You know drum corps is dying when.............

[grumpy43]

You know it's dying when the guy behind you says "why didn't Crusaders play Conquest?" Just after you heard,

I think 2 bars of it.

[84skyrydr]

Uhm....I get that you were trying to make a point....but we marched right around the same time (different corps, but same time period)....dot books did exist (much to my dismay at the time! ), our buses sometimes had A/C (although we also did have to push-start them on occasion), we did have some young rookies, but most had either played an instrument at school or marched somewhere else. (and the 1/2 the corps being rookies, still happens today....Cadets had 60% rookies this year). This wasn't just at Cadets either...the smaller corps I marched in were the similar...with the exception of the dot books.

Sure, there are difference between then and now, but there are more commonalities than differences. Let's not start with the "BITD we marched uphill both ways in the snow stuff."

In your corps that may have existed. I marched three NON top 12 or all girl champ corps and NONE had any of the frills. Especially dot books and A/C. You mention Cadets 60% rookies. How many had never picked up an instrument before? How many never played in a high school band? Big difference in the 2010 Cadets rookies and the 1981 Colts rookies.

Edited August 29, 2010 by 84skyrydr

[DCImonkey]

I didn't read 31 pages of this thread....

But my mom watched BD's show this year and recognized the Theme from Laura. I watched Blue Devils show and recognized nothing! C'mon dinos.....who's complaining about recognizable music?

Cavies played Mad World......very popular years ago and thanks to Adam Lambert, popular to the younger generation too

[Todd Tanji]

I didn't read 31 pages of this thread....

But my mom watched BD's show this year and recognized the Theme from Laura. I watched Blue Devils show and recognized nothing! C'mon dinos.....who's complaining about recognizable music?

Cavies played Mad World......very popular years ago and thanks to Adam Lambert, popular to the younger generation too

Did she join your ABBD Society?

[Michael Boo]

I didn't read 31 pages of this thread....

You may find it easier to adjust the following:

My controls/Options/Board Settings/Number of posts to show for each topic page (and also for forum page)

Change the number to 40 and you won't be scrolling to a new page so often. I did that and your 31 pages are only 8 pages on my computer.

[CuriousMe]

In your corps that may have existed. I marched three NON top 12 or all girl champ corps and NONE had any of the frills. Especially dot books and A/C. You mention Cadets 60% rookies. How many had never picked up an instrument before? How many never played in a high school band? Big difference in the 2010 Cadets rookies and the 1981 Colts rookies.

There is a big difference between 2010 Cadets and the 1981 Colts....but there's a similar difference between the 2010 Cadets and 2010 Pioneer. It's apples and oranges.

My point is that it seemed to me, that you were saying empirically that kids these days have it so different from back when we marched. But I experienced (both in my Class A corps and in Cadets) much of what you claimed as advantages for today's kids.

Oh, and which All Girl did you march...I marched in St. Iggies!

[DCImonkey]

Did she join your ABBD Society?

She didn't like the rest of the show! But she did recognize Laura

[FloridaTubakid]

I'm young, only 17 and I've marched with Pioneer in 2008, Sun Devils (DCA) this year and am trying out for Blue Stars this upcoming year, but my own personal opinion is that the "dinosaurs" don't like where DCI is headed. It's headed away from the classic, blast-your-face-off shows and before that, gate turns and..well Mighty St. Joes-esque. DCI is headed in a direction that is decidedly uncomfortable for them, and they just don't like it. This isn't meant as a bash for the old shows, "dinosaurs" or anything at all. Heck, one of my favourite all-time shows is 1980 Spirit. I love the old stuff. But at the same time, this is a performing art. It evolves with time. Look at the history of music itself. It goes from hitting rocks and wood and chanting, to gregorian chants, to operas and symphonies, to jazz, rock, metal, reggae, country, blues, etc. Yeah, sure, not everyone likes all that music. Yeah, sure you can't really compare that to DCI for whatever reasons. But at the same time, music evolved and with it, humanity and without the evolution of music into what it was fifty years ago or five days ago, Drum Corps wouldn't be here. Not now, not ever. So, in a nutshell, I think the amplification of the pit is okay. Voice-overs are awful. Synths are terrible. Mic the soloist? Never..unless you do what Bluecoats did for the added effect. What the Cavaliers did with the trumpet trio? Unacceptable. But...I'm just a young kid who knows not of what I speak

[AmFlag61]

Most of us "Dinosaurs" are in awe of DC CURRENTLY! I think I can speak for many when I say that our only REAL beef about where DC is headed can be summed up in 2 words - "Woodwinds" & "G7"!

P.S, If 1980s FMMs are "Dinosaurs", we of the '50s & '60s are truly "Fossils"!

Edited August 30, 2010 by AmFlag61

[oldskl3rings]

I'm young, only 17... But at the same time, this is a performing art. It evolves with time.

That is where you are wrong young grasshopper. Who says performance art has to evolve? How much has opera changed in the last 200 years? Do they now mic their performers? How about the symphonic orchestra? How many have added synths to the mix? In fact the instrumental make up of the symphonic orchestra is basically the same today as 100 years ago. Ballet? In truth most performing arts groups find a niche and exploit that niche. Sure they grow. There’s different staging and interpretation in ballet, opera and symphonic music, as well as the new works. Yet the core of the art form stays the same. I think it is highly unlikely you will see the orchestra start dancing the next time you go to a concert.

DC has forgotten what makes it unique. The pure, hair-raising sound from an all brass choir, the intricate precision of a rudimentary drum line and the movement on the field. Although the pit can be a nice supplement, it has become dominate and polluted the pure brass sound. Everything else is unnecessary.

If a performing arts group wants to survive it must never forget its audience. What’s the point of performing if you have nobody there to witness the performance? I think what most dinos object to is the changes have not made DC more entertaining, but less.