Disturbing DCI rumors

[Slingerland]

On 12/20/2019 at 9:23 AM, inbetween said:

I received zero funds to run my marching band. Nothing from district or school. We compete locally and are responsible for all costs. Most bands in my area pay fees to participate in marching band that could rival some DCI fees. 

I did say infrastructure: that would mean your school's admin staff (the equivalent of a corps'  Exec Director), a place to rehearse, instruments, (did your boosters buy ALL of your instruments?) your base salary (you do get paid, yes?), etc. It doesn't mean props, uniforms, flags, entrance fees for band contests, or any special items for the marching program. In the drum corps world, those are chump change items compared to the basic costs of being in business in the first place, ie: the "infrastructural" expenses.

If any of those significant expenses are covered by the School or the district, then you are receiving funds toward your marching program. Drum corps don't get that type of support.

Edited December 23, 2019 by Slingerland

[garfield]

37 minutes ago, Poppycock said:

Is there a proposal to change the name from drum corps to band corps? 

No clue, but I've always thought that DCIBands has a decent ring, keeping the past and clarifying the current marketplace.

[Lance]

2 hours ago, xandandl said:

 

Is your salary as an educator paid by the school district or by the band parents, or are you considered only a part time educator?

 

i've wondered for awhile if there are any districts around the country that don't treat marching band as a curricular class.  

all the districts i've taught at do, but i assume there are some districts out there that don't, and that also cut music budgets enough to keep it from even being taught on an extracurricular contract.  maybe this guy is one of those?

nothing to do with the points you all are making about instruments and facility use, of course. 

Edited December 20, 2019 by Lance

[Lance]

1 hour ago, Poppycock said:

Is there a proposal to change the name from drum corps to band corps? 

with bd having a violinist on the field and all, i wonder why they didn't change it to string orchestra and drum corps.

[Poppycock]

32 minutes ago, garfield said:

No clue, but I've always thought that DCIBands has a decent ring, keeping the past and clarifying the current marketplace.

Agree! The name drum corps is no longer applicable. 

[Poppycock]

2 minutes ago, Lance said:

with bd having a violinist on the field and all, i wonder why they didn't change it to string orchestra and drum corps.

The name drum corps no longer describes the activity. Needs to be changed. 

[greg_orangecounty]

The virus infected the host long ago and death now seems imminent.  The autopsy report will read cause of death due to lack of creativity and narcissistic ego-thirsty “show designers” leading to flamboyant over-decoration and over-produced shows that take ten years to “appreciate.”

 A funeral would be appropriate, and it would give closure.  Maybe show up at Lucas in our old uniforms (mine still fits) with black armbands, NATIONAL SQUADS, and play New Orleans jazz funeral dirges around a casket with “Drum and Bugle Corps” written on it. 

 I’m teary-eyed already.

[Lance]

I think some people get confused about how teachers are paid. 

It varies by state and by district, of course, but where I teach, for example, we either get salary for curricular courses we teach, or extracurricular pay for sports/activities we lead.  

for salary, it's by the number of classes we teach.  to get 100% of the full-time salary, we teach 5 classes.  so if we teach 6 classes, we get 120% of full-time, and if we only teach 2 classes, we get 40% of full time.   and yes, it's all calculated hourly based on our time in building working with students.  

extracurricular contracts usually pay far less per hour, but if teachers are passionate about the sport or activity, it's all good.  

if a district doesn't treat marching band as a curricular class or offer extracurricular pay, then no, the music teacher who's teaching marching band after school is not getting paid.  if an administrator or the district tried saying "well just do your marching band stuff during 5th hour concert band", they'd be in violation of our contract because concert band has its own curriculum as its own separate class.

again, not saying anything about the use of instruments or facilities and the question of funding and all that.  

 

 

 

[cixelsyd]

4 hours ago, garfield said:

There are two primary reasons for adding woodwinds to drum corps:  Allow the other half of the HS marching band community to participate in the activity in an effort to maintain relevance and to increase the participant/fan base revenue to the activity, and to increase the potential voicing that designers can use to improve fan/judge appeal.

Keeping woodwinds limited to a few players attached to the pit doesn't accomplish either of those in any meaningful way.

There is that word again.

If "relevance" is really such a concern, why do we call it "drum corps"?  We have made dozens of tangible changes in the name of "relevance", yet the name has not evolved at all.

[Lance]

lots of people don't consider what's on the field right now to be "drum corps".  they ask the exact same questions as the crazies on here who obsess over what it's called.  

love it.