An Open Letter to DCI

[pbeau]

I could have predicted this mess back when this whole DCI thing started. First they get rid of the “Off the line” and then the timing pistol. I said to my O’ll school drum corps buddy, “Before you know it they’ll be doing shows about the Dada, or superheroes, hell they’ll probably even have stereo speaker systems and Christmas trees on the field!”

[danielray]

I would believe the numbers given by the panel bear that out adequately.

Trying to imagine what the Panel Bear looks like.

[wishbonecav]

you had the courage to write it, the courage to sign your name, the thoughtfulness to attach a poll to it (including degrees of acceptance) and the courage to open your comments up to review and criticism. Kudos...because this can be a rough crowd.

I described the BD show to an enthusiastic friend of mine as "the marching software come to life - like watching a drum corps video game" and it included, amazingly, the precision in line and form that, geometrically, I thought might have been impossible to perform with human involvement.

it got a wow from me in that respect.

I went on to say that while everyone else is marching to keep up with last years' show, BD comes up with something new. The fact that they can go from chairs to mirrors to horses is mystifying in its creativity, let alone its execution.

RE: the Op's post...I get where he's coming from. To have the field chase Devils...often POINTS behind...is disconcerting to a large degree in that BD's show style has somehow earned a consensus of approval from the adjudication panel....nearly everyone has them "up"...in Music, Visual and General Effect...from June to August.

It is reasonable to conclude, then, that BD is obviously giving the judges what they want, and it, by extension, MUST be superior if the judges are all, or nearly all, in agreement.

Having said that, did it really matter all that much to me? To a degree it did in that MY expectations of "best" did not necessarily jibe with contest results...so, from that emotional and interpretive perspective, the scores did not "make sense"...or mesh with my sensibilities (again, to a degree).

However, as a fan, to have shut off drum corps for the OP's "BD reasons" would have been to miss out on the 2012 Cavaliers, Oregon Crusaders and Jersey Surf...(especially the last two) who invigorated my drum corps enthusiasm to an "off the chart" standard, reminding me that drum corps is the ONLY place you can listen/watch a musical presentation where it is common to leap from your seat, pump your fist, be moved to shouts or tears, clap so hard your hands hurt and buy a t-shirt at the end.

Don't give up yet, Julian.

In fact...I'm going to suggest trying something new.

Go to the show, but dont buy a ticket.

Find a rehearsal. Track down a parking lot horn arc. Pack an Arnold Palmer and spend an hour with a pit ensemble. It's still horns and drums and flags...like you remember. Recalling that flavor might stir a few echoes and mix in an ok way with what's going down today.

If you are near by, I'll go with you (and the ice teas are on me)

Edited August 13, 2012 by wishbonecav

[JulesBry]

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.

At best, that's a guess on both your part and DCI's part. I'd like to see empirical research that shows a clearly causal relationship between increased use of electronics/voice-overs/downplaying traditional marching for various dance moves/at best controversial and hard-to-understand show ideas and an increase in participation among marchers. If that's why kids are signing up to join DCI, then do the study, publish the findings, and shut up every "dino" who's complaining. Some dinos won't give up, but at least we'll know who the rational ones are.

I'm calling the bluff. I have more faith in the musical youth of today. I think they're signing up to push the boundaries of human ability. And whether or not there's a synth on the field, they will still be doing that. In fact, I would love to see BD spend all the time they spent on this show and use it to perfect a show like what Crown did. You talk about unbelievability--THAT would be a reason for me to stand up and cheer my lungs out for BD. Not because I want them to be Crown, but because I'm reasonably sure they could do Crown's show even better than Crown could do it. And that's saying something.

And better yet, if they were to take on the challenge, do a slightly more traditional show, and do it better than anyone else, I think they would still see huge numbers of people at their audition camps.

Of course, this is all my opinion, and yours will be different. The only way to settle this is through real market research--something DCI seems unwilling to do. So, let them put their head in the sand. Time will tell which of us is right. And for the kids who are involved, I sincerely hope you are, because if you aren't, there will come a point of no return, and DCI will wither on the vine.

[JulesBry]

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

Maybe I need to buy some Crusaders apparel before I walk away.

[Grandpa]

Maybe I need to buy some Crusaders apparel before I walk away.

If we get that verified - me too. And I will tell them why.

Again - money talks - louder than grumping on DCP.

[JulesBry]

you had the courage to write it, the courage to sign your name, the thoughtfulness to attach a poll to it (including degrees of acceptance) and the courage to open your comments up to review and criticism. Kudos...because this can be a rough crowd.

Thanks. I've learned a few things about DCP. There are a lot of copy cats (how many open letters are there now?), there are a lot of opinions disguised as fact (from the beginning, I couched this as, this is what I feel and see, let's see if anyone agrees), and there are a lot of people who can't deal with honesty and openness (I must have an ulterior motive/be a BD-hater, because no one could actually say what I've said and mean just that). But that's OK. People are free to say and believe what they want, and the marketplace of ideas will eventually sort out who is right. Maybe it's not me. I'm okay with that. I'm a big boy who can handle being wrong. I just want someone to prove it empirically.

I described the BD show to an enthusiastic friend of mine as "the marching software come to life - like watching a drum corps video game" and it included, amazingly, the precision in line and form that, geometrically, I thought might have been impossible to perform with human involvement.

If I were to plot a bunch of random points in Pyware and then give it to BD to march, it would be very hard and somewhat chaotic, but I'll bet they could do it. It might even be the hardest drill ever marched, but that doesn't mean it would necessarily be good or fun to watch. I could do the same thing with notes and rhythms. They could say that the theme was "random" and march it perfectly. Every element of the show could be completely randomized. It would be impressive from an intellectual standpoint, but it would be the most painful show you've ever seen or heard. Should we encourage them to do that next year? It would be impressive to those who know what's going on, but I don't think many would stick around to watch.

This is my point. Not everything difficult and/or innovative is good. Which of the DCI automaton judges has the guts to tell BD that they think their design stinks? According to the last several recap sheets, none of them. And that's a loss for everyone. Diversity of opinions is a powerful thing. DCI has no diversity.

That being said, I'm glad you enjoyed the show, and I'm glad others did, too. I don't judge you or them for enjoying what you want to enjoy. But I saw a lot of people who didn't, and not only who didn't enjoy it, who were confused and/or disgusted by it. That, to me, is also a problem, and something DCI needs to think about.

Don't give up yet, Julian.

Too late.

Go to the show, but dont buy a ticket.

Find a rehearsal. Track down a parking lot horn arc. Pack an Arnold Palmer and spend an hour with a pit ensemble. It's still horns and drums and flags...like you remember. Recalling that flavor might stir a few echoes and mix in an ok way with what's going down today.

I've done this before every show I've ever attended. Unfortunately, there's considerable travel involved to get to shows, so it's quite an investment just to get there. I don't think I'll be excited enough to do that next year. If finals had been in any of the places where I've been to for shows recently, I don't think I would have gone this year. If you quoted this and sent it to my email three years ago, I would have said you were crazy. I can't tell you how far my passion and love for this activity has fallen in recent years and especially this one.

You can't change who or what you love. It simply is what it is, and DCI is definitely not "it" for me at current.

[JulesBry]

If we get that verified - me too. And I will tell them why.

Again - money talks - louder than grumping on DCP.

Nope. Just went to the FanNetwork. The Atlanta shows starts with a close-up on the Drum Major where you can clearly see a synth in the pit.

[JulesBry]

I eliminated one of the answers, and I sincerely hope those who chose that answer will now choose a different one. I wish I had never included that answer, but I just didn't think it through well enough from the start. Sorry for that.

For the sake of accuracy in figuring future percentages, there were approximately 40 votes for "Not really, things have changed, but I don't think they're as bad as he says" when that answer was removed.

Edited August 13, 2012 by JulesBry

[JulesBry]

One other thought. Let's take a guess that there are 50,000 DCI fans in the US. I think that's pretty low/conservative, but we're going to make that guess for now. And let's say that my poll is skewed toward people who are old and unhappy about the direction things are going. Instead of 15% who are leaving and 35% who are unhappy, it's actually 10% and 20%. That means DCI will be losing 5,000 fans this year, and could lose 10,000 more in the next few years.

• How many MMs are aging out this year and will conceivably become "new fans"?
  
• How many of their parents and friends will stick around for the long term?
  
• Will they be able/willing to contribute financially as those who are leaving have been able to do?
  

Even if my poll is so skewed, that 5% are leaving and 10% are unhappy, can DCI replace 7,500 fans in the next few years?

And if there are more fans (which I think is most likely), those percentages equal even more fans leaving and unhappy. I'm trying to give DCI the benefit of the doubt, but if there is ANY accuracy in the poll at the top of this thread, DCI can't ignore such sentiments and survive.

These are the kinds of questions that need to be discussed at the highest levels of DCI, and the kind of questions that cannot be ignored.