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Woodwinds in Drum Corps?


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Well we differ greatly in that respect. Just to give my opinion:

Do woodwinds look good doing...

1. Horns to the box? Nope...

2. Park'n'Bark? Negatory...

3. Horns down? Nope... especially since the clarinets and saxophones don't actually go "down"...

You get the idea.

They don't look like brass...doesn't mean they don't look good.

As for park and bark...IMO brass looks silly doing that too.

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They don't look like brass...doesn't mean they don't look good.

As for park and bark...IMO brass looks silly doing that too.

Well no because for a horns to the box they do look silly... 'cause they're not really aiming at the box.

And to your second point, you're wrong. :thumbup:

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Even back in 1970 my non-corps friends NEVER thought of corps as 'cool' and band as 'not cool'..both were looked on as geeky bands...'not cool' at all.

Mike, you've said this statement a number of times and I just don't see the point in it.

First, DCI should NOT be trying to market itself to people that aren't band/corps/music savvy and/or have friends or relatives who do. We will NEVER be able to get John Q Public into any facet of the marching arts.

That said, all of my band/corps/etc. friends or anyone in the know that I'm aware of DOES think drum corps is "cooler" than marching band. So yes, amongst our fan base and the fan base of all the pageantry arts, drum corps has this history of being "bad ###". From the way we carry ourselves on the field, off the field, wearing the shako lids down so low the brim is resting on the nose, whatever, whether or not it's BA or just silly, we THINK it's cool. So yes, I think we can say that drum corps is cool, marching band is not (or just less so).

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Mike, you've said this statement a number of times and I just don't see the point in it.

First, DCI should NOT be trying to market itself to people that aren't band/corps/music savvy and/or have friends or relatives who do. We will NEVER be able to get John Q Public into any facet of the marching arts.

That said, all of my band/corps/etc. friends or anyone in the know that I'm aware of DOES think drum corps is "cooler" than marching band. So yes, amongst our fan base and the fan base of all the pageantry arts, drum corps has this history of being "bad ###". From the way we carry ourselves on the field, off the field, wearing the shako lids down so low the brim is resting on the nose, whatever, whether or not it's BA or just silly, we THINK it's cool. So yes, I think we can say that drum corps is cool, marching band is not (or just less so).

I was responding to this...

One of the first things I would tell people when talking about drum corps is "It IS NOT marching band. Drum corps is cool. Marching band is not." Those days, it seems, are coming closer to an end.

I am assuming the post is in reference to people outside of those who are involved with the marching/music activity already...the 99+% who view MB and DC as pretty much the same...geeky...activity.

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McDonalds still sold burgers, IBM still sold computers and Starbucks still sold coffee. The differentiation was not the core of the product....it was the marketing.

And once people try the different companies products a lot have their favorites and a lot refuse to go back to some of them. Marketing gets you in the door the first time, product gets it to come back.

And we used to get more of non-musical John and Jane Qs in to watch a show, but lack of local shows, local corps and higher prices/costs killed that IMO.

Edited by JimF-3rdBari
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Can we get a harp on wheels, all amped up. That would rock. Maybe a harp line. First harp. Second harp. Third harp. A harp company front. Oh the possibilities for the future. Cannons. Real ones. 1812 Overture. Real fireworks. I feel so constrained. Why can't we do these?

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Well no because for a horns to the box they do look silly... 'cause they're not really aiming at the box.

And to your second point, you're wrong. :thumbup:

Gustav Mahler specifies "Bells up" to the Oboes and Clarinets all the time. Checkout the full score of Mahler 8 here:

Mahler's 8th Symphony

--click the link that says "Teil I. Hymnus: Veni Creator Spiritus - complete score "

--then scroll to page 2 in the resulting PDF.

--Note the instruction to the Oboes and Clarinets

--pages 62 and 66...

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Just another 2cents...but after 18 pages I wonder if it will even be read or relevant!

Personal feeling....no.

Practical feeling...yes and no.

I don't see WWs, as someone else said way back on page 1, standing up to the rigors of touring (plus you can't SHOWER with them!), but I have to answer the question to my WW students every year. "Why don't they have woodwinds?"

"Tradition" is not really an acceptable answer to them...they could care less about tradition - they're kids! They just see them being excluding from a highly valuable activity on their instrument. Yes, they CAN learn another instrument, do guard, etc., but that prevents them from developing their WW skills in the way the rest of the corps gets to develop their skills on their primary performance medium (brass, perc, guard).

Overall, I side with the no's, but it does not change the fact that there are many being denied the opportunity.

BUT, if they do allow it I am not going to throw a tantrum and stop supporting drum corps and going to shows. My four-year old throws enough tantrums around this house without me adding to the mix! :thumbup:

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Okay, here we go:

Deep breath.....okay!

Im fine w/ woodwinds in the PIT. Marching them is a waste of space. Not worried about costs nor repairs, after all, corps sure did an awesome job of micing their pits, despite the costly-ness of doing so. N E how, if a composer is going to write a WW part, i'd rather hear the actual instrument rather than some synth recopying one.

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