MetalTones2012 Posted September 27, 2010 Share Posted September 27, 2010 (edited) My high school was a perfect example of this problem. Many of them didn't even want to be in the band, much less care about a drum corps in any way. I even got my band director to show them a video of Cavies 2002 and it had NO effect on them (some were even making fun of them out loud during the viewing). One example that is still disturbing me today was one guy (who I'm now on REALLY bad terms with after this event) who I was talking to. I forget what the original conversation was about, but somehow I mentioned drum corps and he said that drum corps and marching band sucked. I calmly said that everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and he responded "No, it just sucks. Everyone thinks so and nobody likes you because you like it." Edited September 27, 2010 by MetalTones2012 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abbevillekid26 Posted September 27, 2010 Share Posted September 27, 2010 One word sums up a drum corps fan's attitude: Bando. We even have elitism to people in our OWN field of interest. Makes absolutely no sense. Exactly what I was getting at, thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Boo Posted September 27, 2010 Share Posted September 27, 2010 ... I calmly said that everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and he responded "No, it just sucks. Everyone thinks so and nobody likes you because you like it." Well, there are a few thousand people on this board that would disagree with him, so I hope you didn't lose any sleep over that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MetalTones2012 Posted September 27, 2010 Share Posted September 27, 2010 Well, there are a few thousand people on this board that would disagree with him, so I hope you didn't lose any sleep over that. It's been over two years and I still do. Somehow he got the whole school to agree with him. But that's not important. What matters is that I'm in an activity with other people who are passionate about it and nobody can take that away from me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted September 27, 2010 Share Posted September 27, 2010 My high school was a perfect example of this problem. Many of them didn't even want to be in the band, much less care about a drum corps in any way. I even got my band director to show them a video of Cavies 2002 and it had NO effect on them (some were even making fun of them out loud during the viewing).One example that is still disturbing me today was one guy (who I'm now on REALLY bad terms with after this event) who I was talking to. I forget what the original conversation was about, but somehow I mentioned drum corps and he said that drum corps and marching band sucked. I calmly said that everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and he responded "No, it just sucks. Everyone thinks so and nobody likes you because you like it." Yipes! In my HS days, just pre-DCI, we had about 2,000 kids in my HS. Of those, maybe a dozen knew what drum corps was...the ones that marched. Nobody else knew enough to have an opinion one way or the other. This was the supposed 'popular' era of drum corps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MetalTones2012 Posted September 27, 2010 Share Posted September 27, 2010 Yipes!In my HS days, just pre-DCI, we had about 2,000 kids in my HS. Of those, maybe a dozen knew what drum corps was...the ones that marched. Nobody else knew enough to have an opinion one way or the other. This was the supposed 'popular' era of drum corps. Mike, if I remember correctly from a post a LONG time ago you're from Bergenfield right? Did you go to Bergenfield HS? The school I'm talking about is Old Tappan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted September 27, 2010 Share Posted September 27, 2010 Mike, if I remember correctly from a post a LONG time ago you're from Bergenfield right? Did you go to Bergenfield HS? The school I'm talking about is Old Tappan. Oh, no..Livingston. I knew a bit about Bergenfield because of contacts in the area..my brass instructor, Don Angelica. was a Bergenfield alum and eventually band director. One of my best friends in college had ties to Bergenfield; his dad was band director in the 50's and eventually principal of the middle school. If you were around North Jersey you knew Bergenfield! My first full-time music teaching job was as Asst Band Director at Wayne Valley...we played Bergenfield in football. Old Tappan...had a very good MB back in the early/mid 70's. Used to to the brass "headchoppers" move as their signature move. Saw them every year at the Herald News Band Festival held at Cilfton Stadium. They were an early adapter of corps-style shows back then, fyi. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MetalTones2012 Posted September 27, 2010 Share Posted September 27, 2010 Oh, no..Livingston. I knew a bit about Bergenfield because of contacts in the area..my brass instructor, Don Angelica. was a Bergenfield alum and eventually band director. One of my best friends in college had ties to Bergenfield; his dad was band director in the 50's and eventually principal of the middle school. If you were around North Jersey you knew Bergenfield! My first full-time music teaching job was as Asst Band Director at Wayne Valley...we played Bergenfield in football.Old Tappan...had a very good MB back in the early/mid 70's. Used to to the brass "headchoppers" move as their signature move. Saw them every year at the Herald News Band Festival held at Cilfton Stadium. They were an early adapter of corps-style shows back then, fyi. Eh, honestly I can't see them like that now. The current band director started in 1982 or 3 so that may have something to do with it. Today they're a very noncompetitive band with maybe 10 drill sets per song, and that's stretching it. When I was there the horn players would keep their horns pointed at the ground like in concert band despite being told a billion times not to, and I've never heard of "headchoppers." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j.zhivago Posted September 27, 2010 Share Posted September 27, 2010 The point I was trying to make is that drum corps is not marketable to the general public because the general public is more concerned about sex,drama,fake politics and money.Who wants to watch 'marching bands' when you got hannah montana half naked,ridiculous reality shows,scare tactics by the news media and paris hilton? Now whether you want to believe it or not the goliath media industry doesn't care about you or me or even money.Its all about control.They want to control how you feel,what you wear,what you eat and more importantly,what you believe in. And yes,david letterman and 311 are marketed commodities.Are there good and honest people who work for them? Sure there are but it doesn't take away from the fact that the ones who own and control these companies are very sinister and only see humans as consumers. Frankly, I prefer drum corps just the way it is.It has its own subculture in a way and the only ones who will ever enjoy drum corps are kids who get the taste of it through high school/college music programs,theater arts,musicians and families of those who are involved in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catan Posted September 27, 2010 Share Posted September 27, 2010 Extreme overemphasis on visual. The funny thing is, EVERY non-drum corps person I have ever seen reacts MUCH more to the visual aspect of the activity than the music. On videos, they go "wow" at Cavaliers drill moves, or crazy rifle exchanges. This also applies to my parents watching my corps this past summer... as much as I tried to explain to them about brass/ensemble demand, they always marveled at the amazing rifle tosses and sequential ripples in the drill. Although they did comment on the volume occasionally What I am trying to say is (just my opinion based on my own observations!) that the "general public" ie non-drum corps/marching band people react more to visual than aural stimulation. This, along with greater WELL-EXECUTED integration of electronics in a mainstream manner, yields more of a reaction from "newbies". Those people see that crazy visual stuff and say "wow, my high school marching band never did stuff like that!" And just to clarify, I do not personally like every corps to emphasize visual or overload on electronics. But, those are the things that in my opinion grab attention from the "uneducated masses". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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