Could the new pre-show rule lead to woodwinds?

[audiodb]

They sound much better using appropriate mallets and playing technique, which requires miccing.

It requires no such thing. Corps could have used whatever mallets and technique they saw fit, and dealt with balance via acoustic means (staging, instrument construction, projectors, and/or number of players per section)....like corps did with every other instrument up until 2004.

And...more than one instrument means more than one part. I don't see a lot of doubling of one part.

....now that they have amps. By the way, is there anything wrong with doubling parts?

[audiodb]

This notion that attendance fell off rapidly in the early 1990s solely as a result of programming choices is flimsy at best.

In the first place, it’s anecdotal. So far as we know, there was no scientific marketing study with conclusive data to support such a suggestion. But let’s not worry too much about that.

Indeed, let's not....because you don't even have anecdotal evidence for your family-and-friends theory.

I certainly wouldn't claim that whatever attendance losses there were circa 1993 were caused exclusively by any single factor. But I don't think anyone else believes that either. If someone does, have at 'em.

[audiodb]

If anything, Dave Gibbs from BD is probably at fault just as much for the changes over the past few years, if not more. Gibbs proposed any key, not Hop. He's also been on board with amps and electronics. Yet, no one ever brings him up in threads like these. Mark Arnold at BK is the same way with the same voting record, but no one ever makes any mention of him.

Yes, Mark Arnold wrote the first amps proposal, and Gibbs did the "any-key" brass proposal. On the other hand, Hopkins rehashed the amps proposal year after year after year, plus the repeated electronic instrument proposals, saxophones, this pre-show proposal, and so on. So for those keeping score:

Gibbs: 1

Arnold: 1

Hopkins: 20

[audiodb]

They go to see the best...BD, Cadets, Cavies, Crown, etc....that wouldn't change if they had WW. They did not choose to see...or march with...lower-level local corps in that same timeframe either.

So you think drum corps is better than marching band?

[MikeD]

So you think drum corps is better than marching band?

Drum corps is band, for one thing. Of course the top world class corps are better than any band. They'd be the same if they added WW. It's the level of performance due to the rigorous rehearsal schedule and audition process and ability to have a single focus that makes them better. Not the instrumentation.

[audiodb]

Where do I claim they are one cause, one effect. I don't agree that what you are postulating IS a cause, but I never claimed there is just one.

But whenever there is more than one cause, you use that as an excuse to dismiss all causes that run counter to your POV.

[audiodb]

Note that I said 'seems'...it's my take on reading what he has written and proposed over time, nothing more.

So let me get this straight:

You don't think woodwinds would attract more kids to drum corps shows?

You don't know if Hopkins believes it either?

You only think that Hopkins "seems" to think it would help?

[MikeD]

It requires no such thing. Corps could have used whatever mallets and technique they saw fit, and dealt with balance via acoustic means (staging, instrument construction, projectors, and/or number of players per section)....like corps did with every other instrument up until 2004.

That is what happened up to 2004, as you say. Now it's better, in my opinion...and lots of others, inc the staffs who wanted amps for a long time before they were passed.

....now that they have amps. By the way, is there anything wrong with doubling parts?

Where appropriate, no. Why have two marimbas play the exact same part for the show? What's the point when a more complex and IMO better show can be created using independent parts? Why have three trumpet parts? Just let everyone play 1st.

[MikeD]

But whenever there is more than one cause, you use that as an excuse to dismiss all causes that run counter to your POV.

No, I dismiss assertions that IMO are NOT valid causes. I don't care if you agree with me or not, as you don't care if I agree with you. You have your POV, and I have mine.

[MikeD]

So let me get this straight:

You don't think woodwinds would attract more kids to drum corps shows?

You don't know if Hopkins believes it either?

You only think that Hopkins "seems" to think it would help?

The word 'seems' is my take on interpreting what he has written over the years, up to the current time. I did not say Hopkins only 'seems' to think it will help. It's how I read his POV over time.

I never said WW would not attract more kids to shows.