Michael Boo Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 All over the suburbs, perhaps. But competitive marching band is still absent from many of the urban communities that drum corps used to serve. It is also strangely sparse in Massachusetts and Wisconsin, former hotbeds of local drum corps....and of course, Canada. ... I've judged marching band shows in Wisconsin. I wonder what the heck I was looking at, then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doctortelco Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 DUMP THE ELECTRONICS!!!! I have been a drum corps fan since I saw my first contest in Atlanta, GA in 1976. 1) Electronics are removing the human element in the activity. Tempo is now partially controlled by the vocal recordings and midi devices. Everything can be "computer perfect". 2) There was beauty in the limitations. Listening to what can be done with just brass and percussion was a great thing. 3) Electronically reproduced music sounds electronically reproduced. If I wanted that I would sit at home and listen to my stereo. I hate what this activity is becoming. The extra junk from large props (like the towers that Carolina used a couple of years ago that reminded me of West Virginia CB Antennas) to the extra amps, piped in music and how can we forget the Blue Devils DA-DA voice overs to remind me why I never want to visit France. I am thankful that at least DCA hasn't gone off the deep end yet...even though this weeks pit-amp rule is headed that direction. As far as the direction marching bands are going-they are not something to be imitated. The BOA's contests have violins, midi's and recordings--it's a mess. I saw a band a few years ago where everyone had amps on their backs. They played ' 76 trombones and just turned up the volume. Where's the human element? If I hear one more oboe solo I think I will throw-up. I would rather hear the 9 brass versions of the Children of Sanchez in the 80's. After seeing what marching bands have become I am glad I changed my major away from music education in college. High school bands and corps as well should need musicians not sound engineers. So you want to know where the fans have gone--they gave up on the activity. It's expensive to go to, the volume level has been diminished and so has the entertainment. I shouldn't get to the end of the show and see the audience look around and say "What the heck was that all about". I am almost to the point of giving up on DCI all together and putting my fan dollars in DCA only. For those who want to increase the age of the activity please keep in mind that this is a youth activity. Sometime in the future you may want to get a job and contribute to society. 21 is a good age since that is about the time you should be getting out of college. If you want to continue in the activity. The DCA corps are terrific and their weekend schedule allows you to have the best of all worlds; hold a job, raise a family and be in a drum corps. So now that I have offended many of you there's my opinion. Scott Smith 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.E. Brigand Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 I've judged marching band shows in Wisconsin. I wonder what the heck I was looking at, then. Well, he did say "sparse" not "absent". Ohio has a population of 11.5 million people; it also has roughly 200 competitive marching bands. Wisconsin with a population of 5.7 million people therefore ought to field about 100 competitive marching bands. Does that sound right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.E. Brigand Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 After seeing what marching bands have become I am glad I changed my major away from music education in college. That's a shame. If enough people in the activities believed the way you did, maybe these changes wouldn't have happened. "The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity." - W.B. Yeats Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 Care to say why you believe that? My experience is from working local shows mid 70s-mid 80s in Central PA area. There was a higher percentage of people not connected to a corps in any way attending than there are today. If you think it was corps playing to mostly other corps people you are sadly mistaken, That goes for both field shows and standstills. Probably answers why the crowds were larger too in places like Hershey, Carlisle and Mount Carmel (where?). My WTF moment is seeing the 7000 attendance given for a 5 Sr corps show in Mahanoy(sp) City, PA from the early 60s. Sure as Hades not 7K musicians or corps people in PA hard coal country. OTOH...in the local corps I marched with and later taught we often played to tiny audiences made up of family and friends of the participating corps. Many local shows were only held because it was a circuit rule in the GSC that a member corps had to host a show...and some did that as cheaply as possible...sometimes not even on a football field. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 I've judged marching band shows in Wisconsin. I wonder what the heck I was looking at, then. And as for MASS bands, what were those bands who competed in NESBA and USBands doing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.E. Brigand Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 And as for MASS bands, what were those bands who competed in NESBA and USBands doing? Massachusetts has a population of 6.6 million, so if there are signficantly fewer than 110 competing marching bands, "sparse" might be an accurate term. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
audiodb Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 Don't know what happened at 7:30 tonight that caused this reading comprehension blackout....but to review: 1. To actucker - I never said all urban areas had drum corps. 2. To the Mikes (Boo and Davis) - yes, I know Massachusetts and Wisconsin have competing marching bands. But considering that there are 10 times as many competing bands vs. the historical peak population of junior corps, the number of such bands in MA and WI are comparatively sparse. In the context of what I was responding to, I would say the bands in those states are not even sufficiently numerous to have "replaced" the drum corps we lost on a statewide level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 (edited) OTOH...in the local corps I marched with and later taught we often played to tiny audiences made up of family and friends of the participating corps. Many local shows were only held because it was a circuit rule in the GSC that a member corps had to host a show...and some did that as cheaply as possible...sometimes not even on a football field. LOL and reading your GSC experiences are why I no longer say that what I saw in the 70s was the same for everyone. And willing to say Central PA can be different from other parts of the country for a couple of different reasons. In the area of DC, Central PA might have been one of the few areas with a lot more Sr corps than Jrs. Off the top of my head only Jrs in the area for any part of the 70s would have been York (White Roses) and Schuykill Haven (Belvederes/Black Diamond Regiment). Edited December 10, 2012 by JimF-LowBari Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galen Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 Easy- get rid of amplification and return drum corps to the acoustic activity it was meant to be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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