Jeff Ream Posted January 3, 2014 Share Posted January 3, 2014 As many here are probably aware, DCI itself has downsized due to revenue stream contraints. One of the many, and probably the most readily noticeable, is the lack of funding for full judge panels for most early season DCI Drum Corps shows now. DCI has evolved to the position that judging panels are 50% smaller in numbers in early season shows than in earlier decades,. This is taking place in a simultaneous environment in which the numbers of marchers in each Corps being judged in competition in these early season shows has gone up 20% or more. So economic factors take hold of an activity whether one pays attention to it or not. Financial Mathmatics in the end alsways trumps Semantics. Whether its DCI Drum Corps, Family Budgets, or even the Nation's Federal Debt. yet not all early season shows have the smaller panel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted January 3, 2014 Share Posted January 3, 2014 im sure it was me that said it and I would totally stand by what I said...the buck stops somewhere and at some point it's always management...now if its money decisions, staff, letting others walk all over you..kids not paying..there's always a choice...sometimes hard choices which may or may not be what you want BUT the buck stops with management...most all...( not 100% maybe BUT certainly most de funked corps were because of bad decisions and of course a sign of the times...but still comes to choice...even corps we were with over the years it was common knowledge why certain corps junior as well as all age why they are no longer around....some came back more than once and out again. Some management was so bad ( even with some success for the moment ) that when someone new took over they couldnt get past all the bad that was done................. true but one of the guys crying loudest about expense is the same guy paying for all new guard uniforms at mid season Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted January 3, 2014 Share Posted January 3, 2014 I have not idea who judged the Teal guitarist a few years back...or if anyone on the field did. Maybe John can chime in, as I think he taught them that year. In the band world of USBands it should be the field music judge, as the percussion judge is upstairs, and that score doesn't factor into the final total score (same as with the guard judge). Jeff could chime in about how TOB would handle it in their circuit, as their percussion judge is on the field, I think. This is just off the top, so take it FWIW.... If I were judging a person playing guitar as part of the pit, and I was a judging on the field, I'd be judging things like playing in tune, playing in tempo with the rest of the ensemble, rhythmic accuracy and clarity, the demand of the music the person is playing, anything that the individual music judge can evaluate. Every judge is not as familiar with the intricacies of every instrument they are judging, but if they are trained musicians they can evaluate the performer in areas such as I described, plus more if I really sat down to think about it. An ensemble judge, or effect judge, in the stands evaluates the totality of the sound being produced. Detailed knowledge of how to play a guitar is not important for those folks, just the same as today with any instrument. They should be judging the sound produced by everybody on the field, regardless of who is making that sound. A percussionist judging in the stands may not know the ins and outs of producing a brass sound, but they should be able to evaluate the total ensemble regardless. percussion could comment, IA music ( field) as well as ensemble and GE Music could address it. Now obviously, blend and balance with the ensemble shouldn't be handled downstairs, but on percussion I've called kids out for timing and playing wrong notes. When you're playing a well known rock tune, it's quite obvious LOL 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted January 3, 2014 Share Posted January 3, 2014 Good and honest answer, as nobody else seems to know either. I recognize the expertise of a percussionist to judge a percussion instrument but not so much when we ask the current and former snare drummer to judge the proficiency of the brass line ( or the rock guitarist ).. even in ensemble playing issues with other sections. Likewise, I would not expect a Guard trained person to have the suitable professional experience to adequately judge the ensemble playing abilities of the Percussion line section, in tandem with the brass line playing. Once we ask a judge to step out of his or her line of professional experience and go into areas where they have no more trained experience than most of us here, then it becomes fraught with even more subjectivity. Gosh, wern't things so much easier when all we asked our brass judge was to judge the brass instrumentation and our Percussion judge to judge just the percussion instrument. ?..... Which brings me to " Voice ". Like the rock guitar playing, who judges the voice abilities of the featured soloist in Drum Corps that utilizes her vocal chords in he featured solo instead of the brass chords ? The Brass judge ? The Percussion judge ? ( we can safely eliminate that its not the Guard judge.. or not ? ). What professional training do most DCI judges have in Voice ? I wouldn't want a trained Opera Singer believing that due to his or her abilities as a Singer that this gives the Singer the neccessary expertise to adequately judge the Percussion playing, or the Visual Ensemble or the Music Ensemble playing between the Brass and the Percussion sections in DCI. But maybe thats just me, who knows. more and more percussion folks are in touch with guitars because of their use in indoor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GUARDLING Posted January 3, 2014 Share Posted January 3, 2014 true but one of the guys crying loudest about expense is the same guy paying for all new guard uniforms at mid season and?......its their money...and Im sure hes talking about other things......do you actually know how much or little they actually spent if anything at all? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted January 3, 2014 Share Posted January 3, 2014 Like I've said repeatedly, what if you're blaming something for attendance issues that realistically isn't the cause? I don't know too many people who have run off from drum corps because of amplification. Are there some? Oh, I'm sure. Is it a sizable amount that DCI needs to apologize to? No. That's like, your opinion, man. MikeD clarified this, but no, that's exactly what I didn't say. Hence why I originally said "they don't care" one way or the other so long as it sounds "good" to them. Kids get just as jazzed for brass-only videos and recordings as they do with amps and pit and battery. The problem is DCI doesn't directly organize most of the shows that go on in a summer, do they? Many are hosted by non-DCI entities. Should we dictate what weekend they have their band hullaballoo this summer? I don't know that it will work that way. I agree, I think you're in the significant minority. As a recruiting staff member, the biggest barriers for kids (assuming talent was there) were time, money and better opportunities. Occasionally, there was a death in the family. Right, but, what I'm saying is perhaps DCI values amps/electronics as a driving force for survivability by appealing to designers, instructors and marching members+parents of the country's most talented marching bands. Nailed it. Again, do you think that maybe the staff members and designers just want to use those things, anyways? It's not all about winning for most drum corps. Hell, it's only about winning for a handful of them on a year-to-year basis, yet the others still come out to perform. Well, I'll say this - fuel is out of our control. Prior to 150 we were at 135. To my knowledge, no one added any vehicles because of the move to 150. More food and a few extra horns, sure, but those costs aren't that high. I'd be interested to see the prices corps pay for electronics and the money they get back for them when they turn around and sell them. Unlike horns, they can stick around for a few more years, though.I don't think the "national tour" is a point of argument. Go where the fans are, go where the shows are being put on, make the money. The corps that get new unis regularly have the money to do so, it seems, or they're making a bad business decision. You're over-dramatizing "forced-use," "cost increases" and "hazards." They do take a little bit more time to setup, but it's not that bad. well, in response to me, I'm sure the number that electronics has chased off isn't monstrous in terms of sheer numbers of bodies. But of those I know gone, the amount of revenue DCI made from them isn't a small chunk of change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted January 3, 2014 Share Posted January 3, 2014 You're splitting hairs, but here's food for thought: Crown had, to many, the best hornline in the history of the activity this past summer. Despite this, the designers still elected to use electronics. Why? they obviously didnt have space to add enough contras to replace the low end synth patch? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted January 3, 2014 Share Posted January 3, 2014 and?......its their money...and Im sure hes talking about other things......do you actually know how much or little they actually spent if anything at all? well given the timing of his then semi annual "we need money" campaign....i'm sure not toally free. and yes it's his money. But again, this is the guy crying drum corps is too expensive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GUARDLING Posted January 3, 2014 Share Posted January 3, 2014 well given the timing of his then semi annual "we need money" campaign....i'm sure not toally free. and yes it's his money. But again, this is the guy crying drum corps is too expensive. what non profit doesnt beg for money ALL of the time and spend...and what isnt to expensive..doesnt mean we dont progress and work maybe harder to do the things we choose to do to give the kids we serve the best possible experience....whatever that means to each corps by THEIR standards Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cixelsyd Posted January 3, 2014 Share Posted January 3, 2014 Does a synthesizer 'improve' the tone quality of an un-micced trumpet player? No. Does it 'improve' the ensemble's sound? To some. That is a matter of opinion. Can we move on? Yes, it is a matter of opinion. You see varied opinions on it here. However, in the judging community, there is a single prevailing opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.