Where is DCI?

[N.E. Brigand]

Oh, but I guess if DCI decided they could be, that would be OK. Not much of a visual score though.

Naturally DCI would eliminate the visual captions in that scenario.

[FlamMan]

First, I live only about 2.5 miles from that stadium, and I have no problem hearing that band on Friday nights.

Second, the Allen band has a march-a-thon in mid August where they march through the neighborhoods collecting donations. The first time I heard it after I moved to the city, I wondered which of my neighbors liked music so much that they'd play marching music so loud that the entire neighborhood could hear it. It is quite impressive to hear the volume.

That is just way too many marching members & a field that is too crowded.

[N.E. Brigand]

That is just way too many marching members & a field that is too crowded.

I agree. While 200 members is probably manageable (although I worry about those extra 50 members going to each of the bigger corps making the other corps smaller), once you get past that, the drill gets pretty awkward. A number of the top BOA bands are well above 200, and as the Broken Arrow thread last fall shows, those bands can be genuinely effective, but they do it at the expense of difficulty. They move a lot less than corps, they run to their sets more often, and a number of people do little more than move props around the field (see especially last year's fourth-place BOA band, William Mason--whose show I nonetheless enjoyed very much).

[ftwdrummer]

Was not expecting to see my college band pop up here today. Hello, MOB.

Well, i would guess that ALL of their members are overage, so they'd need to compete in DCA.

If the powers that be decided that an orchestra would be a legal entity, and if they came out and marched...why not?

If they set up chairs and just played...they might get a nice music score, but not a lot in the way of visual.

On the other hand...

[N.E. Brigand]

All in the name of change, DCI is no longer enjoyable to watch or even listen to (not even for free on YouTube). I pray someone figures it out real quickly before the entire activity goes down the tube. If I wanted BOA, I can just wait until band season. Enough will all of the crap talking, singing, 3 value horns, strings, trombones and various other electronics/ musical instruments that was reserved for marching bands. The judging community could use a major facelift too.

Especially today, it's probably worth repeating that, in drum corps as in the nation at large, things are actually pretty good. Could they be better? Sure. But you can help make them that way--and you might start by returning to this discussion, and sharing your reaction to all the thoughtful replies your post generated.

[BoyWonder1911]

I don't mind trombones for features - but to march with them around the field just seems non-drum-corps-ish.

However, they add a nice sound. Glissandos are okay every now and then - but overdoing it just makes me want to reach out and bend one in half. So stupid. I'm trying to remember who was doing that. Oh, Blue Devils if I recall. But a lot of corps have them this year.

The first thing that did come to mind when I saw trombones marching was "omg somebody is going to get clocked in the head."

Edited July 22, 2016 by BoyWonder1911

[jwillis35]

I don't mind trombones for features - but to march with them around the field just seems non-drum-corps-ish.

However, they add a nice sound. Glissandos are okay every now and then - but overdoing it just makes me want to reach out and bend one in half. So stupid. I'm trying to remember who was doing that. Oh, Blue Devils if I recall. But a lot of corps have them this year.

The first thing that did come to mind when I saw trombones marching was "omg somebody is going to get clocked in the head."

I also like the sound the trombone adds. It's a cylindrical sound compared to the conical sound of the baritone/euph. But this is definitely the year of the glissando. Crown's soloist has a lot of it written, although I really like that solo. Blue Devils use it as well (a lot), but also to great effect - even comical effect in the last instance of the glissando interrupting the music on 2 occasions. It's kind of cool. Cadets use them at their show intro and only have a few glissando effects at the end. Bluecoats use trombone in various ways. Their double trombone quartet is awesome, and the glissando is hardly used in their show, just a few times. There are others. Madison has a trombone soloist. Blue Stars I believe are using them.

I think most people seem to have a problem with BD's use of the glissando. As a trombonist I thought I might have that thought myself, but I actually enjoy how BD is using the instrument. They are marching pretty well with them, too.

I agree with you that the trombone presents some problems when you march with them. Keeping the slides at the perfect height, angle, and centered is not easy when moving. It's not a traditional bell-front instrument. The slide definitely draws the eye to any mistakes.

[xandandl]

no longer needed.

Edited July 22, 2016 by xandandl

[Crowding60]

"In general I agree with your points (I went to my first show around 1967 and marched from '75-'82). As a "seasoned/experienced" fan, I'm willing/look forward to learning about the shows prior to the season and, while I don't necessarily go ga-ga over all the dance/body movement embodied in today's shows, I truly appreciate the talent level and there are times that I am blown away by the performances.

What today's shows do, however, is tend to diminish the appreciation/enthusiasm of the casual/walkup/non-fanatic fan for the shows versus yesteryear. Your points that I emphasized lend credence to this - you have to spend time learning/studying/viewing these shows (in many cases several times) to truly get them. This doesn't necessarily mean that someone is "unwilling to grow". For example (not a comprehensive one by any means), if you went to a show in the late 70s and saw the Blue Devils, you would likely experience a thorough "WOW!" from what they were doing. Even if that was your only show that year, you "got it". Contrast that with the past few years: going to a single show and seeing the Blue Devils would just as likely cause a "HUH?" from what you just experienced.

Is this always the case? No. In general, however, I would say that the one show a year/casual fan is likely to be less entertained/drawn in to the shows than in years past. Not all of them are dinos/old-time fans that remember "how it used to be". A lot of them don't have the time or level of interest that we do to LEARN about the shows to appreciate them. The shows have become more sophisticated and thus less likely to be FULLY enjoyed on first/only viewing.

I can't wait for my lone show this year in Massillon!"

I understand what you are saying. But even during the last few years there have been some corps (maybe not always the BDs) that also produced "Wow" moments. Spartacus. Angels and Demons. EC=MC2. Tilt. Le Mis. Okay, I'll even add Ink. So what I'm saying is that even from the casual observer's viewpoint, there are still shows (certainly not all) that are highly entertaining, without putting in any time to understand them. I say this not from my own perspective, but through that of my wife, daughter and mother. Whether there were "more" of those in yesteryear as opposed to today I guess we could debate, but I think not (JMHO). I sat through a lot of old school shows where I just yawned.

[Lance]

if you went to a show in the late 70s and saw the Blue Devils, you would likely experience a thorough "WOW!" from what they were doing. Even if that was your only show that year, you "got it". Contrast that with the past few years: going to a single show and seeing the Blue Devils would just as likely cause a "HUH?" from what you just experienced.

define "you"