BRASSO Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 Hey guys, current member here. Reading this stuff sucks. It really does. I've got a pretty thick skin, but some of this stuff can really get at you. As someone else said, we're the ones out there performing night after night for the people in the stands. It's a bunch of kids and young adults, doing the exact same thing you were doing 20 or 30 years ago. We still go out and sweat on a football field all day, spending hours on end rehearsing the same chunk of show over, and over again, rehearsing the same passage of music until it's perfect, then going out every night under the lights and performing for the people in the stands. Give it a rest. Sure, it's not on G bugles, and it's amped, but when did everything else become different? When did the day-to-day activities start changing? When did the passion and drive to go out there day after day go away? Seriously everyone, think about it. The big logo still says DCI, the kids are still the same, it's all the same. Just let it go. People who can't accept the change and leave are the reason DCI is dying, it isn't the change, it's the people abandoning it because they can't accept the change. Someone said earlier that it's the directors that don't care about DCI, maybe it's the fans who can't stop #####ing that are the ones who don't care. Look at yourselves, and clean your own house before looking at other's. Let only he who is without sin cast the first stone. I hope you have an enjoyable summer with your Corps. I'll only add that if DCI ultimately fails, the last ones you can blame for the collapse will be the paying customers that decided to spend their disposable income on something else. There is a business axiom that all successful business endeavors must follow : " the customer is always right ". Successful business ventures get this right. Failing businesses never or rarely do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lance Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 Hey guys, current member here. Reading this stuff sucks. It really does. I've got a pretty thick skin, but some of this stuff can really get at you. As someone else said, we're the ones out there performing night after night for the people in the stands. It's a bunch of kids and young adults, doing the exact same thing you were doing 20 or 30 years ago. We still go out and sweat on a football field all day, spending hours on end rehearsing the same chunk of show over, and over again, rehearsing the same passage of music until it's perfect, then going out every night under the lights and performing for the people in the stands. Give it a rest. Sure, it's not on G bugles, and it's amped, but when did everything else become different? When did the day-to-day activities start changing? When did the passion and drive to go out there day after day go away? Seriously everyone, think about it. The big logo still says DCI, the kids are still the same, it's all the same. Just let it go. People who can't accept the change and leave are the reason DCI is dying, it isn't the change, it's the people abandoning it because they can't accept the change. Someone said earlier that it's the directors that don't care about DCI, maybe it's the fans who can't stop #####ing that are the ones who don't care. Look at yourselves, and clean your own house before looking at other's. Let only he who is without sin cast the first stone. Have a great summer. You and what you do are valued by fans, despite a few of the comments you see on here. There's a lot of people who read on here who don't post for the very reasons you describe. You just have to sift through a little bit of stuff, and you'll find a lot of good. Just like pretty much anything else in life. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 Charlie: If is true as you state, that it is a niche activity and it never will be anything else, we are back to preserving it (like a museum) or adjusting it to accommodate new technology (amps, synths). Either way, the expectation for increasing a much larger fan base would be futile, never be accomplished, and therefore any attempt to do so would ultimately cause financial bankruptcy. So, it would stand to reason, if your assessment is correct, that the recent DCI reach into pro stadiums and the increased cost to produce the expanded TOC shows which is an attempt to reach a wider audience might be a financial death nail for DCI. Is that what you are getting at? IMO drum corps is a niche activity, as it has always been, but it is a good idea to mine that niche as much as possible, hence the venues and the TOC shows. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 The same could be said of ANY concert performance, be it Springsteen, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Atlanta symphonies, the Met, etc. But, your opinion can't change the marketplace all by itself. Concert tickets...$400? Download the video...$1.29? See a bootleg on YouTube...FREE? The costs are only going in one direction. So, some people could care less about the difference of the sound live versus recording. Some people could care less about analog vs. digital signals, etc. In this era of Autotune, many pop sounds aren't live any longer. So, when asked about live or fade away, the marketplace is one important, BUT not the most important determining factor. What will cause drum corps to cease will not be audience. It will be the logistics of travel and the lack of adequate housing and rehearsal space. That will end drum corps well before the "sound of live" vesus the "sound of a recording." how long til autotune is legal in DCI? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 How many drum corps shows do you have on cd or mp3 that you never saw live? hmmm. pretty much anything pre 1974. I was born in 69. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 "faux art" to me just sounds like Cesario is talking about designs that try to hard, designs that are in essence "poor". If it can be described as "faux art" its just poor design imo. I thought 2005 cadets was incredibly introspective if you wanted it to be and yet at the same time entertaining. Same can be said for a number of other different shows. well.......i kind of agree. but then again, I look at shows at the top that fans are turned off by. it may be good design to the sheets, but not to the paying customers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie1223 Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 There is a business axiom that all successful business endeavors must follow : " the customer is always right ". Successful business ventures get this right. Failing businesses never or rarely do. If that's the case then aren't marching members also customers!? I certainly don't spend 2800+ dollars a summer to enjoy drum corps, but the members do. They are investing A lot more time and money on the activity than I would say the average audience member. DCI should ALSO be looking at why marching members still want to march drum corps. What's their entertainment standards, do they think shows are boring? Because if we're talking about survival, it seems like without members wanting to march, then things go south quicker... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 I get that.... but... It's just that I feel with so much talk about "un-entertaining" shows and disliking Bflat horns for their sound, and synths and electronics... with all of the "hate" of those aspects I think those people are forgetting that as we speak drum corps is currently a part of that. The kids were the one's performing the shows people think are "un-entertaining", they are/were playing synths that people find "offensive", there are/were people marching trumpets that people think don't sound as good as another trumpet. You can disagree with it, its your right, and discussion is good, but sometimes I think if you have such a strong opinion like that that you just need to be little more diplomatic about it. Have your opinion but just remember to always respect the current members who obviously love the activity the way it is or they wouldn't be marching in it and spending so much time and money on it. That's always at the back of my mind. But if someone says a show was "boring" or they say they "hate" the sound of this or that, that's fine, but just try to respect the kids currently working their but off to perform a show for you with those mechanisms that you say you hate... It's just a fine a line. I'm not accusing anyone of anything, I just think strong opinions are tossed around without respect for the current members, that's it. I'll even try to be better about it... ah yes...the for the kids approach in the first paragraph. but, while it is for the kids in many ways, it's also for the paying customers as well. you cant have one without the other Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 Correct. Understand I was trying in vain to understand how someone can't see ANY difference from 1995 Madison and 2010 Blue Devils. I am trying to wrap my head on that reality that is being given. Why are you trying to wrap your head around something he did not say? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRASSO Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 (edited) There's a lot of people who read on here who don't post for the very reasons you describe. Huh ? If people don't post, then how do we know WHAT they're thinking... one way or the other ? How's that work ? Edited February 2, 2011 by BRASSO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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