Jeff Ream Posted November 5, 2013 Share Posted November 5, 2013 Which do we care more about as spectators? As people trying to grow Drum Corps? I'll be..well...me aka brutally honest. I have sat through more DCA prelims than many on here. And while I appreciate small corps, let's be 100% honest....an overwhelming majority have been painful to sit through as a paying customer. Sure, there have been some one offs, but not many. It's not all size either. A lot of it is what the corps TRIED TO DO with their size. Still to this day you see Class A corps designing shows that will not work without the horses to make it work. I'd name names, but go read reviews. yes, we want to grow corps.....but do these corps realize that by designing as they do, they not only #### themselves with the sheets, but also in generating interest? if you see a small corps out there trying to play like they have 60 brass with an extremely busy but dirty as hell drum book.....would you be interested in them? Do you think potential recruits would be? I sure as hell wouldn't be. Not too long ago I was judging a band show, and I saw a smaller corps set up there trying to recruit. This was a corps that had been a power, but had fallen on hard times. So, did they show the recent stuff on their videos that was...not as good as many years past? Hell no. They showed the good times. And it's appearing to pay off because look at the recent growth in size and quality at Bush. great to see their recruiting presence the last two weekends as well. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted November 5, 2013 Share Posted November 5, 2013 WEll it works allright. Depending on your definintion of working. You are seeing almost ZERO start up corps coming to DCA now days. Some of those corps might just have fallen through the cracks because of the 35 rule. I bet of you asked them if they could entertain the answer would have been yes. I bet if you asked the audience the answer would be yes they could entertain. But lets protect the show sponsors and kill the growth of DCA and keep that 35 rule. It Works! sorry, but before the rule, very few were entertained. How do I know? Because very few were there to watch them. Most commonly heard reason around town: "those small corps suck, so we'll get there when the better Class A corps come on". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Windish Posted November 6, 2013 Share Posted November 6, 2013 Let's get right down to it . . . So long as a corps comes out LOUD and boisterous, it goes over very well. (might not win, of course) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOSMarcher Posted November 6, 2013 Share Posted November 6, 2013 Mini-Corps are not competitive corps. They are not performing (usually) on a field with drill. They are designed for smaller venues, or as exhibition filler. Yes, I know... though I do not believe that dis-credits what I said. Star United performed in exhibition at finals for several seasons. Each time I had the privilege to see them, they were very entertaining. My comment was based on the statement that groups under 35 cannot entertain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOSMarcher Posted November 6, 2013 Share Posted November 6, 2013 Entertaining? Sure. Competitive? Nope. Ok... though I did not make a claim that they would be competitive, just a statement that they have the ability to entertain. I am nit-picking, but just trying to make the point that an undersized group can be entertaining and possibly more so than a class A group that meets the minimum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Windish Posted November 6, 2013 Share Posted November 6, 2013 Entertaining? At less than 35 members, sure. But, NOT effectively entertaining in a stadium setting. It's simply too difficult for a group that small to have much of an impact on an audience more than 20 yards off to the side. Put them on a stage, capture them on video, it can work. On today's drum corps field of competition, outdoors in the flesh, under the circumstances . . . NO ! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fran Haring Posted November 6, 2013 Share Posted November 6, 2013 Entertaining? Sure. Competitive? Nope. I'll disagree to an extent about the "competitive" thing. I gotta figure, Star United's horn line would have a great shot at winning high brass in Class A. No offense meant to any of the other Class A corps... but I have yet to hear a horn line of Star United's size (heck... of any size) in Class A that can match up to them. Field, say, 14 of those horns, a small, yet solid, drum line and guard (easier said than done, I know)... and I would think Star United would at least be a contender for a finalist spot in Class A. But you're right.... a mini-corps, as currently composed (25 members, mostly brass), would have a tough time stacking up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camel lips Posted November 6, 2013 Share Posted November 6, 2013 I'll be..well...me aka brutally honest. I have sat through more DCA prelims than many on here. And while I appreciate small corps, let's be 100% honest....an overwhelming majority have been painful to sit through as a paying customer. Lets tell the whole story here. And the reason MANY of them were painful to watch is because of programming issues. I saw some really talented hornlines that were painful to watch trying to pull off stuff that like Chase, Tower Of Power and Gershwin and trying to maintain 10 t0 10 field coverage when what they should have been trying to do was a book they could handle and staying inside the 40's. Lets face it no body does it better in Class A programming wise than Govies. If you look at them from a programming standpoint they know how to write for "smallish". If more "smallish" corps would understand this principle and not bite off more than they could chew they would not nearly be as painful to watch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fran Haring Posted November 7, 2013 Share Posted November 7, 2013 Lets face it no body does it better in Class A programming wise than Govies. If you look at them from a programming standpoint they know how to write for "smallish". If more "smallish" corps would understand this principle and not bite off more than they could chew they would not nearly be as painful to watch. Great point. I agree. I watched nearly all of class A prelims this year, and it seemed more corps on the Class A side got that "Govies memo" this past season. The White Sabers certainly did. They and the Govies put on a clinic on how to design a show for a smaller corps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted November 7, 2013 Share Posted November 7, 2013 Lets tell the whole story here. And the reason MANY of them were painful to watch is because of programming issues. I saw some really talented hornlines that were painful to watch trying to pull off stuff that like Chase, Tower Of Power and Gershwin and trying to maintain 10 t0 10 field coverage when what they should have been trying to do was a book they could handle and staying inside the 40's. Lets face it no body does it better in Class A programming wise than Govies. If you look at them from a programming standpoint they know how to write for "smallish". If more "smallish" corps would understand this principle and not bite off more than they could chew they would not nearly be as painful to watch. yes I think I did address that in another post Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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