Your Very First Time

[luvs me sum mello!]

I've often wondered the following series of questions, but never really knew why I didn't post it to DCP. So, here goes:

When we were all young and naive to drum corps, were we better off? I remember my first taste. My band hall, 1995 Finals VHS. I was amazed, dumb struck even at what I was viewing and hearing. My first show in Dallas, TX that summer made it even more real for me. did not know all the corps names or who played what style, traditions, rivalries, or pick out a corps based on their uniform.

Fast forward but a single year. I had learned a little. Who was always on top, who was not, and who to look out for. My opinions grew slightly more solid.

Many years later I have a formal education in music. I can hear articulation inconsistencies, pitch issues, cadences, embellishments. You know...all that music ed stuff. But now, more then ever, I am critical of every corps I listen to. Not always in an overtly harsh way, but it's always there. And it makes me wonder, am I better off for having all this new knowledge? Or was I better off being ignorant? But on the other hand, knowing the things I now do (the intricacies and finer details) am I better off? I mean, can I appreciate a great balanced chord more knowing the difficulty and tuning requirements to truly make it speak?

It seems the appropriate time to ask, with the final contest fast approaching and thread after thread of "who's up, who's down" ".25 this and .1 that". I know people have made this case before, the old enjoyment vs. competition thing. Anywho...rambling man is finished.

[MikeN]

I agree with the sentiment, though I think back on it in terms of instrumentation.

The first time I saw drum corps, I was absolutely blown away by what the corps were doing. Not by what they were playing. Honestly, as a HS freshman band kid, it truly would not have mattered to me whether or not there were kevlar heads, Bb horns, amps, electronics or woodwinds. What got my attention and made me watch over and over was *what* they were doing out there. I think over time I tend to forget that and get caught up in the how's and why-for's of it all.

Mike

[bawker]

After a while, the shine is off the apple, especially when you're on the inside looking out performance-wise . . .you know where the tick spots are, who screws up where, and so on. It becomes so much easier to spot in other groups and everyone no longer seems superhuman.

I do, however, think there's a case of becoming too engrossed in "Ah, that was a pleasantly played seventh chord!" when you have advanced music education/theory/performance years behind you . . .the overall enjoyment and "wow factor" are reduced to the point that we forget that it's okay to not have things sound like Eastman outside.

With the increased focus on the music education aspect of DCI, it's hard not to have that sort of mindset for many . . .I can certainly see how that takes place.

Anyway, it's nowhere near as magical when we sometimes forget that the visual and/or music can create just the right moment . . . and that drum corps can still inspire emotional responses from us like few other activities; recalling that first gasp, first "Holy . . ." or jump-out-of-your-seat spontaneous applause you gave years back is always a warm fuzzy feeling.

In other words, IMO sometimes it's just good to let go of whatever pedagogical baggage you bring into the stadium with you and just enjoy drum corps for drum corps sake.

[SF2K4]

No, I don't think so... I think if I'd known what I was doing it would have been a much better experience...

[Cron]

I clearly remember how this went down for me. I grew up in an area where marching activities at their best were in support of a football team. My Freshman year of high school I moved to Fort Mill, SC and ended up smack in the middle of one of the best marching bands in the state. I was totally clueless at the time of any sort of artistic marching music activity. I was amazed just at what my high school was doing because it was just such a new concept to me. Shortly after arriving at this new school, our band director and many of the students started talking about the DCI broadcast on PBS. Interested by all the hub-bub, I tuned in, and was summarily blown away!

Imagine the mindset, coming from not knowing anything about artistic music/marching activities, and within roughly two weeks, being completely submerged. That was the 92 championships and I can say without a doubt that what impacted most back then was the Scouts. That was the beginning of the end, or the beginning of the beginning. After high school, I ended up in Crown, getting my butt whipped all over the country, and the rest is history.

[BRASSO]

If you talk to the most commercially successful musicians ( not the Profs... although I appreciate their knowledge and training ), they will tell you that it is rarely through the intellect that they reach their audiences with the most success. They will almost universally be in agreement that the connection to the audience is through an EMOTIONAL connection with the music they play.

I sometimes thnk that in pursuit of the correct " pitch "..... " balance "....... " tone "..... etc...... we might be losing sight of the emotional component and how important this aspect is when staffs design a show and instruct their charges..... and how the judges ( few who are commercially successful musicians. if we are honest about it ) judge these performances.

In the REAL world for commercial musicians of all genres, the connection to the audience is not done primarily through the cerebellum.... ie the intellect.

The entrance to the audience member is done primarily through .... the heart.

ALL commercially successful musicians know this. And that's a lesson all of us involved in Drum Corps might want to be a little more mindful of it seems to me.

The greatest enjoyment moments in Drum Corps for most of us have not usually come from the most perfectly executed maneuver, nor musical passage. What moved us was an EMOTIONAL connection, not an intellectual one, 9 times out of 10.

Edited August 4, 2009 by BRASSO

[soccerguy315]

This is a good point I think...

I think what draws most people to drum corps is the "that's amazing!" feeling that they get from watching the performers on the field.

The more you see "that's amazing!" instances, the less amazing they are to you.

And if you marched then the chances are that you did something that was "amazing!" and now it does not seem as difficult to you as it did before you spent a whole summer on the field.

As your education grows, whether through formal education or marching summers of drum corps (or both), you definitely become more critical. That RFL chord by the 9th place corps is suddenly "a little out of balance with 1 or 2 stick outs" instead of "oh yea that chord is awesome!!!"

When I have sat in the stands since I finished marching I have become much more critical of the performances. It's somewhat disappointing to me, but I think it is what it is now and I can't go back to the way it was before.

[bluecoats88]

I know when we were still a low placing corps I always looked up to the big boy finalists and was amazed at their shows and what they were doing. But once we actually made finals I relaized as I watched the upper corps in 1987, after we had performed saturday night, that they weren't that much different from us and the awe was gone and the critical eye started seeing their flaws.

[AlexL]

yeah... its a lot harder to enjoy the show start to finish as much as it used to. you see and hear the dirt that you wouldnt have before (at least to the same degree), and you can become a lot more critical. Its why youll see a lot of alums out in the lots for half the show.

[2000Cadet]

I think if I had known more about drum corps before I marched, I would have auditioned for Cadets in 1996 instead of waiting until 1999.