Jeff Ream Posted December 10, 2014 Author Share Posted December 10, 2014 My premise is just that kids are kids and have a lot to learn. (Everything else you said in this post I had already answered.) and they're our future. and we need to learn....and accept....that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted December 10, 2014 Author Share Posted December 10, 2014 Perhaps in your world, but not mine. When's the last time you used a rotary dial phone? I'm 62 years old and the last time I did, I was probably 10 years old. I will always point out irony whenever and wherever I see it, NE Brigand. or dared.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 ........................Empire strived to make fans jump up and down, they sure as hell wanted to win too Empire had "it"....................another corps could outscore them, but never beat them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 (edited) Empire had "it"....................another corps could outscore them, but never beat them. Just thinking if DCP had been around during Empires early days. The tanks on the field, costumes, Uncle Sam on stilts, the freakin' bubble machine, that electric bass that not many of us saw...... ..... and I hated the singing in "Curly Shuffle" when they did it, "Hey Moe, Hey Moe"..... now I think it was great for a corps trying to make a name for itself.... Edit: Oh yeah, where the Hades are their headgear??? Lot of us thought it was illegal to be on the field with bare heads, guess again. Edited December 10, 2014 by JimF-LowBari Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cixelsyd Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 Drum corps (DCI and DCA) has *always* been "marching band" despite the elitist claims of folks throughout the history of the activity. No, drum corps and marching band have been separate and distinct activities since the origins of organized field competition. That may not remain true much longer, but that is our history, and it remains true today. Of course, the activities are closely related - purposely more so in recent years at the strategic direction of DCI/DCA leadership - yet, still different. Not understanding how it is "elitist" to acknowledge that corps and band are different. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cixelsyd Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 Well for starters, your premise is IMO, hugely insulting to the kids out there today. I have been seeing electronics in marching band for years now. some circuits adapted to it better than others, but it';s in WGI where it really exploded. So the kids know it. to you maybe it's shiny objects, to them it's what they see out there as contemporary. If they don't have it, it's viewed old school. And guess what...while you're willing to quote pieces that insult kids for it...gasp...this has been happening with kids for decades in every facet of life. I remember when the Star Wars prequels started coming out in 1999, and I happened one day to see some of the new action figures released...and ###### if they didn't blow away the stuff I got in the 70's when the movies first came out. Hell, even the updated versions of the 70's toys looked better. Why? because action figures had progressed in design since 1977. I dug my old ones out to show to my godson, and he laughed at the primitive design. he was 8. And hey...when I joined drum corps in 1989, while I loved older drum corps, I wanted shows like what was out there and doing well, not retro stuff, as I'm sure you may have as well. it's called human nature. They want what they see as it. Just as kids today laugh at transistor radios and LP's. They see DCI, or BOA, TOB etc, and they see all the bells and whistles...and if they want to go to DCA, they want it there too. is it dumbing down? I dunno...why don't they make Studebakers anymore? Not all kids are like that, though. In our increasingly electronic world, we rarely hear the sound of an authentic brass or woodwind instrument in popular music or media anymore. Those sounds can now be synthesized to the precise demands of the composer. Yet, kids all over the country choose to participate in band (or corps) and spend years learning the arcane craft of producing music with a wind instrument. Some of them do so because they are interested specifically in wind music, not electronics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cixelsyd Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 I've said this before in other threads, but it bears repeating: Drum corps will most likely never have whole sections of woodwinds marching on the field. It's impractical, you'll mostly never hear them, and it's cost prohibitive on a scale far beyond what any corps can budget for (electronics aren't anywhere near as expensive as people seem to believe, but woodwinds would blow people's minds with the cost of purchase and upkeep). Woodwind *sounds* are already legal (in DCI, and now DCA). Even if woodwinds were made legal, the most you'd see is amplified instruments in the pit. But the difference is this: There has been a push for the legalization of electronics in by designers and more importantly, instructors. There is zero push for the legalization of woodwinds. I seriously doubt there will be anytime soon. Why do scholastic bands march whole sections of woodwinds, then? Several reasons: 1) Because they are already part of the overall music program 2) They can contribute musically to a great extent, without gimping the brass and percussion to do it 3) Numbers Confusing. 1) You say woodwinds are cost prohibitive to drum corps, even top corps which operate with 7-figure budgets. Yet, they are part of thousands of marching bands which operate under more modest budgets. 2) You say they would not be heard in drum corps, but that they contribute to a great extent in marching band. Why the difference? After all, drum corps is marching band, right? 3) You say whole sections of woodwinds are impractical in drum corps, but tout "numbers" behind their use in marching band. Already, the case has been made that the drum corps activity should pursue those "numbers" of kids by adding woodwinds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 (edited) 1) You say woodwinds are cost prohibitive to drum corps, even top corps which operate with 7-figure budgets. Yet, they are part of thousands of marching bands which operate under more modest budgets. Not all bands pay for the woodwinds or their maintenance..... Edited December 10, 2014 by JimF-LowBari Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
posaun1 Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 Question I have is if the changes will bring younger bodies to watch the shows. I hope so as getting a younger audience might be a bigger breaking point than getting the youth to march. Since we are getting younger as an activity there should be more mom's and dad's in the audience. Logic would dictate that. Not as many mom's and dad's of 45-70 year olds attending these shows. Mom and Dad are often bringing other younger children to those shows. Students often invite their band friends to come and see what its about as well. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 No, drum corps and marching band have been separate and distinct activities since the origins of organized field competition. That may not remain true much longer, but that is our history, and it remains true today. Of course, the activities are closely related - purposely more so in recent years at the strategic direction of DCI/DCA leadership - yet, still different. Not understanding how it is "elitist" to acknowledge that corps and band are different. He is 100% correct. Drum corps is and always has been marching band. As to why it is "elitist"? How many times have you heard that it is just marching band, while we are Drum Corps? I've seen and heard that many times, both historically and written here.I used to say the same thing, back in the 60's and 70's. I was wrong then, just as those who try and make that claim are wrong now. . 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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