Is THIS the "Golden Age"?

[louderisbetter]

QUOTE (pearlsnaredrummer77 @ Jul 2 2009, 02:42 PM)

I would have to believe that the popularity has decreased. We have less corps, less people going through the drum corps experience (I don't believe marching band and drum corps is a comparable experience), less shows, less alumni, less community involvement, less people being exposed to drum corps in general.

I am not sure I agree completely with this statement. I think it has more to do with the state of music education in our country right now. Local bands orchestras and choirs are suffering greatly because they are not considered a necessary or valuable part of a school curriculum. Look at how many schools nationwide, do not offer any music program on their schedule. Less kids exposed to music education, less kids in school programs and corps. It is a snowball effect.

I never marched corps because we lived in a part of Texas that made it to far and too expensive for me or any of my friends to even consider auditioning. But, my high school band had 350 or so members in it with school enrollment under 1000 students. We were one of the top bands in Texas and had one of the top jazz bands in the country. This was in the '80s during the height of drum corps.

My daughter just graduated from that same high school. Their band program is down to 120 give or take. And this is Texas where band and football rule. Her band program is one of the best in the city and went to state two years ago. The school has about 2000 kids in it. The school enrollment has doubled yet the numbers have dropped (and this is a competitve program). Why?

Back to the lack of importance placed on music education. I teach in one of the middle schools that feed the high school. Many of the kids that get into my orchestra class have minimals musical skills if any because many come from elementary schools that have absolutely no music programs and the homeroom teacher won't even do karoeke with them.

So the kids get to me in the middle school and are encouraged to forego music classed in lieu of classes that give them a high school credit. Students are pulled from their electives if they need remediation or have failed a state mandated test. Once they get to high school, they don't take instrumental music because they don't have any musical background and can't play a musical instrument. It would be like walking onto the varsity team never having played football (even though the directors would obviously work with them).

If our country doesn't start to see the importance of all these musical activities, we will all get to witness a generation of kids who don't get to learn any of those things we learned from being in our music programs, self-discipline, creativity, teamwork, the joy of seeing something through, being able to look at something from many viewpoints, to evaluate, and the pure adrenaline rush from giving a great performance

This is not just internal to music education or the education system, though they have both failed to consistently offer and market music as a valuable tool (take, for instance, in my district, where they are labeled as "exploratives", and where students are forced to choose between music, phys ed, visual art, and technology... in middle school! Don't you think that's a little early for kids to be forced to decide whether they want to be a rock star, a pro athlete, a new Dali, or Steve Jobs? THEY'RE IN MIDDLE SCHOOL, THEY TAKE WHAT SEEMS LIKE MORE FUN!)

The loss of interest is cultural, and exemplified in the way that music is depicted in popular media, as well as the pegholes that we have slid ourselves into (anyone wanna say "pep band"?) By failing to market a unique and accessible product, we have become a minor niche in the world of music (and I don't mean 'accessible' in the sense of playing pop music... I mean in the sense that anyone can have an opportunity to experience it with reasonable frequency). Band has become a stand-in at football games, since the district couldn't afford to hire a real rock band. Orchestra is recognized for helping to set the ambiance of a movie, but since the expense of composing and recording with an orchestra is higher than that of seeking licensing for existing recordings (and most audience members respond better to popular music), this is hardly a growing field. Unfortunately for our choral friends, they have it even worse off, since few people today would ever hear a choir at anything other than a religious service.

Those of us who listen to anything found in the "classical" section tend to have broad horizons, and often listen to mainstream music as well. However, while all zigs are zoogs, not all zoogs are zigs, and I suspect those 10-15% of sold recordings (roughly the percentage that classical enjoys) are repeat purchasers.

We have larger issues to deal with than simply lobbying the school boards. Nationwide, we need to advocate, make ourselves visible, and demonstrate our worth. We are losing the game, as it is, so we need to change our strategy and change the nature of the game.

[perc2100]

I think of the "Golden Age" of drum corps as the '70s and early 80's ... not because "I lived it", but because that era defined the styles of the current major drum corps (except for Troopers ... their corps definition goes back a lot longer!)

When people think of the style of BD, they think of '76/'86. When people think of SCV they think of numerous shows of that ("new") era (sorry, I couldn't resist! ). When people think of the style of Madison Scouts ... '75. Phantom set their style in the late 70's, when the lost the shakos. Cadets redefined drill in the 80's.

Since then ... it seems like most of the (older) people on DCP are "hankerin' for the oldn' days when drum corps was drum corps" ... which, if you go by when the styles of modern corps were defined, would be that era.

IMHO!

I can buy into that. That era was also when designers changed the face of the activity, and continue to inspire current designers. You had guys like Emmons, Zingali, Brubaker, Sanford, Float, Ott, and others that really shaped what drum corps is, and what if could be.

[codyIL03]

Well, who knows, maybe in 20 years we'll have a " high quality " 12 Corps in World Class, 6 will make it through Quarters, and 3 will go into the Finals to see who's the best in front of the one judge at an indoor ice hockey arena in Duluth, Minnesota in front of 800 screaming fans.

thats frickin funny...

[kusankusho]

thats frickin funny...

That may be closer to the truth than any of us realize.....

[SkyRyder_FMM]

Which is pretty much as ever was..."never trust a person over 30" was a popular catch phrase back in my day. Personally, I think it was WORSE when I was young. I know plenty of young folks today who like music of the 60's and 70's, while the average young person of the 60's and 70's wanted nothing to do with the 20's and 30's. There is more 'nostalgia' today than there was then, actually.

Is it really nostalgia? Or is it that the kids today recognize there was some quality music in the 60s and 70s that stands the test of time and is worth listening to (vs. some of the manufactured crap produced today)? I don't see my daughter or her friends talking or feeling nostalgic when they listen to Led Zepplin, Jimmy Hendricks, or AC/DC, etc. They all talk about how great the bands are.

[ChicagoFan]

I don't think the present can be considered a "Golden Age" particularly when:

-- every year sees the loss of yet another corps

-- the competitive season grows shorter

-- the number of shows continues to decline

-- we move farther and farther from the traditions of the activity

Certainly, to those currently on the field and to most younger fans, there's no time like the present. But, when viewed from a broader historical perspective I would not consider this a "Golden Age."

[goalieguy]

Well, who knows, maybe in 20 years we'll have a " high quality " 12 Corps in World Class, 6 will make it through Quarters, and 3 will go into the Finals to see who's the best in front of the one judge at an indoor ice hockey arena in Duluth, Minnesota in front of 800 screaming fans.

To follow with this rather humorous post...The idea of a performance in Duluth may be not as far-fetched as proposed...

Besides - the DECC (Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center) is in the process of expanding the arena seating from 5100 to 6500 (for hockey)..SO - Those 800 screaming fans might actually have some room to yell..even though when full, the DECC can get pretty loud..

It just might be a bit dangerous if folks are running between Duluth and Superior across the bridges ..even though there's enough Native American Casinos close by to keep it interesting..

Pat

[ea1974]

I don't think the present can be considered a "Golden Age" particularly when:

-- every year sees the loss of yet another corps

-- the competitive season grows shorter

-- the number of shows continues to decline

-- we move farther and farther from the traditions of the activity

Certainly, to those currently on the field and to most younger fans, there's no time like the present. But, when viewed from a broader historical perspective I would not consider this a "Golden Age."

Very well put,Chicago Fan

Mike

[Geneva]

Without a doubt the quality and musicianship of today's drum corps are far superior to even the cream of the 60's and 70's era (when I played). What I think is difficult for latter day (which I will arbitrarily define as 1990 to present) drum corps fans to appreciate is how different an animal those corps were from those of today. In that era the corps were almost exclusively local/regional with the season made up of circuit shows with area-wide rivalries and a then a handful of national and open class championships in August where the corps got to compete against the best to see where they stood. The talent pool for the individual corps was much smaller and what was attempted was far less demanding with the goal being execution perfection. In that environment each year we were amazed and took pride in how entertaining and facile some of these corps working with kids from their hoods could become.

We realized that we were not going to be recognized by the greater music community as anything other than a renegade militaristic and semi-musical activity. But being a refined and accepted musical activity was not our goal. We were tring to be impressive in a heroic sense and we had a clear sense of this as the mission of the activity. In this regard corps were wise to play popular and beloved melodies well which contained some good "in-your-face" moments at least a couple times a minute. Sure, we were often crude and narrow in our scope trying to achieve this. It is not that we did not care about things like intonation, balance, and tone quality, but first and foremost you had to be impressive and entertaining and, hopefully, working with a wide range of playing abilities from the kids in your local area the fundamentals would come together to achieve this greater goal.

The beauty of the activity in this, the golden era, was that it gave many more kids the opportunity to develop into musicians after entering with little to no prior experience. Many of these kids never would have entered into the scholastic musical system to achieve musicianship by more conventional means. There was also more a sense that any area who turned out one of these units and managed its resources and instruction well had a shot at the big time. It was a very exciting time for the kids in many more communities across the country than today to develop and excel because of drum corps. I am glad that I had this opportunity and wish that it was available for my kids as an option.

And yes, Mike D, the HS band programs are now delivering this opportunity for far more kids than in my day, but it doesn't reach many of the kids that drum corps once did.

[Cardman]

Is this the "Golden Age"? No. The "golden age" of drumcorps was probably in the late 80's, early to mid 90's, if you ask me.