DCI and the triumph of the Simulacrum

[N.E. Brigand]

So why not just use "similarity" or "simulation"?

Simulacrum is a fine word with a long pedigree. (After all, if it was good enough for Plato and Nietzsche...) "Simulation" doesn't necessarily convey the sense of "second rate" that has come to be attached (for more than a century) to zzZ's chosen word.

[BRASSO]

MendaCity

Law Firm of Dewey, Cheatem, & Howe.

[MikeN]

Yes, this.

I'm talking about simulated difficulty in drill, simulated difficulty in substituting body movement for drill, simulated difficulty in sleight-of-hand staging and arranging that avoids moving while playing, simulated sound, simulated GE (props galore, uniforms varying year to year, or within shows). And scores that seem to reward the Simulacrum.

I want real demand, real drill, real acoustic sound, and real achievement awarded by real scores.

But what does "simulated GE" have to do with real demand, drill, etc? Uniforms have nothing to do with it.

Mike

[corpsband]

[BRASSO]

I'm not so sure I like this blue toned cranky little guy. That said, I like his uniform and shako here much better than the goofy looking ones that Crown has now.

Edited August 14, 2014 by BRASSO

[oldbandguy]

You know...I didn't notice any SIMULACRUM/SIMULATED screaming and cheering in the stands when the corps completed their performances. I did see and hear THOUSANDS and THOUSANDS of fans all across the country that were THRILLED with the state of DCI in 2014.

[Jeff Ream]

if you hate it that much, stay the #### home

[BRASSO]

Can we agree at least that it'd be great to someday see the return of the Simulacrum with the return of the Simulcast ?

Maybe if we're lucky the simulacrum and the simulcast will return simultaneously.

Edited August 14, 2014 by BRASSO

[troon8]

...And the tarps in a certain narration-laden show were not of real people, but homunculi, which was why the audience had so much difficulty identifying them.

I can tell how enthusiastic you are about the word, but just because they were pictures of people you didn't recognize doesn't make them homunculi. Nor did it mean they were not pictures of "real people."

(Unless you're referring to the pictures themselves as homunculi, which is a whole other can of semantic worms.)

[zigzigZAG]

So, to cut this down to something to chat about: there's more of a WGI influence in DCI.

Yep. It's been said many times here that WGI is where most of the innovation is now that DCI cribs from . . .so it's not really a surprise. Marry that up with how the stage/set piece/re-stage is rewarded more than the whiplash drill of old and there's the rub.

Something else to consider:

Well, DCI has always been a hatchet-job on Broadway/jazz/dead white guys/wind ensemble stuff; a pastiche (with some exceptions, yes) of someone else's work.

And, yup, in this day and age where a meme is born every minute . . .folks are probably going to respond to an "oh, I get that" wink and nod rather than a more long-form engagement. Those types of knowing nods make the designer feel smart in his pastiche . . . and the audience member feel like they're brilliant in catching onto it: a perfect circle of smug.

Anyhoo, it's all good: we'll cycle through to something else in another five or seven years.

We always do.

I'm not talking about 'cribbing' other work from other idioms (broadway, film, etc.), but simulating things like demand, or simulating brass sounds themselves.