Is This Still Fun?

[KeithHall]

I have been seeing alot of negativity. People being negative toward corps and individuals on DCP. Is this the activity that I fell in love with in 1970? In 2001 I was asked to join the staff of the Rochester Crusaders, which was and still is an honor that I will never forget. I loved drum and bugle corps....Then came RAMD and DCP. Now, it seems that there is more negativity than positive.

I guess it is the way of the world these days due to social media. People hide behind a screen name and spout out things just to seem important. Oh well, I haven't really enjoyed drum corps like I used to anyways...not because of the changes but because of a few people.

Anyone else feel the same or similar?

[The Other Mike]

I have been seeing alot of negativity. People being negative toward corps and individuals on DCP. Is this the activity that I fell in love with in 1970? In 2001 I was asked to join the staff of the Rochester Crusaders, which was and still is an honor that I will never forget. I loved drum and bugle corps....Then came RAMD and DCP. Now, it seems that there is more negativity than positive.

I guess it is the way of the world these days due to social media. People hide behind a screen name and spout out things just to seem important. Oh well, I haven't really enjoyed drum corps like I used to anyways...not because of the changes but because of a few people.

Anyone else feel the same or similar?

So, are you experiencing the negativity in person, or mostly just on line. Around these parts there was always negativity which resulted the corps problems here but they were mostly behind closed doors or in bars after practice. Not so much during practice or performances. With the internet many people who would never be negative in person now have a platform.

[KeithHall]

I receive a little from some people I wouldn't think would be like that and then the little bit from the "experts" on DCP. I don't take it personally, it's just seems like some people are miserable and they have to let everyone know. I am happy talking about the old days and doing trivia, that is why I came to DCP. Now I find myself trying to support people and corps that are getting jumped on.

Maybe I should just go away because my days in corps are over. Something for me to think about. I like fun things and sadly very little is fun on DCP.

So, are you experiencing the negativity in person, or mostly just on line. Around these parts there was always negativity which resulted the corps problems here but they were mostly behind closed doors or in bars after practice. Not so much during practice or performances. With the internet many people who would never be negative in person now have a platform.

[reallyoldfrt]

I think we all understand why you feel bummed out. The activity IS dying. That is a fact, not an opinion. From a high water mark of over a thousand units in North America alone in the 1950s and 1960s we now have about 100 units worldwide. The community corps is gone. 90% of all kids who might be interested are now systematically excluded by current conditions. It is sad. Anyone who grew up with drum corps has to feel badly about the activity, and it's apparent lack of a viable future.

[alankarls]

I think we all understand why you feel bummed out. The activity IS dying. That is a fact, not an opinion. From a high water mark of over a thousand units in North America alone in the 1950s and 1960s we now have about 100 units worldwide. The community corps is gone. 90% of all kids who might be interested are now systematically excluded by current conditions. It is sad. Anyone who grew up with drum corps has to feel badly about the activity, and it's apparent lack of a viable future.

I agree. I wrote a column in DCW in the early 80s that was a faux press release from about 2015 in which drum corps was like major league baseball: a corps was trading some players to another corps and pulling up players from the minors. Even then, you could see that the small group of people who had taken over the activity realized that the fewer corps there were, the higher the salaries that those who remained with those corps could get. Early on, DCI funded the top 25 corps. Those who ran the top 12 stopped that and accumulated all the money in the hands of the top twelve. And in their own hands.

They narrowed the market, narrowed the number of people who could hold the top positions and, since they held those positions, they ensured that they would remain in the top positions and earn the big salaries that the narrowed market allowed. The irony was that DCI was formed to promote drum corps, but the main result was that DCI promoted increased salaries for a very limited number of people, and that those few people ensure that they remain where they are and get the salaries that they could not earn anywhere else for their talent level. The ultimate irony was that, as collateral damage, DCI killed the activity.

The anger I see is that those of us who saw enriched lives because drum corps took us out of our lower middle class environment, showed us the world, and gave us dreams for advancement, are sad that today's lower middle class youth have no such activity to raise them up.

I'm glad that well off music students get to have fun in the activity today. But if it were up to me, I'd give the activity back to neighborhood kids who don't have many opportunities. And force those who want to earn big money in music go to broadway or hollywood where they belong.

[Michael Boo]

So, are you experiencing the negativity in person, or mostly just on line. Around these parts there was always negativity which resulted the corps problems here but they were mostly behind closed doors or in bars after practice. Not so much during practice or performances. With the internet many people who would never be negative in person now have a platform.

Especially since they don't have to use their real name.

[Michael Boo]

I think we all understand why you feel bummed out. The activity IS dying. That is a fact, not an opinion. From a high water mark of over a thousand units in North America alone in the 1950s and 1960s we now have about 100 units worldwide. The community corps is gone. 90% of all kids who might be interested are now systematically excluded by current conditions. It is sad. Anyone who grew up with drum corps has to feel badly about the activity, and it's apparent lack of a viable future.

The marching music activity is thriving, but the numbers are now mostly with the competitive high school marching bands, which were barely a "thing" in the 1950s and 1960s. What the marching bands are now is what the community corps were back then. The kids are getting their marching fix in their marching bands, so most of them don't need to be in a drum corps to get some of the same positive effects kids of a half century ago got in drum corps. These positive effects include responsibility, camaraderie and contributing to something bigger than themselves. It's rare anymore for a high school student to not have access to a marching band that doesn't do at least a little travel to competitions.

Many of the prime instructors of these bands came out of drum corps, and their students have gone one to teach more bands. Therefore, one can say the influence of drum corps has never been stronger, because now competitive marching bands are found all over the country. Very few kids are now excluded from being in a marching unit. You mention there were over 1000 corps in North America back then...but now there are way more than a thousand competitive marching bands.

So, the marching activity, of which drum corps is still its most influential subset, is stronger than ever. You just need to know where to look. For those who wish to enjoy the ultimate marching music experience, drum corps is still available and will continue to attract the best of the best.

[rayfallon]

I have been seeing alot of negativity. People being negative toward corps and individuals on DCP. Is this the activity that I fell in love with in 1970? In 2001 I was asked to join the staff of the Rochester Crusaders, which was and still is an honor that I will never forget. I loved drum and bugle corps....Then came RAMD and DCP. Now, it seems that there is more negativity than positive.

I guess it is the way of the world these days due to social media. People hide behind a screen name and spout out things just to seem important. Oh well, I haven't really enjoyed drum corps like I used to anyways...not because of the changes but because of a few people.

Anyone else feel the same or similar?

I've probably said this before - it stops being fun for some people. My younger brother got off the bus in like 1974 (after St Rita's). Nothing anyone has done since them has impressed him, and he was one heck of a horn player. It just stopped being his thing. My favorite corps/show of all times was 1984 Garfield, but I continue to find the occasional DCI or DCA corps inspiring. Undoubtedly my bus stop is coming up in the relatively near future (unless the hearse beats it). I don't think it's endemic of DCP, although it's way easier to ##### and whine than to support, volunteer, or just continue to evolve.

The activity is still a gas. Go watch some of these kids rehearse. They still live for the music and for each other. They'll be on the bus (literally and figuratively) long after we run out of steam (in some cases GAS) on DCP, RAMD, or Facebook.

[rayfallon]

The marching music activity is thriving, but the numbers are now mostly with the competitive high school marching bands, which were barely a "thing" in the 1950s and 1960s. What the marching bands are now is what the community corps were back then. The kids are getting their marching fix in their marching bands, so most of them don't need to be in a drum corps to get some of the same positive effects kids of a half century ago got in drum corps. These positive effects include responsibility, camaraderie and contributing to something bigger than themselves. It's rare anymore for a high school student to not have access to a marching band that doesn't do at least a little travel to competitions.

Many of the prime instructors of these bands came out of drum corps, and their students have gone one to teach more bands. Therefore, one can say the influence of drum corps has never been stronger, because now competitive marching bands are found all over the country. Very few kids are now excluded from being in a marching unit. You mention there were over 1000 corps in North America back then...but now there are way more than a thousand competitive marching bands.

So, the marching activity, of which drum corps is still its most influential subset, is stronger than ever. You just need to know where to look. For those who wish to enjoy the ultimate marching music experience, drum corps is still available and will continue to attract the best of the best.

As always, eloquently put.

[KeithHall]

Don't get me wrong....I love what these kids are doing today and wish them all nothing but the best.

I have seen the best side and the worst side of drum corps. A few years ago I walked away from it because I was (and still am) in love with my wife. There was to much partying for me and as a high school music teacher, and today you have to be careful about everything you do because the one time you let your guard down someone will stab you in the back and your career is over.

As far as negativity on DCP, as I said, it's just the very small minority that ruin it. I have the utmost respect for many of you, some I have met personally and others I would like to meet someday.

I will never be in a Hall of Fame anywhere and no one cares about what I did when I did drum corps, marching band and winter guard. I can say I had a great deal of fun and learned life lessons that have helped me become the teacher, husband, father and man that I am today. No one can take that away from me.

Some of our "experts" should step back and really try to understand where this activity was in the 1960's and 70's and how we got to todays corps. Instead of tearing apart the past or , in some cases, trying to tear apart the future. Nothing can be as it once was as things are constantly changing but we must remain flexible to meet the changes that shape our activity. Be accepting towards the change. If you don't like it then get away from it!