Ohio State University

[Newseditor44]

Oh, and by the way...

GO BUCKS!

[N.E. Brigand]

If ALL a drum corps show provides is educational naval gazing...

I can't remember: is the U.S.S. Belly Button a destroyer or a frigate?

[N.E. Brigand]

What a bunch of premadonna's we've become.

So ... Bette Midler, say, as opposed to Britney Spears?

[RContra]

Without mentioning the year (it was in the 2000s), full disclosure--I marched in OSU's horn line for one season as a music ed major (switched majors after my third year...whoops!). Why did I say they look and sound bad? Because they do. But then again, they don't really care about that. They exist to entertain, not make sonorous brass sounds and march with impeccable technique. It's ok to acknowledge that they're not serving music education first. That's FINE. :) They're an entertainment product, the marching activity's version of pop music.

I really like the band Rancid, but am fully aware the singers both sound bad. That doesn't mean I shouldn't like them. I just dig what they do. But I definitely don't pretend that just because I like them and they put on an entertaining show that they're great at playing music fro an educational perspective. That doesn't make me elitist. It makes me aware and accepting.

I only stuck around a year because it felt like I wasn't doing the musician in me much good by playing in a line where tone quality, blend, etc. isn't at the forefront. But on the flip side, I had a great time playing with quite a few musicians who were there just to have a good time and have fun playing loud in front of a bajillion people at The Shoe. Good for them, it just wasn't good for me.

I do, though, have a tough time calling them "TBDBITL," considering they're not even the 3rd best band around Columbus.

[Lincoln]

I find the elitism I read in some of these posts both entertaining and disturbing, and I think it speaks a little to the reasons for the decline in participation and attendance in the drum corps activity. Saying the OSU band "only" entertains, and doesn't provide "excellence" or "educational aspects" drips of snobbery. If ALL a drum corps show provides is educational naval gazing, I'm sure the 3 people who like it will be thrilled. That's where this activity is drifting, IMO. It used to be that marching bands learned from drum corps. Sadly, now I think drum corps could learn from marching bands.

I would say they are currently both learning from each other.

Watch some of the band videos on Youtube and you see that a lot of the groups are heading in the exact same direction that drum corps is - considering that so many designers/instructors in drum corps also work with marching bands and are responsible for where band design is heading.

At the same time, in some aspects bands introduced change ahead of drum corps (as in the use of electronics). Isn't it also true that some ideas are "tested" in the band world before being used in drum corps?

As for the decline of attendance in DCI, I think it has a lot to do with other contributing elements as well - namely MONEY.

[MikeD]

So ... Bette Midler, say, as opposed to Britney Spears?

Or maybe Cher.

[IllianaLancerContra]

Without mentioning the year (it was in the 2000s), full disclosure--I marched in OSU's horn line for one season as a music ed major (switched majors after my third year...whoops!). Why did I say they look and sound bad? Because they do. But then again, they don't really care about that. They exist to entertain, not make sonorous brass sounds and march with impeccable technique. It's ok to acknowledge that they're not serving music education first. That's FINE. :) They're an entertainment product, the marching activity's version of pop music.

I really like the band Rancid, but am fully aware the singers both sound bad. That doesn't mean I shouldn't like them. I just dig what they do. But I definitely don't pretend that just because I like them and they put on an entertaining show that they're great at playing music fro an educational perspective. That doesn't make me elitist. It makes me aware and accepting.

I only stuck around a year because it felt like I wasn't doing the musician in me much good by playing in a line where tone quality, blend, etc. isn't at the forefront. But on the flip side, I had a great time playing with quite a few musicians who were there just to have a good time and have fun playing loud in front of a bajillion people at The Shoe. Good for them, it just wasn't good for me.

I do, though, have a tough time calling them "TBDBITL," considering they're not even the 3rd best band around Columbus.

I remember a parade in downtown Chicago in the early 1980's. As we were warming up, 2 brass players from the Chicago symphony happened to stop & watch us. I will never forget what one of them said:

"I would love to be able to play as loud as I can without having to worry about covering up the %%^#'ng strings."

[Newseditor44]

I do, though, have a tough time calling them "TBDBITL," considering they're not even the 3rd best band around Columbus.

On any given Saturday, there are 100,000 people in the Shoe that would gladly argue you are wrong. But just like in life, the word "good" is subjective. And that's all that matters.

O-H!

[N.E. Brigand]

On any given Saturday, there are 100,000 people in the Shoe that would gladly argue you are wrong.

It seems likely that a not-insignificant portion of the 100,000 folks at football games are not paying much attention to the band. I notice, for instance, that there is a youtube clip of TBDBITL playing last year's "video game" show at a marching band competition OSU hosted. This clip comes with a note emphasizing that it's easier to actually hear the band with that audience than it is in the cilp from the game.

Edited November 11, 2013 by N.E. Brigand

[Newseditor44]

It seems likely that a not-insignificant portion of the 100,000 folks at football games are not paying much attention to the band. I notice, for instance, that there is a youtube clip of TBDBITL playing last year's "video game" show at a marching band competition OSU hosted. This clip comes with a note emphasizing that it's easier to actually hear the band with that audience than it is in the cilp from the game.

So what in the hell do you want exactly? An exact count of the number of people actually paying attention, as if that we're an intellginet means by which to gauge the interest in any halftime performance. You pack 105,000 people into a stadium and I guarentee it would be hard to hear any marching band.

The fact is, these kids are flat out good. For a group with limited performance time, and college students that have other classes and obligations, they get it done as best they can. They are a sense of pride for the school they represent, and are highly respected in their community and by their peers. But most of all, they work their butts off and have fun doing it. Another triumph for music education and for the fans of the Buckeyes!