JimF-LowBari Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 I consider myself a professional musician, I play drumset, as a sub for local combos, big bands, the Phil once or twice in my life, etc. but I guess in the eyes of some, I am not a professional,.................time to stop paying those union dues I guess and find my place on the sidelines,.............. And if they only knew what you do for a living...... Never knew you did these things Gary, let alone being a card carying member of the 'da Union. Gotta be the Drum Corps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brassomaniac Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 (edited) Hey Tom and Erin.......You forgot to mention....... MCA ROCKS!!!!!! Heh, Heh! I DID forget, didn't I? Hey Frank, do I get $1.00 per t-shirt, or WHAT? Edited September 4, 2008 by brassomaniac Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donny Drum Corps Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 I was thinking about Ghost Riders personnel. Myself a music educator and arranger, taught and arranged music for DCA, DCI for 30 years, played profesionally for 30 years, many marching bands for the same. Our trumpet section is mostly music education students, except my son Timmy (who played the duet with me), he is still in High School, and Mike Linton...director of the Rochester Crusaders. We let Mike play with because Cru cut him LOL. The mellophones are the two co directors of Ghost Riders both with 30+ years of "OLD SCHOOL" drum corps experience, a high school band director and one of his students. The baritones are some Crusaders, some St. Joes and some ex Hamburg Kingsmen, Bobby LaDuca is the only one that is semi professional as he still plays gigs around Buffalo on trombone. Bev plays in some community bands. Tubas are not professional musicians but they are darn good drum corps contras. Mike Covell sings alot in church, if that counts. Percussion Rick Rogers is well known in DCA as a judge, arranger, performer...and he owns his own drum manufacturing company. Jack is a young blood with a lot of talent. So there is the breakdown. I dont know what it means but, we have pros or former pros in our line as well. The thing that I like about the new Ghost Riders is that have some potential future pros in the line as well. Thats the cool part! Donny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brassomaniac Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 (edited) I'm not surprised at this,, Donny. The quality of your product screams of seasoned players. I think you'll find this kind of combination across most of the Mini-Corps'. It does take a lot of skill to do what these corps' are doing. And it points up two unique things about the drum corps activity: We can produce HIGH quality ensembles from players with an incredibly diverse mix of backgrounds. And, we continue to attract talanted players who could (and do) have many other performance opportunities. For our part (CB!): we have a mix of Music Educators, Music Students, a few guys who get regular music work on the side, a couple of converted saxophone players (one of whom just started playing a brass instrument this year) and the rest; simply seasoned drum corps guys. ALL: PRICELESS. It's what ya do with what ya got that matters. We're just not as effective at it, as the big guns are. Edited September 4, 2008 by brassomaniac Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Matczak Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 (edited) For our part (CB!): we have a mix of Music Educators, Music Students, a few guys who get regular music work on the side, a couple of converted saxophone players (one of whom just started playing a brass instrument this year) and the rest; simply seasoned drum corps guys. For Erie this year we have no professionals by others definitions, two by mine, one who sells investment securities, the other a printing teacher...........the rest are: 3 current music majors in college, a guy who almost died from a head injury, a grade school principle, a drug store clerk, three factory workers, A retired boiler maker, A doctor, a hotel night auditor, a computer network dude, a retired FDA microbioligist, a chef, a CAD drafter, a tire changer, and a newly licensed music teacher who is looking for a full time gig,............... editted cuz I missed two Edited September 4, 2008 by Gary Matczak Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmaustin Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 I'm not surprised at this,, Donny.The quality of your product screams of seasoned players. I think you'll find this kind of combination across most of the Mini-Corps'. It does take a lot of skill to do what these corps' are doing. And it points up two unique things about the drum corps activity: We can produce HIGH quality ensembles from players with an incredibly diverse mix of backgrounds. And, we continue to attract talanted players who could (and do) have many other performance opportunities. For our part (CB!): we have a mix of Music Educators, Music Students, a few guys who get regular music work on the side, a couple of converted saxophone players (one of whom just started playing a brass instrument this year) and the rest; simply seasoned drum corps guys. Well Tom, If we're comparing pedigrees, Mass Brass has one current Music Educator, one retired Music Educator (who hadn't played a drum set in 26 years until 8 weeks ago and bailed us out!) and a couple of us had a cup of coffee at Berklee 30 years ago (and then put the horns away for 26 years). As you can see, the vast majority of our corps is comprised of good ole' fashioned drum corps types that aren't afraid of a little hard work and sweat. The point being, that while a strong musical background is certainly an advantage, it is not the only way to be competitive. We are certainly not whining about our relative lack of professional experience when compared to other organizations, it just means that we need to work harder than those that may be more gifted musically or have a stronger musical education background. MCA ROCKS! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BMBob Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 Just to throw my piece in... When I was at Gold, we had people in our group who were music teachers, from elementary music all the way through college professors. We had people who played professionally - not many, but some. I still do, playing freelance gigs and orchestral stuff. I don't understand how that causes a problem. It's not unfair, as any group can have the same thing. Also, as far as the comments go that say Star is a DCI entity...have you not read all the posts on the DCI part of this forum wanting Star to come back to DCI? In case we've forgotten, Star has not been part of DCI since 1993, and I would think that DCA would be glad to have such an experienced, talented group added to THEIR ranks, rather than telling them they don't belong. From everything realistic that I've heard, Star will NOT be returning to DCI, so isn't it fair to say that now, after over a decade of NOT being in DCI, Star United is not a DCI entity, but a DCA organization? It makes sense to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brassomaniac Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 For Erie this year we have no professionals by others definitions, two by mine, one who sells investment securities, the other a printing teacher...........the rest are: 3 current music majors in college, a guy who almost died from a head injury, a grade school principle, a drug store clerk, three factory workers, A retired boiler maker, A doctor, a hotel night auditor, a computer network dude, a retired FDA microbioligist, a chef, and a newly licensed music teacher who is looking for a full time gig,............... ... and a super-quality, entertaining and successful drum corps (and Mini-Corps) year after year! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brassomaniac Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 (edited) sorry, duplicate post How'd I DO that? Edited September 4, 2008 by brassomaniac Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brassomaniac Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 (edited) Well Tom,If we're comparing pedigrees, Mass Brass has one current Music Educator, one retired Music Educator (who hadn't played a drum set in 26 years until 8 weeks ago and bailed us out!) and a couple of us had a cup of coffee at Berklee 30 years ago (and then put the horns away for 26 years). As you can see, the vast majority of our corps is comprised of good ole' fashioned drum corps types that aren't afraid of a little hard work and sweat. The point being, that while a strong musical background is certainly an advantage, it is not the only way to be competitive. We are certainly not whining about our relative lack of professional experience when compared to other organizations, it just means that we need to work harder than those that may be more gifted musically or have a stronger musical education background. MCA ROCKS! Exaclty my point, Paul. Seasoned players can acheive as much as degreed ones, in this venue (IMO). And it's what you do with them (including, mostly, the aforementioned hard work) that matters. Obviously, you guys know what you're doing and work hard at it. The results speak for themselves. Edited September 4, 2008 by brassomaniac Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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