Drum Corps Isn't Dead.....

[KeithHall]

Not while we still have DCA!!!!!

[SFZFAN]

Not while we still have DCA!!!!!

[Kamarag]

It's alive and thriving on the junior side as well. The last three days proved it.

[HighBrass09]

Agreed with John. DCI is still drumcorps. Synths and all that aren't as bad as the dinosaurs make it out to be...but woodwinds..that will be the day everything changes for the worse

[hairbear]

Agreed with John. DCI is still drumcorps. Synths and all that aren't as bad as the dinosaurs make it out to be...but woodwinds..that will be the day everything changes for the worse

We are not dinosaurs. We are the living history of drum and bugle corps.

[Fran Haring]

We are the living history of drum and bugle corps.

Many of us still happy to be living and breathing.

[elphaba01]

We are not dinosaurs. We are the living history of drum and bugle corps.

"Living History:

Yes, Hairbear, we ARE the "Living History", and YES: the "new age Hopkins inspired "Advances" (Synths, keyboards, guitars, flying monkeys) ARE as bad as we KNOW them to be.....

Elphaba

WWW

[bariforhire]

We are not dinosaurs. We are the living history of drum and bugle corps.

Some of the stuff I saw this year in DCI really disturbs me.

Teal Sound with 2 guitars in the pit.

Bluecoats with a great baritone solo that is drown out by some sort of electronic gibberish.

Electronic noises like laughter in Cavies show and all those crazy contortions by the performers.

Electronic keyboards in most if not all pits.

Corps with 20 contr...err tubas that still need electronic bass to pump up the volume.

To an old traditionalist, this is pure blasphemy. I was willing to accept Bb, but this is not drum corps. I think these things totally detract from their performances.

All that being said, I enjoyed many DCI performances this year but Drum & Bugle Corps?... NOT

[GUARDLING]

So its not you Daddys drum corps...who says thats bad......seems to me the people inchardge will determine in2010 what Drum Corps is not us from the past ,just as we redefined iy way back in72 and our dads before us called it a travesty.......JMO

[BigW]

Well--

At least the instruments were basically similar and not electronically enhanced for many decades. A lot of questions rear their ugly head with electronics, which do concern many of us.

- why not mike the entire horn line and then set everything up so a sound board operator can adjust balances for stick-outs and pot down the guy who's having a bad night? What's the judge really hearing, then? Could a competitor make up for the fact they didn't do that and get credit? I doubt they'd get the credit for greater risk taken.

Digital Synths can mimic entire sections of a corps. What are you actually hearing- the synth making sure that Contra line sounds surreal or actual performance from the section? All it takes is one well set-up synth and one player to create the illusion of a dozen individuals. Would a corps that didn't do this get more credit? Again, they should, but I doubt it. The corps with the synth would be arguing they're using more variety of technique, and would likely try and run the judge out of town because they were "narrow-minded".

This is why many people balk. Let's get even more sinister and think outside the box now--- In theory, I could create a "corps" perhaps using synths optimized for Low, Middle, and upper brass, (3-6 Synths and their players) a couple of people to run the boards, perhaps up to a dozen people on the sideline for percussive effects and such, of course all amped and digitally enhanced, then flood the field with 90 to 100 color guard. Interesting, huh? Why bother with Brass? I'm sure I could get a good fast-talker/visionary type like Hop to go into the critiques and badger the panel into my way of thinking so I can get a good enough music number to allow the visual package to make a serious killing. And- if it's done right, a gigantic visual ensemble like that has a serious advantage over what's out there now. The visual people don't have to worry about staging as much, field placement of instruments, center of pulse, it solves a lot of issues, doesn't it!?

Aaaaaaaand... because everything is ran through a sound board or interconnected sound boards... you can even get some really energizing and inspirational narraration to add to the lovely musical content of the show to filter in and enhance the total package. (I hope people realize my sarcasm is rather dripping there...)

You're welcome, Hop-- I've been even more 'visionary' than you've been and I've solved a lot of your budgetary issues by cutting back on the long-term budget concerning musicians and the cost of instruments once you get the keyboards and such in place. Or--- is this somehitng he's been dreaming about all along and hasn't made known to anyone because he knows this would freak everyone out? Best to use incrementalism so no one realizes what's *really* happening.

Guardling- this may be your idea of the future, but it's certainly not Drum and Bugle Corps. With diguital technology, why bother with brass instruments at all or field percussion? Just make the whole thing a giant indoor color guard with live musicians on the sidelines providing perfect music.

THAT is what scares so many of us, because with the right crew and technology, it could effectively render wind instruments obsolete on the competition field.

It may sound funny to some of you or over-reaching- but the technology is in place or close to being in place to do just what I've mentioned. A slick person like me with an eye on the rules book and the right technicians could pull this off.

The emphasis should be on using acoustic instruments, really. It's worked for decades, and the electronics raises a whole lot of issues that I think the activity is ill-eqipped to judge or deal with in a fair fashion.

And folks, if you see some bands this fall moving toward a more extensive electronic suite to make up for a shortage of musicians or certain instrumentation- hey- it's already being done. But, that's band- not corps. Leave it there, please.

Edited August 16, 2010 by BigW