Piper Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 I marched back in the 70's, and I would say that the collective talent today is MUCH better than what we had back then. But where Piper taketh away he also giveth. There were brass players back then who were just amazing, and were playing on instruments that today are museum material. I don't know if some kids today could do that, or maybe I just underestimate them. I don't know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Puppet Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 (edited) I marched back in the 70's, and I would say that the collective talent today is MUCH better than what we had back then. But where Piper taketh away he also giveth. There were brass players back then who were just amazing, and were playing on instruments that today are museum material. I don't know if some kids today could do that, or maybe I just underestimate them. I don't know. And I still have to pipe up here Piper: Because the so-called talent these days are not more talented. They are, by definition, more schooled and on average eight years older than any kid starting their drum corps career WBW. The so-called kids these days are old enough to vote ... we were not. Talk to most every uniform-wearing first year on the field in (what was then) a top echelon Drum Corps and most couldn't read music. The pure talent of those performers at the time came from verve and nerve and months of practice and rehearsals with not one minute of private lessons and (need we have to mention this yet again!) i t w a s a l l f o r f r e e! I'm not on the fence about this. The "KIDS" these days can't do what we did because they won't do what we did, their organizations can't afford to allow them to do what we did, they don't live close enough to where their corps is from to do what we did 12 months of the year, they don't care like we did because they are not as young and wide-eyed as we were ... I could go on but let me leave you with this: As The Cinderella Corps from Brooklyn New York in 1969 - when there were riots going on and the world was literally going crazy about The War and Race and all kinds of wacky stuff - we traveled and competed under an umbrella of quiet civility except for an minor incident in Jacksonville Florida where a restaurant owner wouldn't serve us because we were "MIXED". Drop the "KIDS" back there at that time without their technology and connectivity for one weekend (and I'll throw in thee motels and hotels we used to stay in on tour!) and they still wouldn't be able to do what we did. And here's the kicker ... switch it around ... we would have been able to do what they do now ...we would have had more time to get it right (six months, right?!) - we wouldn't have to tweak the shows they way they have to do now. And BTW by 1972, most of the CLass "A" world class corps were already bringing theatrics and had already by then been playing music the "KIDS" these days still couldn't wrap their chops around. Just saying.... Edited July 22, 2011 by Puppet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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