Where is DCI?

[N.E. Brigand]

I haven't really seen a whole lot of corps this year that cover from endzone to endzone. Most of what I've seen has been between the 30's, maybe 25's, and in front of the back hash. Few corps have went behind the back hash this season. Guard frequently, corps no.

Well, most complaints about field coverage aren't that the members aren't covering the entire field all at the same time but that they too much of the field goes unused for too much of the show. The former is unnecessary, in my opinion (any big college marching band can do so: membership becomes an easy button, like having one synth player turn up the bass volume so that the lazy arranger and drill designer don't t have to figure out how to orchestrate and stage the tubas where they can be heard), while good corps have taken care of the latter for decades, even when they had only 128 members.

[N.E. Brigand]

The shows presented today require a lot more from the audience than in the "good old days". In the 60's (my generation) there were lots of "toe tapping" numbers and outstanding soloists who created entertainment from a crowd that, well, "knew what they liked". Today, you'd better read up on your Shakespeare, study the Corps' program notes, listen to recordings of the source materials, be up on your understanding of how judges score, understand current drum techniques, have an understanding of dance movement . . . need I go on? I have to study today's shows on the internet to appreciate them.

Do I enjoy today's shows live as much as those of yesteryear? Well, let's get real. Yes. In 1968, for example, sitting in the stands in Detroit, the shows mostly washed over me. Yes, a few highlights stuck out, but no more or less than today. I created my treasured memories of that period by listening to Fleetwood records repeatedly, so that I could appreciate the music more fully. Sound familiar?

Okay. So here's the deal. The kids love their activity just as much as we, the dinosaurs, did. They'll have the same memories and nostalgia as we do. Now as to the fans sitting in the stands (or at the computer screen), you have a choice. You can either accept that today's activity has grown more sophisticated and educate yourself accordingly or you can reject today's activity because it no longer resembles the activity you participated in. Or because it no longer "entertains you". It's your choice. But beware that your claim that drum corps just isn't as entertaining to you as before marks you as unwilling to grow. I say this to myself as much as to my fellow dinosaurs. I don't mean to sound condescending.

One more anecdote. I brought my 81 year old Mom to the Rosebowl this year. She chaperoned my corps back in the 60's and has very fond memories of the corps music played in those times. Today, she can barely hear, but when I asked her whether she wanted to come to a show (as she has for the last 10 years), she emphatically said, "you bet".

The kids who love today's shows don't feel that way because they've studied the intricacies of The Tempest or done other research.

On the other hand, in the past, parts of the score came from elements that the audience back then didn't care about either, like inspection, and keeping a tempo within a particular narrow range, and so on.

[MikeRapp]

That's a good point. Maybe I should have said that when a corps that normally places around 20th manages to place 17th, they attract a slightly higher caliber of player for the next year's auditions.

The next question would be: where are those higher-caliber players coming from? Is drum corps membership recruiting a zero sum game?

Question, because I honestly don't know:

Does Pioneer turn down kids who audition to be in their corps?

[jwillis35]

You know, we never discuss this, but it's a very important consideration: The cost of a Finalist show.

Everyone wants the best show money can buy. But the reality is, if you don't put some limits on the ceiling, you're going to have three or four corps out-spending everyone else and having the best shows.

This is a good subject that gets brought up from time to time. No doubt the drum corps world is not a fair fight. Each corps has their own set of fundraisers, deals with manufacturers, dealers, specific ways they handle member fees, and on and on. Some corps are blessed with a long and successful history (like The Cadets or Madison or Cavaliers) and they have large well-established alumni organizations that are active, give, and volunteer. Some corps can run bingo 7 days a week, some 3 days per week, and some don't have bingo. Some corps get great deals from companies, some don't get any at all. Some are located in metropolitan areas that are easy to get to, some are in the 'burbs, and some are "out there" (like Troopers).

I'm no pollyanna. I realize that the market does dictate quality. I am not at all for a spending cap. But there is a reason corps are set at a specific number of members, and it starts with money. No matter what the caps may be, no matter how they are implemented, your top six to eight corps are going to be the best, and probably the same as they are now.

The spending cap has been brought up before. I am not for it. It's easier to have a cap when there is a shared source of revenue. DCI has some shared revenue (appearance revenue), and while that is nice, it doesn't generate a lot of income compared to member fees, bingo, donors, other fundraising, and sponsor perks. In the NBA or NFL there is an extraordinary amount of revenue generated from advertising. That money gets shared. Most of the league teams have similar stadiums in terms of what they can make revenue wise. Certainly Dallas and a few others can make more, but by and large most teams do well. So ticket sales, local/regional broadcasting rights, and national advertising allows those leagues to set a cap. Of course they also have a draft to help spread the wealth of talent, and coaches will go anywhere because of the high pay. DCI has none of that.

No doubt that membership rose from 128 to 150 because it allowed drum corps to pull in more member dues.

As for your comment about the top 6 or 8 mostly being the same. Not always true. At one time the Bluecoats were not a top 5, top 7, or even top 12 corps. When Ted Swaldo took over back in the mid 1980s, the first thing he did was to invest in the corps and setup fundraisers. He helped, along with others, to establish bingo and other events. He knew that the corps needed money to compete. Today the Bluecoats have money. They even own their bingo hall along with all the land and a baseball field behind it (many community baseball teams still use that field for practice). Over the years the 'Coats organization has built a brand and they have developed their fundraisers and their relationships with dealers and manufacturers. They can now afford the best instructors, props, and they can provide as good of a tour experience as anyone will get.

The point of this is to say a corps can build their success. Most people know of the troubles that Phantom has had with money. That has clearly impacted their success to some extent. At one time Spirit of Atlanta was a top 7 corps. Madison was a perennial top 7 to top 5 corps. Back in the 1980s, when I first started following corps, the Boston Crusaders couldn't make the top 12. Often they didn't come close. The 27th Lancers and North Star were considered the big dogs in the Boston area in the 1980s. That faded fast. Today those corps are gone and Boston thrives on. Why? Management. Building success. Building revenue. Building relationships. Developing a brand. Some corps have died or lost their place on Mount Rushmore because of funding, no doubt, but some lost it because of instructors or poor branding and marketing. Some have been left behind because they were unable to stay with the times and adapt.

I really don't know how the equipment suppliers compensate corps for using their stuff. I don't know if all corps got trombones for free. Or if the corps essentially get uniforms for free, as they do in the NCAA.

Some corps get free uniforms. Some get free battery percussion but are usually leased pit equipment. Some corps must purchase all their equipment or at least part of it. This is something that could never be controlled by DCI. We could never say "let's give all the corps free this and that and the other thing." The dealers and manufacturers will determine such things and they could care less what DCI thinks. Yamaha is a international multi-conglomerate corporation that makes as much money in one day as DCI does for the entire year. Nobody is telling them what to do. Nor any other company. If they feel you deserve free uniforms or instruments, great. If not...you pay. The good thing is that there does seem to be a willingness to give most of these corps a huge discount on things (by most manufacturers). This is in part due to a small number of units competing in drum corps in the summer. And there are more brands of brass and percussion than ever before (largely due to the all-key brass). It's no longer Kanstul or DEG. You have Yamaha, King, Kanstul, DEG, Jupiter now days for brass (and maybe more), and a ton for various percussion instruments. The other good thing is that uniforms for summer are cheap. And if more corps do what Bloo did this year with costumes, I don't see a huge problem with cost.

While I love the amazing set designs I see from BD, BC, Crown, Cavaliers and Cadets, it would truly be a sad reality if the folks at Phantom (just an example) simply cannot afford to compete for a medal anymore because they cannot afford to purchase and transport $50K of props to support their themes.

Agree, but again that is the nature of the business. Phantom Regiment is lucky actually. I believe one of the banks that held some of their debt forgave a lot of it. That is a blessing. There was a growing concern for a while that Phantom could have died.

In the end I think drum corps have to be fiscally sound. More important than scores and placement is keeping these corps alive. Doing things to make the competitive aspect more fair, like caps and drafting talent and sharing all revenue, can hide lots of blemishes. It's better as it is now. Each corps is fiscally responsible to itself and to DCI. DCI now has stronger rules about finances and participating. Heck the Troopers were suspended for a year and could not compete until they got financially healthy. DCI pushed for Fred Morris to get the job (Fred had helped DCI with a few other situations after corps had mismanaged funds, including with Capital Regiment). Fred has turned the Troopers into a model of health and one heck of a competitive corps that also gives its members a fabulous summer experience.

Edited July 21, 2016 by jwillis35

[N.E. Brigand]

Sure, the directors can play at being Lewis Carroll's Humpty-Dumpty, but that doesn't mean they're right. If George Hopkins decides to tell you that the Cleveland Orchestra is now a drum corps, because he and his fellows have decided it is so, are you going to believe him?

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?

Who said anything about marching? I'm saying that the Cleveland Orchestra, sitting in Severance Hall, is not a drum corps.

Somewhere between that, and what DCI does now, is your line in the sand.

[N.E. Brigand]

Remember when we were told that trombones would only be a solo/cameo instrument, and no one would ever march a section of them in the drill? Or how pit amplification was over $10,000 just to get into the game, so only full size corps would ever use it? How about Bb/F brass being "optional"?

Every one of these equipment rule change proposals has been preceded by people "in the know" telling me there is nowhere near the support needed to pass. When that proposal does come in a few years, there will still be people insisting it has no chance of passing, nothing to see here, blah blah blah.

(And please, spare us the silly argument about maintenance. Bands all over the country use woodwinds in every conceivable climate. Nowhere do you see a circuit where bands omit woodwinds because it is too hot/too cold/too dry/too wet. Ultimately, they will be used no matter what the maintenance burden. GenLook at the burden we already have. Just watch the corps setting up, with props and stages carried by additional trailers and/or dozens of corps members, while others carry the multiple brass instruments they will swap in/out during the show, lugging huge speakers, running dozens of cables in two minutes flat. You think these same corps will balk at woodwinds because that would require too much extra care?)

I wonder if directors opposed to a new change ever chew out their peers for the misleading statements they made about old changes in the past.

[MikeD]

I've not heard this complaint, and I wonder if it's even a real concern. Maybe the smaller corps do this intentionally to hide their size, but most larger corps use darn near all of the field don't they?

We need this many...the amazing Allen HS MB from Texas....the people in the back stands are actually MB members that just did not fit on the field. Pyware ran out of dots.

[Cappybara]

And despite all that, your band kept right on using them.

No ####, it was my piccolo. Our band kept backup piccolos (we had 26 piccolos marching) because someone's piccolo would end up having some issue and would have to be taken to a shop to get fixed

[MikeD]

Who said anything about marching? I'm saying that the Cleveland Orchestra, sitting in Severance Hall, is not a drum corps.

Somewhere between that, and what DCI does now, is your line in the sand.

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

[aka_MrStarsFan]

We need this many...the amazing Allen HS MB from Texas....the people in the back stands are actually MB members that just did not fit on the field. Pyware ran out of dots.

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.