THEEXCELSIORDIRECTOR Posted December 31, 2009 Share Posted December 31, 2009 I don't believe that is true... If you note the posts that are speaking to "best soloists ever" best this ... best that ... all of the folks on those lists were - start ups in Drum corps - And today .... I just don't see the same kinds of talents I saw then - reading music and being able to articulate is not what its all about --- its how you are able to make that instrument sing... they are all clean and tight but not " OUT OF SIGHT " ....IMO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THEEXCELSIORDIRECTOR Posted December 31, 2009 Share Posted December 31, 2009 It's always been my opinion thatdrum corps was five years ahead of the times as far as the marching arts, and five years behind the times in terms of the real world.The Raygun administration cleft the concept ofleisure time apart in the 80's and tied it to meritocracy. I think many corps went under when real-world business models caught up with and began to effect drum corps touring models. Or else I'm full of crap. The Business Machine !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeithHall Posted December 31, 2009 Author Share Posted December 31, 2009 I was a band student when I joined corps, I was 10 and had played for less than a year. I had a few friends that were NOT band kids. The hardest part was learning how to play a valve/rotor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elphaba01 Posted January 1, 2010 Share Posted January 1, 2010 This is another great point. We had so many choices back then. Even the choice of Good person / Bad Person. I was brought in a town that was very tough and economicaly depressed even back then. However, it was also a town that supported (This is no lie) Seven (yes 7) drum and bugle corps all at the same time. Many of thos corps were responsible for making great kids out of kids that could have gone either way. As they disapeared (the corps) the kids started making other choices, some good, but most not so good. Hopefully someone at DCI with VISION beyond its members finds a way to develop new corps, or else even the Elite corps will someday sucumb from lack of membership with no places to draw from "Magnificent Seven": Yep: "Our Town" had (Among others, to whom I apologize in advance for not being able to remember): Connecticut Royal Lancers, St Anne's Loyalaires, St Raphael's Buccaneers (Marionettes & Musketeers), PAL Cadets, Trumbull Cadets, Scarlet Knights, Troubadors, Milford Police Cadets/Shoreliners, Emerald Buccaneers, Bengal Lancers, Notre Dame Girls, Colonades and St Stephens. "Right Up the Road" were the Connectict Yankees, Bridgeport Troopers and Hurricanes senior corps. For whatever reasons, (And yes, the initials "DCI" does indeed figure into this), all that is left is the Hurricanes. Elphaba WWW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajlisko Posted January 1, 2010 Share Posted January 1, 2010 "Magnificent Seven":Yep: "Our Town" had (Among others, to whom I apologize in advance for not being able to remember): Connecticut Royal Lancers, St Anne's Loyalaires, St Raphael's Buccaneers (Marionettes & Musketeers), PAL Cadets, Trumbull Cadets, Scarlet Knights, Troubadors, Milford Police Cadets/Shoreliners, Emerald Buccaneers, Bengal Lancers, Notre Dame Girls, Colonades and St Stephens. "Right Up the Road" were the Connectict Yankees, Bridgeport Troopers and Hurricanes senior corps. For whatever reasons, (And yes, the initials "DCI" does indeed figure into this), all that is left is the Hurricanes. Elphaba WWW So ... Elphie ... who did you march with? ... NDettes, Marionettes or the Colonades? :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elphaba01 Posted January 1, 2010 Share Posted January 1, 2010 So ... Elphie ... who did you march with? ... NDettes, Marionettes or the Colonades?:-) "NDettes, Marionettes or the Colonades": None of the above, although you did pretty well get it right with in a previous post. I was lucky enough to have Joe Genero AND "Hy" Drietzer teach me their wonderful music, and have "Jumpin Joe" teach me one last time (As well as you) in 2004 In an era where "Girls in the hornline" were few and far between (Troopers, Argonne Rebels St Anne's, and St Mathias not withstanding), I was a very fortunaate female. Elphaba WWW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajlisko Posted January 1, 2010 Share Posted January 1, 2010 (edited) "NDettes, Marionettes or the Colonades":None of the above, although you did pretty well get it right with in a previous post. I was lucky enough to have Joe Genero AND "Hy" Drietzer teach me their wonderful music, and have "Jumpin Joe" teach me one last time (As well as you) in 2004 In an era where "Girls in the hornline" were few and far between (Troopers, Argonne Rebels St Anne's, and St Mathias not withstanding), I was a very fortunaate female. Elphaba WWW Okay ... now I remember ... St. Ann's, then the Royal Lancers ... so ... you must know my wife ... Sharon ... she marched in the Lancer's guard 64-66 ... one of the "Mouse" dancers in Downtown ... we were just talking this morning about their appearance on Wonderama ... wish I knew who you are ... I can't figure it out ... LOL ... 2004 PCP was a real trip ... working with Joe once again was a real bonus ... :-) Edited January 1, 2010 by ajlisko Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted January 2, 2010 Share Posted January 2, 2010 - Some point to the decline in support from veterans' organizations, churches and/or civic organizations as a factor. Well, yes, that is a factor, but not the #1 thing in my opinion. I'd say it is clear that the mushrooming financial obligation of running a touring corps (even per the open-class or regional-only models) created a budget deficit far larger than the typical VFW/AL/church/PAL/CYO sponsorship....in other words, preserving the local/regional/national models of 40 years ago would have saved more dollars than preserving the sponsorships of that era. Not IMO. It was indeed the #1 factor. Most corps of the hundreds that existed in my day were not touring corps at all, national or regional. I saw local corps after local corps fail in my era...not due to anything DCI did. Having to fend for themselves in all aspects was just too much for them; the lack of a ready-made membership base, be it kids of post members or kids from a local parish...just killed them even faster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted January 2, 2010 Share Posted January 2, 2010 Is it really that there are more activities or is it that drum corps isn't as interesting to kids? BITD most drum corps didn't have the band students, they taught non-band students how to play horns and drums. I can't even get students to come after school to do jazz ensemble....why? Computer games, video games and being with friends. Even in 1968, the little Garden State corps I marched with had band kids...about 25-30% of the corps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted January 2, 2010 Share Posted January 2, 2010 You know, I hesitate to go down the path of, "Today's kids are lazier and they don't want to work that hard." I hesitate, yet I think there's probably some significant validity to that line of thinking. Today's kids work VERY hard, IMO...few are remotely lazy. Their academic load, plus after school activities, scholastic and not, are very time and energy consuming. IMO kids lives are organized and controlled to a much higher degree today than in my era...and there is little down time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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