BRASSO Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 (edited) DCI considers itself to be the drum and bugle corps section of marching music, regardless of the instruments that are used. I realize this. But in my opinion, and in the opinion of others, the nomenclature no longer fits. They have mischaracterized themselves, imo. An Elvis Impersonator can hold himself out to be the real Elvis Presley... but such utterances, no matter how honestly held and believed by the Impersonator, does not make it so. Edited March 25, 2014 by BRASSO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 You could say this.. but its simply untrue. If it were true, then they'd be no current restrictions at all on instrument utilization in DCI field competition. So indeed it DOES matter what instruments are used in performance competition. DCI has specially earmaked what is currently allowed and what is not allowed. ( of course, this changes over the years to allow in now most of the marching band instrumentation ). But of course, instruments matter still. Thanks for picking out four words from a post that continued and said... "Those who make decisions as to what is what can call the ensembles whatever they wish, and they wish to remain drum corps, regardless of instruments. If they decide to change what they call themselves, fine. If not, also fine." The instruments do not matter...those that decide what they want to use and what they want to call themselves is what matters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 I realize this. But in my opinion, and in the opinion of others, the nomenclature no longer fits. They have mischaracterized themselves, imo. An Elvis Impersonator can hold himself out to be the real Elvis Presley... but such utterances, no matter how honestly held, does not make it so. No, they have not "mischaracterized themselves", IMO...and in the opinion of "others". Those who make the decisions decide what to call themselves, period, based on whatever factors they choose. Of course, ELP was a rock band in spite of the music they played...and they were known as that. I doubt anybody would have really called them a classical music trio. But, if they had so chosen, they COULD have called themselves that. If DCI decides it is time to call what they are something other than drum and bugle corps, they are free to do so. Until then, the DCI ensembles are drum and bugle corps, no matter what you (or anyone here) thinks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRASSO Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 (edited) . A company should not hold the intentions of its founders to heart too closely lest they completely ignore the current market conditions in which they are in. True.. this is why the introduction by others above on the Founders intent is irrelevent and should not be used to bolster current DCI policy or attempt to make a point of relevence to today. The Founders of DCI of over 4 decades ago bear no responsibility whatsover anymore ( nor credit if one is so inclined ) for todays state of affairs of DCI here in 2014. Edited March 25, 2014 by BRASSO 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRASSO Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 (edited) . Those who make the decisions decide what to call themselves, period, . Nobody here disagrees that anyone can call themselves anything they want. That does not mean that what they call themselves squares with reality however. Its all in the eye of the beholder, of course. Prevailing wisdom and conentional thought informs most people that Emerson , Lake and Palmer are a Rock Band. This is not to say that some unconventional thinking people want to include them more in the Classical Music realm with their music. But the fact that Emerson, Lake and Palmer are not found in any Classical Music section in any Music store anywhere in the world speaks volumes as the what this musical group is,... and is not.... notwithstanding your own personal desire and want to put them more into your own Classical Music World realm above with your comments. Edited March 25, 2014 by BRASSO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 Nobody here disagrees that anyone can call themselves anything they want. That does not mean that what they call themselves squares with reality however. Its all in the eye of the beholder, of course. Prevailing wisdom and conentional thought informs most people that Emerson , Lake and Palmer are a Rock Band. This is not to say that some unconventional thinking people want to include them more in the Classical Music realm with their music. But the fact that Emerson, Lake and Palmer are not found in any Classical Music section in any Music store anywhere in the world speaks volumes as the what this musical group is,... and is not.... notwithstanding your own personal desire and want to put them more into your own Classical Music World realm above with your comments. Did you even read what I wrote "above with my comments" before you said this? "Of course, ELP was a rock band in spite of the music they played...and they were known as that. I doubt anybody would have really called them a classical music trio. But, if they had so chosen, they COULD have called themselves that." It wouldn't matter what I, or anyone else, wanted to call them...it is up to the groups to decide what they want to call themselves...be it ELP or DCI. That is the point. You said you don't care what DCI decides to call themselves, yet you make post after post saying that they are not what they want to call themselves and they are not in the realm of "reality" if they choose to call themselves something other than what you think they should call themselves. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corpsband Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 My,my,my...it IS the silly season on DCP. Some music ensembles are defined by their instrumentation. Some are defined by their repetoire (and instrumentation be ######). Some are defined on their own terms. This fallacy that instrumentation is the one and only definitiion of an ensemble is just not accurate. Let's add in a few more factors: Drum Corps is not defined as a musical ensemble. It's marching music, spinning and dancing. You wouldn't call a brass band a drum corps. They don't do drill, they don't have a guard, blah blah blah. So there's a MAJOR categorization error being put forth by a few posters. Is music a PART of drum corps? Absolutely. Does it DEFINE the drum corps activity in it's entirety? Absolutely not. Does adding non-bell-front brass change the character of the activity. We'll have to wait and see but I doubt it. Would adding woodwinds change the character? I guess it depends on how they are used. But so long as there's still marching, drumming, playing and spinning -- it's still marching music. Do it in the summer in an organization that calls itself a drum corps and....IT'S STILL DRUM CORPS !! But most of this "BUT IT"S NOT DRUM CORPS ANYMORE" tirade amounts to little more than "IT"S NOT THE DRUM CORPS I MARCHED IN (or listened to, or watched on PBS, etc...) . Drum corps has always been marching band. The on-field products used to be very distinct -- that's true -- but they've converged. Mostly that's a result of drum corps influencing marching bands. What set drum corps apart is (and IMO has always been) the member experience and the excellence. This was true in the past and is still true today. So.... Get over yourself and embrace your inner band nerd ! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 MikeD: So, let me see if I understand you correctly. The instrumentation, the education, and the labels placed on us by others do not matter because it is what we call ourselves, it is what we consider ourselves to be, and that is what really matters. Ok; if I call myself a Neurological Surgeon, and consider myself to be a Neurological Surgeon, I am thus a Neurological Surgeon. Great!!!!! Will you please inform the HR department at Johns Hopkins that bit of factual information so that I can be hired as a Neurological Surgeon? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRASSO Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 (edited) Did you even read what I wrote "above with my comments" before you said this? "Of course, ELP was a rock band in But, if they had so chosen, they COULD have called themselves that." Yes, we will agree( one more time at the attempt here ) that anyone can call themselves just about anything they want. Where the disagreement arrives is whether or not the naming one makes for themselves fits with conventional thinking... or not. As such, DCI can call their competitive Musical/ Visual field units anything they want, ie Drum Corps, Drum & Bugle Corps, Marching Bands, Brass Bands, Visual Circuses, Musical Armies of Guard,, etc ... or anything under the sun that THEY choose to call themselves. It is then up to others to decide for themselves... with their OPINION.... if such naming caricatures is approrpriately accurate or not. And that is in the realm of opinion only. I expressed mine. Others their opinion on this. And you have as well. So thats thats where we're at now, it seems to me. Edited March 25, 2014 by BRASSO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 Yes, we will agree( one more time at the attempt here ) that anyone can call themselves just about anything they want. Where the disagreement arrives is whether or not the naming one makes for themselves fits with conventional thinking... or not. As such, DCI can call their musical/ Visual field units anything they want. It is then up to others to decide for themselves... with their OPINION.... if such naming caricatures is approrpriately accurate or not. And that is in the realm of opinion only. I expressed mine. Others their opinion on this. And you have as well. So thats thats where we're at now, it seems to me. OK. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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