Show concepts

[Slow Adam]

I've marched for years in corps from the 60's up to 2002 plus I attended music college.

Back when drum corp was in the business of entertaining

...regular people get excited about watching drum corp.

...enjoyed going to drum corp shows.

Again if Drum Corp only wants to play to people in the marching community...

Drum Corp the art form, well you stop entertaining people without corp knowledge, you have lost your cause.

I would love to see a corp today...

[luvah]

:sigh:

The problem is JimF, from what I have read from some of the posts by these so called "music-ed" majors, they should request a refund for the lack of education they received. Somehow, to most of the undereducated and the so-called arm chair intelligencia here, you cannot play loud and in tune. That, a horn ONLY in the key of Bb and F can be in tune. It staggers the sane educated mind.

"In tune"--is not the primary issue--you can have B flat and F and G and E flat instruments play together in tune, obviously. but there are technical issues to consider. There is a limit to the volume that a horn can produce w/ good tone. When you reach that threshold you can't really play it louder, if you try to play louder it just sounds worse. There are also 2 'sweet spots' in every wind instrument--including the human voice-- that arrangers should be familiar with and exploit-- one in the low register and one in the high register. With kind of a dead zone in the middle. Bad arrangements hang out too much in the middle dead zone of a horn's register.-- that's where the 'band in a can' sound comes from--I think. (for example, the middle notes on an alto sax just honk like geese) The 'sweet spots' are not just individual notes--they cover about a major 6th perhaps, where the horn is capable of producing a really sweet tone.

The Colts sop solo this year in their ballad exploits the low 'sweet spot' in the soprano horn brilliantly--for example.

[byline]

But one difference you didn't mention was that there were more local shows in 1978 than 2008. And the cost to attend those local shows was a couple of bucks.

Yup. In 1979, it cost my parents $10 to attend the Chattanooga show:

[luvah]

another note: really advanced players can learn to make a really good tone in the dead zone--but its hard for players learning their horn-- and the sweet spots can 'travel' -- be slightly different for individual players.

[Lance]

I prefer the overall sound of a G hornline, but I want to make sure that nobody is confused by lies: exactly nobody on here has ever said that only Bb and F honrlines can be in tune.

[Mello Dude]

I'm glad someone started this thread. I've been scratching my head all weekend wondering what I just saw. I went to both Murfreesboro shows, Atlanta, then Sevierville last night. Crown and Cadets were the only shows I even moderately enjoyed. With only a few exceptions, EVERY other show just....laid there. And yes I'm including SCV and Blue Devils. Heck, BD has gone soft. They don't even come to the edge of the stands when they play their encores anymore. They line up out on the field. F Tuning used to work the crowd into an absolute frenzy - now, while it still generates a few hoots and hollers, it's just...okay. After they played it last night, a polite applause was all I could muster. Cavies Encore at Atlanta was a joke. Over the rainbow never even hit MF. Crown's Encore at Murf was the only one that I actually enjoyed. And don't get me started on Madison - for the last several years their opening moments of their shows build the anticipation that you're fixing to get your ears blown off and then....blaaaaah.

I remember when I first discovered drum corps - my heart would literally leap at the mere mention of DCI. I would literally lose sleep in anticipation of an upcoming show the next day. I'm not the best at putting my thoughts on paper, so it's hard to describe how I used to feel about drum corps. But I know I used to love it as deep as I've ever loved anything. I would cry sometimes after a show because I knew that would be the last live show I would see till the next year. That's how much I loved it.

Corps just don't play loud anymore, I don't care what anyone says. I've noticed this the last few years. I wondered - was it just me? Bb bugles? Was my hearing going bad? My hearing has tested fine and the (lack of) reaction from the crowds this weekend told me it wasn't just me and that the volume and excitement that I used to feel is not there anymore.

I still appreciate the precision and musicality of the activity, but the 'x' factor of drum corps is just not there anymore.

I'm conflicted within with regard to how many shows I attend in the future. I honestly feel I wasted a lot of time and money this weekend.

It's definitely not just you. If you would notice, the few that post most here will discount you as irrelevant. It's that #### alternate universe of reality that all is well and dandy and never better.

[Lance]

I'm not the poster who pointed this out, but I can tell you that when I was majoring in music in the late '70s to early '80s, many of my university music profs looked down their nose at drum corps music. They didn't consider it "real" music/musicianship and were quite vocal about that, making sure to tell any of us who did march corps their opinions on the matter. No matter how hard I and some of my friends tried to convince them otherwise, they weren't buying it.

Those aren't statistics or proof of any kind, just some anecdotal evidence from my own experience. For what it's worth (which probably isn't much).

I was in a Marine field band, and even our leadership turned their nose down on all things drum corps. It was not cool.

[Mello Dude]

A 30 piece hornline in the 70s is louder than most hornlines today? Did I <hear> you right?

I dont know about you, but lines such as Crown, BD, and Cadets (to name a few) are loud as CRAP. I can't imagine hearing a corps louder than them. Anyways, times change. Look at movies or music, for example. There are untold numbers of classics that are great, sure, but are they better than the new blockbusters and chart toppers coming out today? It's just a different type of "great."

Yeah, if you are with 10 yards of the arc otherwise they are softer than most big 10 bands and project about the same.

[Mello Dude]

For anyone who wants to play the "fewer drum corps now" card, I'll continue to play the "total number of competitive marching musicians" card... jus' sayin'. Competitive high school marching bands have taken the place of the smaller community drum corps, for better or for worse, but there are more kids now learning the lessons that this and similar activities can offer. To me, that's the important part.

I guess my point is that a fewer quantity of drum corps isn't necessarily indicative of the death, or even the decline of the activity. Just a shift to a different model.

BTW, denial is not a river in Egypt.

[BRASSO]

My big problem is, why can't these people ever mention a piece that they would like to hear? They usually can't think of any.

I personally don't think earlier attendees were Joe Bobs either but that's what comes to mind when people make the "regular people" remark and show contempt for those who actually study music...(and alas, maybe I still harbor some contempt for a certain segment of the audience who thinks it's within their right to shout certain things at the participants.) He does imply that "regular people" don't have a wide knowledge of music however. I would probably put myself in this group but somehow I'm able to appreciate music I've never heard before. In fact, for every one of our favorite songs there had to be a "first listen." Why can't that be on the drum corps field?

I won't disagree that earlier shows may have had more mass appeal, but I think the average joe decades ago had a bigger appreciation for wind instruments than average joe of today. I just don't get how ones appreciation has to be so narrow as to throw the baby out with the bath water though. In all honesty, the whole argument is like a parent and teenager arguing over who's generation of music was better. Of course people are going to favor the generation in which they grew up in. I prefer late 80's early 90's DC but that doesn't preclude me from enjoying today's activity or DCs from before that time...that's just me of course.

Much of the music played by Drum Corps in the 70's was a " first listen" by those in the audience. One simple look at the list of music pieces played by the DCI Titleists from it's inception through the 80's one will find that it was indeed a " first listen " for most Drum Corps fans. I do agree with you that it is not appopriate to show contempt to those that study music. That said, many of these recalcitrants who say these things no doubt still attend theatre and musical productions that they enjoy where the show producers and music composers " studied music " and yet these recalcitrants don't have the same antipathy toward these learned musicians and composers. Perhaps it's because these music composers don't show the same degree of contempt or worse.... indifference...... to the audience and as a result their productiions are received with better receptivity and more acceptance...... but who knows.

As for each generation preferring the music of it's own generation, this is not entirely true ( just somewhat true ). The most " popular " radio music stations are the radio stations that play.... no surprise...... the older R & R classics. It doesn't matter what section of the country one goes to either. The music stations that play the music of earlier decades are the rage..... even with the younger demographic age group. Songs that people have heard a hundred times before are still songs many people would like to hear 110 times. Some of us can still appreciate the Alternative Rock Music radio stations despite our advancing years. But this does not mean that this music has more appeal among both young and old alike. It doesn't. Even among the young. The R & R Classics still carry the day with the young and old alike. And the biggest musical acts out there, with the biggest draw of both young and old alike are still the Rock and Roll Bands from the 60's, 70's., 80's playing the same songs over and over again for 35 or more years now.

Edited July 29, 2009 by BRASSO