Kamarag Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 Its not about the old guys sound. Its about the old guys visual. Todays DCA is judged all about the visual. Brass only accounts for a very small part of the sheets. Its all about Visual Visual Visual. I for one would *love* to see the sheets adjusted to be a 60-40 split in favor of music, but I think too many guard and visual folks would cry foul. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Oz Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 I for one would *love* to see the sheets adjusted to be a 60-40 split in favor of music, but I think too many guard and visual folks would cry foul. I second the motion. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irishbugle Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 Are these two statements conflicting? Or am I reading them incorrectly? It may have been the way I wrote it, but those were two different statements. One addressing how the average age of DCA is lowering, and the second was addressing how a lot of the "above 40" members that I know who still compete in Open or A corps are holding their own just fine and age really is "just a number to them". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camel lips Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 I for one would *love* to see the sheets adjusted to be a 60-40 split in favor of music, but I think too many guard and visual folks would cry foul. Agreed. I suspect the judging community would balk at it too as well as the music educators. I only see visual getting even higher reward in the future. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irishbugle Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 Its not about the old guys sound. Its about the old guys visual. Todays DCA is judged all about the visual. Brass only accounts for a very small part of the sheets. Its all about Visual Visual Visual. It was pretty dramatic watching DCA morph into what it is today. I was really shocked at how out of place the over 30 marchers looked on the field this year. I mean there is a nice clean line of flat bellies and perfect posture and then some average looking guy that age is catching up to him stands out of place blowing the whole visual aspect of the show. It was clear with a couple of the corps that the old pharts were slowing down the pace of the show. They just could not keep up with the PHYSICAL stamina of today's shows. DCA wants a more youthful DCA. They just need to go ahead and institute the age cap so they can get on with these high speed visual shows the judging community are giving credit too. Looks Like Cadets2 is setting the pace on this. ITS TIME TO MOVE ON PEOPLE. How could Cadets2 be "setting the pace on this"?? They haven't done anything yet. And as far as, "its time to move on"... I will tell you we all see our fair share of 20-29 yr olds that don't exactly have "flat bellies" competing in todays DCA. I'm not sure what corps you were watching but what you saw does not apply to all of DCA's competing corps. The majority of "the elders" can keep up just fine. I will also disagree completely that the judging community is giving credit to faster paced shows. You take a look at the Top 5 Open Class corps last year and the corps that had the fastest show (180bpm for almost 8 full minutes) was not even a corps from the Top 3. We could argue show pacing all day long but when you break down the numbers, judges today are rewarding the slower, safer shows. Of course, execution plays a part in that as well. The faster the show, the tougher the execution consistently and that is when the execution vs. demand argument starts. It's a debate, within a debate, within a debate really. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corpsband Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 For starters, the average age of the larger DCA corps is around 23 rights now. The only corps that I can think of that has an average age of 30+, and this is only based on my observations from last year, is the Hurcs. They seem to have a slightly older average membership. And for what its worth, they seem to be competing quite well these days- only supporting the claim that age is not really a factor. Cite your source? This may or may not be true but I'd like to know where you got the number. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camel lips Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 This negative discussion of "old farts" and over 40's in drum corps is burning my butt a bit because it just propagates a lot of stereotypes about age - and at 63, I should know a thing or two about that. Just to inform you all, aging doesn't guarantee bad fitness or health. I have been marching competitively in DCA for 10 years now and performing a fair number of high tempo intense shows as a lead trumpet. No, I am not as fit as I was at 18, but I am as fit as many of the youngsters around me and march as well as many. My fitness level does not detract from the show. Furthermore, I know a bunch of over 40's who can march as well as the youngsters. Also, I can say there are plenty of young marchers with beer bellies that could use a little fitness boost. My point is not to be negative, but to ask you all to be careful about your stereotyping. Doc Doc, You and a few others may be the exception to the norm. Hunter Moss at CV can run and play circles around any of the kids there. So with that I agree with you to a certain POV. But looking overall last season. The old school guys in open class looked out of place. Way out of place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irishbugle Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 (edited) Cite your source? This may or may not be true but I'd like to know where you got the number. I think, and I observe very well. That's how I got that number. If you interact with a number of corps during the year you see enough "young people" to see a trend. If you stand by the corps entrance gate for a show and look at the people in uniform, marching onto the field, its not at all difficult to see the difference between a teen and a 45 year old. Do I know their exact ages... no of course not but I see A LOT more high school and college aged performers today than I did 10 years ago. I would venture to say that for the majority of the corps actively competing in DCA today, you have more members under the age of 30, than over. And for the record, I do not support age caps, junior DCA divisions, or anything of the sort. One of the greatest assets of DCA is to spend a season marching next to people who have been perfecting their talent for a long time. You learn a lot that way. Edited December 5, 2011 by irishbugle 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corpsband Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 I think, and I observe very well. That's how I got that number. If you interact with a number of corps during the year you see enough "young people" to see a trend. If you stand by the corps entrance gate for a show and look at the people in uniform, marching onto the field, its not at all difficult to see the difference between a teen and a 45 year old. Do I know their exact ages... no of course not but I see A LOT more high school and college aged performers today than I did 10 years ago. I would venture to say that for the majority of the corps actively competing in DCA today, you have more members under the age of 30, than over. And for the record, I do not support age caps, junior DCA divisions, or anything of the sort. One of the greatest assets of DCA is to spend a season marching next to people who have been perfecting their talent for a long time. You learn a lot that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kamarag Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 But looking overall last season. The old school guys in open class looked out of place. Way out of place. Well, not so fast. Let's call a spade a spade, shall we? The old school guys in open class look out of place last year because their design sucked, not because anything was physically easy or hard. You can design well and not be running around all over the place. Even DCI is figuring that out. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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