Michael Boo Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 George is very much a follower on the A&E issue. BD was using electronics for standstill performances in the 80's. Loads of high schools were using it in the 80's and as early as 1990 in a very mature way. It is actually winter percussion that is responsible for this making its way to the field. A&E even being an issue in this day and age is silly... aside from that, drum corps is not innovative in this regard and is very much a follower. George was neither an innovator nor key driver in the addition of electronics... he is very much a follower on this one. This should be pretty obvious to anyone, based on how poorly Cadets (awkward, in fact) implemented their use out of the gate compared to others. I don't think it matters much whether he was a leader or a follower on the issue. He was the most passionate voice and the one supporters let do the loudest talking about the issue, and also the one the detractors pointed to first when it passed. In Orlando, after the motion passed, everyone in the room was asked not to tweet, blog or whatever about the vote and to allow DCI.org the opportunity to break the news officially. I ran up to my editor's hotel room, wrote a quick review of the decision, and had the editor post it to DCI.org. I then wrapped up at the Rules Congress and drove to see a drum corps friend in the Tampa Bay area. When I got to his condo, he said I wouldn't believe the traffic on DCP about the issue. The link to my article was posted and the accompanying responses were a flood of reactions. If I'm remembering correctly, there were already well over 200 posts on the issue, and all I did was drive down I-4 during that time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GUARDLING Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 George certainly did advocate any-key brass, but in the meetings I attended years before it actually passed, it was BD's Wayne Downey who presented the passionate argument regarding why the activity should adopt such instruments. I was in the brass caucus in Rosemont many years ago when three-valve horns were scheduled to be voted upon. Wayne asked the caucus members something close to this; "Don't we really want three-valve instruments that are any-key? If we're making such a big change, why are we stopping at horns in G that will be obsolete when we finally go to any-key brass?" The caucus members thought about that and agreed with him. The proposal was re-written for submission to the directors later that afternoon. In the directors' caucus afterwards, the proposal was presented that now the instructors wanted three-valve instruments in any key. Cavaliers' Don Warren stood up and announced that he was disturbed all he had heard about in the process leading up to the Rules Congress was three-valve instruments in the key of G. And now he felt the instructors were doing a bait-and-switch on the directors and they had no time to properly evaluate what it would mean for the activity. Enough directors agreed with him that the motion got tabled after Don stated, (and this is pretty much an exact quote), "Go get your act together and come back next time and tell us what you really want." They did, and when the next Rules Congress was held, only three-valve horns were proposed. I remember Don Warren as being a big supporter of that. I understood the passion on both sides of the argument. Wayne Downey was correct in reading what the instructors really preferred. Don Warren was correct in reading the confusion of the directors. If the mood wasn't what it was in the big room where all met for the directors' caucus, Wayne's proposal would have been voted on the next day and we may have had B-flat instruments well before 2000, even before we (eventually) got three-valve horns. Why let facts get in the way.......lol 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GUARDLING Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 I don't think it matters much whether he was a leader or a follower on the issue. He was the most passionate voice and the one supporters let do the loudest talking about the issue, and also the one the detractors pointed to first when it passed. In Orlando, after the motion passed, everyone in the room was asked not to tweet, blog or whatever about the vote and to allow DCI.org the opportunity to break the news officially. I ran up to my editor's hotel room, wrote a quick review of the decision, and had the editor post it to DCI.org. I then wrapped up at the Rules Congress and drove to see a drum corps friend in the Tampa Bay area. When I got to his condo, he said I wouldn't believe the traffic on DCP about the issue. The link to my article was posted and the accompanying responses were a flood of reactions. If I'm remembering correctly, there were already well over 200 posts on the issue, and all I did was drive down I-4 during that time. and I would bet the 200 were many of the same people........lol 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bawker Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 Why let facts get in the way.......lol Why make a insular band circuit so secretive that we have to find out about things like this twenty years after the fact . . .lol. . . .not that it's surprising. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GUARDLING Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 Why make a insular band circuit so secretive that we have to find out about things like this twenty years after the fact . . .lol. . . .not that it's surprising. lots of secrets..lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bawker Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 lots of secrets..lol No doubt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 So you don't think Hopkins had any influence on the addition of A&E? It all would have happened just the same without his efforts? And his arguments for woodwinds affect no one? He's just a voice babbling into the wind, with no influence on DCI? A&E... Influence? He presented the proposal, so he made his case. Somebody had to actually create a proposal for there to be something that could be put to a vote, and he did so. In that way, yes, he had some sort of 'influence'; however, he was but one voice, and from what I have been told, not even the primary mover and shaker on A&E...he was just the point person. The support of the various instructors played a arole as well...they had wanted those elements for a long time. WW... Yes, that is pretty much what he is on this topic, as there is no internal groundswell of support for WW and other instruments in DCI, sad to say....by the instructors and other directors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Boo Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 Why make a insular band circuit so secretive that we have to find out about things like this twenty years after the fact . . .lol. . . .not that it's surprising. It's not secret...I just never noticed an opening to share the info before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bawker Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 It's not secret...I just never noticed an opening to share the info before. That's not directed at you specifically. More of a comment on how DCI (in general) lets most information stay in-house . . .a recent example is the G7 mess . . . the organization basically had their hand forced in releasing their "own" business plan for the future, some of which (at least publicly) has never been followed up on. And, to take us back full circle to the topic at hand . . .GH does make most of his motives crystal-clear, which I can appreciate, even though I don't agree with 99% of 'em. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 entertainment and amusement..especially with some specific individuals....i hear it for hours sometimes sitting in this bus..lol different circles as i said...different view points and opinions...again my point...not saying 1 is right or wrong..BUT very different DCP certainly dpes serve a purpose...Im not quite sure though if it serves what some think it does.....we all cant be everything it'a amusement until someone says something that offends them. Funny how that works. I love being called from a tour bus hearing "how could you ( or someone else) say that about us"....and it's not a kid calling. DCP is not for everyone or about everyone. We had another newsgroup for that but it IS noticed, and while some may mock it, people DO care what is said on here at all levels of the activity no matter what they say in public Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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