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


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23 minutes ago, Spatzzz said:

This is utter non-sense. There is nothing of the scale and scope in the activity that compares to a full blown DCI production. Name a HS marching band with the level of sophistication and quality or performance as the top groups from finals last year. Don't get me wrong there are some very high qualty HS Marching Bands but they can't compete with groups whose average age is 20+. 

There is room in the marketplace for BOA, WGI and DCI to exist and flourish.

Ya it's called college, growing up and spending your money and time for real world applications instead of fantasy.

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4 minutes ago, Spatzzz said:

I'm in no way advocating for the proposal to pass. I'm only stating that at the end of the day the activity will still remain robust with a rabid fanbase. Some will leave and some will come into the fold. Such is life.

I hope you are right.  But it is possible that a decision such as this could be a turning point for the activity.  I’ve been involved most of my adult life as a leader in the Boy Scouts activity, and decisions made by that organization are threatening their continued existence (irregardless of all the lawsuits).  I hate to see DCI make a direction change that makes them irrelevant and unattractive to donors.

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17 minutes ago, Land_Surfer said:

But adding the pit (percussion) and a third valve (brass) didn’t change the essence of drum & bugle corps.

I agree that woodwinds would change the essence of corps and have said so in other posts, but I have to disagree about the pit and instrumentation changes. For many, these changes did alter drum corps. The third valve made a soprano no different than a trumpet in the opinion of many, and carry on/carry off was big in the minds of many. 

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2 minutes ago, Tim K said:

I agree that woodwinds would change the essence of corps and have said so in other posts, but I have to disagree about the pit and instrumentation changes. For many, these changes did alter drum corps. The third valve made a soprano no different than a trumpet in the opinion of many, and carry on/carry off was big in the minds of many. 

A soprano was really no different than the trumpet regardless of what others thought. There are trumpets in Bb, C Eb, D etc. The soprano was just a 2 valve trumpet in G. 

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3 minutes ago, Tim K said:

I agree that woodwinds would change the essence of corps and have said so in other posts, but I have to disagree about the pit and instrumentation changes. For many, these changes did alter drum corps. The third valve made a soprano no different than a trumpet in the opinion of many, and carry on/carry off was big in the minds of many. 

Complex drill and M&M didn’t change the essence either but, keyboard percussion And tympani can’t do it.

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8 minutes ago, Spatzzz said:

I'm in no way advocating for the proposal to pass. I'm only stating that at the end of the day the activity will still remain robust with a rabid fanbase. Some will leave and some will come into the fold. Such is life.

You might be surprised by the enduring value those walk-always represent. These are not the type fans who participate for the 4 years  their kids are involved, and then move on.  

Many of the walk-always will be “lifers” with money to spend. The ill effects of this move won’t be seen right away.

 

Please indulge as I send all of my Best Wishes to a dedicated, longtime fan and poster, xandandl, who is battling a serious illness. 
 

 

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15 minutes ago, Fred Windish said:

You might be surprised by the enduring value those walk-always represent. These are not the type fans who participate for the 4 years  their kids are involved, and then move on.  

Many of the walk-always will be “lifers” with money to spend. The ill effects of this move won’t be seen right away.

 

Please indulge as I send all of my Best Wishes to a dedicated, longtime fan and poster, xandandl, who is battling a serious illness. 
 

 

Sorry to hear about xandandl and I send prayers and best wishes to him as he fights his illness.

This isn't personal but I still think you are overstating the value and size of the detractors. This is always the case in issues like this. I guess we will find out if it passes.

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5 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.

I think they're dumb to add woodwinds, but not so dumb to change the name of the activity.  

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