And in first place~ Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 My submission for post of the year. Well said! (Emphasis mine) As a lurker, I agree 100%. CT nailed it by suggesting "in your faces hornlines, percussion, brilliantly designed drills....". I doubt that ever happens, though. Seems to me they are more interested in educating marching members and imitating marching bands. Used to be the other way around. Any wonder why some marching band members were bored with all the corps except CC at the Louisville show? Wake me up when we get back to "in your face " shows and I will be more interested then. And now back to see what the Hop haters are posting..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 As a lurker, I agree 100%. CT nailed it by suggesting "in your faces hornlines, percussion, brilliantly designed drills....". I doubt that ever happens, though. Seems to me they are more interested in educating marching members and imitating marching bands. Used to be the other way around. Any wonder why some marching band members were bored with all the corps except CC at the Louisville show? Wake me up when we get back to "in your face " shows and I will be more interested then. And now back to see what the Hop haters are posting..... Band members from the band I work with love DCI shows. We've taken busloads to DCI East in the past. We're taking the band again this year to Giant's Stadium. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrunchyTenor Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 WW players do those things all the time in the modern band world...sometimes in horrible conditions in the late fall. The modern band world doesn't travel 15,000 miles, rehearse 10 hour days and do thirty shows plus other performances in 8 weeks, either. Garry in Vegas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 The modern band world doesn't travel 15,000 miles, rehearse 10 hour days and do thirty shows plus other performances in 8 weeks, either. Garry in Vegas True, and drum corps is not out there in late November rehearsing and performing in snowy conditions, as well as the heat of band camps in the summer. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danielray Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 Woodwinds will never end up in drum corps, but not for the reasons most consider. It is the amount of time outdoors and extremes in temperature that are the real issue here. With brass instruments, even though there is some variation based on size, they all react to these changes in temperature/humidity in roughly the same way. With woodwind instruments, there is a much greater variation and a lot of other funky issues. On top of this, higher quality woodwind instruments are not able to handle so much time in the sun or such extremes. The woodwind instruments that are more durable are not able to produce anywhere near the quality of sound. You will also have issues of reeds, pads, adjustments, etc. Disaster. Each group would need to be traveling with a qualified repair tech to be able to keep instruments in proper playing order. An additional expense that makes no sense. In a more practical illustration... a Yamaha clarinet that is on around the level of quality as the Xeno trumpets would cost at least $2,500 -3,000. After a single season, it would be nearly useless, especially for resale. Under the current procurement model that many corps use, it would not be affordable for corps to add instruments that would lose so much of their resale value in a single season. The per participant cost for these members is prohibitively higher, not to mention technical issues, etc. I have no issue with woodwinds in terms of instrumentation, but the increased pool of participants would not balance the increased costs and challenges. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 Woodwinds will never end up in drum corps, but not for the reasons most consider. It is the amount of time outdoors and extremes in temperature that are the real issue here. With brass instruments, even though there is some variation based on size, they all react to these changes in temperature/humidity in roughly the same way. With woodwind instruments, there is a much greater variation and a lot of other funky issues. On top of this, higher quality woodwind instruments are not able to handle so much time in the sun or such extremes. The woodwind instruments that are more durable are not able to produce anywhere near the quality of sound. You will also have issues of reeds, pads, adjustments, etc. Disaster. Each group would need to be traveling with a qualified repair tech to be able to keep instruments in proper playing order. An additional expense that makes no sense. In a more practical illustration... a Yamaha clarinet that is on around the level of quality as the Xeno trumpets would cost at least $2,500 -3,000. After a single season, it would be nearly useless, especially for resale. Under the current procurement model that many corps use, it would not be affordable for corps to add instruments that would lose so much of their resale value in a single season. The per participant cost for these members is prohibitively higher, not to mention technical issues, etc. I have no issue with woodwinds in terms of instrumentation, but the increased pool of participants would not balance the increased costs and challenges. can you tell your old boss that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
And in first place~ Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 Band members from the band I work with love DCI shows. We've taken busloads to DCI East in the past. We're taking the band again this year to Giant's Stadium. I know this is way OT, but I just had to reply. That's good to know about the band you work with. This brings up another sore subject with me and that is DCI schedules. That same night you and the band will be in East Rutherford, God willing I will be at a show near Pittsburgh. East Rutherford gets perhaps the top 7 or 8 corps. The show near PIttsburgh gets some others. No disrespect intended, either. That makes two consecutive years Baldwin (Pgh) gets the lower echelon corps. Before I get trashed for being OT, yes I know this should be in another thread but there isn't one. I wonder if Hop would say "Oh fiddle sticks" if he read some of the posts in here. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 Honestly, I think that is a good way for growth to happen. Why not start small? If stuff starts to take off, great! Wrong Forum but made my prediction when DCA had 13 corps total for either 92 or 93 Prelims (keep forgetting which). Then I quit following for 10 years... While I was "gone" DCA decided that they needed more corps (duh) and became more small corps friendly by creating Class A for them. Not always smooth sailing but 20 or so corps at Prelims beats 13. What really makes this scary is about half the 13 corps no longer exist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garfield Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 I know this is way OT, but I just had to reply. That's good to know about the band you work with. This brings up another sore subject with me and that is DCI schedules. That same night you and the band will be in East Rutherford, God willing I will be at a show near Pittsburgh. East Rutherford gets perhaps the top 7 or 8 corps. The show near PIttsburgh gets some others. No disrespect intended, either. That makes two consecutive years Baldwin (Pgh) gets the lower echelon corps. Before I get trashed for being OT, yes I know this should be in another thread but there isn't one. I wonder if Hop would say "Oh fiddle sticks" if he read some of the posts in here. I would hold the contest director and committee responsible. For whatever reason they're not making that show attractive enough to prompt corps to ask to go there. DCI can ask corps to perform but they're not required to, and corps don't have to agree to make Baldwin a stop in their travels. It is also true (and correct, IMO) that older shows get some deference in the selection process; DCI needs to know that the show will fill the stands. By focusing on the corps and making their appearance at your show worthwhile, they'll begin to ask to make Baldwin a stop. Now, back to bashing woodwinds and those who want them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 I would hold the contest director and committee responsible. For whatever reason they're not making that show attractive enough to prompt corps to ask to go there. DCI can ask corps to perform but they're not required to, and corps don't have to agree to make Baldwin a stop in their travels. It is also true (and correct, IMO) that older shows get some deference in the selection process; DCI needs to know that the show will fill the stands. By focusing on the corps and making their appearance at your show worthwhile, they'll begin to ask to make Baldwin a stop. Now, back to bashing woodwinds and those who want them. OT still, but the problem is who is available that day...Baldwin is running agains the TOC. Those corps won't be available that day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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