codyIL03 Posted August 7, 2009 Share Posted August 7, 2009 I've been following this activity without fail since 1976 and I agree with the others. The "Kids" that are in the World Class corps today seem to be chosen mostly (Especially the top 10 or 12 corps) from People who come into audition or send in an audition who are already at or about at an Elite performance level. The Corps have nowhere near as much teaching the instrument to do as they used to and the students can go about learning the show from the start. When I started following DC alot of the kids had to be taught how to play and then the shows. This seemed to make for deeper more involved and yes even daunting learning experience. Now it's more about already very well trained talent getting to join and then showcase their talent with an Elite Ensemble. Do they have to learn alot? Of course they do. Is it a different way of going about it. #### Straight! Wow, well said. discussion over... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swung8th Posted August 7, 2009 Share Posted August 7, 2009 I always love to hear a live pit...the bigger the better. To compare...I am also happy DCI raised the size limit to 150..the more the merrier to me. Consensus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swung8th Posted August 7, 2009 Share Posted August 7, 2009 Wow, well said. discussion over... If only it was that easy... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted August 7, 2009 Share Posted August 7, 2009 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. with the complaints about the stadium today, i wonder what attendance will be like next year. biggest complaint from someone who was there live tonight: "synths were too ####### loud" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted August 7, 2009 Share Posted August 7, 2009 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? about 15 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? DCa has 2 corps out there plus Kingsmen. Hopefully they will get a few more for all the dca info you need go to http://www.dcacorps.org/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamMan Posted August 7, 2009 Share Posted August 7, 2009 with the complaints about the stadium today, i wonder what attendance will be like next year. biggest complaint from someone who was there live tonight:"synths were too ####### loud" That is way too non-specific of a complaint to have an impact. It would be like if I returned a steak by saying "Don't like." Obviously I ordered it, but...what? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perc2100 Posted August 7, 2009 Share Posted August 7, 2009 with the complaints about the stadium today, i wonder what attendance will be like next year. biggest complaint from someone who was there live tonight:"synths were too ####### loud" I heard a lot of stuff from several people there live. I heard the acoustics over-all sucked, and that there were several front ensemble who were not heard at all from where they were sitting. I am curious to see what attendance will be like in five years if DCI continues with Lucas Oil Stadium. I'm told they can break the contract this year if conditions were not as good as they hoped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIGHTFLY3000 Posted August 7, 2009 Share Posted August 7, 2009 I heard a lot of stuff from several people there live. I heard the acoustics over-all sucked, and that there were several front ensemble who were not heard at all from where they were sitting.I am curious to see what attendance will be like in five years if DCI continues with Lucas Oil Stadium. I'm told they can break the contract this year if conditions were not as good as they hoped. Well unless some magic occurs, it won't be next year because the tix are already on sale for 2010 at Lucas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted August 7, 2009 Share Posted August 7, 2009 That is way too non-specific of a complaint to have an impact.It would be like if I returned a steak by saying "Don't like." Obviously I ordered it, but...what? this was someone that saw all 22 corps. the sound didnt work against the rest of the corps and way too often the bottom was too heavy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pearlsnaredrummer77 Posted August 8, 2009 Share Posted August 8, 2009 (edited) Just like it is today. Many thousands less per year. And DCI has also become far less racially diverse than what it was in the 1970-80s-I believe George Hopkins stated as much. DCI is probably the only major youth social activity in America that has become less integrated over time. Ironically, much of that can be tied to the policies that have seen us lose so many corps and shows. The addition of new instrument families-synths, guitars, etc., is only the latest sign of DCI's ongoing loss of mission. Edited August 8, 2009 by pearlsnaredrummer77 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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