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What's in a name? Now that the label "DCI" is irrelevant..


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19 minutes ago, cybersnyder said:

I do cybersecurity, so have all the fun you want and I'll play along if if will make you happy.

Too bad my husband is banned from here.  He designs a lot of networks.  You guys are in kind of the same biz.  Very interesting work. 

Edited by Terri Schehr
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14 hours ago, WaxDCIFan said:

What’s in a name?

Given that it sounds likely that DCI and the member corps are going to vote away the last remnants of their drum & bugle corps soul this weekend, it’s gotten me thinking about how this activity is going to be described going forward.

Should “Drum Corps International” now become “Marching Band International?”  If so, could take advantage of the 20+ elite marching bands in Japan.  That might be really exciting – some of those Japanese marching bands are incredible, and given DCI’s insistence on forcing small drum corps out of existence, Japan may outnumber the US in the # of touring units soon anyway.

Given flutes, clarinets, saxophones, acoustic guitars and mouth harps now allowed, should units rebrand themselves?  I checked the websites of all the WC units, and all but 4 still brand themselves as “drum & bugle corps.”  There are entire threads devoted to the differences between modern brass instruments and bugles – not trying to restart that drama.  But now everything (including bugles?) is going to be in vogue, perhaps other labels are more appropriate:

-          Replace DCI with MBI (Marching Bands International)?

-          Replace “drum & bugle corps” with “drum, brass, woodwind, piano, ukulele and mouth harp corps”? (for example SCV D&BC becomes SCV DBWPUMH?)

Or perhaps drum corps could change their identity depending on what they “identify with” each year.  One year a drum corps, next year a fife corps, then the next year a kazoo corps?  Given the crazy nature of identity politics, maybe a group could claim that the thing otherwise known as a bassoon is actually a bugle to them.

I’ll bet there are some creative minds here on DCP that can help the corps directors choose newer, more appropriate titles for their groups than the dogmatic, outdated and repressive title of “drum & bugle corps.”

Fire away.

 

Happy Xmas - War is Over!

If you want it.

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If passed, which I sincerely hope it doesn't, it will be like all the other changes we've seen over the years.  A few corps will play with it out of the gate.  it will suck.  Most of us will hate it.  And the most competitive corps will let other blaze the trail.  Give it five years, and more corps will use new instruments strategically, like they have with trombones.  It will suck less.  Many of us will actually like the way a few corps use it.  

I hated amplification until corps started editing their use of it.  I didn't much like B flats until corps began to get closer to the power and volume of Gs.  I didn't like the idea of trombones until I saw how corps were actually using them.  I still cringe at singing and narration, though vocal soundbites as background have been used really effectively by corps like SCV and Devils.  And I have a feeling I'll eventually come to appreciate non-brass instruments used in some applications.  

I'd still pay double for every show ticket into perpetuity to not have to endure it, though.  

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5 hours ago, LoveKathyG said:

I still cringe at singing and narration, though vocal soundbites as background have been used really effectively by corps like SCV and Devils.

I remember watching championships in 85' with dad when Star sung the whole "MICKEYMOUSE" thing. I thought dads head would explode in a flurry of "that's not drum corps" diatribes. I'm not a huge fan of the narration and singing either. Even last years PR show, I wasn't really much of a fan and I actually really liked that show. But I will agree that if something is done well and actually adds something to the show, then I can at least appreciate it. 

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12 hours ago, cybersnyder said:

OMG! Are you a hacker?? GeoIP lookup is mad skillz.

My address is:

Redacted

I called the Post, it’ll leak by next Sunday’s edition

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12 minutes ago, Jeff Ream said:

I called the Post, it’ll leak by next Sunday’s edition

I just didn't want to leave it there forever. Easily found online, but why make it super easy for bots that scrape forums?

Edited by cybersnyder
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3 hours ago, cybersnyder said:

I just didn't want to leave it there forever. Easily found online, but why make it super easy for bots that scrape forums?

Yep ya never know.... had a scam email early in the week saying “they” got my request to cancel an online account I supposedly sent 1/10/2020. Problem was I received that email 1/9/2020.... 

 

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Sticking to my guns on this one: now is the time -- especially with the woodwind vote rebuke -- to rename the organization its tagline now for several years.
MARCHING MUSIC'S MAJOR LEAGUE

DCI is a well-known brand, to a small subset of people. The activity should be perceived at a higher level than it is. I contend (and have for some time) that a new name, coupled with an aggressive marketing plan and its application over time, can begin to forge both the concept, and the product, in the minds of middle America.

As the product continues to change and morph, also over time, the basic premise of a "major league" offering will hold true.

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1 hour ago, BranchHill said:

Sticking to my guns on this one: now is the time -- especially with the woodwind vote rebuke -- to rename the organization its tagline now for several years.
MARCHING MUSIC'S MAJOR LEAGUE

DCI is a well-known brand, to a small subset of people. The activity should be perceived at a higher level than it is. I contend (and have for some time) that a new name, coupled with an aggressive marketing plan and its application over time, can begin to forge both the concept, and the product, in the minds of middle America.

As the product continues to change and morph, also over time, the basic premise of a "major league" offering will hold true.

This was really my point with the OP.  Even without WWs, the activity has drifted so far from its DCI roots that it seems silly to call it DCI.  For the individual units, the label “drum & bugle corps” is even less relevant.  All snark aside, the activity could really use some more intentional branding.

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