KeithHall Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 BITD we had high mark time. Everybody did it! How many former members who are in their 50's and 60's or more, have bad knees? Thanks to the Bridgemen (the ones after St. Andrew's was removed) for adding the low mark time As a trumpet player I never got the whole concept of valve/rotor. I could do it but it made NO sense. School age kids were playing the trumpet, or other brass instruments, with 3 valves. Heck, at least on a trumpet we could play ALL the notes! Then someone said, "Hey lets make two valves!" Why weren't they smart enough to just add the third already? Hmmmm. Carrying timpani's? A novelty yes but how many former drum and bugle corps timpani players from the early to mid 70's have bad backs? Oh and then how about that bright idea to carry a rack of chimes (27th Lancers), who's bright idea was that? Drum corps got smart later in the 80's by grounding everything in the "pit." Now young kids don't have to worry about carrying around a ton of weight, they have a cart pull up with all the instruments. Color guards....BITD they wore the same uniform and riding boots, or before that "go go" boots and even before that the white or black marching boots (stylish!). Today, they are more noticeable because they wear completely different costumes. Can I use the word costumes? The kids don't use flag pole holsters anymore. When was the last time you saw a corps today present arms? The color guards are free to express the music. Drummers play more notes today than ever before. Gone are the basic rudiments that all drummers knew prior to the 1980's. Well not gone entirely as they are hidden in the music somewhere. Music....BITD we played the latest hit by Frank Sinatra and everyone knew all the music. Today, even when they play an older tune they put a new spin on it. I like how creative they are today. Corps directors are professionals today! BITD corps directors were fathers who drove a truck for their day job. These guys would put up their own money to keep the corps going. How crazy is that? Today they have directors who have Doctorates in Business and could probably run for President. They are way above us...just ask them! Even the corps dietary needs are better today than in the early 70's. I remember every Burger King, McDonalds,and Harvey's. I remember a Coke or Sprite was the drink of choice after a long hot day of being in the sun. Water? Gatorade? Today corps are better because they take care of the nutritional needs of the corps. They have conditioning experts on staff. Knee braces? We didn't know what those were in 1974! So all you older corps people that think life was so much better "back in the day" the next time you complain about your knee or your back....go back in time to your days carrying all that weight or pounding your feet into the ground...think of all those wonderful memories. For all you young people out there...Thank the Bridgemen! If it wasn't for their marching innovation, you would be hurting like alot of us. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 ...and because of some of the innovations; we have several hundred less drum corps. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fecontra Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 Although I understand where you are coming from , I would much rather be at the 1966 AL Nationals or the 1972 Dream than in the stands today. I am 64 and my knees and back are fine , short of some stuff incurred from Basic Training Army style and some dumb judgements in motorcycle riding. I enjoy today's shows and the work folks put in , but ( IMHO ) comparing apples and oranges is unnecessary. frankiE 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 (edited) Gad.... why compare the two.... I belong to an antique car club and just applied the OP to comparing eras of cars. Sorry Keith but sounds dumb. The past was what it was and today is what it is and comparing the two is that apples and oranges thingee..... And think my arthritic toes came from college crap ###ed high mark time style.... Edited February 4, 2013 by JimF-LowBari Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomPeashey Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 Gad.... why compare the two.... I belong to an antique car club and just applied the OP to comparing eras of cars. Sorry Keith but sounds dumb. The past was what it was and today is what it is and comparing the two is that apples and oranges thingee..... And think my arthritic toes came from college crap ###ed high mark time style.... I tend to agree with Jim, but I certainly understand where you are coming from Keith... and for the record... had to have both knees operated on but they work fine now... do have a bad back also, but that is more directly related to the car accident after the batavia show in 1965, but that isn't drum corps' fault (or is it?)... and of course the fact that for much of my career I was over 300# didn't help... And to the person who remembered and preferred '66 Washington Legion and the Dream... I was at both and certainly understand what you mean there... they were both great shows... RFK Stadium of course, was a monumental part of drum corps history... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skeptic Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 Where do you draw the line between "back in the day" and today? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 (edited) Where do you draw the line between "back in the day" and today? I like.... I was just thinking that my Alumni-type corps uses 3v horns and has played charts done by Cadets within the last ten years ("Patriotic Medley" and "Star Spangled Banner"). And definitely taxes my musical abilities more than (my) BITD and that all ain't caused by age. Different?.. yes.... better?.... too different to make a distinction. Personally would have liked to have seen AL Nats at DC but more the retreat than anything else.... Edit: Added "my" before BITD before I miss the point of what I responded to. Edited February 4, 2013 by JimF-LowBari Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeithHall Posted February 4, 2013 Author Share Posted February 4, 2013 Okay...just for the record..... I posted this with a "tongue in cheek" attitude. If you don't know, I really liked the old days BUT I really like todays corps too. I did this to just have fun and before it gets out of hand I should come forward and let you all know my intent. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callawyn Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 (edited) Its not that people are opposed to change, just that we're opposed to some of the changes that made the activity much worse. I've never met a single person that thought grounding the pit was a bad idea. Marching timpani, marimba, xylo's etc vs grounding full size versions of the same instrument, there's no comparison. But then you have amplified voice ("Yowza, yowza, yowza!!"). Interesting thing about voice, spoken or sung, on the field in drum corps: I've never heard a single performance where it was used and not amplified that it wasn't really cool (Cadets' "Amen", which drew penalties, all the way to Bluecoats whole hornline singing in "The Fighter", and everything in between). 100% cool. Amplify it, and it sucks every time. The only BD show that is completely unbearable to listen to is that "yowza, yowza, yowza" show. Crown's 'Triple Crown' show, with the horse race, you'd have to be in a coma to watch that show and not get that they were doing a horse race, so why amp a pit person to narrate? Killed it. The pre-recorded ones are the worst. Changing from valve/slide to valve/rotor to two-valve bugles? Again, never met anyone that didn't think it was a good idea or didn't improve the activity. I'm playing on 3-valve G bugle now with the Bridgemen and wouldn't ever want to go back to 2-valve. But the Bb instruments, while economically a good move for the corps, and while they make it easier for bad hornlines to play in tune, just don't have the power G bugles did. Particularly, the main problem seems to be with trumpets vs sopranos. Its not just a different sound, the trumpets just don't carry in a stadium the way sopranos did. Listen to Madison Scouts last year when they played Malaguena, when they get to the hit and the hornline plays full out, the trumpet voice gets buried and the melody disappears. No one misses the high mark time. Occassionally it gets used, briefly, for effect, but it was a bear to play while doing it and it was visually exposed and needed constant practice to look clean. Good riddance. But, do we really need synthesizers doubling the bass line for the entire show when corps are marching 16-20 tubas? You've got that glorious low brass sound from solid players on quality instruments, plenty of them to fill a stadium with sound, and you completely bury it under electronic crap from a synthesizer (often with cheap speakers making it even worse). Please, spare me. The last time I saw Teal Sound perform live was 2 years ago at Allentown. I spent half the show looking back and forth between a speaker on the sideline and the kid on bass guitar that was feeding it. ###### me off the entire show. That one kid on bass guitar was burying the sound of the entire corps from start to finish. So, yeah, a great many things have improved. Some of the innovations have really sucked. I don't mind that they keep trying new things, but how about trying them provisionally and if they suck ditch them? That Cadets show with Sara and her beau on a platform, narrating a teenage girls wetdream, in between brief clips of music from the corps (which, granted, were awesome) completely unrelated to the narration should have, but did not, killed the whole idea of amplified voice in DCI permanently. Lets keep the changes that worked, repeal the rules changes that are getting in the way of the performances. One last thing: I don't think any of these changes had much effect on audience attendance or corps dying off. Rather, it was the change to full summer tours in the early 80's that profoundly changed the activity. Only corps that could afford the full tour survived, everyone else went belly up. The attendance at shows declined as a result of the decline of the number of corps: most attendees are people that have been involved in the activity, along with whoever they bring to the show. Fewer members in the 80's = fewer fans in the stands in the 90's, same thing for the next decade. Edited February 4, 2013 by Callawyn 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 Okay...just for the record..... I posted this with a "tongue in cheek" attitude. If you don't know, I really liked the old days BUT I really like todays corps too. I did this to just have fun and before it gets out of hand I should come forward and let you all know my intent. Ooopsssss..... Of course if you would have said how much fun it was carrying tymps we would have REALLY wondered about ya.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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