How to Watch DCI like a Pro

[Tim K]

31 minutes ago, ScottPREuph said:

Make sure you tell them that everyone really is boo-ing the Bluecoats.

I won’t tell you how long it took me to realize Bloo was not being booed. It’s embarrassing.

[mrk]

I'd tell them that everytime a fan yells, "They're always ready" an angel is denied wings.

[DeanInChicago]

Grumpy Dean says to the new audience .... realize you are cold BETWEEN shows to put that sweatshirt or jacket on.  Same thing goes for suddenly wanting to place your hair into a scrunchy.  These are BETWEEN show activities.

Cause I said so.

[Baritone]

On 7/3/2019 at 5:39 PM, Ghost said:

I’ve been a fan of John Maimes “World of Brass Radio’s” Friday podcasts for years.  The talent of the bands musicians and the arrangements are beautiful.

If you pull up the fb page for Brian Smith, you can locate his links to hundreds of D&BC videos of many corps throughout the decades.  I imagine your husband has found YouTube helpful.  Good luck.

Yes, that's a great programme, isn't it? 

Thank you for the Facebook recommendation!  🙂 

[Ghost]

2 hours ago, Baritone said:

Yes, that's a great programme, isn't it?   Thank you for the Facebook recommendation!  🙂 

https://tinyurl.com/y7spufuk?fbclid=IwAR0vKZ1I2YO0xnSKa7XCFVoc1bfxlMsTiVJfgnW-AlIJbeOKh5ZqXpPUBHs

Edited July 5, 2019 by Ghost

[Super Don-O]

If you have a chance, on the way into the stadium, wander through the lot and let them get a look at the warmups. They might find that just as impressive as the shows. The intensity and focus displayed might put them into a different frame of reference as to the work and passion that the kids put into it.

Edited July 5, 2019 by Super Don-O

[Brian Porter-Szucs]

I really appreciate the consensus of the responses so far: let people enjoy the music and the spectacle and the obvious athleticism, without letting the minutia being registered by the judges get in the way. I really do understand that perspective.  On the other hand, I will always remember an amazing middle school teacher I had for a class called "musical appreciation" (this was back in the stone age--do that still teach courses like that?)  Going in, I had the narrow musical tastes of most teenagers.  I knew what I liked, and I knew to scoff at anything I didn't like.  The teacher was able to open up vast new worlds for me not just by playing great music, but by giving tips about what to listen for.  I remember one example: he explained that nearly all pop music is in 4/4 time, but that some innovative songs did really cool things by mixing this up.  I think he played Brubeck's "Take Five" and  Pink Floyd's "Money."  Then he said that some composers could really go crazy with this, and he played a bit from Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring."  The memory of that teacher has stuck with me over all these decades because he taught me that informed listening made it possible to like things that I wouldn't appreciate at first hearing.  I've had similar experiences as an adult: listening to classical south-Asian drumming in a concert where the musician explained the unfamiliar rhythmic patterns; watching a college wrestling match together with someone who could tell me what was happening (it just looked like a lot of pushing and pouncing to me, at first); watching traditional Chinese theater after first reading up on the genre (try going into that without some background!); or getting an Englishman to take me to a cricket match.  OK--that last one didn't take even with the explanations. 🙂 With all this in mind, I think that if I were going to a DCI event for the first time, I'd want someone to explain some of the basic metrics of assessment, so that when they announced the scores I wouldn't respond with "huh?"  Let's face it: drum corps is a highly stylized and structured event, with lots of elements that are there because -- and only because -- it is being judged.  Just one obvious example: if a composer and a choreographer got together to prepare a show just for the entertainment or artistic value, would anyone write the percussion parts in the way they are written for DCI?  I think my reaction if I saw that for the first time would be to think that the drum lines were horribly over-written. Or to use an example already mentioned: I actually have heard "outsiders" say that they wished more of the formations looked like recognizable shapes, but once you point out the incredible difficulty of maneuvering through particular formations, or the artistic challenge of integrating music and geometry, the response is usually "wow--that's actually pretty cool."   Maybe I'm just the nerdy type who over-intellectualizes everything, but still: isn't it is true that, overall, informed watching and listening provides a richer experience than going in blind?