Jump to content

Disturbing DCI rumors


Recommended Posts

39 minutes ago, Glenn426 said:

Its a fact that there are more WW players than Brass players in most if not all Scholastic Band programs across the country.

DCI's potential Membership base could be increased by that many members with the reversal of one simple rule. I'd say it provides facts that highlight the need, want, and argument that DCI has to allow the potential of membership to be opened to these new individuals, without the hurdles and logistical nightmares that would normally encounter a WoodWind player learning a second instrument.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 minutes ago, HockeyDad said:

I just learned that a woodwind player having to learn a brass instrument is a “nightmare”.  Wow. I never knew. Life sure is hard today. 

I’ve talked with more than my fair share of marching members over the years. In general there seemed to be two categories of college majors: music education, where they will have to master more than one instrument, or some kind of math/science/engineering field and attend a top university. My guess is learning organic chemistry or calculus is more nightmarish than a clarinetist learning the tuba. 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

36 minutes ago, IllianaLancerContra said:

Well, someone who used to be w/ Cadets had a 6-figure salary. 

There are a few individuals, probably less than 10, who do make what many would call a large amount of money.  Are they rich?  Depends on definition of rich.   

Hitchens.

"...dismissed out of hand."

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, GBugler said:

Hyperbolic nonsense. Utter fantasy. It is no more a nightmare to learn a brass instrument as a woodwind player than it is to initially learn a woodwind instrument.

This is a non-argument. Stop it.

Where does the WW player get a brass instrument? What time? Will their WW playing suffer because they are not dedicating themselves to their main instrument? Probably.

Do Band Directors enjoy having their talented and rare Bassoon player give up on Bassoon because they want to march DCI? Nope they hate it, and this is probably why among a subset of Music educators there is a stigma around DCI.

Where there is a will there is a way and WW players in the past have had to sacrifice much more than their Native Brass playing colleagues to make it to DCI,  but this rule change would remove that hurdle. Everyone is on the same starting line to make it to DCI. (Woodwind players had to take two giant steps back off the starting line before to make it DCI.)

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 minutes ago, kdaddy said:

You did? Can you show evidence of the term that you yourself put in quotations to suggest that it was actually used?

 

Is your PREV button broken?  Look at Glen426 posts. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 minutes ago, Tim K said:

The belief there are more woodwind players than brass players is not relevant. There is a practical reason why many programs have more woodwinds. Clarinets and flutes are less expensive than other instruments. I can tell you from experience that parents are pragmatic when it comes to choosing instruments. They want a child to have music lessons but know it’s also realistic the child will lose interest. 

Regarding “hurdles” of learning a second instrument, motivated high school students love hurdles. Football and soccer players give up countless hours and vacation time for captain’s practices, and I’m willing to bet the same holds true with cross country and field hockey. If you are taking Advanced Placement English, you will probably be reading 4-7 novels by authors such as Dickens, Melville, Cooper, and Austen. 

Adding woodwinds will make Drum corps available to more young people? It could if the number of marching members in a corps increases and that is not a given. If corps size is not increased, actually more people will be rejected from marching. Also, not every corps will use woodwinds and it is unlikely DCI will have a rule requiring that corps include woodwinds. 

Those Lower Tier WC and OC corps are all filled to capacity huh? Everyone in DCI is marching 155 up and down the field? Let me start browsing the reactions of the OC increasing the numbers to 55 and see how many hypocrites I can count.

16 minutes ago, Glenn426 said:

In the current model with capped membership. Lets say the corps add 10 WW to their ranks. The Corps decide to compensate, by having 4 less brass players, 3 less Pit Members and 3 less guard members. Those 10 individuals who would be marching in BD will now look to march in SCV. And on down the line Talented members who would marching in the Top Tier are now filtered down to the second tier. And from the Second tier down to the Third Tier. And into OC.

In the End the quality of the kids marching increases. Because you added the Talent pool of the Hundreds of Thousands of Potential members that didn't join because of the obstacles in their way. You also increase the number of members in the lower corps because you have less opportunities in the higher corps and if you want to march, you'll march at the lower corps to gain the experience you lacked to make it to the top corps.

An Actual version of Trickle Down Economics that could actually work.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, HockeyDad said:

Is your PREV button broken?  Look at Glen426 posts. 

“members with the reversal of one simple rule. I'd say it provides facts that highlight the need, want, and argument that DCI has to allow the potential of membership to be opened to these new individuals, without the hurdles and logistical nightmares that would normally encounter a WoodWind player learning a second instrument.”

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This assumes that those trying out for WC and failing will want to march OC. Re: trickle down economics.

Edited by cybersnyder
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

24 minutes ago, Glenn426 said:

In the current model with capped membership. Lets say the corps add 10 WW to their ranks. The Corps decide to compensate, by having 4 less brass players, 3 less Pit Members and 3 less guard members. Those 10 individuals who would be marching in BD will now look to march in SCV. And on down the line Talented members who would marching in the Top Tier are now filtered down to the second tier. And from the Second tier down to the Third Tier. And into OC.

At the OC level, it just doesn't work like that.  Kids try out for the "name" corps they want, and if they don't make it, they don't trickle down - almost all of them just go home and are never heard from again.  In addition, there is no centralized "cut list" - it's purely based on the relationships between your caption head and other corps.  

The silent masses that we let pack up and go home are one of my biggest frustrations with the drum corps activity - these are kids that already took the first, biggest leap, and they just blow away with the wind at the end.  

Mike

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 minutes ago, Glenn426 said:

Do Band Directors enjoy having their talented and rare Bassoon player give up on Bassoon because they want to march DCI? Nope they hate it, and this is probably why among a subset of Music educators there is a stigma around DCI.

DCI has a stigma with band directors for many reasons, and I've been witness to a ton of them, but I've never, ever heard a director complain about DCI because their WW players are spending too much time on brass.

Mike

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...