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Time to Say Goodbye, after 15 years


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39 minutes ago, Old Corps Guy said:

The idea of adding a few dozen instruments to a few dozen corps is not even close to a needle mover for the sponsor's bottom line.  There are thousands of marching bands that are already purchasing clarinets, flutes etc. from Yamaha, Vandoren, Selmer, Giardinelli, Etude, et. al.  Adding a few dozen more won't move the needle in the slightest. 

Yes, I get that it would allow them to "feature" their instruments on the "grand stage" of drum corps.  However, drum corps is a very small part of the music industry.  We can't even get 50,000 to a finals performance and maybe 100K watching on a screen.  Any given weekend in the fall, there are dozens of stadiums with over 50K people that get to see the marching band.  Does that improve the sales of Yamaha?  Minimally at best. 

Yes, but:

- Advertising/marketing people do not think like we do.  They have a (self-)inflated opinion of their impact to the bottom line.

- DCI apparently operates in a complete vacuum of mission or identity.  They go wherever the wind blows.  So if the instrument/equipment suppliers are the only ones blowing hot air, guess which way DCI will go?

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The risk analysis by DCI should include the amount of lost customers (Fans) against the possibility of a minimal gain in sales for the sponsors.  The sponsors should do the same and I expect they will.  Adding marching woodwinds is far different from adding a different type of bugle (Contras in the 60s).  last time I checked, this is still "Drum & Bugle Corps" and not marching band.

The OP stated one of the reasons for leaving had to do with amplification.  As stated earlier by Fran, the amplification of woodwinds can be done successfully.  The question is "At What Cost"? Losing someone like our OP is exactly what is at risk.

Yes, but what if DCI has convinced themselves that there are no real fans?  As garfield will likely repeat before the day is out, surveys say fan lifespan is 3.5 years.

In all due sincerity, at some point in time, the number of remaining fans for whom woodwinds are a line-in-the-sand will fade to where it is no longer enough of a deterrent to DCI leadership to outweigh whatever benefits they (or their sponsor overlords) see in making the change.  I doubt we have reached that point yet, though.

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4 hours ago, cixelsyd said:

And with woodwinds, instrumentation would no longer be different.  So why keep calling it "drum corps"?  Why spend 99 years changing everything about the activity, but leave the name outdated and irrelevant?  Why make changes purposely to align with the scholastic marching band community, then refuse to adopt a more accurate name that better aligns with the scholastic marching band community?  

Perhaps because the one characteristic that has always separated the two is excellence, and it always will. The brand of DCI (and by association the ever-changing paradigm that is "drum corps") is that it is the pinnacle of performance in the marching arts. And since the paradigm has been more or less in constant flux for decades anyway, they see no need to change the name. At least that's how I view it. I could be wrong.

But if we go by relatively recent history, when they approved multi-key brass, this whole argument about a name change went round and round because "bugles" were no longer part of the equation. Others pointed out that the word "bugle" was not part of the name Drum Corps International to begin with. But people on the online forums demanded that DCI just call themselves Summer Band International or whatever. They didn't, of course, and I suspect they have no intention of changing the name if they allow woodwinds either. 

 
3 hours ago, cixelsyd said:

Adding another busload of kids would therefore be an added cost.  Why would DCI do this in the midst of a strategic plan that seeks to raise the financial tide, not lower it?

This assumes, of course, that only one bus would be needed. It would most likely be TWO in order to better balance the woodwind sound to the number of brass players. Adding two buses? That's a pretty monumental expense for reasons others have already pointed out. Personally, I don't see it happening anytime soon.

 
Edited by seen-it-all
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39 minutes ago, xandandl said:

Do you mean besides MikeD and the mfgrs.? (I'll probably have to start another thread to answer completely.)

Mike D. and the Manufacturers.  Good name for a rock band. :tongue:

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32 minutes ago, Terri Schehr said:

I think we’ll lose our swagger if we go that route.  

That is probably true and swagger is a perfect way to describe it. A line of 20 or so clarinets or flutes wailing away at triple forte won't do much for the swagger we now project.

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1 minute ago, denmum said:

That is probably true and swagger is a perfect way to describe it. A line of 20 or so clarinets or flutes wailing away at triple forte won't do much for the swagger we now project.

I was a band kid first, just for the record.  I marched in the junior high band for three years before I was in drum corps.   So I’m not anti-band.  I would just like for us to remain a brass band.   You want some clarinet solos in the pit or what have you...go for it.  But marching around on the field...it’s not a good look, IMO. 

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