Daave Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 From an anecdotal perspective Daave, I think you're spot on! I see what you did there. Nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HockeyDad Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 This thread is getting all Bando. Very appropriate in anticipation of the first Bando Summer Music Games in 2014. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penn State Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 This thread is getting all Bando. Very appropriate in anticipation of the first Bando Summer Music Games in 2014. lmao....you sleigh me HockeyDad!!! Really, I found this to be very funny :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penn State Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 Send in the Clowns... Brass ensemble Vanguard: IMO, nothing compares to the sound of an all bell-front brass choir... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GUARDLING Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 You seem very impressed with yourself. thank you I am...............hit a nerve?..ya know the old saying if the shoe fits!!!!!!...lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magbo Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 The Madison Scouts may have proposed this change...but it was overwhelmingly passed by the vast majority of corps. So...don't blame the Scouts for this. I agree with the comment that the Scouts won't lose their fan base over this. Everyone loves the Scouts, and I guarantee that James Mason is going to do something fabulous with this new found freedom...He is one of the most creative and talented artistic directors in all of DCI. If the Scouts add other brass this season, I can't wait to see what they do with it. I predict that the fans will wind up loving it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaos001 Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 (edited) You make some good points but lets put this in the context of the last few years. We know that the attendance has been increasing for all of DCI's major events. Now, isn't that a sign that people are starting to turn back and enjoy drum corps more? Aren't you an example of this turn back to corps? Don't the shows, more than the instrumentation, speak for themselves? Don't the increasing numbers at shows, speak more than negative posts on DCP? DCI fans have a lot of passion and a lot of bark. But it's is a two way street, that passion also makes them have a somewhat elastic demand for corps... They'll rant on Facebook and then head on over to the Big East show for old times sake! I mean if we want to continue to have corps we need to have designers that are excited enough to want to put together a production. We need kids that are willing to spend thousands of dollars and months of time practicing, and we need fans to enjoy it. The people who enjoy old school corps aren't the same people that are designing the shows. If the designers don't enjoy designing shows they will stop doing it. If fans don't enjoy the shows they will stop watching. I mean, if we're thinking about this in terms of supply and demand. You can't ignore the needs of the suppliers. Drum corps isn't just about the fans buying the product. It's also about the designers/directors putting the product together and the kids performing it and they do have different needs than some of the fan base. It's a give and take. If the people complaining don't agree with DCI the best thing to do is fund/create their own corps that follows "old school rules". It would help create more corps too! What was that earlier in the thread about correlation does not equal causation??? Let's not forget that with a down economy, people have scaled back to going on mid-range, regional vacations and events than going cross-country/overseas. Drum corps shows (especially the larger ones on the weekends) give reasonably priced mini-vacations for families during the summer. And how many people will go to shows in year one not knowing what was passed? Not like all buts in the stands surf for DC in the offseason. On the other hand how many will go to their first show and think "Gee I didn't know DC had these" thinking that's the way it always has been. Oddly enough, I was thinking about this a lot today. What about Johnny One Show? Does he keep up with the changes like the rabid fans here do? Most likely not. How will he, his family, and his friends react to these unexpected changes? Will it make him want to come back next year? If we're trying to bring in new fans, is this change going to be what they'll like and want to come see again? Corps have one shot to attract and keep these fans. Is it worth risk alienating some of them? Edited February 11, 2014 by chaos001 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soccerguy315 Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 (edited) The Madison Scouts may have proposed this change...but it was overwhelmingly passed by the vast majority of corps. So...don't blame the Scouts for this. I agree with the comment that the Scouts won't lose their fan base over this. Everyone loves the Scouts, and I guarantee that James Mason is going to do something fabulous with this new found freedom...He is one of the most creative and talented artistic directors in all of DCI. If the Scouts add other brass this season, I can't wait to see what they do with it. I predict that the fans will wind up loving it. Jim Mason is going to use a trombone soloist for something that anytime in the last 50 years would've been played by uhhh.... not a trombone. And it would've gotten thunderous applause. Maybe Jim Mason should keep his brass instruments in BLAST... is that so hard to do? Why does drum corps need the same stuff as Blast or marching band? Is it a crime for them to be somewhat different? Edited February 11, 2014 by soccerguy315 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soccerguy315 Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 I am just going ask a few questions... What is the end game of all of this? What overarching vision do the leadership have for the activity? Who possess it, who articulates it? It has been stated the the recent round of changes regrading instrumentation will.... 1. Get more students involved. Show me the proof, show me evidence that more people will be drawn to "drum corps" as a result of instrumentation changes. More students will come just because someone said they would? How many 10-15 more students trying out per unit? More students, more money. More money. Would more students be involved if it did not require 3000-4000 dollars to march? 2. It would allow "drum corps" to utilize more colors. I suppose that's true. Like the same colors found in orchestral and band music? Is it really going to be that earth-shattering and open up whole new vistas of color? What's going to be the cost on the staff side to hire a pro horn teacher? Are corps going to have to get new trucks or another truck to haul new equipment? You will need more money, allegedly from the hoards of new students to pay for these upgrades. But back to the creativity point... Using these "new" sounds to be on the cutting edge. Is the cutting edge to sound more band like? Is it worth making people upset for some glissando effects or to have a chamber brass ensemble. Is the only way we can be creative is borrowing from other ensemble's sound and mixing them with a "drum corps"? How different does a sousaphone sound from a marching tuba anyway? Drum Corps (without the quotes) used to be something unique. I believe in the value of that uniqueness. As a friend of mine said to me today, I have never gotten tired of the sound of brass and percussion. Never. What is "drum corps" offering that is so different from what students get at a competitive band band in the fall. Touring? The experience of working with your fellow corps members and achieving as a group. Yes! Absolutely! I do question the touring model. 30 shows in 50 days, no real down time, no real time to recover, all night bus trips and a couple hours on the floor and right back at it. If you are lucky you might have a 3 or 4 (very rare) day period somewhere in the summer to do tweaks and changes, hopefully is does not rain. Other than that, 5 shows a week with lots of travel. I worry about the safety and the nightly gambles of 8 hours bus trips. I taught a group that did not tour properly, bad tires running lights that did not work, a straight up drum corps jalopy. I would like to think everybody is traveling safely, but I still see corps pulling into parking lots with windows propped open because the AC is out and because of the travel demands it can't be fixed properly. I digress.... Let me come back to where I started? What's the end game? What's the vision? Don Angelica had a vision. Gale Royer, Bobby Hoffmann, Jim Jones (my old corps director) just to name a few. Mr. Angelica's vision was rooted in music. Corps used to take way more musically risks, it may not have been as refined as today, but it was exciting. Check out the '82 Sky Ryders...check out the rifle line, check out the musical meat in that show....it was 10th place. There are "BOX 5" brass sections today who's tuba music consisted of a grand total of 28 bars of rhythm that were not whole notes, I know I counted. Before the end of the season those rhythms ended up being watered..."Box 5." Who possess a vision now? Is that vision inclusive of the activity as a whole or a few? Does that vision include preserving the uniqueness of Drum Corps? Are we just surviving year to year? If the end game is simply to get more students involved how many will fulfill the definition of success? Do we just keep making corps larger and larger? Adding more and more "colors" not native to drum corps traditionally will put more people in the seats? Where's the evidence? With electronics we can make ANY sound we want. The number one complaint of people surveyed at shows is they are getting blown out by speakers by the groups who do not do amplification well. People act as though the activity had moved forward, it some ways it certainly has, but, when I see 40,000 people in the stands at Finals again I know we have stopped the slow steady erosion of a once unique activity. A+... would read again. Everyone should read this post. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewsquared Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 Come on guys, the inclusion of french horns is OBVIOUSLY so DCI can make even more money by having an excuse to sell the seats on the back side of the stadium right? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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