Reverse the Rules

[MikeD]

I love the logic. If " mobile marching tympani's " were an example of " all change has been beneficial ", why was the "mobile marching tympani " scrapped ? Why don't we have " mobile marching tympani " on the field of competition today if it was so beneficial ?

Because the subsequent rule changes made it better. Just as marching timpani were better than no timpani, grounding the pit was better than lugging them around. Thanks for helping make my point.

[Kamarag]

I love the logic. If " mobile marching tympani's " were an example of " all change has been beneficial ", why was the "mobile marching tympani " scrapped ? Why don't we have " mobile marching tympani " on the field of competition today if it was so beneficial ?

Because with the grounding of the pit, it became possible to use real concert tympani.

[perc2100]

Personally I won't be happy until DCI allows the use of laser. And lions. And lions who shoot lasers out of their mouths when they roar.

[Jeff Ream]

How so? IMO the size change benefited members by giving them more opportunity to march where they want. It's been posted many times that those cut do not move to lower corps...they just do not march anywhere.

Corps who changed their horns did so because they wanted to...and when they wanted to. Rule changes make more things possible, that's all.

[Jeff Ream]

LOL.

So, in, say, 2025, when woodwinds and "anything goes" has been a reality for a few years . . .we're going to magically see a corps decide to switch back to just brass, percussion and guard?

I don't think so. No one has decided to do such a thing so far once the rules are passed.

Rule changes may say "creativity" to you, but I'll bet the 2025 reps will have the same tired standards we've seen since the advent of amplification and electronics. Designers sure seem to lean on the same bag of tricks.

"West Side Story . . .now with woodwinds!"

Oooh, sign me up!

Maybe it's time for some people with some new ideas to step forward.

It's not like things will ever be like they once were, but someone needs to at least move into the future with what we do have (and, no, playing rock music isn't it, either, for those about to mention Teal Sound. That's just copying what corps in the 70s and 80s did with pop music).

The activity isn't tapped out of pieces, places, visual elements or things to explore. . .but with another year of Metheny, (insert band composer of moment here), and so on . . .all the new toys get us is another way to express the same ideas we had ten or fifteen years ago.

Here's an example from my not-a-designer-mind: World War II shows still predominate any kind of war or conflict set piece in the activity. . .presumably because it's a "safe" war that we were all on the same side for.

What if we tweaked that idea, just a little bit?

Wouldn't it be interesting to see a corps like the Cadets or Boston Crusaders build a show around Korea or Vietnam . . .or even the Gulf Wars? What better way to portray conflict than to, well, present a show that is steeped in it as a theme?

Surely there's no shortage of music/fashion/design elements/movies from said wars or time periods etc to pull from.

What if Spirit of Atlanta decided to do a civil rights show? There's a gold mine there of music and theme to pull from, and it takes the Southern tradition of old for the corps and moves it from playing "Georgia" and "Sweet Georgia Brown" to perhaps quoting MLK and/or playing some African-American composers.

Are these heavy-handed and perhaps too pointed examples of changing the paradigm? Probably. I don't profess to be a designer.

. . .however, it's at least a momentary (if clumsy) reminder that this activity is more than Malaguena or West Side Story ten thousand times with different instruments as a clarion call of "change".

bravo

[Jeff Ream]

Oh, got ya now...summer marching band

which failed miserably last time it was tried

[Perry S]

LOL.

So, in, say, 2025, when woodwinds and "anything goes" has been a reality for a few years . . .we're going to magically see a corps decide to switch back to just brass, percussion and guard?

I don't think so. No one has decided to do such a thing so far once the rules are passed.

Rule changes may say "creativity" to you, but I'll bet the 2025 reps will have the same tired standards we've seen since the advent of amplification and electronics. Designers sure seem to lean on the same bag of tricks.

"West Side Story . . .now with woodwinds!"

Oooh, sign me up!

Maybe it's time for some people with some new ideas to step forward.

It's not like things will ever be like they once were, but someone needs to at least move into the future with what we do have (and, no, playing rock music isn't it, either, for those about to mention Teal Sound. That's just copying what corps in the 70s and 80s did with pop music).

The activity isn't tapped out of pieces, places, visual elements or things to explore. . .but with another year of Metheny, (insert band composer of moment here), and so on . . .all the new toys get us is another way to express the same ideas we had ten or fifteen years ago.

Here's an example from my not-a-designer-mind: World War II shows still predominate any kind of war or conflict set piece in the activity. . .presumably because it's a "safe" war that we were all on the same side for.

What if we tweaked that idea, just a little bit?

Wouldn't it be interesting to see a corps like the Cadets or Boston Crusaders build a show around Korea or Vietnam . . .or even the Gulf Wars? What better way to portray conflict than to, well, present a show that is steeped in it as a theme?

Surely there's no shortage of music/fashion/design elements/movies from said wars or time periods etc to pull from.

What if Spirit of Atlanta decided to do a civil rights show? There's a gold mine there of music and theme to pull from, and it takes the Southern tradition of old for the corps and moves it from playing "Georgia" and "Sweet Georgia Brown" to perhaps quoting MLK and/or playing some African-American composers.

Are these heavy-handed and perhaps too pointed examples of changing the paradigm? Probably. I don't profess to be a designer.

. . .however, it's at least a momentary (if clumsy) reminder that this activity is more than Malaguena or West Side Story ten thousand times with different instruments as a clarion call of "change".

[Rifuarian]

Narration. Theoretically, I support it, for creativity's sake, etc. But in practice I can't stand it. When high school bands do it, it's cute. Like watching a bad high school play. But when a drum corps does it . . . I expect a certain level of sophistication from our top drum corps, musically and visually, and the people associated with them are usually able to provide it. But when it comes to the written and spoken word these guys are amateurs, and the juxtaposition of cringeworthy voice-overs and high quality music and drill is grating. Some have suggested that they'll "professional writers" to do the job, but if you can find a writer who is A) capable of writing a mere 2-3 minutes worth of dialogue/narration/random vocal interjections which seamlessly complement and enhance the musical, visual, and thematic content of an 11 minute show performed on a football field with band instruments and B) desperate enough to actually take the job, I'll eat my old shako.

Well, maybe B is a little believable . . . we are talking about writers after all. A, not so much. I'd be more receptive to the use of actual literature in the drum corps show (most corps already use non-original movement, why not the same for writing?). I've often wondered what a show based on, for example, a Baudelaire poem might look and sound like. That would give the anti-esoteric crowd fits, but I'm sure we could come up with something more appealing. There's talent enough among the marching members to do this sort of thing, so long as what they're given to say sounds natural when coming from a 20 year old (i.e. we shouldn't have them pretending to be 50 year olds). Once caveat is that the scale of the writing should fit the scale of a drum corps show.

The other recent changes I'm cool with, or at least at peace with. It's naive to think that they've entirely beneficial, as naive as it is to think they've entirely harmful. With every change some things are lost, and others gained. There are always winners and losers. Ignoring either side of the equation is short-sighted. I think we've gained more than we lost, at least on the creative side of things, but I'm not 100% sure.

Edited February 11, 2010 by Rifuarian

[Captncontra]

I personally don't want to push all rules back to x year and set it in stone. What I do want is two very simple rules that help define what Drum and Bugle Corps is.

1. All sounds generated on the field are acoustic.

2. Instrumentation is limited to bell-front valved brass and percussion.

Now you can feel free to sing, dance, play Bb, narrate... go nuts! Find creative ways to make your ideas come to life and reach the ears of the audience and judges.

[perc2100]

"West Side Story . . .now with woodwinds!"

You mean, like, the original that won Tonys, Academy Awards, and Grammies?

Sounds OK to me (love the sax and clarinet solo stuff in the originals).

Face it folks: drum and bugle corps stopped being "real" drum and bugle corps when we put valves on the horns, marched asymmetrical drill, added pits, dropped the honor guard and added dancing + spinning flags & fake weapons.

The rest is just idiotic semantics of what we personally like or dislike. Personally, I hate cars and wish we could go back to the days of horse & buggy but that aint happening either.