If DCI were to allow woodwinds, would you continue to support the acti

[Bruckner8]

Not the volume? That means a lot to many drum corps fans.

And if you point to amplification, what about the challenge of producing that volume outside -- or at least in a very large space?

Amps take away that challenge.

I mean, other than the gym floor, how does your list of the essential drum corps elements differ from those of a well-done rock concert?

I've stated volume before, in other threads, about what I PERSONALLY like about drum corps. This is about woodwinds. Would that reduce the volume? no...

[Hrothgar15]

Instrumentation means nothing.

Speak for yourself.

[WOOHOO]

This could be anything including marching band, college band, touring baseball leagues, competitive cheerleading, etc.

The isntrumentation made junior drum corps a distinctive activity.

If you add woodwinds to the synths and no bugles you've just made it into band.

Now DCI is generic & dying.

Add the woodwinds and hasten its death....

I would feel very bad for anyone who goes into drum corps because of it's instrumentation. That seems very shallow. Did anyone on this forum do that?

[bawker]

None of those are nearly as excellent as championship drum corps.

With woodwinds added . . ."drum corps" becomes just another marching band, no matter how much excellence we attach to it; if there truly was a groundswell for that type of marching unit, BOA Grand Nationals would be full to bursting attendance-wise, and leaving drum corps in the dust as the premier marching activity.

80% of the members don't really want drum corps to be more like marching band, according to the last survey. . . so what purpose does it serve to turn off the majority of the membership you have now just for a few years gain?

Further to that, what happens if you add woodwinds and that's still not the panacea proponents think it will be? Where to you go from there when the gun is now out of magic bullets?

[84skyrydr]

I wonder how similar the poll results would be if this were asked 10 years before amps, 10 years before the switch to Bb, etc ;)

There are too many positive things about the activity to remove my support bc of WWs. To me, it's actually a little selfish to think you'd stop supporting something that was of value to you when you were young...simply because you don't like the different sound. The activity is more important than a brass only sound vs. combined sound.

Yeah, what he said. You should for sure spend your money and time listening to something you don't like.

[Bruckner8]

With woodwinds added . . ."drum corps" becomes just another marching band, no matter how much excellence we attach to it; if there truly was a groundswell for that type of marching unit, BOA Grand Nationals would be full to bursting attendance-wise, and leaving drum corps in the dust as the premier marching activity.

80% of the members don't really want drum corps to be more like marching band, according to the last survey. . . so what purpose does it serve to turn off the majority of the membership you have now just for a few years gain?

Further to that, what happens if you add woodwinds and that's still not the panacea proponents think it will be? Where to you go from there when the gun is now out of magic bullets?

This is where you (and many others) are COMPLETELY WRONG, sheesh. I've NEVER seen a marching band NEARLY AS EXCELLENT as any Top 12 drum corps, ever, in the history of the freakin' Stephen Hawking non-God created Universe!

BOA is High School!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Drum Corps is COLLEGE. (The best, ie, most excellent, drum corps)

Drum COrps is an entirely different level, and woodwinds won't change that. The "sound" of a random chord will begin to sound like the sound of the simlarly voiced BOA band chord, OF COURSE, and so what? It would probably be in tune and much louder!

[ShortAndFast]

The excellence. The time. The commitment. The pageantry. The summer. The outdoors (well, most of the tie). The work. The effort. The blood, sweat and tears. The relationships. The tour. The bus. The gym floor.

These form the real essence of drum corps.

Instrumentation means nothing.

To (some of) the performers and (many of) the instructors, perhaps. The Blue Devils' sax line in 2015 will probably have a pretty similar experience to what I had marching on a G bugle.

To the audience, drum corps means driving/flying to places like Allentown or Indianapolis that you wouldn't normally visit and paying $$$ to see shows that you like. Are you confident that instrumentation means nothing to them?

[bawker]

This is where you (and many others) are COMPLETELY WRONG, sheesh. I've NEVER seen a marching band NEARLY AS EXCELLENT as any Top 12 drum corps, ever, in the history of the freakin' Stephen Hawking non-God created Universe!

BOA is High School!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Drum Corps is COLLEGE. (The best, ie, most excellent, drum corps)

Drum COrps is an entirely different level, and woodwinds won't change that. The "sound" of a random chord will begin to sound like the sound of the simlarly voiced BOA band chord, OF COURSE, and so what? It would probably be in tune and much louder!

There are plenty of BOA Finalists that are fairly comparable to World Class corps . . .perhaps not Top 12, but enough to make the comparison. Rocky Mount Senior High (three time BOA winner) back in the early 80's was probably better than a lot of Top 25 DCI corps horn lines at the time.

Drum corps may be an entirely different level, but, when you add woodwinds . . .it becomes something you can see down the road on Friday night at halftime in some way, shape or form and that's where my interest level wanes, no matter how loud it is or "in tune".

I don't go to see shows for the amazing A440 they can produce.

[Bruckner8]

Here are my older posts on the essence of drum corps:

http://www.drumcorpsplanet.com/forums/inde...t&p=2699335

http://www.drumcorpsplanet.com/forums/inde...t&p=2653140

http://www.drumcorpsplanet.com/forums/inde...t&p=2648349

http://www.drumcorpsplanet.com/forums/inde...t&p=2381090

[jjeffeory]

There are plenty of BOA Finalists that are fairly comparable to World Class corps . . .perhaps not Top 12, but enough to make the comparison. Rocky Mount Senior High (three time BOA winner) back in the early 80's was probably better than a lot of Top 25 DCI corps horn lines at the time.

Drum corps may be an entirely different level, but, when you add woodwinds . . .it becomes something you can see down the road on Friday night at halftime in some way, shape or form and that's where my interest level wanes, no matter how loud it is or "in tune".

I don't go to see shows for the amazing A440 they can produce.

Frankly, there are many high school marching bands that are better than some in the top 12.... It is, however, a different sound. It is one that I don't hate, but would like to see remain distinct.

It's kind of like a good Italian Pasta dish versus a can of Ravioli. They're both pasta, but you wouldn't say they were the same. Well, some on here would say that, but then they would be ignoring the differences. It is so plain for me to see that I do not understand why others don't see the difference between Drum Corps and Marching Band...