Jeff Ream Posted August 9, 2017 Share Posted August 9, 2017 1 hour ago, ShortAndFast said: I agree with you - there's no way to tell what's being produced live by the performers today. But I think the corps have to figure out if that's really what they want. I am skeptical that a good player wants to spend $4K for a summer of Milli Vanilli, pushing props and a whole lot of dance lessons. If the activity is supposed to be about the performers and the education they receive, it's a big mistake to make it all electronic smoke and mirrors. well they seem to be lining up in droves. more corps are closer to 150 than ever before Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted August 9, 2017 Share Posted August 9, 2017 (edited) 16 minutes ago, ShortAndFast said: ... My point is that there's a big gap between who/how corps recruit today and a world where "recorded music allows for [the audience] to watch a show with extreme visual excitement". But my point is..... DCI is no longer all about recruiting from the realm of 'education'; but DCI now is a multi-million dollar entertainment industry that also has an intense desire to market their product to the very fans who will pay $300 per ticket and want that synth loop, pre-rcorded dubbing, amplified performance in order to get visually stimulated! Why? Because those youth are paying to see/hear the high-cost artistic musical spectacles, not staying in the stands at the football halftime to see academic maching ensembles; and moreover, those youth represent an extremely wider body of recruits for DCI corps to help propel the multi-million dollar industry DCI has created.. Edited August 9, 2017 by Stu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted August 9, 2017 Share Posted August 9, 2017 17 minutes ago, Jeff Ream said: well they seem to be lining up in droves. more corps are closer to 150 than ever before I contend it is because of the type of youth they are now marketing their show designs to and is an extremely wider pool of potential recruits than standard academic marching band kids. Which, by the way, also has the blow-back of needing the synth, pre-recorded, dubbing, ampllified content those kids desire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Here Posted August 9, 2017 Share Posted August 9, 2017 2 minutes ago, Stu said: I contend it is because of the type of youth they are now marketing their show designs to and is an extremely wider pool of potential recruits than standard academic marching band kids. If I understand you correctly, you seem to feel that drum corps has lost its central focus on education. If this is what you are attempting to communicate, I agree. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted August 9, 2017 Share Posted August 9, 2017 (edited) 12 minutes ago, Just Here said: If I understand you correctly, you seem to feel that drum corps has lost its central focus on education. If this is what you are attempting to communicate, I agree. Not only that, it is a result of DCI being propelled into becoming a multi-million dollar entertainment industry that needs more and more and more revenue to support the growth of the activity. I am not, again Not saying that DCI produces crud and pop low-quality shows. Quite the contrary. But neither are they producing academic performances. Academic performances can be supported in small venues, few fans, altruistic patrons, educational grants, bake sales, etc... But what BD, Crown, SCV, Bluecoats, Cadets, and like-minded corps are doing is more akin to Bruno Mars and Lady GaGa than it is akin to educational academic performances like scholastic band programs. And due to that, they are having to recruit from a wider youth audience than just the academic arena,; youth who pay $300 a ticket to see The GaGa. Edited August 9, 2017 by Stu 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Here Posted August 9, 2017 Share Posted August 9, 2017 1 minute ago, Stu said: Not only that, it is a result of DCI being propelled into becoming a multi-million dollar entertainment industry that needs more and more and more revenue to support the growth of the activity. I am not, again Not saying that DCI produces crud and pop low-quality shows. Quite the contrary. But neither are they producing academic performances. Academic performances can be supported in small venues, few fans, altruistic patrons, educational grants, bake sales, etc... But what BD, Crown, SCV, Bluecoats, Cadets, and their ilk are doing is more akin to Bruno Mars and Lady GaGa than it is akin to educational academic performances like scholastic band programs. I get what you are saying. I don't care if they go pop, use mics, synth, amps, singing, and so on but I am concerned about the loss of education. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted August 9, 2017 Share Posted August 9, 2017 Just now, Just Here said: I get what you are saying. I don't care if they go pop, use mics, synth, amps, singing, and so on but I am concerned about the loss of education. Ahhh... but education is still alive and well in DCI!!!!! However... it is switching to educating the youth on the aspects and rigors of commercial professional performance not academic environment performance. Sort of like the difference between what is taught at The Musicians Institute compared to Ohio State, or the difference between what is taught at the Berklee College of Music and the Boston Conservatory, or the difference between what is taught at Full Sail University as opposed to the Harvard School of Music. Some people hate, despise, the idea of teaching commercial aspects, but if you are an activity engaging in performances that take millions of dollars to support, and desire to fill seats in pro sports stadiums, you better darn well teach students the commercial aspects not the academic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowtown Posted August 9, 2017 Share Posted August 9, 2017 30 minutes ago, Just Here said: If I understand you correctly, you seem to feel that drum corps has lost its central focus on education. If this is what you are attempting to communicate, I agree. I’m cool with the kids being exploited for my entertainment while shilling product lines for music companies. The non-profit educational thing is the prefect work-around to avoid child labor laws and make the kids pay to be pimped 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Here Posted August 9, 2017 Share Posted August 9, 2017 1 minute ago, Stu said: Ahhh... but education is still alive and well in DCI!!!!! However... it is switching to educating the youth on the aspects and rigors of commercial professional performance not academic environment performance. Sort of like the difference between what is taught at The Musicians Institute compared to Ohio State, or the difference between what is taught at the Berklee College of Music and the Boston Conservatory, or the difference between what is taught at Full Sail University as opposed to the Harvard School of Music. Some people hate, despise, the idea of teaching commercial aspects, but if you are an activity engaging in performances that take millions of dollars to support, and desire to fill seats in pro sports stadiums, you better darn well teach students the commercial aspects not the academic. I don't know what you mean by "academic." Music industry studies are academic. Most universities require even students in these field be proficient in a music instrument. So, be exposed to music industry skills doesn't bother me. But, music education is not really a part of the activity as a whole. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Here Posted August 9, 2017 Share Posted August 9, 2017 2 minutes ago, cowtown said: I’m cool with the kids being exploited for my entertainment while shilling product lines for music companies. The non-profit educational thing is the prefect work-around to avoid child labor laws and make the kids pay to be pimped. This is a terrible way of describing the situation, but I am inclined to believe that many fans downplay the fact that DCI is a business. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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