WOOHOO Posted October 4, 2010 Share Posted October 4, 2010 Well, Chuck Mangione and Earth, Wind & Fire can still draw in huge audiences after 30 years on the job. Give it a couple of years, and people probably won't remember Beiber or GaGa. Just my thought on it. IMO, people aren't still going to these shows for the quality of the music. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Todd Tanji Posted October 4, 2010 Share Posted October 4, 2010 (edited) DCI is unknown to most because most people do not care a single bit about the performing arts. Take another poll and see how many people can hum Rhapsody in Blue. You'll get a similar result. That's just the reality of the world we live in. I do find, however, that most people who know the performing arts also have heard about DCI and the drum corps activity. Edited October 4, 2010 by BDUFLS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeN Posted October 4, 2010 Share Posted October 4, 2010 I managed to get a good smack to the head thanks to David Hill's blog - and Bawker on here - about the fundamental truths we see as self-evident about drum corps that, to a complete outsider, are anything but. -We spin and throw fake rifles, and fake swords, with no context whatsoever. -We play music that only the "band kids" have ever heard. (And no, most people *don't* listen to orchestral music or movie scores on CD.) -Our color guards wear some truly, *truly* hideous outfits and perform body movement that is not communicative of anything to the casual observer. (Backsticking and scrapes are cliche in drumming, but the audience latches on to it because they look so hard...) -Horn line body movement rarely transmits anything to the audience and in fact can pull someone right out of the mood. (Rewatch the beginning of Crown this year through the eyes of someone who knows nothing about marching music - they don't know that it's hard to do that - they know folks are laying down and windmilling their arms for no reason.) -Percussion lines play fast, technically amazing drum breaks - with no visual flair to them whatsoever other than the leg kick and body pivot. -Corps uniforms make no sense to the casual viewer - see Uni Watch (themselves dedicated fans of sports uniforms) try to puzzle out the DCI photo galleries to no avail. -Finally, and I hate to mention this, we reduce all of this symphonic wind ensemble, orchestral and movie score music we *do* hear to 4-part brass harmony with xylophones plinking along from the sideline, and that - at the end of the day - does not really sound like the source music in the way we think it does. In a very real sense, even the things we consider "dumbed down" for the casual audience truly aren't. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Todd Tanji Posted October 4, 2010 Share Posted October 4, 2010 I managed to get a good smack to the head thanks to David Hill's blog - and Bawker on here - about the fundamental truths we see as self-evident about drum corps that, to a complete outsider, are anything but.-We spin and throw fake rifles, and fake swords, with no context whatsoever. -We play music that only the "band kids" have ever heard. (And no, most people *don't* listen to orchestral music or movie scores on CD.) -Our color guards wear some truly, *truly* hideous outfits and perform body movement that is not communicative of anything to the casual observer. (Backsticking and scrapes are cliche in drumming, but the audience latches on to it because they look so hard...) -Horn line body movement rarely transmits anything to the audience and in fact can pull someone right out of the mood. (Rewatch the beginning of Crown this year through the eyes of someone who knows nothing about marching music - they don't know that it's hard to do that - they know folks are laying down and windmilling their arms for no reason.) -Percussion lines play fast, technically amazing drum breaks - with no visual flair to them whatsoever other than the leg kick and body pivot. -Corps uniforms make no sense to the casual viewer - see Uni Watch (themselves dedicated fans of sports uniforms) try to puzzle out the DCI photo galleries to no avail. -Finally, and I hate to mention this, we reduce all of this symphonic wind ensemble, orchestral and movie score music we *do* hear to 4-part brass harmony with xylophones plinking along from the sideline, and that - at the end of the day - does not really sound like the source music in the way we think it does. In a very real sense, even the things we consider "dumbed down" for the casual audience truly aren't. Mike Bingo. Let's face it, drum corps at its MOST accessible is still a very elite performing art. Drum corps will never be popular in a Justin Bieber kinda way. And would we really want to dumb it down that much anyway? If we do, count me out of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garfield Posted October 4, 2010 Share Posted October 4, 2010 I managed to get a good smack to the head thanks to David Hill's blog - and Bawker on here - about the fundamental truths we see as self-evident about drum corps that, to a complete outsider, are anything but.-We spin and throw fake rifles, and fake swords, with no context whatsoever. -We play music that only the "band kids" have ever heard. (And no, most people *don't* listen to orchestral music or movie scores on CD.) -Our color guards wear some truly, *truly* hideous outfits and perform body movement that is not communicative of anything to the casual observer. (Backsticking and scrapes are cliche in drumming, but the audience latches on to it because they look so hard...) -Horn line body movement rarely transmits anything to the audience and in fact can pull someone right out of the mood. (Rewatch the beginning of Crown this year through the eyes of someone who knows nothing about marching music - they don't know that it's hard to do that - they know folks are laying down and windmilling their arms for no reason.) -Percussion lines play fast, technically amazing drum breaks - with no visual flair to them whatsoever other than the leg kick and body pivot. -Corps uniforms make no sense to the casual viewer - see Uni Watch (themselves dedicated fans of sports uniforms) try to puzzle out the DCI photo galleries to no avail. -Finally, and I hate to mention this, we reduce all of this symphonic wind ensemble, orchestral and movie score music we *do* hear to 4-part brass harmony with xylophones plinking along from the sideline, and that - at the end of the day - does not really sound like the source music in the way we think it does. In a very real sense, even the things we consider "dumbed down" for the casual audience truly aren't. Mike Simplified, aren't these all examples of visual flash? Seven spins with a fake rifle is flashy. Crown's 50-yard line arm and leg waggles are flash with no context to the music being played. Cool as it looks, it's just flash to the uninitiated. Backsticking is flashy, and the vast majority of the non-fans - and many of the fans - can't relate to the difficulty of playing triple-diddles at 220 in 13/16. And 4-part music only sells to those who appreciate barbershop or can recognize a melody they've heard before. Imagine "dumbing down" drum corps to 1970's books and charts and they'd still be considerably above today's average person's comprehension. Yet there was toe-tapping melody, 27th rifle and flag flash, and volume that impressed. "Expanding the fan's horizons in performance"? Please. The average person simply can't relate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hrothgar15 Posted October 5, 2010 Share Posted October 5, 2010 Drum corps will never be popular in a Justin Bieber kinda way. How about popular in a Beatles kinda way? I hear they knew a thing or two about music. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Todd Tanji Posted October 5, 2010 Share Posted October 5, 2010 (edited) How about popular in a Beatles kinda way?I hear they knew a thing or two about music. Hmmmm, the Beatles played some pretty whacked out progressive stuff ... like my favorite "A Day in the Life" ... pretty choppy actually ... ... kinda like what modern drum corps arrangers are doing and getting ripped for on this forum. Or do you exclusively mean the "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" era stuff? Edited October 5, 2010 by BDUFLS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fran Haring Posted October 5, 2010 Share Posted October 5, 2010 IMO, people aren't still going to these shows for the quality of the music. Maybe it has something to do with enduring entertainment value.... getting your money's worth at a show. Mangione and Earth, Wind and Fire both still have it. And Earth, Wind and Fire's band... holy mackerel. They are great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fran Haring Posted October 5, 2010 Share Posted October 5, 2010 Hmmmm, the Beatles played some pretty whacked out progressive stuff ... like my favorite "A Day in the Life" ...pretty choppy actually ... ... kinda like what modern drum corps arrangers are doing and getting ripped for on this forum. I always thought "Blue Jay Way" and "Wild Honey Pie" would work. In a "we're all dropping acid 24/7" sort of way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted October 5, 2010 Share Posted October 5, 2010 How about popular in a Beatles kinda way?I hear they knew a thing or two about music. Yes, and they have been gone as a group for 40 years. And guess what...some folks thought the White album and Let it Be were pretty bad. And fwiw Magical Mystery Tour bombed on TV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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