What would get you going to more shows and or finals?

[Jeff Ream]

It's the presentation.

It's the arrangement.

It's not the selections, it's how they're pieced together that could improve immensely.

You've picked the most accessible arrangements out of the bunch of shows last year for me, yet a couple of them were a difficult sell for portions of their show. For me, you could add Blue Stars to the list. I enjoyed that show too...

I'm no Bon Jovi fan, but I am a Troopers fan, and I found that show a stretch. And sadly, I know more Jovi than I want to thanks to growing up in the 80's

[charlie1223]

Perhaps it does: however, consider this . . .most people have very little "in" to the world of classical music or (especially) wind ensemble literature.

Many school systems lack even a basic Humanities class to teach such things, and the average person probably doesn't make it too far past 1812 Overture, Carmen or Canon to reach the Bartoks, Goreckis, etc when they consider what they might like regarding classical music.

For some, they're just not going to get Hazo, Mackey, etc on their first (and possibly only go-round).

I don't know that drum corps. . .even with all the hoopty-poo electronics and whatever else . . .is really the medium for the "nuance" designers nowadays think shows need to score points.

At its heart . . .yes, even now . . .drum corps is a big, dumb thing: it handles big, sloppy, emotional moments you can splatter with a wide brush on the field well (Spartacus, Phantom of the Opera, etc), it works on the visceral level of "louder, faster, higher" . . .and that's what makes the impressions that cause people to fall in love with it.

The further we move from that, the more the idea of what "drum corps" is gets lost to me personally.

I think Hazo is actually easier to listen to than Mackey, though in my opinion Mackey's music offers more nuance.

I see what your saying. But at the same time drum corps can really take "non-mainstream" music and make "main-stream". I think about Disney's Fantasia and how popular that movie was in the past. It brought a lot of classical music to the mainstream by changing the medium it was presented.

Sometimes I feel that drum corps has yet to reach its full potential as a powerful performing arts medium. I think its full of possibilities that can make it grow incredibly strong in the mainstream but it's inconsistent and it hasn't tapped it's true potential yet.

[charlie1223]

oops! Forgot their was poll to this... taking a look.

Well, a wise man once said "location, location, location!" I hope DCI gets that!

Edited January 25, 2011 by charlie1223

[Jeff Ream]

I think Hazo is actually easier to listen to than Mackey, though in my opinion Mackey's music offers more nuance.

I see what your saying. But at the same time drum corps can really take "non-mainstream" music and make "main-stream". I think about Disney's Fantasia and how popular that movie was in the past. It brought a lot of classical music to the mainstream by changing the medium it was presented.

Sometimes I feel that drum corps has yet to reach its full potential as a powerful performing arts medium. I think its full of possibilities that can make it grow incredibly strong in the mainstream but it's inconsistent and it hasn't tapped it's true potential yet.

and I think there may be a reason, at least somewhat:

are we creating a product to entertain the masses, or are we making art?

they are not always interchangable.

[charlie1223]

and I think there may be a reason, at least somewhat:

are we creating a product to entertain the masses, or are we making art?

they are not always interchangable.

You might want to ask Hollywood. I think that some of the time they strike a good balance between what is an artistic film and what entertains the masses.

*Random thought* I wonder if you asked Steven Spielberg/James Cameron and John Williams/Hanz Zimmer to design a drum corps show... what would they do?! .....I bet it would be... EPIC!

Edited January 25, 2011 by charlie1223

[Jeff Ream]

You might want to ask Hollywood. I think that some of the time they strike a good balance between what is an artistic film and what entertains the masses.

*Random thought* I wonder if you asked Steven Spielberg/James Cameron and John Williams/Hanz Zimmer to design a drum corps show... what would they do?! .....I bet it would be... EPIC!

I'm sure they'd swash our buckle, but first we have to get John Williams and Han Zimmer to give us permission to use the music

[NeverMarched]

Some really interesting Ideas here. I'll add my 2 cents. I'm in the Chicagoland area, and have a number of local shows that my wife and I attend (Naperville, Bloomington, Rockford, Cederburg-adding a few more in 2011). I've been following Drum Corps since the 70s, although I was not very active through most of the 90s (then wife thought it was stupid). We started to attend shows in 2005 (much better wife, this time). We have no kids, but both my wife and I have backgrounds in HS and College music. Probably not your typical fans.

We would gladly welcome, embrace, watch, support and purchase more shows for a premium fee if available through a streaming video on Rocu box through Netflix or any device that allows for HD quality streaming. We've used the streaming available through Fan Network, but involves connecting my PC to my AV system, and it's not full-on 1080P video, and marginal audio. It would be worth it for us and I to shell out $20-$40/show, or even purchase shows on a PPV basis. We are tired of collecting and storing DVDs, and sometimes, I'm just in the mood to watch shows I may not be familiar with (thanks to this forum). I'm pretty sure that this would work for other fans too. I should note that having this option would NOT affect our attendance at any of the shows we attend, as we enjoy the journey to each of the venues we attend, and appreciate. I'm also probably simplifying the complexity of the business deal it would take to make something like this happen. So, just my two cents.

[NeverMarched]

I sympathize with people who don't like dissonant shows like Blue Coats or BD

I sympathize with people who hate chopped up arrangements of recognizable music/appealing music

I sympathize with people who want more "melody" in drum corps.

I sympathize with people who want to hear drum corps classics.

I do not sympathize with people who say they only want to hear recognizable music. NOT AT ALL. Why? Because what's "recognizable" is entirely subjective! Those people may have a small musical vocabulary and don't have the means to appreciate a number of beautiful, amazing works; not just the handful or so that they think are "recognizable" to them. They are closed minded to hearing NEW favorites and NEW beautiful crowd pleasing arrangements. A show is not BAD just because you don't recognize the melody or music. Period. If your disgruntled because you don't recognize the music on the field then drum corps is just not the medium for you. Good luck ever finding a something new that you'd like.

A suggestion, if a corps announces their 2011 repertoire and you don't recognize it, familiarize yourself with the source music! Don't go around nagging "ugh... Unfamiliar music!!"

[JimF-LowBari]

I sympathize with people who don't like dissonant shows like Blue Coats or BD

I sympathize with people who hate chopped up arrangements of recognizable music/appealing music

I sympathize with people who want more "melody" in drum corps.

I sympathize with people who want to hear drum corps classics.

I do not sympathize with people who say they only want to hear recognizable music. NOT AT ALL. Why? Because what's "recognizable" is entirely subjective! Those people may have a small musical vocabulary and don't have the means to appreciate a number of beautiful, amazing works; not just the handful or so that they think are "recognizable" to them. They are closed minded to hearing NEW favorites and NEW beautiful crowd pleasing arrangements. A show is not BAD just because you don't recognize the melody or music. Period. If your disgruntled because you don't recognize the music on the field then drum corps is just not the medium for you. Good luck ever finding a something new that you'd like.

A suggestion, if a corps announces their 2011 repertoire and you don't recognize it, familiarize yourself with the source music! Don't go around nagging "ugh... Unfamiliar music!!"

Hoo boy.... here I thought it was snowing outside and it must be the end of things as we know it as we agree. Thinking back to the 70s when I marched there were many songs that I had never heard before but since the melody could be picked up it was OK with myself and (non-marching) family members. And let's face it folks (and to use the biggest example I can think of), much as 70s/80s fans talk about Chuck Mangione and corps using his music.... few corps fans had heard of him or his stuff until corps started playing it. People who are honest with themsleves admit first time they heard CMs stuff on a corps field they were grabbing the program to see what was being played.

[Spartans87]

Couple thoughts on this -

1 - I don't think we need to even discuss the attendance issue. It is down regardless of what the optical illusion is, and I say that because Hop has stated as such, and he surely has access to the numbers....those numbers that DCI does not give to us

2 - I have had so many moments in my Drum Corps life that moved me, and NEVER did I hear the source material first. So, I say it is not the selections of music that are played, but the esoteric arranging by some, that makes the music inaccessible.

These are my thoughts....