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Mulling Over Decision


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A few weeks ago I posted on FB that I was going to leave drum corps. By background is....started marching in upstate NY in 1970 (Royal Coachmen), taught Renegades (NY-1982),Rochester Patriots 1984-89, Hoechster Schlossgarde (Germany) 1987-88, Rochester Crusaders 1990, 2001-2003, Heatwave 2003. Presently teaching HS choral music in FL.

I just seem to have lost interest! I am one of the rare older people here who like where the activity is. I am not happy that drum corps is dying but do appreciate what the remaining corps are doing to try to add someting different using technology. Like it or not, kids today are tech savvy and it is the way of the world. Old days were nice at the time but as the world changes, so does everything else...including drum corps.

I love DCP because of the memories we can share BUT I hat DCP because of the direction some people want to take it. We should be more supportive of this activity rather than go gainst it. What good do we do if we become negative? Negative causes hatred and some of the posts on here are hateful. Most of the blame is put on one man. Maybe that one man is smarter than the rest of us. Maybe drum corps could have died way sooner but the creativeness and the direction taken by that one man has kept DC moving and breathing. I don't know GH and never met him BUT maybe, just maybe, his ideas have kept the activity in DCI from going under. Crazy huh?

So, I sort of helped put a corps together down here but decided not to teach corps. I loved it but didn't feel the excitement anymore. I actually lost it in NY as I saw another corps start to decline. Didn't feel like part of the team my last summer. Maybe I wasn't good enough? I lean that way today because throughout my DC career I was never in any "clique." I was never good at BSing either. I never hung around the right people.

My friends from my first corps were upset that I was talking about leaving. It was nice to hear that they cared but then, I don't see them anymore since I live in FL and they are in NY. I have a FB page for the old corps but I seem to be the only one that posts, so I don't do that anymore.

I just feel that maybe my time is done and so I left the teaching part mostly because I love being with my wife. Love going to breakfast on Saturday morning, shopping and holding hands. That to me is what life is all about! Until 2004 drum corps was my love. My parents were tryingto get me to quit in 1974 and I fought. When I started teaching corps they thought I was nuts! After I started teaching school at 40 years old...it wasn't so bad.

I haven't lost the drive really, still would like to do corps but.....I think it's for younger people now.

Do I sound crazy? Anyone else feel like this?

By the way...I love what the corps are doing today and I applaud the creativity and the education that is happening.

Now carry on!

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A few weeks ago I posted on FB that I was going to leave drum corps. By background is....started marching in upstate NY in 1970 (Royal Coachmen), taught Renegades (NY-1982),Rochester Patriots 1984-89, Hoechster Schlossgarde (Germany) 1987-88, Rochester Crusaders 1990, 2001-2003, Heatwave 2003. Presently teaching HS choral music in FL.

I just seem to have lost interest! I am one of the rare older people here who like where the activity is. I am not happy that drum corps is dying but do appreciate what the remaining corps are doing to try to add someting different using technology. Like it or not, kids today are tech savvy and it is the way of the world. Old days were nice at the time but as the world changes, so does everything else...including drum corps.

I love DCP because of the memories we can share BUT I hat DCP because of the direction some people want to take it. We should be more supportive of this activity rather than go gainst it. What good do we do if we become negative? Negative causes hatred and some of the posts on here are hateful. Most of the blame is put on one man. Maybe that one man is smarter than the rest of us. Maybe drum corps could have died way sooner but the creativeness and the direction taken by that one man has kept DC moving and breathing. I don't know GH and never met him BUT maybe, just maybe, his ideas have kept the activity in DCI from going under. Crazy huh?

So, I sort of helped put a corps together down here but decided not to teach corps. I loved it but didn't feel the excitement anymore. I actually lost it in NY as I saw another corps start to decline. Didn't feel like part of the team my last summer. Maybe I wasn't good enough? I lean that way today because throughout my DC career I was never in any "clique." I was never good at BSing either. I never hung around the right people.

My friends from my first corps were upset that I was talking about leaving. It was nice to hear that they cared but then, I don't see them anymore since I live in FL and they are in NY. I have a FB page for the old corps but I seem to be the only one that posts, so I don't do that anymore.

I just feel that maybe my time is done and so I left the teaching part mostly because I love being with my wife. Love going to breakfast on Saturday morning, shopping and holding hands. That to me is what life is all about! Until 2004 drum corps was my love. My parents were tryingto get me to quit in 1974 and I fought. When I started teaching corps they thought I was nuts! After I started teaching school at 40 years old...it wasn't so bad.

I haven't lost the drive really, still would like to do corps but.....I think it's for younger people now.

Do I sound crazy?

Well, yes. You tell the rest of us to support modern drum corps regardless of our own personal feelings, but you cannot even follow your own advice?

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No idea Keith but took a break for even watching corps for 10 years when other (read: more important) things hit my life. Now taking time off from playing for same reasons but will probably get the DCA Internet package in 2014 but no live shows.

Hard to understand until it hits but life changes and priorities change. And there is such a thing as burnout... Maybe this is part of what is going on...

And cixelsyd; don't judge until you've gone thru it yourself. And I don't see where Keiths post is going against DC.

Edited by JimF-LowBari
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I'm convinced I can NEVER give-up drum corps. I will remain interested in what it's doing. I will appreciate the many people I've met here and look forward to hearing how they continue to fit themselves into this wonderful pastime. I also accept, I've grown older and find enjoyment in other places, too. Adjustments can be made.

The entire Fan Network development is perfect for where I am right now. Watching this year's DCI Semi-Finals convinced me, while different, today's corps are better than ever. Simply amazing! Amazing in ways difficult to recognize as part of a live audience. People are always quick to say, "You're crazy, nothing beats being there live." Well, OK. True for you, but no longer true for me. That's all. We can still be friends.

I'll still visit Drum Corps Planet daily, add my opinion when I believe I can make an honest contribution, proudly based on real experience. I plan to continue donating to drum corps causes, keeping eye and ear to how it grows. My Fan Network exposure will be expanded. It fits me better.

After all the years, I'm still here. I will ALWAYS be!

Edited by Fred Windish
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So Keith what is "leaving"? No more helping or not following the activty (even on DCP) at all?

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Leaving......as in getting off of all DC related pages such as DCP and FB. Letting someone else run the Royal Coachmen page.

I realized that the bus has passed me by. I love the activity but I don't belong here anymore. I originally came here to reminisce about the years that I marched. Then I started seeing the negative side of this activity. People unhappy with what horns were being used, electronics and management of the top corps.

So Keith what is "leaving"? No more helping or not following the activty (even on DCP) at all?

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Leaving......as in getting off of all DC related pages such as DCP and FB. Letting someone else run the Royal Coachmen page.

I realized that the bus has passed me by. I love the activity but I don't belong here anymore. I originally came here to reminisce about the years that I marched. Then I started seeing the negative side of this activity. People unhappy with what horns were being used, electronics and management of the top corps.

OK thanks for the explaination. Thought DC had passed me by years back so don't follow all aspects of the activity. As for people being unhappy, well I heard gripes back in 1975 so used to it. But people having to insult others who disagree with them... well IMO that's closed minded and again IMO being closed minded = being an jerk so bleep 'em...

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Then I started seeing the negative side of this activity. People unhappy with what horns were being used, electronics and management of the top corps.

Unless you live in an isolated world, you will see that wherever you go.

As a choral teacher do you not have parents/boosters who complain?

Opinions are like . . . can't remember the rest smile.gif

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Hi Keith,

Here is my take on it... I go to one show a year and it is in June because I live in California. When I go to that show, all this DCP vitrol doesn't exist. Sure I suppose there could be some jerk spouting off while his team is getting the short end of the competitive stick, but for the most part, it is a bunch of nice people going to watch what they love, or to watch those who they love, doing what they love to do.

Here on these boards however, it is a different deal. People are much bolder and far more brash here than in person, dare I say this includes me? Well it does... People are willing to take a position on the ridiculous here and no one really knows who they are, unless they put who they really are in their signature line... Some do...

So Keith... If you have to walk away completely, I will miss you and I do wish you well... But maybe it would be good to take a breather here for the off season, let us jerks slug it out over who should have what mindset while marching, to make it a more positive experience for the watcher! LOL Then at the beginning of next season... even if she isn't all that into it... Take Mrs. Hall out on a date, and end up at a drum corps show. No need to be the expert and no need to be in charge... Just watch some fun drum corps holding hands with your honey!

If I had 3 wishes, I would use this one up just for you two...

Tony

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Marching band/drum corps is an extra curricular thing. Interests change over the years: we're human! I used to be an avid MLB fan, but now for one reason or another (probably my teams suck) I barely follow MLB casually. If you're not feeling interested in drum corps, then why continue to spend time and money on it if you will just walk away feeling upset.

This is similar to what happened with me. I aged-out in 1998 & moved across the country summer of 1999. Drum corps kind of became "out of sight/out of mind" for me. I was kind of a traditionalist and didn't like brass key changes, mic'ing, amping, etc at first. So I stepped away and didn't really follow the activity. Summer of 2004, I started working with a HS band and felt like I needed to "check in" to see what was going on. I went to a "Tour of Champions" show in Southern CA and was generally blown away! After a few years off I came back to DCI to see all of the cool stuff going on, and from that perspective I realized there were so many awesome things I liked I could ignore the stuff I didn't like so much: it really was similar to me being a youngin' and first discovering drum corps in 1990 where I hyped the stuff I loved and ignored the shows I didn't. I have a much better appreciation for the activity than I had even as a marching member in the late-90's (I honestly feel like I marched during the worst era of DCI, from mid-late 90's - there were great things, for sure, but generally a lot of mediocrity + a lot less corps).

I surely would've continued down the bitter dino route had I not stepped away for awhile. Perhaps the same will happen with you. If you love something, set it free: if it returns it's meant to be. If not, something new will fill its void.

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