State of drum corps manifesto

[JimF-LowBari]

Please don’t attribute my ramblings here to me devaluing what the members of each corps are doing. I genuinely am awed by what they are physically doing on the field. The immense talent, hard work, and things that all these kids are learning through the drum corps experience are certainly commendable (for all of us who marched, we all know what we gained). It’s an amazing thing to experience. However, from a purely business perspective, I don’t think I’ll ever pay $50 again to see this product in its current form. Your product is no longer worth what you charge.

And that $50 also keeps most of the general public from wanting to see a show. One of the big reasons why DC was more popular in the past was because it was a way to spend an evening at a cost compatible with other entertainment options. Now with less shows, less corps, more equipment and touring the expense of running a corps has overshadowed everything else. DCA had problems in the early 1990s and I thought that circuit would be gone in 5-10 years. Changes were made and there are now more smaller corps but half of those early 90s DCA corps are gone.

Now I look at the big..bigger..biggest.. direction DCI is going and wonder about its' future. Let's face it, a lot of long time major corps are one "Oh ####" from have major funding problems. (See threads on BD Bingo operations and DCA corps taking a season off as examples.)

And to come clean on my feelings, I haven't gone to a WC show in years because the current shows aren't worth my money and (mainly) time.

Edited July 9, 2010 by JimF-LowBari

[bawker]

I think part of what the OP is going through is something we all see as the activity passes us by from when we participated: the fact that, much like with a longer marriage or a long-term job, you have to continually look for new things and facets in it to stay engaged.

Right now, the on-field product is the only connection that a lot of us have with the activity: therefore the total summation of the activity is judged by that little bit of the equation by us, for better or worse.

Bob Jacobs helped put together a "bible" for running your own drum corps a number of years ago, and one of the key (para)phrases that stays with me still is this: the on-field product is maybe 5% of the totality of the activity.

Perhaps there is something else that you can offer . . .a volunteer effort in your area of work or expertise, helping to set up an alumni/historical site . . .even going so far as starting an alumni corps to get that "sound" back every once in a while, if you want.

Help with the legal stuff, work on the insurance contracts, help with ordering food from suppliers . . .whatever keeps you interested and feeling like your time is worthwhile.

Point is, you're going to find you have varying levels of engagement with the activity as it (and you) grow.

Walking away, if you decide to, is a difficult choice. It's as if something you love is gone in a way and never to return . . . and is an intensely personal choice. It hurts a great deal to go through the process of grieving for something you grew up with, gave your all to, and care for deeply.

Still, though, temper that love for the activity with changing your expectations as you get older: drum corps becomes less about the product on-field, and more about defining what you want to get out of the activity.

Perhaps DCA might be an answer: march a season or two and see if the old fires come back, or go as a spectator.

In any event, I feel for where you're at. It's a crossroads, and despite all the idiot back and forth of "don't let the door hit ya" and "rawr, i'm a dinosaur", you have a decision to make that I know all too well.

All the best in whatever path you do take.

[md60]

its not drum and bugle corps anymore. It almost sounds like your listening to a stereo. The staffs of every corps should sit on the other side of the field with binnoculers (sp) and watch the crowd and hear the polite applause and see and hear what the kids on the field hear. How can they tell thier all right in front of the corps jumping and screaming at thier accomplishements (staff) Broadway has become the same way but when that happens the show closes and millions is lost. There is no heart in writing and arrangements anymore. All day rehearsals for shows that dont work. You have ruined one of the most special marching activities ever. No more screaming crowds, trooping the stands, corps songs,retreats. Very Sad. Amazing talent wasted running around the field swatting insects (dance) 80 brass sounding like 40. Music majors with audition tapes. What happened to the fun and the emotion. Even DCI 2010 trailer has non corps music with one second shots of corps. And a big black curtain at finals hiding the rest of the stadium. It is all so... cant find a word.

[geluf]

"Drum Corps isn't exactly what I want it to be now so it must be in trouble and not drum corps anymore!"

....did I do it right?

[bawker]

"Drum Corps isn't exactly what I want it to be now so it must be in trouble and not drum corps anymore!"

....did I do it right?

No, not really.

Try: "Drum corps is something I care deeply about . . . and I'm having trouble and conflicting emotions coming to terms with the fact that the activity isn't something I can be truly passionate about anymore."

Not everything is as black and white as we all like to make it here.

I know, I know: Rawr.

LOL.

[geluf]

No, not really.

Try: "Drum corps is something I care deeply about . . . and I'm having trouble and conflicting emotions coming to terms with the fact that the activity isn't something I can be truly passionate about anymore."

Not everything is as black and white as we all like to make it here.

I know, I know: Rawr.

LOL.

My post was less about the OP and more about the "Not drum corps anymore!" comments littered everywhere in the thread.

Bawker, you and I have been around DCP long enough to watch every couple of months when the same arguments pop up about the same things. I don't think I've seen anything new added to the discussion in years.

Thing is: Discussion about it is useless. Lance touched on this, but the only method to affect change is via the pocketbook. We can rehash old, tired things over and over and over again, or actually do something about it.

And for what its worth, your DCA suggestion was a good one.

[Elmo Blatch]

I think what DW is experiencing is indicative of the current direction of DCI.

Drum Corps International isn't doing as well now as it did earlier this decade...and there is proof out there.

Why? The fans are voting with their checkbooks and their feet.

[bawker]

My post was less about the OP and more about the "Not drum corps anymore!" comments littered everywhere in the thread.

. . .my apologies.

I was still reading from the OP's perspective, and failed to see you were referring to the post directly about yours and some others, rather than the OP. I hadn't made it all the way through the thread yet to see what you were talking about.

Anyway. . . .allow me to make it up to you:

[dustyboo]

Let me start by saying that I fully realize that with some of the things I’m going to write in this rant will alienate me with about 90% of the activity and even some of my Bluecoats family. I’m ok with that because I think, publicly, what I have to say needs to be shared. Its definitely being mutter by fans, alumni, and many people surrounding the activity and I think if its ignored, the activity faces losing generations of fan base. With that being said NOTHING in this rant represents the Bluecoats, their opinions, beliefs or anyone associated to that organization.

My background in the activity encompasses initially being a fan (my brother marched before me), a member of a world class top 12 corps, and a board member and loyal alumni supporter. I’ve taught music at all grade levels in 4 different states and am currently a professional in the music industry.

I served on the board of directors of the Bluecoats after they fell out of the top 12. I was there to watch the corps (and the activity) go through many changes, and the organization as a whole is in MUCH better shape today than it was 10 years ago. In many respects, organizational health has improved for many groups over this time span. However, we have seen many changes to the activity in this same time span that has torn at the fabric of what the drum corps really is. It’s no longer about entertainment, competition, aesthetics (I’ll be using this word a lot because that’s the key to what’s missing), or the fans.

The music of the Classical era (the time of Mozart and Haydn primarily) was defined by clarity, simplicity (in form mostly), and melody. Some of the grandest music composed came from this roughly 70 year span (1750-1820). Certainly brilliance in music history surrounds this period. The music of Bach and the baroque era was typified by ornamentation and an almost stoic nature. The music of the romantic period (set off by Beethoven) expanded chromaticism and expression as well as form. Music has constantly evolved (just as drum corps seems to have evolved from its almost archaic past….remember, we used to only have one line on the field). I look at what is going on today in drum corps as the kind of movement from a “classical style” of drum corps to a more elaborate form of the idiom (I don’t want to call it “romantic” because that’s not really what it is). However, the activity as a whole really isn’t better.

I’ll use my own personal stories and recent observations as my only proof to what may otherwise seem offensive to some. This activity spoke to me (and many that I grew up with) on a strong aesthetic level. I attended shows all over the Midwest in the 80s while growing up, and was a fan of MANY organizations because their performances, design, and execution were so powerfully emotional. At one of my first DCI finals ever I can recall being at quarters and semis and watching as corps after corps make the audience lose their mind. Corps finishing in 15th, 16th, 17th place were getting standing ovations in the middle of performances. As a Bluecoat homer, I can recall going nuts for the ’89 Cadets show as they performed what I thought was one of the most original shows in the last decade (Les Miserable). This was common place across the activity. Competition and rivalry were fierce but healthy respect permeated the activity because it seemed EVERY corps was achieving some level of aesthetic excellence (even early in the season). I see none of that in 2010. I see fans literally at a loss when shows are performed. Four times at the last show I attended, people around me turned to one and other and mumbled “is it over?” The shows are FAR more athletic than ever….so much so that it really is impressive. It also seems like drum lines and color guards have reached a new level of excellence/cleanliness….but it’s not aesthetic. Technical achievement is at an all time high from top to bottom for sure. So why are audiences so ambivalent towards what is going on?

Is it that to fully understand what is going on, we need a libretto? If the staff of each corps has to go to the judges and explain just what in the heck they are looking at on the field, how do they expect the average fan (Mom and Dad who are factory workers, accountants, and teachers) to fathom anything they put out there? The current trend in education is state testing. Many educators have blasted this because it doesn’t generate any positive results because the way it’s structured forces teachers to teach to a test. Isn’t drum corps now simply designing to the judging criteria? I think so. To prove it, take any show this year and listen to their ballad. Every corps has one, and it seems to have been mandated by the judging community. They all sound the same and each one is just as forgettable as the next. Design philosophy is even identical from corps to corps (drum lines don’t play, the horn line start doing glorified aerobics instead of marching, and the color guard drops the flags and rifles in favor of extended dance segments). You could argue that some find this incredibly moving and entertaining. Really? My evidence to the contrary is how the fans react and in each case over the last few years, its been with polite applause and yawns (that isn’t hyperbole either).

I once heard music arranger Jay Dawson talk about his philosophy on arranging for “tension” and “release” and how visual designers do the same. His arrangements have stood up for many years (previously in drum corps and now with many marching bands as he writes exclusively for Arranger’s Publishing now) as a model for generating great excitement. I’ve see none of it in modern drum corps going on 3 years now. It would appear that show design is not done to generate excitement anymore, but rather to appease what the judging community (or maybe its drum corps staff?) thinks scoring criteria should be based now.

I was never a fan of the A&E rule when it was instituted but I understood it as a natural progression of the activity. It’s been used well (see Carolina Crown this season, very well done) and it’s been used in what I can only describe as excruciating fashion (see Teal Sound this summer and whatever year Crown did the Rent show). The drum corps community has now mandated (maybe its not a written rule, but by golly, everyone is using it now) that you have to use this in some fashion to be competitive and apparently creative. Is it being “creative” if everyone is using it in a similar fashion? Is it being “creative” when you mic your soloists? Is it even necessary in this regard? The Bluecoats are using an EFX processor to alter the brass sound electronically on their soloists. It’s different. Does it add significantly to interest, excitement, and interpretation of the show? I don’t think so. Furthermore, I witnessed the Cavies mic a trumpet trio (and man, they can really wail, great players down there) at the end of their show. Why? What did that add? Balance? We would have heard those three guys without the mic just fine. Through the microphone it changed the tone color and the blend was musically absurd (some call it distracting). I sat shaking my head in disgust as did others around me (I had no idea what corps affiliation these people had either). What immediately went through my head was that this was kind of like the enabling musicians on what should be an otherwise achievable musical outcome (playing with good balance, blend and intonation).

One could argue that having the ability to use A&E in whatever manner the corps sees fit opens the door to so many creative opportunities (I agree). However very few corps seem to doing anything that actually enhances the “drum corps” sound (Crown and a few others from last season have used it tastefully). Rather, most seem bent on throwing in sound effects and unnecessary additions to what could be quality performances otherwise. They will tell you that arrangers now get to utilize tone colors once never available to drum corps (like pianos, sound effects, and so much more). Following that line of logic, we should have woodwinds and strings out there (wait, are we synthesizing those now?). If expanding the musical possibilities to the genre is the desired outcome then why restrict anything? Because then it would be BOA marching band……we already have that don’t we. We have effectively destroyed the drum corps sound and along with it an entire idiom that was powerfully aesthetic. Need proof? I wish I could have recorded the crowd reactions in Dublin, Ohio last night…..

So what does all this mean? Well, I paid $50 for myself and my girlfriend last night to see a drum corps show (we were excited to be able to walk up and buy such good seats on the 40 yard line near the top) and for the first time in my life, left a show thinking I may not come back to see another. I’ve never left a show and felt like this. I actually felt like I was owed a refund. I’ve always left wanting more, excited about the next time some close scoring groups would compete. Now? Ambivalence. The activity has become a manufactured entity shoved down our throats like so many unwanted products in the free market system. We’re told “It’s ART!” When asked why, its shouted back “BECAUSE WE SAY IT IS!” In reality we (DCI as a whole) now have a product that is cookie cutter, formulaic, uninteresting, and disconnected to its very own market/consumer.

Please don’t attribute my ramblings here to me devaluing what the members of each corps are doing. I genuinely am awed by what they are physically doing on the field. The immense talent, hard work, and things that all these kids are learning through the drum corps experience are certainly commendable (for all of us who marched, we all know what we gained). It’s an amazing thing to experience. However, from a purely business perspective, I don’t think I’ll ever pay $50 again to see this product in its current form. Your product is no longer worth what you charge.

I hope I’m wrong. I realize there is a counter argument to everything I’ve mentioned in this diatribe. I’ve heard them all and really haven’t heard a compelling argument to the contrary. I hope I don’t sound like angry old drum corps guy because that wasn’t what I was shooting for. Just felt like someone needed to relay some sentiments that are being rumbled rather freely at the last few shows I’ve attended, and wanted to share my own thoughts.

I agree with what you are saying and have already left DCI a couple of years ago now. My question to you is, since you are/were so involved with your corps did you do anything to voice your concerns to the powers that be at Bluecoats? They have been one of the more pro-amps, voice, electronics than many of the other corps have.

[parkbench]

I miss corps trooping the stands upon completion of each of their shows. And this small change is a huge marketing and public relations opportunity.

Family, alumni, friends used to get a close-up moment to cheer, photograph, whoop-it-up, etc. And the corps members get a few minutes of up-close and personal pride with hat/shako's off, a little strutting their stuff (#### I miss actually hearing the drumlines kick-in their cadences!) and mutual connection to the audience. For the newbies attending a show, they get a personal glimpse of the emotion pouring from the performers and the energy from the crowd -- better than the alternative of watching the keystone cop antics of pit crews changing out equipment. Finally, the events overall might get abit more energy and continuity between the audience and performers as a whole as a true pageantry, event.

It's like we've stripped this thing down to enter field from a distance, we see each for 12min or so, they exit. A brief encore typically of repeated music or show snipets, scores and done. That's not an sustainable "event" package one can't almost get on the u-tube. We removed most real attributes of the live show -- "lot" warmup opportunities, Trooping stands, Retreats, etc. very sterile considering total cost of event attendance.