An Open Letter to DCI

[JulesBry]

I have taught those ages as well, and I picked shows that are not 'dumbed down', just the shows from this year I'd show to a new group of 11-year-olds. They are both fun, exciting and designed to create a visceral reaction. That in NO way implies 'dumbed down'.

My apologies. I thought you meant any Surf show or any Cadets show. Of this year's corps, I'd agree that those would be good choices, but I think they could also enjoy sections of Crown, Spirit, Phantom, and even SCV if presented well (especially if they've been studying Van Gogh in visual art). Maybe they would even like Dada. It looks like a child designed it. (Sorry to be over the top, but I just couldn't resist).

[JulesBry]

The Cadets at the Olympics were the supporting act to Bill Irwin's clown act...he was the headliner. They portrayed a marching band as the 'straight men' to his "clown schtick".

True, but it was still very entertaining and created an avenue for a bunch of people who had never heard of drum corps to really enjoy it. I know it was the first time I had ever seen one (and when someone showed me the 1996 finals video later that year, I was hooked--at least until 2012).

It is all just marching band to people at football games. It would make no difference to the crowd. It is great for BD to have the chance to perform, but don't think the average football fan has ANY reaction at all to the half time show as you are expecting.

All I know is that the stands are a LOT fuller for two University of Tennessee halftime shows than for any other (and I've been to a TON of UT games). 1. The Christmas show (which for the past several years has been a spoof on the 12 days of Christmas--nothing difficult, but highly entertaining) and 2. The Circle Drill (if you haven't seen it, search for it on YouTube--it's a trademarked drill design created by a UT engineering student a long time ago). Neither are drum corps standards, but the crowd goes crazy for them because they are 1. really funny or 2. something that looks more impressive than any other college or HS show they've seen.

DCI needs more "wow" moments and maybe not so many "I don't get it" moments. That's my prescription, at least.

As for the Indy football game, maybe they didn't notice. I still wish I could have seen their reactions, though. Just to make sure.

[JulesBry]

They pass the rules they think are best for the activity of DCI drum corps, just as they have since they started.

And I'm asking them to do a little market research to check that their opinions are well-founded. I don't believe that these rules changes are the reason kids are joining corps, but I do believe it's turning away long-time fans. Maybe I'm wrong. Do the poll and prove me wrong. If I am, I promise I'll shut up and go away. Heck, I'll just go away anyway (after I respond to a few more posts on DCP, because, doggone it, someone on the Internet is WRONG and I'm the only one who can fix it!) :-)

[Grandpa]

And I'm asking them to do a little market research to check that their opinions are well-founded. I don't believe that these rules changes are the reason kids are joining corps, but I do believe it's turning away long-time fans. Maybe I'm wrong. Do the poll and prove me wrong. If I am, I promise I'll shut up and go away. Heck, I'll just go away anyway (after I respond to a few more posts on DCP, because, doggone it, someone on the Internet is WRONG and I'm the only one who can fix it!) :-)

I don't know how you would conduct a poll like that, and I don't know if DCI would actually release the results if they said what you and I both think they would say.

But I would love to see it happen. I have an opinion on this - can I play? Please????

[MikeD]

And I'm asking them to do a little market research to check that their opinions are well-founded. I don't believe that these rules changes are the reason kids are joining corps, but I do believe it's turning away long-time fans. Maybe I'm wrong. Do the poll and prove me wrong. If I am, I promise I'll shut up and go away. Heck, I'll just go away anyway (after I respond to a few more posts on DCP, because, doggone it, someone on the Internet is WRONG and I'm the only one who can fix it!) :-)

Oh, I don't think that passing any one rule will be THE thing to draw new members...but taken as a whole, keeping DCI current with the rest of the marching/music arena is what will keep potential members coming out to audition and watch shows as audience members.

Long time fans? People stay around as long as they wish. I know of people who have left over time for a variety of reasons. My neighbor two houses down from me is from Bayonne and loved watching drum corps in the late 60's to mid 70's...he NEVER accepted the Bridgemen changing their unis in 1976...while most of us here look at them as one of the greatest corps of all time, and rightly so.

If a person is just not able to accept that things change over time, they are probably better off leaving, IMO. I wish they'd stay and find the things they like in modern DCI, but if they can't...I'm fine with them leaving.

[N.E. Brigand]

I also don't think there was a single corps who didn't use bass synth support.

As far as I could tell, only Boston didn't have a synthesizer. (Correction welcome!)

[GUARDLING]

Oh, I don't think that passing any one rule will be THE thing to draw new members...but taken as a whole, keeping DCI current with the rest of the marching/music arena is what will keep potential members coming out to audition and watch shows as audience members.

Long time fans? People stay around as long as they wish. I know of people who have left over time for a variety of reasons. My neighbor two houses down from me is from Bayonne and loved watching drum corps in the late 60's to mid 70's...he NEVER accepted the Bridgemen changing their unis in 1976...while most of us here look at them as one of the greatest corps of all time, and rightly so.

If a person is just not able to accept that things change over time, they are probably better off leaving, IMO. I wish they'd stay and find the things they like in modern DCI, but if they can't...I'm fine with them leaving.

its no differnt now with leaving people than it was bitd........difference is the communitities and the purpose that drum corps served back in the very early days before DCI is totally different now including the kid it serves, which contributed to the loss of many community activities, including drum corps

[N.E. Brigand]

Just read through this thread. An excellent post and pretty good discussion to follow.

Much as I dislike electronics in drum corps, I'm still finding enough to enjoy to continue watching. I atttended my first Finals ever this year, and brought a friend who sees at most one show a year. Believe it or not, he liked the Blue Devils most! (Though he is something of a contrarian, and it may be significant that his college major, many years ago, was in art.) And I found much to enjoy in their performance myself, and stayed to watch the encore run, along with a few thousand other people. Blue Devils did receive much more than a golf clap during the competition, including warm applause at several points during the show. (And thankfully, so far as I heard, there was no booing either at their performance or their score.)

That said, at least six other corps were applauded more loudly. I still preferred Crown, and thought they deserved to win.

I would like to see changes along the lines you request. That said, I was shocked to find that BD's voice-samples were much quieter live than on the videos. The French and German sections, which are so easy to hear on the Fan Network that I was able (with a little help) to write up a transcription, can hardly be heard live -- at least from the 500-level, both on the 15-yard line where our actual seats were and on the 50-yard line where we sat for the encore. (Likewise Spirit's closing sample, "Welcome to Vegas", wasn't audible.) And bass synthesizer from all corps was much less of a problem in person than on the videos, or than it was live the previous two years at Allentown. There were fewer than a dozen moments during the evening when the goo was even so prominent as to be audible. So the show designers, arrangers, and technicians may slowly be waking up to the problems that eletronica has brought to corps.

[MikeD]

its no differnt now with leaving people than it was bitd........difference is the communitities and the purpose that drum corps served back in the very early days before DCI is totally different now including the kid it serves, which contributed to the loss of many community activities, including drum corps

Yup...agree.

[BigW]

They said that Crown's show was harder and they didn't get credited for it with the current scoring system.

Then you proceeded to use the scoring system to show them that Crown's show wasn't harder.

Yes.

Crown's show wasn't more difficult in many aspects. I would believe the numbers given by the panel bear that out adequately. Again, people forget it's about more than the horns. I have no issue with people that claim their horn book was more challenging. It's when they imply EVERY ASPECT of their show was harder, when it clearly was not according to the panel.