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DCI 30 years ago, and the decline of Drum Corps.


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Let's not be the folks who yearn for G bugles and VFW/American Legion shows (Yes, G bugles were loud. But, boy were they often out-of- tune and honked out notes. I'll take today's instruments any day. And, by the way, thank you to the VFW's and American Legions that provided their gracious support to the corps of the past!)

I wouldn't go this far. G instruments were also IN TUNE as well... They were just a bit harder to play for various reasons. That was a great music lesson for me. Euph/Trombone players have to switch instruments quite a bit... Getting used to learning how to play a wonky instrument was a valuable skill to have...

I believe that any type of instrument would have been out of tune and honked out back then, because many people in the musical groups then were just learning how to play their instruments.

...and remember there were G bugles in use up into the 2ks... The quality of instruments had gotten a lot better. We've really lost some of the unique overtone series that the G bugles, played by a top corps, provided.

I wouldn't ever want to go back to the VFW days, but I'm sure there were great qualities about the activity then...

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There's no mystery about this.

The bulk of disbandings began in the early 1970s when the activity was hijacked by two main disparate but allied-in-spirit types, the money/control-driven, and the artistes. They were brilliant at Machiavellian politicizing, and they were allowed by the defeatists in the Bottom 500 to allow this little bunch to make them buy incredibly-expensive equipment and pay living wages to instructors. The resultant budgets killed off corps after corps, which killed off the many nearby contests, which forced incredibly-long tours, which raised dues, which cost members. What you're seeing now is end-stage. Even the smaller units feel they must do world-class-type shows to fit into the game.

Today's lack of money stems from overpaid staff, overpriced equipment and diminishing participants. And still the drive continues to recruit trained talent with money to spend rather than to break in new rookies, the former bread-and-butter of the activity. What nobody seems to be able to grasp is that there's a very finite number of what the artistes still try to base the entire concept of the reinvented-away-from-rookies activity around: musically-experienced youth with money, time and interest.

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I have been on MANY staffs, and consult with one currently. I have donated...not just FINANCIALLY but giving of my TIME. I feel reflection upon the state of affairs is relevant, and if these facts bother you, so be it. But fact it remains.

...and I GREW UP in this activity at an early age. From age 10 on I marched until age 21, with The Saints, the then Garfield Cadets, and then as a member of the Bayonne Bridgemen my final 4 years. So, it saddens me to see so FEW opportunities for kids today to march, and THAT is the point and fact.

As I stated in the other thread like this... how many high school marching bands are there? Face it, band programs are where people learn to play instruments now. Drum corps is what many of these kids aspire to in the future. The number has not gone down, but changed to a slightly different medium.

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i also have that same degree....and man you and he are soooooo right!..and so easy to see even through the net...lol

You've hit it. It's one of the reasons I really hate posting on here or I hate trying to have a real discussion; I try to tread people with respect ( mostly).

I see people on here act like fools and say some pretty outrageous things...

It's just so hard to take some people on here seriously when they are so rude!

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I could skip your entire post and read just one sentence and say you were spot on, Cainan "Regional touring works" How those in charge can not see this, and their feeble attempts at justification are laughable....now, of course, even if they wanted to go back, they shot themselves in the foot as there not enough content in ANY region to sustain regional touring.....

Geoffrey

ps: Absolutely love Academy, but theres no way they would beat Crossmen, Dutchboy, Skyryders, or Spirit of Atlanta in 1989 !! :tongue:

I agree Geoffrey.

Clean trumps number of sets.... On the sheets then, those corps are superior.

I love Academy too, but I think we don't give some of these past years enough credit. The pageantry, crowd connection, and raw EMOTION in shows of that era are unmatched. There was a good balance of difficulty and emotion.

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By 1989s standards, Academy 2012's GE scores would be off the charts. But I digress...

I disagree. Academy would be considered pretty dirty and obscure. They're not quite as obscure as Suncoast '89, but I think the show would read pretty flat by the standards back then...

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I think you need a reading lesson. Where did I say Bridgemen didn't have an impact on the activity? I know what their contributions were and for that I am appreciative. I do not see a place for them in TODAY's drumcorps however. Even Jersey Surf who is highly entertaining with a knockoff Bridgemen show are not exactly tearing up the scoreboard.....Bridgemen had their time and place in the activity and we are thankful for that. But that time has come and gone. I think for their sake it's probably better that we remember them for how they were than for what they would have become if they were still around.

People said the same thing about VK in the late 80s ( Do not see a place for them in competition because of their style). DCImonkey, what you are not acknowledging is that Jersey Surf isn't tearing up the scoreboard because that is NOT their focus. A corps could decide to come in and do Bridgemen/Vk style shows and score well with them if that was their goal... That's just no the style of show right now. Surf's show is really fun! It's not up to the level of old VK OR definitely Bridgemen shows...

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Ok there is a shred of truth to this. Blue Stars clung to their silly dated uniforms and "tradition" forever and it served them well in Div 3 and Div 2. But to truly make the surge into TODAY's Top 12, they needed an EXTREME home makeover. Troopers defied logic and explanation it 2010 (or was it 2009) by making it back into Finals.

I agree with you, you must adapt or get left behind (see Madison Scouts 2002, CC 2002)

I think you've totally missed the whole point.

You don't have to change your style to do well.

You have to have a good design and be clean to make top 12. Troopers happened to be able to do that in 2010 with their style. Nothing ground breaking, just have the horses to do it and you can do whatever.... Look at BD versus Crown this year. Very different, but both done extremely well. Just need to have the design and talent to pull of the design cleanly enough to get you into the top 12. The specifics of the design do not matter....

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I agree somewhat with the OP. There are less kids participating in the activity today. Due to a lot of issues, mainly economy, this has happened. The quality of performers is much better today than 20 years ago. It's just too bad there aren't more kids participating.

There are less kids participating in drum corps, but there are more kids participating in high school marching bands and other marching related activities. Drum corps has just literally become the "major leagues" for the best high school marching band students around the country. That is certainly a change from the way things were in the past, but I don't know that we have enough information to decide whether that is a good or bad thing.

High School marching band is a MUCH different animal than it was in the 70s and 80s, just like drum corps is MUCH different than it was during that period. Things have certainly changed ... it is not clear that it is a bad thing. Are there kids that want to participate in DCI that aren't getting the opportunity? I doubt it.

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It's too bad that this thread is so far off track now.

Drum corps has it's own unique sound in marching music, but with so few corps these days, a whole generation isn't getting to experience it. The OP got peppered with red minus signs, but he was pointing to something completely real. Ignoring it and ridiculing it by talking about TV shows will not make it go away.

This should have been a serious, mature discussion.

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