Michael Boo Posted December 9, 2012 Share Posted December 9, 2012 No rules. None, like - none. 15 minutes blocks 8 corps max per show with 15 minute INT 2 hours and 15 minutes is long enough and finally...... anyone currently judging can't judge for 5 years. Ready......... go. It's only December and already we're talking about INT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drumcorpsfever Posted December 9, 2012 Share Posted December 9, 2012 I like how you use the term "identify and ban". There a bunch of people who were at the 1990 Finals who would not stop screaming during Cavies beautiful opening that I still would like to "identify and ban". At least remind them of the 2nd amendment....(jokingly of course). This would be a great topic for another day: People who prefer to scream stuff just to be able to hear themselves on the show recording. I'm all for cheering, and do it loudly. But, I do it in the context of others who cheer at the appropriate time. Not just yelling stuff so that I can hear myself later - YEARS later on the recording. I find such "fans" to be selfish. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRASSO Posted December 9, 2012 Share Posted December 9, 2012 (edited) if you were at the annual meeting, and had the ability to get one thing changed, what would it be? I don't know what that " one thing " would be, but it did make me think of this : Edited December 9, 2012 by BRASSO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottgordon Posted December 9, 2012 Share Posted December 9, 2012 I keep up on DCP and DCI.org, but I think the casual fan attends a leaves with a WTF moment and may not return. This exact thing happened to my sister two years ago. She knew I was into corps, but she had never seen a show before. One day she phoned me up to tell me that - out of the blue - she and her husband decided to go see a show out of curiosity. Several top corps were there, including Phantom, Cadets, SCV, and BD. She then immediately said: "we have to talk". She that that while there was no doubting the skill level, she said that on the drive home, her husband and her spent the time trying to figure out how so much talent could be directed in such a strange way. They were very confused, and thought the whole show was an opportunity wasted. It appeared to them that something had gone wrong, and tried to imagine what would have to be done to "fix" it. Their suggestions pretty much mirror the usual suggestions on DCP - unplugging the amps, requiring players to carry on their instruments, eliminating the props, etc. She said that they found the shows to be a chaotic mess and the music incomprehensible. I'm not making this up. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
actucker Posted December 9, 2012 Share Posted December 9, 2012 This exact thing happened to my sister two years ago. She knew I was into corps, but she had never seen a show before. One day she phoned me up to tell me that - out of the blue - she and her husband decided to go see a show out of curiosity. Several top corps were there, including Phantom, Cadets, SCV, and BD. She then immediately said: "we have to talk". She that that while there was no doubting the skill level, she said that on the drive home, her husband and her spent the time trying to figure out how so much talent could be directed in such a strange way. They were very confused, and thought the whole show was an opportunity wasted. It appeared to them that something had gone wrong, and tried to imagine what would have to be done to "fix" it. Their suggestions pretty much mirror the usual suggestions on DCP - unplugging the amps, requiring players to carry on their instruments, eliminating the props, etc. She said that they found the shows to be a chaotic mess and the music incomprehensible. I'm not making this up. The fact is, drum corps is a niche activity. You have to know a little something about it in order to get it. In order to draw a fan such as your sister, we would have to completely change what we are. That isn't going to, and shouldn't happen. We need to stop trying to make drum corps something that it isn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlexL Posted December 9, 2012 Share Posted December 9, 2012 The fact is, drum corps is a niche activity. You have to know a little something about it in order to get it. In order to draw a fan such as your sister, we would have to completely change what we are. That isn't going to, and shouldn't happen. We need to stop trying to make drum corps something that it isn't. The problem is that its a niche within a niche that often drives a lot of things. Drum corps has the potential for a wider appeal than it has now, but many simply go headstrong with their own artistic ideas of what drum corps should be regardless of whether it will sell to audiences or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted December 9, 2012 Share Posted December 9, 2012 The fact is, drum corps is a niche activity. You have to know a little something about it in order to get it. In order to draw a fan such as your sister, we would have to completely change what we are. That isn't going to, and shouldn't happen. We need to stop trying to make drum corps something that it isn't. Then we need to be realistic and quit talking like DCI is going to grow a big audience base from the "general population". Back in the 80s we heard talk of "DCI... music majors playing for other music majors" and we laughed. But it was whistling in the grave yard as we could see interest in DC from non-musical people going down. This was witnessed by smaller crowds at local shows and less response for the PBS live Finals in my area. It's gotta be pick one or the other, we can't have it both ways..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
audiodb Posted December 9, 2012 Share Posted December 9, 2012 The fact is, drum corps is a niche activity. You have to know a little something about it in order to get it. In order to draw a fan such as your sister, we would have to completely change what we are. That isn't going to, and shouldn't happen. We need to stop trying to make drum corps something that it isn't. You have the last sentence correct. The preceding 1.5 sentences, though, are about 15 years too late. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottgordon Posted December 9, 2012 Share Posted December 9, 2012 The fact is, drum corps is a niche activity. You have to know a little something about it in order to get it. In order to draw a fan such as your sister, we would have to completely change what we are. That isn't going to, and shouldn't happen. We need to stop trying to make drum corps something that it isn't. But I don't think that her reaction would have been the same 20 years ago. I'm not saying it's good or bad, only that it is worth considering. Most highly successful spectator sports make changes only with great care. Rule changes are mostly fine-tuning, rather than wholesale change, because change means risk. If you go to watch a baseball game, or a ballet, you go with certain basic expectations in mind. I don't know for certain, but I would expect that most casual attendees of drumcorps go expecting to see something that primarily features marching, military precision, powerful brass, flashy drumming, colorful pageantry, rifle work, and exhilirating music. I think that by supplanting more and more of that with electronics, other instrumentation, modern dance, special effects, etc., that it is gradually losing what makes it unique, and that the ultimate consequence of that will be that one day it will no longer have a reason to exist. I could be wrong, but that is not an uncommon order of the rise and fall of other activities. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
actucker Posted December 9, 2012 Share Posted December 9, 2012 Then we need to be realistic and quit talking like DCI is going to grow a big audience base from the "general population". Back in the 80s we heard talk of "DCI... music majors playing for other music majors" and we laughed. But it was whistling in the grave yard as we could see interest in DC from non-musical people going down. This was witnessed by smaller crowds at local shows and less response for the PBS live Finals in my area. It's gotta be pick one or the other, we can't have it both ways..... That's exactly my point. I've never thought that we would draw from the general population. Its an uphill battle that isn't worth the sacrifices it would take to do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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