Synthesizers in drum corps

[dustyboo]

I don't think I've ever had an opinion on what "real" drum corps is. I know what I like and don't like (usually), but I don't presume to try to force my opinions of what I like on anyone else; if I like what the majority of drum corps do, I'll buy season pass and maybe go to a few shows. If I don't like the majority of the shows, I'll not spend time/money on the activity.

True; ALL art changes. Whether or not we personally like the changes is up to us.

That is arguable. DCI is SIGNIFICANTLY better off than it was in the early 90's financially: I think we can all just about agree on that. That wouldn't be the case if " significant number of DCI fans" left the activity. MLB profits/fans are down as well: is that because they've allowed umpires to review tapes to see if a hit was a foul ball or a homerun? No? That's just a knee jerk reaction? Gotcha.

I'm not sure if DCI better off financially now or in the 90's, but all you have to do is look at the money they have LOST over the past few seasons to know that they are not in good shape. You know something is wrong when the crowd at the regional in Madison in 2008 was only about half of what they projected it to be and the projections were for only about 6,000. If someone told me 10 years ago that a regional, in Madison of all places would only bring in around 3,000 people I would have said you were crazy. I never did see any "official" numbers but that is the information I heard from some people working at the show. But I was there and can verify that it was a very poor crowd for a show in Madison.

[WWonka]

I was told by a DCI staffer last year that the 2007 Championships had the highest attendance of any Championship sine DCI began to officially keep track (in the early 90's). That was obviously well after amping pits and voices were legalized.

No ####. Hmmm could it be they were starved to have finals out west? Track it in Indy for 10 years and then we will see.

[pearlsnaredrummer77]

Ah, the reading comprehension is as strong as ever in this thread. As I noted, I was only responding to someone before me who made the claim that DCI should abandon amps & electronics because other music genres were abandoning them. It was an incorrect statement, and I used my experiences to explain why.

Actually you misread my comment. It was a simple observation about how in many different genres of music accoustic is preferred. Hence the popularity of "unplugged" performances.

[pearlsnaredrummer77]

That is arguable. DCI is SIGNIFICANTLY better off than it was in the early 90's financially: I think we can all just about agree on that. That wouldn't be the case if " significant number of DCI fans" left the activity. MLB profits/fans are down as well: is that because they've allowed umpires to review tapes to see if a hit was a foul ball or a homerun? No? That's just a knee jerk reaction? Gotcha.

And DCI is sooooo much worse off than it was in the 80s in general. No Canadian corps. No regional championships. It used to be a big deal just to make the top 25 and now there barely is 25. The Class A corps have been decimated. The policies that DCI has adopted since the early 1990s have all but killed the junior corps activity. Most recent DCI policies of which the synths business is just the latest example have been a disaster.

[pearlsnaredrummer77]

I'm not sure if DCI better off financially now or in the 90's, but all you have to do is look at the money they have LOST over the past few seasons to know that they are not in good shape. You know something is wrong when the crowd at the regional in Madison in 2008 was only about half of what they projected it to be and the projections were for only about 6,000. If someone told me 10 years ago that a regional, in Madison of all places would only bring in around 3,000 people I would have said you were crazy. I never did see any "official" numbers but that is the information I heard from some people working at the show. But I was there and can verify that it was a very poor crowd for a show in Madison.

Yes. When they began to enact the national touring policy, how many local shows did DCI lose? Local shows mean local corps, mean local audiences. If you don't know what I mean checkout a DCA show in the Northeast.

[perc2100]

And DCI is sooooo much worse off than it was in the 80s in general. No Canadian corps. No regional championships. It used to be a big deal just to make the top 25 and now there barely is 25. The Class A corps have been decimated. The policies that DCI has adopted since the early 1990s have all but killed the junior corps activity. Most recent DCI policies of which the synths business is just the latest example have been a disaster.

Fair enough. But NONE of that has ANYTHING to do with amped pits, mic'ed vocals, or synthesizers. And what you state above (what I think is a legitimate reason for DCI's decline in membership, though local economies and international policies also aided in the decline of corps: along with poor management, of course), has nothing to do with synthesizers.

The fact remains that since the current regime has been at the head of DCI (Dan Acheson who took over as head of DCI in the mid/late 90's, the current BoD, etc), DCI is much better off than they were when the 'took office.' That also has nothing to do with synths, though.

We won't know what, if any, long term impact adding synthesizers will have on corps' financial stability, show scores, or audience attendance. Since DCI began in 1972 there have been doom and gloom predictions with each change to the activity, and DCI is still here. There is no correlation that says any design changes have caused corps to fold, large amounts of fans to leave the activity completely, or DCI to lose large amounts of income. Any claims to the contrary are asinine and NOT based on fact.

[perc2100]

Yes. When they began to enact the national touring policy, how many local shows did DCI lose? Local shows mean local corps, mean local audiences. If you don't know what I mean checkout a DCA show in the Northeast.

Out of curiosity, for those of us who don't follow DCA, how many DCA corps are there right now? I know they are mainly located in the east and mid-east, right, with a couple of southern corps (like the one in Atlanta). How many DCA corps have formed in the last, say, 10 years?

I know that DCA touring mode is WAY more conducive to growth, as it is a MUCH easier time commitment than DCI (though the DCI touring model currently is pretty similar now than it was in the 80's I think: there is no longer DCM, DCW, DCE, etc. as DCI absorbed all of those regions, and no longer some of the really small local shows, but it's still basically move in Spring, tour June-Aug, right? I live in So Cal so there are not really any DCA shows out here for me to get an idea of how healthy DCA is compared to DCI. Can you inform us?

[tommyfromhowardst]

Ok-----no synths in Drum and Bugle corps. No electricity.

Edited August 8, 2009 by tommyfromhowardst

[audiodb]

That is arguable. DCI is SIGNIFICANTLY better off than it was in the early 90's financially: I think we can all just about agree on that.

And you know this how?

[MikeD]

So what's your point?

1. Just like anyone else, your definition of "real" drum corps is just another opinion.

You totally MISSED his point...he made no judgement on what 'real' drum corps is.

2. Just like any other slice of time, today's DCI rulebook definition of drum corps is not the final word on the subject.

Actually, at any given point in time the DCI rulebook IS the final word on the subject for those who choose to participate in DCI.

3. Bottom line remains (as always) that DCI needs a certain amount of fan $upport to sustain their operating model. They had it prior to the A&E rule changes, but now it is questionable. Apparently, there were a significant number of DCI fans that "just don't like" A&E.

Um....it's still there.