corpsband Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 I am confused now. Are DC and MB two activities, or one, in your opinion(s)? The on-field products have been the same for quite some time (thus posters saying drum corps has always been MB). How long since drum corps marchers started infiltrating HSMB staffs ? The 70's? Maybe even a little earlier. So from a "what do we do" aspect, they're the same thing. The excellence, the member experience. These have always and continue to set drum corps apart from HSMB. So from a "how do we do it" aspect, they're different. Getting back to the question on the table: Did the latest rule change turn drum corps into marching band? No. The fundamental things that make drum corps unique continue to be different. Instrumentation has always been evolving in drum corps (at least in the DCI era). I don't really want to see WW's marching in drum corps. I love the sound of a brass-only ensemble on the field. But if they did, it still would be drum corps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quietcity Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 (edited) On a Venn diagram with one circle representing, oh, lets say, Blue Devils, and another circle representing, oh, why not Ohio State Marching Band, how much would these circles overlap? 10%? 90%? Somewhere in between? And in the areas that DON'T overlap, what are the differences? I think there would be about an 85% overlap, with the difference coming down to raison d'être and institutional backing. Instrumentation is different, I suppose, but in such flux on the drum corps side that I don't think it represents a consistent variable. Edited March 28, 2014 by quietcity Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corpsband Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 (edited) I maintain that my minicorps, who didn't have youth members, had no educational mission and honestly, probably didn't attain that much excellence other than making folks smile and clap, was every bit as much a drum and bugle corps as Reading Buccaneers or Carolina Crown. Mike I guess I've been assuming the word "competitive" in front of both HSMB and DC and probably the word "junior" in front of the DC. There certainly are other branches of the activity that call themselves drum corps (and marching band for that matter). I'm not sure they're relevant to the discussion at hand. Alumni corps or College Halftime bands aren't really the topic at hand. Anyway point well taken. Edited March 28, 2014 by corpsband Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjeffeory Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 A few comments: The "intent" of returning WWI vets almost a century ago is hardly relevant today. There are marching bands that were not already something else and just put on the march. DCI Drum corps also uses vocalists, pianos, electronics. "Drum corps and marching band are two different things. This is undeniable fact..." <==== No, it is undeniable opinion, not fact. That's also YOUR opinion, and we are all once again talking in circles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 what defines our activity? it can be many things to many people, but never everything to everyone. but whining and #####ing and parsing about the stupidest #### is a top one on the list 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjeffeory Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 (edited) This is just a straw man. I haven't seen anyone here claim that the OSUMB is a drum corps. Well, I've posed that very question over and over about this very fact over the last several years here on DCP. I'm a little surprised and disheveled to learn that you've never noticed me, and what I say. Boo hoo ( I kid, but I've brought this exact claim in the past in this forum more than once; it's educational that you don't recall) They're pretty darned close. Edited March 28, 2014 by jjeffeory Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garfield Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 I changed my vote. I think it's the experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corpsband Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 Well, I've posed that very question over and over about this very fact over the last several years here on DCP. I'm a little surprised and disheveled to learn that you've never noticed me, and what I say. Boo hoo ( I kid, but I've brought this exact claim in the past in this forum more than once; it's educational that you don't recall) They're pretty darned close. TTBOMR you've raised the question but I don't think you've actualy made the claim. If you did, I most humbly apologize. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjeffeory Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 TTBOMR you've raised the question but I don't think you've actually made the claim. If you did, I most humbly apologize. I have made that assertion in the context of some past posts using logic in the context of those posts at the time. I don't remember the specifics because it wasn't terribly recent. Recently, you're correct, I've raised the question and it has been interpreted in many ways and gotten different opposing answers from lots of people, but I haven't made the claim that tOSU marching band is a drum and bugle corps... ...BUT if tOSU wanted to enter into a DCI contest, there is now nothing in the rules that would stop them at this point. Even their style wouldn't stop them. Would they score well? Maybe they'd do ok at the beginning of the season, but very doubtful with their current design and lack of color guard. However, their ensemble would now fit into the rules if they chose to participate. They would be considered a "Drum Corps" ( still a subset of marching band mind you) simply by performing in DCI. Without performing in DCI, they're a marching band. The only change is that they would be performing in DCI. On a serious note, I'm not closed minded enough to not entertain all the various side's ideas as I form my own ideas about what defines our activity. I guess that's good and bad because it means that I haven't made up my mind completely just yet, but some may also say that I'm not taking a stand on the issue.... See, the one thing that I've learned from this thread is that so many people believe that the experience the members receive defines our activity. Perhaps it does define our activity; I do not believe it because the experience isn't uniform across the activity. Open class is a different experience from World Class, yet they're both DCI. They're both "drum corps". DCA is a different experience, yet it's still "drum corps". The Marines are a different experience -still drum corps. There are other groups of drum corps that are a different experience. So for me, this doesn't really add up and I really feel that these "opposing sides" are describing different things without really acknowledging it to one another... I've come to realize that "this activity" has different meanings to different people posting here, and that is probably causing some of the tension when asking what defines the activity or what defines "drum corps". I believe that some people look at the entire marching arts activity as one thing, while other people prefer to compartmentalize it into sub-groups. Sorta like breaking music down into different genres. Some genres are more related than others and that is important to enough people to give it consideration for discussion. Other people on this social site define the activity as "DCI", or "DCA", "marching band", "drum corps", et cetera. ...and we can not seem to agree with one another even on a classification. Anyway, my belief is that it's worthwhile to have discussion in the off season about pretty much anything DCI related in this forum, even though many of us disagree and sometimes get upset with one another. Even some of what many consider to be the more obtuse and annoying posters (which I could be considered one of them at times) have good points that I'm happy to see even if I disagree with them, and some of my favorite posters are pretty obnoxious too at times in other ways. It's worth it; I've also read some really great posts. Frankly, what I'd really like to see here is information about the shows planned for the next year or maybe discussion on show design features, or anything more directly related to the specific corps in DCI World class, but we never or at least hardly ever see those and people don't seem to respond much to those type of topics. I believe that if there was more of that kind of stuff being shared here, we'd have a lot less arguments about this other stuff. Jeff Ream was correct when he said that one of the things we like to do here is "whining and #####ing and parsing about the stupidest ####". That's basically "judging" a product. also, an idle mind is the Devil's workshop.... There probably has to be a majority of these types of posts to get the a few of the other posts, because people seem to like to argue. ...and believe me, we're better about it here than RAMD ever was, and we're better than several tech forums I frequent. I just wanted to throw this out to many of the people here who mock the point of these threads and try to make fun of and minimize them. As long as they're civil, they're useful. Also, come up with something better to talk about; I know I've tried. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted March 29, 2014 Share Posted March 29, 2014 (edited) I would certainly not classify those as marching bands, one is a cultural funeral procession and the other is a festival . Do they 'march' together with a unified purpose? Yep! Do they 'band' together as musicians? Yep! So, because both of those statements are in the affirmative they 'literally' are Marching Bands! Edited March 29, 2014 by Stu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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