How Do We Ensure The Future Of Drum Corps?

[skewerz]

I still think that from a fan perspective, it's important to keep drum corps unique. Bastardizing it into marching band will lose a great portion of the legacy fans, and the legacy fans are a fairly large portion of the moneyscape that buy souvies and donate to corps.

Most every car company has a 4 door sedan. When car shopping, a person will look at camrys, and accords, and maximas, and fusions, etc...it's not really something they want, it's something they need. Some car shoppers, though, will be looking at that corvette, or viper. They aren't going to settle for a 4 door sedan. Drum corps is a sports car. Marching band, for all it's advancement, is still a 4 door sedan. When parked side by side, you aren't going to hear people say..."ooo...look at that sweet looking Accord". Odds are, they won't even see it...it won't register in their mind as something worth noticing. But, when people walk by a Viper, their eyes turn...it registers in their brain as something different...something exciting...

Drum corps has always been a niche activity, but it's been a solid niche. When you morph it to something else, that niche will be gone.

[audiodb]

I believe the expense of running corps is the number one thing that DCI has to face if this activity is to have a future. It seems to me that every rule change or change in style over the last two decades have resulted in corps being more expensive to run. A few big corps with lots of resources are leading the way to the activity being more and more expensive, while other corps struggle to keep up or fold altogether.

I work in a business environment and we talk about ROI. Every expenditure must result in revenues to justify them. For instance, Does having 150 kids on the field to uniform and supply with equipment really attract more people to the stands? Does it justify and get higher ticket prices? Are revenues going up to balance off the increased expense? Is it starving the lower corps of members while the the top corps get fatter?

I wonder if DCI asks itself these ROI-related questions when they make these changes?

What is DCI doing to foster rules that make it easier for corps to stay in existence or, even, more corps to form?

I know they are doing things that make it harder.

I'm starting a campaign to elect barigirl78 to the DCI BOD.

It should be noted that DCI does plenty to guide startups, and even to assist existing corps. However, keeping the cost of competing down has never been their forte....an undesirable side-effect of putting the most affluent corps in charge of setting policy.

There is a line item on the DCI rule change form for "fiscal impact". That doesn't guarantee a true analysis of return-on-investment, but it ought to at least prompt a discussion.

[DCIHasBeen]

Oh, no, Abbott's marketing campaign (or lack thereof) strikes again!

Geez, what I am I thinking ... I probably should be drinking that stuff. I'm almost one of those old folks now ...

[pearlsnaredrummer77]

Perception. I work at a junior college (mainly 18-21 year olds) and have talked to several kids about drum corps. Most believe that it is a 'music major' only activity. The way DCI has evolved has led to the perception that if you are not super talented you have no place in drum corps. This perception, I believe also hurts DCA by extension. Drum corps used to be a thing you got into because of friends, community and a desire to have a fun learning experience. These days, kids seem to understand it as something for music majors and the physically gifted.

Economics. My students seem to all have jobs. They HAVE to work to afford many of the basics of their culture that weren't around or were not very expensive say in the 70s/80s (gas, cell phones, internet, etc.,) Quitting their jobs to march a summer in drum corps, paying a hefty tour fee, and THEN go to college is not an option for many of today's kids. It's no surprise to me that drum corps in Western PA went down the tubes when the region became an economic backwater. A number of people who marched with me one year, were working the next and out of the activity for ever. That was in the 80s and the economy has only worsened.

DCA vs. DCI. These days, when I look at a DCA drumline, I'm seeing a lot of the younger folks who are DCI age. They've chosen to march DCA for the weekend only schedule, the more crowd pleasing style of performance, and much more of a community emphasis. Back in the 80s, the perception was that DCA was about people 30s and older. Now DCA seems pretty young (perhaps due to the changes in drill demand) and 40 year olds are heading the alumni route. In some ways, DCA has replaced the old regional approach of DCI-particularly in the DCA North East.

Crowd Alienation. DCI has become much more of an artform that appeals to a more narrow audience. I've noticed a big difference between the crowds at DCI shows that tend to be more partisan, while DCA shows, the folks clap along (or try to) to everyone. While DCI performance standards are arguably higher, somewhere along the way DCI lost the common folks from a community who used to support the activity and the smaller regional shows that nourished smaller corps.

Exposure. I agree with everyone else-without DCI on public television, there's little chance of anyone except a true believer 'stumbling' in. One of my HS friends family had become drum corps fanatics even though none of them ever marched. They constantly went to local and regional shows because they enjoyed the activity. I fear that fans such as these are no longer developed. Now DCI depends upon a fan base of ex-marchers, a pool that will only shrink over time due to the decreased amount of corps and smaller number of participants.

Edited September 25, 2008 by pearlsnaredrummer77

[doyle079]

if theres still kids who want to do it, fans who want to see it, and directors who will still deal with it, then it wont fail. DCI maybe but it would only take a new name

[ItsOnTheField]

I dont get it. I just dont get it. Bring back the full 4 hour marathon beg-a-thon broadcasts on PBS.

I think DCI is constantly trying to reinvent the wheel, when there was nothing wrong with the wheel they had in the first place.

Sigh...first place....didnt happen that often. lol

Why dont you offer to pay for it, then?!

[forpetessake]

Why dont you offer to pay for it, then?!

I did by making my donations to PBS. Did you?

[Hup234]

It's too late; everything has changed. There'll always be a few super-brass-bands out there with 'drum corps' on their official letterheads, and this topic has been spelled out in greater detail before, but most kids want a quick trip to greatness. Bugles, being quick to learn on (and comparatively cheap to buy), offered that. The instructors of today have become pedantic, calling themselves "educators" and the members "students". The activity itself - once as strutting and showy as a football game - has taken on many feminine aspects that limit its appeal. The resultant lack of interest has led to a death spiral - reduced public appeal, then fewer units with lessened public visibility, leading to fewer shows, increased distances and higher costs, and ....

It's been spelled out here in much greater detail for years but almost no one has listened, preferring instead to believe that if only they continue following the current path somehow it will all come together.

[Plan9]

It's too late; everything has changed. There'll always be a few super-brass-bands out there with 'drum corps' on their official letterheads, and this topic has been spelled out in greater detail before, but most kids want a quick trip to greatness. Bugles, being quick to learn on (and comparatively cheap to buy), offered that. The instructors of today have become pedantic, calling themselves "educators" and the members "students". The activity itself - once as strutting and showy as a football game - has taken on many feminine aspects that limit its appeal. The resultant lack of interest has led to a death spiral - reduced public appeal, then fewer units with lessened public visibility, leading to fewer shows, increased distances and higher costs, and ....

It's been spelled out here in much greater detail for years but almost no one has listened, preferring instead to believe that if only they continue following the current path somehow it will all come together.

Having only been a fan of DCI a very few years I am a bit less jaded about its future. I came to understand the impact of music and music organization on kids through involvement in my son's H.S. band. I learned that not many schools have competition bands, most are football bands with a very finite goal for their marching program. Yet other schools have multiple marching bands, some strictly for competition. I was also introduced to the world of BOA and found that competition itself is evolving. Later when he became active in DCI it was apparent that the moniker of "Marching Music's Major League" was earned.

It was also clear that even a H.S. that has staff that are heavily involved in both DCI and WGI does not always guarantee a population of new members to DCI. It's partly because of college majors and plans to go in a specific direction which would be complicated by DCI involvement (even if the student would love the experience). As a result, many parents talk them out of participating without really knowing what they would gain from involvement. The DCI activity is uniquely American (with some wonderful international corps) and it provides an exposure to many things that college alone can't provide. But as the radar screen gets busy with lots of media driven activities and diversions, the art of precision marching and ear bleeding brass is lost to all but a very dedicated population.

So.....left to the path DCI is on there will always be enough to keep it alive and judging from 2007 in Pasadena, in the right location DCI will fill the seats enough to survive.

But.... THE FUTURE of DCI can be very different, can be better if it makes friends with new ways of showing the things that makes it interesting. If you look at the popularity of "crew dancing" and other talent competitions it's all about "packaging". Live corps performances (as interesting as they are) are in the eye of the beholder and it's just not enough to bring in the masses. How TV took singin' and dancin' (which is as old as ####) to the level it enjoys now is simply connecting the audience to the show and providing a human drama of failure and success. In many ways like PR proved that this year. A TV program based around several corps and the drama of the environment surrounding the spectacle might be a way to bring it to the masses. Yes, the ever hated "R word". But it's the wave of what americans want to see. They even added a category to the emmys. So... some energetic network needs to work with DCI and find a formula that captures the spectacle and pageantry but adds a human touch that so many of the corps are already flirting with. Personal stories, maybe a romance or two and end it with the jaw dropping shows that we as fans love. Just an idea! (Now, at this point, you vets are free to go ahead and self-implode at the thought of such a bastardization of this magnificent activity!)

[byline]

Geez, what I am I thinking ... I probably should be drinking that stuff. I'm almost one of those old folks now ...

See, that's where the marketing falls apart. Ensure isn't just for "old" people, but for whatever reason, that perception persists. Basically anyone of any age who's in a hurry and needs a quick, portable, nutritious snack could drink a can or bottle of Ensure.