2023 DCI Rules Congress proposals at-a-glance

[Jeff Ream]

I do find it funny the most beloved brass section in DCi is pushing for 1, while leaving percussion out of the discussion in their proposal. Honestly seems like this is an issue thats plagued them in the past

[IllianaLancerContra]

8 hours ago, Jeff Ream said:

I do find it funny the most beloved brass section in DCi is pushing for 1, while leaving percussion out of the discussion in their proposal. Honestly seems like this is an issue thats plagued them in the past

If you can’t win with the current rules, change the rules in your favor 

[Weaklefthand4ever]

On 12/15/2022 at 2:10 PM, Terri Schehr said:

Thank you Jesus for number five. 

Hereby known as the "Thunderous Goo Clause"

[Jeff Ream]

3 hours ago, IllianaLancerContra said:

If you can’t win with the current rules, change the rules in your favor 

They changed percussion staff too. Wonder how they feel

[juice]

On 12/16/2022 at 11:28 AM, TOC said:

 

If this goes through, It's only a matter of time before there's a proposal for all finalist to get a medal.

Pretty sure all finalist get participation/finalist medals. At least they did 15 years ago.

[Terri Schehr]

1 hour ago, juice said:

Pretty sure all finalist get participation/finalist medals. At least they did 15 years ago.

Longer than that.  I have two finalist medals and patches from 1976 and 1978.  My husband didn’t get any though for 1973 and 74. I think the medals may have started in 1975. 

[TOC]

1 hour ago, juice said:

Pretty sure all finalist get participation/finalist medals. At least they did 15 years ago.

Wasn't aware of that.  Guess I haven't been paying attention during retreats.  Thanks.

Edited December 18, 2022 by TOC

[Terri Schehr]

5 minutes ago, TOC said:

Wasn't aware of that.  Guess I haven't been paying attention during retreats.  Thanks.

We didn’t get them in retreat when I marched.  We had to hand in our equipment and uniform before we got them.  I remember standing in the line with my stuff after finals.  It gave me a warm, fuzzy feeling. 

[MikeD]

On 12/15/2022 at 3:17 PM, IllianaLancerContra said:

Good question that I never considered.  BITD many if not most Drum Corps members didn’t have marching band experience; I wonder if anyone on field at 2022 finals didn’t have marching band experience.  Perhaps Troopers cellist I suppose.  

We had a cellist in the band I wrote for a while back, for two years. When not playing her solos she was in the guard one year (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) and a DM the other (Sweeney Todd).

[Bruckner8]

1. | Addition of “Brass Ensemble” Judge at Regionals and Championships; Removal of Additional “Music Analysis” Judge

Don't care. I trust Michael, but I don't see this passing, because it'll be interpreted as "the rich getting richer" by all other brass programs.

2. | Competition Times (reduce from 17- to 15-minute intervals)

I'm down with this. I'd go further, and allow the corps themselves to notify the judges of the portion of the show to be judged. That way, if some corps needs 10 minutes of prop setup/teardown, thus wanting to do only a 5-minute show, more power to them. To correct for the timing imbalances, the show would be weighted based on the length of their chosen interval, therefore, actually REWARDING those with longer shows. It would encourage quicker setup/teardown times. Furthermore, when SCV shows up in June with yet-another unfinished show (Oops, too early?), it'll probably end up 2-3 places lower than it should just because its show length is only 70% that of its competitors. What I really like about this approach is that it's totally objective: Math is used to create points based on length, period. If Corps X is constantly being beat by Corps Y, and they think their product is better, but they keep losing by a small amount, then Corps X can increase the length of the judged portion of their show, just to see if it makes a difference, lol. If some smart aleck corps say "judge all 15 minutes, including setup/teardown, since it's part of our show," I'd pay to see that. I don't see this passing either.

3. | Change the Captions “General Effect 1” and “General Effect 2” to “General Effect Music” and “General Effect Visual”

So, going back to the way it used to be? tah-MAY-toe, tah-MAH-toe, I couldn't care less about this, but I get where Michael is going, given his new team.

4. | Pacing of Evaluation

No. No baby steps. Get ready. Be ready. Compete. It's called "spring training" for a reason. Granted, one regional exhibition show (as had been done BITD)? Fine, but 10 days? eff no. No prayer of passing.

5. | Brass Amplification Parameters

Let's start with the first sentence of the summary: "This proposal stipulates that short-range personal microphones cannot be used for ensemble reinforcement of the horn line."

100% YES from me, and I might even teach again if that happens! But...the rest of the summary: "Such microphones would only be used to amplify musical content that is "soloistic or soli-istic" in nature. This proposal would not place limits on the number of performers that may perform such content at one time or through the duration of that ensemble’s performance. Noted is that amplified solo content should not reinforce non-amplified ensemble content." 

OK, now it's totally open for interpretation, so NO, don't even bother. Ya had me at the start, but all the rest of those words leave open the possibility that everyone is still mic'ed, and defined as "soloists." Still too much gray-area.

I'd go further: No personal mics, and no field shotgun mics, period, ever, under any circumstance. A single "solo" mic placed anywhere on the field is OK, and a single ensemble mic is OK (I'm not going to get into a mic type discussion)

You do know that SCV's 2018 entire contra line was mic'ed, right? And you know contra lines got smaller in 2019, even though membership numbers got larger, right? Thats cuz contras are now mic'ed. At least SCV mic'ed everyone, thus sending each player the message that they matter. The top hornlines mic-up almost half the hornline now, if not all of it. Now, I admit that we can't argue with the "competitive results," cuz hey, SCOREBOARD! But I'm allowed to stop watching/teaching lol. I'm aware The Universe doesn't care. I can still listen in the lot, but I'm sure that will be taken away, or corps will start bringing the electronics to brass warmup.

This has no prayer of passing, cuz everyone at the top has been rewarded by current trends already.

6. | Brass Pre-Recorded/Sampling Electronics Management

In theory, as a purist, I'd agree. But as a creator, I want every possible color in the palette, given that we're stuck with electronics anyway. I'm not sure how this would be policed. It assumes judges can tell the difference, and that's absolutely laughable. Look, Drum Corps is no different than any other entertainment option out there, trying to be exciting and relevant. It's only going to get "louder" from here, even if less "excellent."

No prayer of passing.