If your MB competed - why did you join?

[JimF-LowBari]

One thought going around is todays youth don't join DC because competing MB has taken the place of what DC did in the past. The youth either gets what they need/want from MB or are tired of competing so don't want to join a corps.

My Senior corps was about 50% under 21s in the first few years (mid 70s) and it was a different experience. My MB didn't compete but had lot off corps mates who did compete. Most of them joined corps because it was different from MB and most of them enjoyed DC better.

Idea here is to (hopefully) get a historic perspective on this. Cuz if the first paragraph is true then things sure have changed.

[euponitone]

One thought going around is todays youth don't join DC because competing MB has taken the place of what DC did in the past. The youth either gets what they need/want from MB or are tired of competing so don't want to join a corps.

My Senior corps was about 50% under 21s in the first few years (mid 70s) and it was a different experience. My MB didn't compete but had lot off corps mates who did compete. Most of them joined corps because it was different from MB and most of them enjoyed DC better.

Idea here is to (hopefully) get a historic perspective on this. Cuz if the first paragraph is true then things sure have changed.

I competed in marching band before ever knowing about dci - and if not for marching band, i doubt i would have ever marched corps....no, actually, I know I wouldnt have marched corps. I only did marching band because it was required to be in the top indoor band...i didnt actually expect to like marching. Turns out I was wrong about that.

I dont think marching band has replaced drum corps at the top of the activity (obviously), but it has replaced the community level corps in most cases. People would march in a local corps if they wanted to be involved in marching music, the would maybe go on to march at a bigger corps if they wanted (although as we know, many stayed in the community). Now it seems most people that march DCI find out about it from their HS band, whether it is other friends marching, or the staff. It doesnt always happen this way, but it is a pretty clear majority in my experience.

[JimF-LowBari]

I dont think marching band has replaced drum corps at the top of the activity (obviously), but it has replaced the community level corps in most cases. People would march in a local corps if they wanted to be involved in marching music, the would maybe go on to march at a bigger corps if they wanted (although as we know, many stayed in the community).

Well I'm hoping to get responses from the dinosaurs like myself who did both BITD. Seems like people were more inclined to do both back in the day but my experience might have skewed that theory. At least the idea of "I did DC because there wasn't a competing MB" doesn't hold from what I saw.

And today appears the DCA and some Alumni corps are getting younger. Well.... as I get older they look younger.

Edited January 11, 2010 by JimF-3rdBari

[euponitone]

Well I'm hoping to get responses from the dinosaurs like myself who did both BITD. Seems like people were more inclined to do both back in the day but my experience might have skewed that theory. At least the idea of "I did DC because there wasn't a competing MB" doesn't hold from what I saw.

Well, i doubt it was a cut and dried 'choice' like that. I dont think kids and teens pick activities on such a logical or far reaching basis such as that....rather its - I wanna do this activity because it looks cool, or my friends are doing it, or "HEY, theres a bunch of hot girls over there!". Whether its baseball, band, or corps, the rationale is consistently not all that determined....

[JimF-LowBari]

Well, i doubt it was a cut and dried 'choice' like that. I dont think kids and teens pick activities on such a logical or far reaching basis such as that....rather its - I wanna do this activity because it looks cool, or my friends are doing it, or "HEY, theres a bunch of hot girls over there!". Whether its baseball, band, or corps, the rationale is consistently not all that determined....

Agreed, but when I read "competing MB has taken over the role of local DC", I translate it as "I did DC BITD because our band didn't exist or didn't compete". Doesn't make a lot of sense to me so thought I'd throw it out to the peanut gallery.

LOL, I did DC for two main reasons (1) wanted to keep playing horn after HS (community college) didn't have a band and (2) get the Hell out of the house ....

Thanks for the feedback buddy....

[perc2100]

I'm with Nick: I marched in HS marching band not knowing drum corps existed. I just always liked marching band, and wanted to do it. Plus, my freshmen year in HS MB we went to NY for the Macy's Parade, as well as a few NFL games, so that was a bonus. My HS MB was pretty competitive locally (not anywhere close nationally, though), and I learned about drum corps from people in HS who marched drum corps. I went to some DCI shows to support my friends in the band who were marching (at the time there was a local Div. 2 corps), and fell in love with drum corps. I went to some camps the next year with the local corps, and knew that at some point in my life I was going to have to march in a drum corps snare line. For me, competitive marching band was a 'gateway' to drum corps.

[TAFL]

One thought going around is todays youth don't join DC because competing MB has taken the place of what DC did in the past. The youth either gets what they need/want from MB or are tired of competing so don't want to join a corps.

Well, the high school band program I marched in was corps-style. We loved watching corps. We didn't march in corps because we had our own summer tour every year. Our MB experience was much the same as a corps experience, though our tour was shorter.

Some of us did march after graduating, though, in the remaining years of eligibility. We wanted more of it. Most had plans to do other things after school and drum corps didn't interest them enough to pursue it, or they simply had to go to work and couldn't take summers off. It was one thing to spend all the hours rehearsing and then touring when parents were footing the basic living expenses and the few hundred bucks in tour fees and quite another to have to foot a larger tour fee (to have to find another apartment and job when returning) and still make car payments while on tour.

[Dave]

Competitive marching band was my introduction to drum corps, and those of us who wanted to do corps looked at what we were doing as sort of pre-training for marching corps. We marched corps-style and pretty much did everything in that regard the same way I did when I moved on to Blue Stars. I just waited until after my last season of MB to start doing corps, since both the timing and the money for doing them together didn't really work out. As much as we liked marching band, we knew it was only a shadow of what was to come.

[deftguy]

My marching band was competitive both nationally and locally, and since my guard instructor taught both drum corps and band it just felt right to march in both. Alot of folks in the band and guard marched both until they graduated, and continued to march in corps afterward. When they aged out, quite a few went on to teach.

I found out about drum corps before I marched in band. Our new band director showed a video of the 1972 Kingsman Drum and Bugle corps at a basketball rally in which he promoted students to join the "new" competitive guard and band at our school. After seeing that video, I joined the guard and went to my first drum corps show. I was hooked big time and never turned back. Our marching band was so much like drum corps, I never felt the difference from one to the other.

[Dmlkmen]

I was very fortunate to have had the opportunity to learn trumpet in school at age 8. I had a band class two times a week. That band class had two levels: Beginning for 3rd and 4th graders, and Advanced for 5th & 6th. By the time I got to 6th grade, I knew most of the major scales, and my range was up to F.

In Jr. High, I was able to swtich to Euphonium, and also play in a percussion/indoor ensemble- (now winter drumline) which competed against High Schools in TOB. That experience made it easier to understand, in terms of what I should expect in HS for the marching band. Much of that staff, taught the HS- and through the indoor program- they were laying a foundation for the discipline, or what they expected of incoming freshmen for their marching band program. On the concert band side, my band was playing Grade 5 in 8th Grade. We did quite well at festivals, and concert band competitions- and had multiple opportunities to perform competitively. I was having a lot of fun on the overnight trips we would take. At 14, I was very much satisfied with what music was providing for my life, and was looking forward to HS.

By HS, I found out about corps by seeing 1989 Finals, on video. But my HS was already competing in BOA, and doing well in that circuit- as well as TOB. So corps became an afterthought for awhile. This because performing in front of many people in local competition- and being the last band under the lights to perform- was incredible. Going to Morgantown, Scranton, and Indianapolis on overnight stays with your best firends- that seemed fun enough. This as well as a way to feel the hype of competition, as the Jr's and Sr.s put all underclassmen into their competitive mindset. All in all, Good times- and great preparation for when I later joined a corps.

It was not until my junior year that I considered corps. But, I had a great time too, just doing what my school system provided. Thank you, Fairfax County.

Edited January 11, 2010 by Dmlkmen