garfield Posted December 3, 2015 Share Posted December 3, 2015 (edited) Standing aside and watching The _Kid interact with directors during this audition cycle has prompted me to ask what, I think, is a structural question about music education in America. On several occasions this cycle we've heard (paraphrasing to protect the innocent): "We sometimes have to extend into January to award contracts, especially with percussion because ...there's so darn many of them! So, what's going on? I'm a drummer from the '70's, when drumming was cool, but what's caused the audition ranks to explode with budding Brandon-wanna-be's who think they can chop out with the BK, or PR, or BAC vet line? Where the heck did all these drummers come from? Is this the justifying genesis of DrumLine Battle? Is it a healthy society that has so many drummers, banging on things, loose among it's population? Should some be sacrificed for the greater good? It seems corps could set their lines by the end of the year if there weren't so dang many drummers chopping around. I don't hear that about the mellos, or the baris, or the pit... Has the teaching community failed an entire generation by allowing too many of its kids to follow their in-bred inclination to bang on things? (/parody and sarcasm wrapped in one post, kind-of) Edited December 4, 2015 by garfield 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted December 4, 2015 Share Posted December 4, 2015 Gotta fill the pit with members somehow.... s/ guy old enough to remember when the pit was to allow more perc to march..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Dixon Posted December 4, 2015 Share Posted December 4, 2015 I feel like it's always been this way. SO many corps struggling to fill horn spots and they have 150 drummers and 40 horns show up Arghhh!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cadevilina Crown Posted December 4, 2015 Share Posted December 4, 2015 It's called drum corps for a reason! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost Posted December 4, 2015 Share Posted December 4, 2015 It's called drum corps for a reason! Which is an abbreviation for Drum & Bugle Corps. We're all in trouble if the guard folks chime in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kamarag Posted December 4, 2015 Share Posted December 4, 2015 Sure, there have always been a lot of drummers trying ot for spots in corps, but remember...there aren't nearly as many spots for them as there are for brass. That said, there's a simple reason that the number of kids trying out for DCI and DCA corps is higher than at any point in years... ...the quality of instruction at the high school level is several orders of magnitude better than at any other time in history. Drum corps percussionists are getting a ridiculously high level of instruction at their corps, and they are passing it along to kids in the bands and indoor lines they teach in the off season. There are fewer "drum guys" teaching bands, and many more "percussion educators". Kids taught by great these teachers want to march at higher levels. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lindap Posted December 4, 2015 Share Posted December 4, 2015 There's a legend in our neck of the woods as told by the former director. In 1975, there were so many girls wanting to drum that he had to order 400 pairs of drum sticks for audition because they wanted to drum and the drum instructors were and are legendary and the former director was a set drummer and rock band promoter. His wife was an accordian teacher with finance and logistical skills and hired the best instructors. They formed an all girls drum corps based on drummers, with good horns and a guard. Rhythm, song, movement 1-2-3. 2-3-1, 3-2-1, 3-1-2 variations exist(ed) too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted December 4, 2015 Share Posted December 4, 2015 Sure, there have always been a lot of drummers trying ot for spots in corps, but remember...there aren't nearly as many spots for them as there are for brass. That said, there's a simple reason that the number of kids trying out for DCI and DCA corps is higher than at any point in years... ...the quality of instruction at the high school level is several orders of magnitude better than at any other time in history. Drum corps percussionists are getting a ridiculously high level of instruction at their corps, and they are passing it along to kids in the bands and indoor lines they teach in the off season. There are fewer "drum guys" teaching bands, and many more "percussion educators". Kids taught by great these teachers want to march at higher levels. the bleed over from indoor to outdoor has helped as well. but yes, it's math. Your typical brass section is what 60-70 members? percussion is usually half that size. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garfield Posted December 4, 2015 Author Share Posted December 4, 2015 the bleed over from indoor to outdoor has helped as well. but yes, it's math. Your typical brass section is what 60-70 members? percussion is usually half that size. Well, that might explain the demand for drummers, but not the supply. There are a lot of good drummers with chops good enough to compete in drum corps. Kamaraq's answer make the most sense to me. When I was in HS we struggled to get good band instruction in "drum corps style", which mostly meant stride step and flat snares. Today, I think TBDBITL is the last anywhere to carry drums up high so drummers can march - everyone is taught flat. And it think it's more nuanced than that even, because drum corps are looking for traditional-grip drummers. I see some band drum lines still playing matched-grip, but they are usually smaller schools with fewer resources. The big, competitive bands typically are traditional-grip and playing chops that simply didn't exist when we learned. There's some pretty good "seeding" going on HS "drum-land" by instructors, apparently, and I also wonder if the same is happening in horns, despite the consistent view about the number of drummers that staff have (get) to sift through. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brichtimp Posted December 4, 2015 Share Posted December 4, 2015 Kids all the way down to middle school have access to better instruction and instant access to view and hear inspiring DCI percussion sections. As a result, the level of performance has gone through the roof for percussion technique and musical awareness. And, then you have easily accessible videos featuring the very top pro players in every musical idiom. This is the golden age for percussion, IMHO. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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