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DCA Should Limit and Standardize Pit Size


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In the name of competitive parity, and to promote the economic survival and competitiveness of drum corps, DCA should standardize and limit the size of all pit percussion sections. Furthermore, DCA should immediately nullify any plans to add the expense and logistical difficulties of amplification and electronics to its member corps.

Senior corps is small, and many are not surviving. The mainstream fan base is minimal. DCA should take steps to ensure survival of its member corps and the growth of its fan base. Adding another expense and more logistical difficulties for the corps to remain competitive is not a business plan. It's a hurdle.

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I get your point about amps and agree on that aspect but isnt there already a limit? Not actually numbers wise but room in the pit box. They already cram in there pretty tight. I dont think you need to worry about them getting bigger.

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I get your point about amps and agree on that aspect but isnt there already a limit? Not actually numbers wise but room in the pit box. They already cram in there pretty tight. I dont think you need to worry about them getting bigger.

Maybe not the instrumentation....the MEMBERS, however...

*looks sadly at gut*

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I get your point about amps and agree on that aspect but isnt there already a limit? Not actually numbers wise but room in the pit box. They already cram in there pretty tight. I dont think you need to worry about them getting bigger.

The 5 yard enhancement from the front sideline runs the length of the field; there is no so called "pit box" any longer.

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Yes there is a limit. 128. So if the Limit was 10 for the pit, you could have 40 snares, 2 trumpets, a mello, 2 baris, a tuba, 12 drum majors, 30 bass drums, 26 cymbals, a flag, a rifle, a tenor, a bass. Or any variation.

The extra drum majors are to help carry the amplification.

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While I have chosen to stay out of most discussions - after all - I AM retired... I will make a point here which might seem to support Lee's comments:

When I was corps director of a top 5 DCA corps, as a businessman budget was everything. One of the things I tracked was how much was spent per performer overall and then I broke it down per section. It was as you would expect... Horn line was by far the cheapest due to larger number and the number of seasons a set of horns lasts. Color Guard was next cheapest. Then came the BIG expenses - first drum line due to the amount of ancillary spending necessary and the cost of instruction for so few members... had a staff member for each small group: Bass Drums, Tenors, Snares and even cymbals... Then came the PIT... The amount of money spent on the pit per person - instruction, ancillary items, amotized cost of equipment etc. was ridiculous... it was enough to make me sick. It made it obvious that the beginning of the end of the activity I have shared with you for over half a century was in the late 70's when the pit as we now know it began.

The good news is that the pit gave opportunities for those performers that might have otherwise never have happened. Drum Corps is all about people (or at least is supposed to be) and I have many dear friends who played in the pit and deserve all the credit that can be possible to give to them.

BUT, with the advent of electronics and its extreme cost, Lee's comments about limiting the pit some how seem to deserve consideration.

Probably because I devoted such a large part of my life to this activity, but it seems now that every week I lose someone who was like a brother to me. This morning Joey Geswaldo, last week Dave "Waxer" Hayden - who's next? Whenever looking at the activity, its costs and its changes PLEASE remember the PEOPLE... and make decisions balanced by the people those decisions effect.

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I have to say that I am more than a bit affled by all of the concerns being raised about amplification being the economic ruin of drum corps. You can easily mic an entire pit for no more than the cost of a new tuba. Sure, you can go out and spend as much as you want, but the amplification can easily be done for very little cost...and that's if you choose to amplify. Seems like that is an awful big bang for the buck. Making an entire grouup of 8-12 people audible for the price of making one tuba player audible. I really think we are making a mountain out of a mole hill and just looking for reasons to shoot it down.

Dan

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