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Best Decade of Drumcorp


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On 6/18/2021 at 11:16 PM, Rich Cline said:

The best decades of Drum Corps were the Classic corps of the 1950s and 1960s.


Quick Wikipedia Summary:

Classic corps of the 1950s and 1960s used fewer exotic percussion instruments and relied instead on the stadium-filling power of a traditional line (or " battery ") consisting of six or eight 12-inch-deep (300 mm) by 15-inch-wide (380 mm) double-tension maple snare and tenor drum shells and two or occasionally three 26-inch-wide (660 mm) by 12-inch-deep (300 mm) bass drums with an ornamental shell covering of hard plastic in a glossy sparkle or pearlescent finish.

Full Source Description: Drum and bugle corps (classic) - Wikipedia

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drum_and_bugle_corps_(classic)#:~:text=Classic corps drum lines of the 1950s and,plastic in a glossy sparkle or pearlescent finish.


Classic (or "Golden Age") drum and bugle corps with musical ensembles that descended from military bugle and drum units returning from World War I and succeeding wars. Traditionally, drum and bugle corps served as signaling units as early as before the American Civil War, with these signaling units having descended in some fashion from ancient drum and fife corps. With the advent of the radio, bugle signaling units became obsolete and surplus equipment was sold to veteran organizations (such as the Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion, two major organizers for classic drum corps). These organizations formed drum and bugle corps comprised of civilians and veterans, and the corps performed in community events and local celebrations. Over time, rivalries between corps emerged and the competitive drum and bugle corps circuit evolved.

The term "classic" is used for the purposes of this article to differentiate it from modern drum and bugle corps, using the time period of the establishment of Drum Corps International as a dividing point in the timeline of the two types of drum and bugle corps. Modern drum and bugle corps are a continuation of the classic variety, for all intents and purposes, having the same origins, though some corps in the "classic" model do still exist.

Traditionally, drum and bugle corps consisted of bell-front brass horns, field drums, a color guard, and an honor guard. Drum and bugle corps have often been mistaken for marching bands, since there is a similarity to both groups having horns and drums; and they are both essentially bands of musicians that march. The activities are different in organization (marching bands usually associate with high schools and colleges while drum corps are freestanding organizations), competition and performance (marching bands perform in the fall at football games, drum corps usually compete during the summer), and instrumentation (drum corps use only brass bugles and drums, marching bands incorporate woodwinds and other alternative instruments).


History:

Within the mainland United States drum and bugle corps can trace their origins to the many Veterans of Foreign Wars ("VFW") and American Legion ("AL") meeting halls, where First World War and Spanish–American War veterans met and formed musical ensembles to entertain their communities, some of them being veterans of drum and bugle/field trumpet ensembles within the armed forces (Army, Marine Corps and Navy). The tradition of these military ensembles would later be adopted by civilian groups beginning in the 1880s, and no less than John Philip Sousa saw their potential, for these formations he wrote his first book, Trumpet and Drum, which included his own compositions for such formations. In addition to VFW - and AL-sponsored corps, other drum corps were founded by Boy Scouts of America troops (such as the corps that would become the modern-day corps: the Racine Scouts, The Cavaliers and the Madison Scouts), Elks lodges, YMCAs, the Catholic Youth Organization, Police Athletic Leagues (such as would found the Bluecoats), fire fighter organizations, and local businesses, as well as Churches, grammar schools, high schools and colleges. By far, Church-sponsored organizations predominated the drum corp circuits in the eastern coast states. In addition, the touring concerts of the drum and bugle band of the Queen's Own Rifles of Canada regiment of the Canadian Army Primary Reserve, which by then was among the pioneer bands of that type in North America,[4] would also be an inspiration for the formation of early military and civil corps in the 1910s and 1920s, spurred on with the 1934 formation of what is now today the United States Marine Drum and Bugle Corps.

Rivalries between corps led to a shift towards competition and the AL and VFW both ran successful competition circuits through the late 1960s and early 1970s.

With improved national transportation trends by the 1960s, drum and bugle corps proliferated, both in the sheer numbers of both new and established corps across North America, in the many competitions held then, and in the stadium attendance counts.

At this time, however, there was unrest among some directors and instructors who were critical of the competition-rules committees of the veterans' organizations which governed and sanctioned state and national championship competitions.

The payment structure for shows was weighted so that the corps with the highest placement got the most prize money; corps who attended shows from great distances but placed poorly were at times left with financial losses, and some corps sought a fixed payment structure for all participating corps.

The second major reason was the desire by the some corps to have more control over their competitive performances. As an example, at the height of the Vietnam War a 1971 show by the Garfield Cadets drew criticisms from VFW organizers over a formation where the corps formed a large peace sign, which angered the staff of that corps over its loss of "artistic freedom". Both the Combine and Drum Corps International demanded that corps themselves should control rulemaking decisions.


Members of the Regimental Band of The Queen's York Rangers (1st American Regiment) (RCAC) during the 2008 Toronto Santa Claus Parade.
The VFW and American Legion rules differed to a degree (although American Legion rules predominated in nearly every contest) and pressure increased to find a common judging system. Concerns were also voiced over contest promoters' rights in choosing sponsors and judges, and complaints arose regarding the lack of self-governance of competition circuits. The dissenters also expressed reservations about the increasing numbers of independent non-corps-sponsored competitions.

Some corps managers, directors and instructors walked out of the 1969 VFW national rules committee meeting after their requests for major rules changes were not approved, and some of the protesting participants then formed the by-invitation-only (and short-lived) Midwest Combine in 1971. In 1972, Drum Corps International was founded, and was designed to create one uniform, corps-governed competitive circuit for junior drum and bugle corps (members aged twenty-one or less). DCI formed its own rules-governing body and enacted membership fees causing further disparity between startup drum corps and more professional units. This milestone event marked the beginning of the modern drum corps era.

Most of the still-numerous North American competitive corps joined in the movement of change under new leadership, and by the mid-1970s the rapid introduction and proliferation into competitive drum and bugle corps of previously-unfamiliar innovations (on-field dancing, creative costuming, novelty effects and unusual instrumentation) effectively ended the Classic competitive era.

Currently, we still have the 'Commandant's Own', (USMC) who still perform in the 'Old School' format modified to the 'New Age' Drum Corps content format.

If you wish to read more, explore the following links......

References
 Fennell, George D. (2008). Racine: Drum and Bugle Corps Capital of the World (Images of America: Wisconsin). Arcadia Publishing. p. 7. ISBN 978-0-7385-6133-2.

 Karls, Alan R. (2014). Racine's Horlick Athletic Field: Drums Along the Foundries. Charleston, SC: The History Press. Archived from the original on 2014-06-09.

 McGahey, Suzanne (2006). Winter Guard. The Rosen Publishing Group. pp. 9–10. ISBN 978-1-4042-0732-5.
http://www.middlehornleader.com/Evolution of the Bugle -- Section 2.htm

 "Evolution of the Bugle / Evolution of the North American Competition Bugle 1968 through 2006" - The Middle Horn Leader Magazine

 "Alumni Drum & Bugle Corps(Active)", Drum Corps World Archived July 9, 2010, at the Wayback Machine

External links
Drum Corps Wiki
Drum Corps Planet

Vanguard Classic Drum Corps, " A True Drum Corps Legend", Chicago Area
1959,1961,1962, and 1963 National Champions

 

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On 6/19/2021 at 8:42 PM, Continental said:

My first live corps experience was 1980.  I was blown away by what I saw.  The '80s is one of my favorite decades in DCI because it was the beginning of an activity that I still watch to this day. 

Someone just posted all the corps that appeared at DCI East, Allentown that year on YouTube - the show that 27th won over Devils.  So many different perspectives not shown on the finals broadcast that year. 

 

If you speak with a number of people who were at Allentown that night in 1980, they’ll tell you that it was the best performance of 27th Lancers in the corps’ entire history. There are also many who claim that Blue Devils best performance in 1980 was not DCI finals but CYO Nationals a week earlier. I was at CYO Nationals and thought 27th was stronger than Blue Devils, but it was a hometown crowd, I was very biased against Blue Devils, and we don’t have taped performances of CYO Nationals so it’s all in my memory. 

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The 2030’s.  

Especially the later part of the decade as The Academy first leveraged creative use of AI-enabled UAVs In their ascent to the gold.  

Those shows would later provide for many pleasant memories in the lean years of the post-apocalyptic 2050s.  

Oh wait, you still hav-

Never mind. 

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3 hours ago, derek005 said:

79-91, but I know what decade.

So you are saying the Zingali era … which really puts into perspective how short his active influence was … but was there any greater visual innovator? Yes, he worked with the 27th color guard and Quasar prior to 1979, but it was 1979 that he took took over the visual show in Revere, and 1991 was his Magnum Opus at Star. What an era!

Edited by Jurassic Lancer
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On 6/17/2021 at 9:58 PM, Tim K said:

It seems that for many people the years you marched or the years you’re eligible to march are often the favorite years. To some extent that’s the case with me. I would have aged out in 1984 and my favorite decade is the 80’s with 1979 thrown in for good measure. I have enjoyed most years and decades, but 2011-2019 has often  blown me away. I find so many engaging and entertaining.

 

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The 90s brought a wealth of new music and drill design. The 20s expanded on the groundwork of the 90s. This is from someone who marched in the dark ages LOL.

Edited by Sutasaurus
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I was introduced to drum corps in the early 90s, and I still love the way the music books were arranged in that decade. But man, I go back and listen to the CDs from that decade and all of the horn lines, even the best of the best, sound AWFUL. Those G bugles were just an abomination. Moving to Bb brass was the best move DCI ever made. It was immediately apparent by 2002, when the Cavaliers horn line that year (with its wonderful intonation) sounded 1,000 times better than any previous horn line in DCI history. And brass has just gotten better and better ever since. More on that in a minute.

The 2000s are probably the best decade for visual design, to me. Michael Gaines, Myron Rosander, Jay Murphy, and Jeff Sacktig (amongst others) achieved the perfect blend of marching drill design and theatrical staging that made drum corps so unique. Since then, I feel the marching arts have evolved a bit too far into the theatrical staging arena. Unquestionably, what is being performed now is ridiculously difficult, but I miss the days of 120+ kids blazing across the field at 200+ bpm while playing. The 2000s were the apex for that. I also liked the percussion design and performance the best in the 2000s, but I'm not a percussion expert.

The 2010s, by far, have been the best decade for brass performance. It's not close. The corps just keep getting better, and better, and better. Corps in the 10th-15th spots are sporting brass lines that would have been Top 5 in prior decades. The emphasis on musicality over raw power has disappointed some older generation drum corps fans, but to me it's a thing of beauty. The technical ability of today's performers is just insane.

So yeah, my favorite decade? Every decade I've experienced, pretty much. I don't expect that to change.

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2 hours ago, hostrauser said:

I was introduced to drum corps in the early 90s, and I still love the way the music books were arranged in that decade. But man, I go back and listen to the CDs from that decade and all of the horn lines, even the best of the best, sound AWFUL.

I'm a DCI child of the 90's, and I have to agree.  Yikes those recordings do not hold up so well.  Some of it, of course, is recording technology, some of it's the instruments.  I have to say, once DCI moved into LOS, the recordings had a massive jump in quality and have been outstanding since.  

But yeah - I agree with pretty much everything you said there.  🙂

Mike

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