Jeff Ream Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 I'll be honest - I'm agnostic to the change. It's being done thoughtfully and carefully (and amidst MUCH discussion, from what I hear), and the approach taken was the most conservative of the options offered, by far. When I look at the problems offered by amplification, three things stand out - nasty synth goo and horn part doubling (which is just pure, unadulterated ######## IMO), annoying/intrusive use of sampling and/or voice, and managing the mix. The first two of those problems are completely precluded under the rules option that was eventually chosen - in fact, there were two options that I saw before the meeting, one conservative and one more liberal (synths, etc) and the directors made the adopted rule even more restrictive than what was proposed as the "conservative" version. Good for them. The mix issue to me is best exemplified by the SCV 2004 DVDs - one of my absolute favorite brass books, and when I popped in the DVD I couldn't hear the brass over the pit. Ugh. That was, IMO, growing pains. The guys who would actually implement this at the staff/design level have done this for years in the marching band/WGI or even DCI communities by now, and they know what needs to be done to get the proper sound. I wouldn't expect a lot of experimentation here - just expect some more expressive playing from the pit. Yay! Can we all agree that teaching kids to play more musically, and with a proper characteristic sound and technique for their instrument is a good thing??? And that gets me to the good part of this. What we risk is some doofuses screwing up the mix here and there. What we gain is, well, actually, it's a lot. The kids who have been taught the proper way to play the instrument don't have to learn new (and BAD) playing habits when they shift to a DCA corps. If you don't think that affects band directors being willing to recommend DCA corps to their kids, well..... I want some of what you're smoking. I had one director tell me, with a lot of passion, that he spent almost ten grand on new mallet/keyboards a year ago, and in the course of just one season they are all but destroyed. At the same time, he can find a full up system to mike the pit for $5-7,000 that will last for a decade, and will allow his kids to play more expressively and not hurt themselves or the expensive equipment they currently bang the #### out of. Yes, amps are actually seen as a way to CUT costs... DCA takes a position of being more able to readly accept former DCI corps into the fold when appropriate. I'll refrain from editorializing that point too much, but I think you gather what I'm saying. Position DCA to be flexible enough to pick up any slack if need be. Really, I'm personally of the opinion that they took the wisest road here. They're not allowing voice, and it appears that they actually removed voice from the original proposal - and GOOD on them for that. They don't allow sampling, or synths, or any of the other things that I personally HATE about "modern" BOA/DCI pits. They're just saying, "we don't want to teach kids bad habits, which hurts recruiting, and damages our gear." Seems wise to me. They also gave the corps staffs time to thoughtfuly implement this instead of just rushing into things a'la DCI when it came legal (ugh - that year, just - ugh). It was GOING to happen eventually, and it's happened in the best way it could have - and with pretty good timing, too, I think. We'll see. A note about George. Lots of folks have told us, he wasn't in the room for ANY of the talk about rules proposals, nor did Cadets2 submit any rules proposals. Even if he had been there, the vote wasn't his to cast. Personally, I think he probably just got bored with the whole meeting when they didn't hang on his every word during the morning session and bagged ### to go tweet and facebook some stuff. IMO, balance is STILL an issue in the DCI world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 (edited) Relevant is something DCA will cease to be if they don't at least somewhat keep up with modern trends in the activity. And those of us who have been around long enough realize that the only thing in life that is constant is change. Is 55 years old and starting following corps in 1974 "long enough"? I see DCA changing but being more careful with changes that would hurt corps in the pocketbook. IMO - one of the reasons why Class A has been the growth area of DCA. Edit: Vid of first show I ever say can be seen on Cabs website (74 Hershey). LOL, if you can see the corps thru the dark... yeah it's changed.... As for relevant... if drum corps would go away would the world stop spinning and the sun not come up? Nope... then not relevant... Edited December 10, 2012 by JimF-LowBari 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VOReason Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 Is 55 years old and starting following corps in 1974 "long enough"? I see DCA changing but being more careful with changes that would hurt corps in the pocketbook. IMO - one of the reasons why Class A has been the growth area of DCA. Edit: Vid of first show I ever say can be seen on Cabs website (74 Hershey). LOL, if you can see the corps thru the dark... yeah it's changed.... :tongue:/> As for relevant... if drum corps would go away would the world stop spinning and the sun not come up? Nope... then not relevant... Of course by relevant I am referring to relevance within our drum corps activity. When it comes to things that are TRULY important, marching bands are simply just a distraction. And I am 56...so yes, you have been around long enough to realize. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldManDrumCorps Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 one of them. if you haven't noticed, since the switch from G to Bb for most corps, most corps got considerably younger in membership Ok. But is there any evidence to suggest that a younger membership wasn't inevitable anyway? Empire claims to have had their youngest corps ever, and most rookies since 1983, in 2012 with G bugles and no amplification. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 Of course by relevant I am referring to relevance within our drum corps activity. When it comes to things that are TRULY important, marching bands are simply just a distraction. And I am 56...so yes, you have been around long enough to realize. I know just being a smart ### on a dreary Monday.... Didn't think you were taking things THAT seriously but couldn't resist. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Windish Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 We must always remember a single, most important qualifier. Can current participants (performers and audience) continue to do this thing financially? The current economy is pretty bad, money is MORE than tight for everyone, including potential sponsors, stadium owners, advertising merchants, etc. The squeeze is on in a way we've never known before. I truly believe the ONLY way to continue what we are now doing (on the level we have been doing it) is to involve MORE people. As radical (distasteful?) as these types of progressions are, I'm confident they are being made with the best of intent. The "George Hopkins" out there may not be as devilish as we are quick to determine! I mean, we've used up the "let's just charge more per ticket card," don't you think? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Matczak Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 We must always remember a single, most important qualifier. Can current participants (performers and audience) continue to do this thing financially? The current economy is pretty bad, money is MORE than tight for everyone, including potential sponsors, stadium owners, advertising merchants, etc. The squeeze is on in a way we've never known before. I truly believe the ONLY way to continue what we are now doing (on the level we have been doing it) is to involve MORE people. As radical (distasteful?) as these types of progressions are, I'm confident they are being made with the best of intent. The "George Hopkins" out there may not be as devilish as we are quick to determine! I mean, we've used up the "let's just charge more per ticket card," don't you think? agreed,...........let's take a simple look at the Bucs as they were last years champ,........they competed 10 times in 2011 including prelims and finals,.........and had a reported budget/income of 175K,.............that means it cost them roughly $17,500.00 per contest to put the corps on the field ,.........I know you could probably slice a bunch of different ways, but the reality of it is the $2000.00 or so paid to the corps by the contest sponsors does not even begin to do the job,............ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 And if it came down to a good old fashioned drum corp donnybrook, they would be the only corps trained in hand to hand combat! Unless Sky comes back :tongue:/> 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 Ok. But is there any evidence to suggest that a younger membership wasn't inevitable anyway? Empire claims to have had their youngest corps ever, and most rookies since 1983, in 2012 with G bugles and no amplification. In some corps cases I'd say yes, it did help. Learning the different key was chasing kids off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UNCGQ Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 agreed,...........let's take a simple look at the Bucs as they were last years champ,........they competed 10 times in 2011 including prelims and finals,.........and had a reported budget/income of 175K,.............that means it cost them roughly $17,500.00 per contest to put the corps on the field ,.........I know you could probably slice a bunch of different ways, but the reality of it is the $2000.00 or so paid to the corps by the contest sponsors does not even begin to do the job,............ . . . in addition to 'total cost per member' being an additional way. But, since for many of the corps, the largest expense is 'travel', that's definitely a good metric to use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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