets. The pad situation would get out of hand pretty quick, too, I think. I could see MAYBE having short solos on woodwinds, but I still hope even that never happens.

[rosski47]

I was a clarinet major in college, and I marched for 4 years on Baritone, and now I couldn't possibly think that I would march anything but baritone. I think this is best evidenced by what I marched in college marching band each year after Drum Corps (Euph, Mello, then Tuba)

But when I think back to how afraid I was about learning a new instrument and trying something new, would I still have learned a new horn to do Drum Corps if I didn't have to? I think this is the heart of the question, and I have no idea what the answer would be. I like to think I would have gone with tradition and learned a brass instrument, but I really can't say for certain either way.

Allow me a side tangent for a minute. Do any of you other WW players feel like proponents of WW in drum corps are marginalizing you? One of the big selling points is "we're losing out on so many great musicians? I would argue that we are only losing out on LAZY great musicians. If you want to march drum corps it's not that hard to dedicate yourself to learning a new instrument/guard. Or maybe it is and we're all just determined as all get out. But it's always bugged me when people say we're losing great musicians because we don't allow WW instruments, but then I see 5-10 WW players in our hornline, and meet WW players from other hornlines and guards as well.

Actually the reason I may never march drum corps is because I don't have the time to learn brass, and I really can't afford to play my sax so little all summer.

Right now I'm working on making state and National honor band, and trying to get myself into a good college based on my playing ability, so playing so seldom throughout the summer would've been a very poor choice for me, imo.

Now maybe when I'm in college, and have already established there it'll become a more viable option, but seeing as how I'll be double majoring in ed and performance, it still may not be a good choice for me.

[JayM]

I'm still waiting for DCI to allow drill teams so that some folks down here in Texas will have something to do during the summer. (read: Not a big fan of drill teams in Tx marching bands, but it's a way of life down here)

A way of life? I can only name one: the Allen Escadrille