JimF-LowBari Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 in cities, you may have schools with no marching band. OK, I'll point fingers now Thinking of parades in Baltimore area which probably have zero (none that I've seen) HS bands because it;s the summer. Otherwise it's the times I've been at St Paddys in the 'burg where (not mentioning names cuz I'll probably mix 'em up) I've seen sweat pants and non-matching tops and bands that should have been a lot bigger (considering who they were). Plus one or two that must have had middle schoolers filling in based on the lack of height and age. Might have been the reason for the almost street clothes uni too. Haven't been at H-burg since 2010 so memory ain't that great on details. Strange part is Harrisburg High looked one of the best with their 2 dozen plus members that last year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldbandguy Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 That may be the case for you in Indiana, but here's the status in New England: - The number of kids currently in marching bands pales in comparison to the thousands who used to participate in local parade corps in the 60's & 70's. I'm assuming you are saying this is true in New England. I'm really not that familiar with the marching band scene in that area of the country or how many corps there may have been in the 60s and 70s. Talking NATIONALLY though there are over 20,000 high school marching bands. Over ONE MILLION kids participate in those marching bands. At no time could drum corps ever claim to have anything close to those numbers. Yes, not all marching bands are of high quality, but the same is true of drum corps...even in 2011. However, quality programs CAN be found in rural and urban areas...and in some cases, such as Chicago's Marion Catholic, the quality is exemplary! Far more important than financial backing is having an outstanding director that will inspire the kids to greatness. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 And I know more than a few great marching bands that do zero in their community, so saying they take the place of smaller community corps of the past is a joke, because they were farmore involved in the community. Playing at the friday night football game doesnt make them active. it means they have to perform at them under orders. Hardly the norm. MB programs in general do a lot more local community activities than many of the old time corps used to do. It is not just football. Events in my area such as Memorial Day, Founders Day, Flag Day, Little League opening day, Christmas Tree lighting, small groups for all sorts of local organizations, Princeton P-rade...in corps I marched with and taught, the towns gave us virtually no opportunities outside of Memorial Day and maybe July 4, if they had an event...that was about it. Our admins searched all over the area to find events for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 What I'm noticing Mike is a disconnect on what the "experience" really is. Some seem to connect it to competing and think some are not. Really hard to tell as the thought appear to be going in different directions. But the point is to look at what used to be the hundreds of small corps and see what has replaced them...the competitive bands. Sure, there are probably 20,000 HS bands that do NOT compete at all, but that is not the point of the discussion about competitive bands replacing old local small competitive corps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 That may be the case for you in Indiana, but here's the status in New England: - The number of kids currently in marching bands pales in comparison to the thousands who used to participate in local parade corps in the 60's & 70's. I'd need some numbers to back up such a statement, even a guesstimate, especially as you did not limit the MB to competitive bands. You are trying to say that there were more kids in small local corps in, say, 1965, than there are in all of the HS MB in CT, RI, MA, VT, NH and ME? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 (edited) Again, I think it depends on the region of the country but what I've seen in New England: 70's & 80's: Hundreds of kids in over 30 local parade corps (modern & ancient) in Connecticut alone; 90's - 2011: All marching bands shrinking - even the best programs; all thos parade corps reduced to a few left. 30 local parade corps in CT over a 20-year period, versus how many marching bands with kids rotating through them in the same timeframe...or today? There are 25 CT bands attending the USSBA NE champs this year alone, of the 40 total at that show. There is a local USSBA show with 20 CT bands this weekend, not all of them attending the NE Champs. There is also the MAC band circuit in CT that has some competitive bands, though I'm sure a lot also do USSBA. NESBA has 41 HS competitive bands (again, I'm sure some do both). And that is just competitive bands. Edited October 25, 2011 by MikeD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
audiodb Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 Here's one example of a student caught in the trap. He's a GREAT quad player and one of the most genuine and hardest working people you will ever meet. Given the opportunity, he could make BD's line, but he will never have that chance. His family lives in south central LA and he went to a high school that has one of the worst music programs in the state. The area is plagued with gang violence, poverty and general misery. Even if his family moved within the district (which is huge) better programs simply don't exist with the exception of a few charter schools which have waiting lists years long, and even then he would have to find a way to get to school every day 40+ miles from his home. His only chance to do something better is to go to a local drum corps. But, there isn't one. Yes, there is. City Sound is based in Los Angeles. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 it isnt just parades Tom. any kind of function in town. In the town I live in, the band does football games and the Halloween and Memorial Day Parade. Play an event because the mayor asked? rarely if ever.participate in the towns one day street fair? never. in fact if possible, they'd blow off a game to go get a score....even a home game Were they asked to participate in the street Fair? We do the equivalent in our town. Blow off a game? Why not, if they have to? It is not carved in stone that they have to do every game to the detriment of the needs of the band members. Our band is doing almost no away games due to transportation budget cuts...we did just the one at our sister school across the district. We do all sorts of local events all year long, be it band, choir or orchestra. It is not even close in comparing it to drum corps of yore, IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 in cities, you may have schools with no marching band. And you may have some with MB. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
audiodb Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 Concerning New England....yes, there is one area of the country where competitive marching band does not match the numbers of drum corps BITD. For instance, in Massachusetts, in my admittedly incomplete data for 1967, I find 81 drum corps in field competition. Last time I counted up competitive marching bands (2008), I found 34 hailing from the state. In similar fashion, it would appear that Maine, New Hampshire and Rhode Island follow that same trend. Connecticut, however, had 41 bands competing in 2008, which I believe is more than the peak number of CT drum corps field competitors in any year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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