2023 DCI Rules Congress proposals at-a-glance

[Terri Schehr]

11 minutes ago, Bruckner8 said:

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.

I said that to the old man about number 3 but I didn’t dare say it here.  I figured I’d get hit over the head with “ok boomer” and  “go extinct already, dinosaur “. 

[Lance]

3 is about balancing visual and music design more than it has been since GE got thrown all together. It's objectively a lot more skewed towards visual design since that change.   

it's fine not to care about it, but turning it into a metaphor about word pronunciation is a little reductive, imo. 

regarding 5 and 6, if judges "can't tell" or don't care, then why not reduce brass to 20 on the field.  amps and mixing can make it sound just as big or bigger than a full line and that could save a ton of money without any hit to competitiveness.  

i like a lot of these changes because they might put a dent in this trend towards dci looking and sounding more like wgi with some live brass thrown in.  

Edited December 19, 2022 by Lance

[Jeff Ream]

39 minutes ago, Lance said:

3 is about balancing visual and music design more than it has been since GE got thrown all together. It's objectively a lot more skewed towards visual design since that change.   

it's fine not to care about it, but turning it into a metaphor about word pronunciation is a little reductive, imo. 

 

Exactly. Visual now dictates everything 

Edited December 19, 2022 by Jeff Ream

[Bruckner8]

56 minutes ago, Lance said:

3 is about balancing visual and music design more than it has been since GE got thrown all together. It's objectively a lot more skewed towards visual design since that change.   

it's fine not to care about it, but turning it into a metaphor about word pronunciation is a little reductive, imo. 

regarding 5 and 6, if judges "can't tell" or don't care, then why not reduce brass to 20 on the field.  amps and mixing can make it sound just as big or bigger than a full line and that could save a ton of money without any hit to competitiveness.  

i like a lot of these changes because they might put a dent in this trend towards dci looking and sounding more like wgi with some live brass thrown in.  

Fair points, esp the 5/6 discussion. I'm on record somewhere (maybe RAMD back in the 90s) saying that someday drum corps will be called "Summer Winter Guard With Brass and Percussion Accompaniment," where I also commented that all marching members will be 100% visual, with all sound coming from speaker systems, including the stadium sound systems. After that, we'll have 4-8 concert organists/consoles on the front sideline, using their arms and legs for music creation or sound sample launching. There will be zero acoustic instruments. All movement on the field will be "color guard," but corps might use plastic, unplayable instruments to make it look like a drum corps.

[wilme861]

On 12/15/2022 at 4:26 PM, Jeff Ream said:

Not how it’s worded

It does though. In the full document, under Judging Impact they say:

"It is recommended that the MA judge at these shows be a percussionist or a judge with a percussion background."

Personally I just wish they would bring back the second percussion judge instead but I'm fine with this if they don't do it.

[Jeff Ream]

23 hours ago, wilme861 said:

It does though. In the full document, under Judging Impact they say:

"It is recommended that the MA judge at these shows be a percussionist or a judge with a percussion background."

Personally I just wish they would bring back the second percussion judge instead but I'm fine with this if they don't do it.

just have a percussion analysis and a brass analysis judge at all shows and be done with it. i have said for years on MA, the weight of the commentary will depend on the judges background...and the sound files i have heard back it up

[soccerguy315]

I don't think the shorter shows would reduce the cost at all. All the staff taking 10% pay cuts across the board? 

Quote

“Today’s average DCI performer spends just 1.2 years in the activity.

Is this true? Very interesting if so...

Edited December 23, 2022 by soccerguy315

[Boss Anova]

On 12/19/2022 at 4:25 PM, Bruckner8 said:

. All movement on the field will be "color guard," but corps might use plastic, unplayable instruments to make it look like a drum corps.

 Well,  modern Color Guards already use light, wooden imitation " rifles ", and not sure whats up with that anymore.  Honor Guards are a thing of the past, and not sure what " imitation rifles " do to a show design with a theme where rifles fit neither the attire worn in the show, no do anything at all to add to the theme in too many examples now to count. In some cases, a rifle in the show as show designed is more out of place than the traditional cadet styled uniform Corps used to wear, imo.

 Oh well, If being a spectator to a drum corps show requires a flexible  imagination to try and make the show design/ theme work, I've done so for years and years already so far , so I suppose I should be able to continue to do so, no matter how incongruent it  can be sometimes with the themes / show designs ,  instrumentations utilized, sound effects , etc . Drum Corps will continue to evolve in unimaginable ways in the future , imo

Those that subscribe to the expectation that summer Drum Corps will die off at some point will likely have to  conclude that public schools will someday have mandatory summer classes for all students . Absent that, it seems to me that marching band marchers will still want to continue to learn and improve their craft in the summers . Instructors  that are teachers will  then still be available in their summers to accommodate them in some format or other on football fields across the nation, likewise open for business in the summers .

 

Edited December 24, 2022 by Boss Anova

[IllianaLancerContra]

20 hours ago, soccerguy315 said:

I don't think the shorter shows would reduce the cost at all. All the staff taking 10% pay cuts across the board? 

Is this true? Very interesting if so...

That is an excellent idea - if shows are 10% shorter than they should cost 10% less to design, & 10% less to clean.  

[Phantombari1]

No on #2, I'm bettin the costs of each show won't go down to reflect a shorter show... Add in Gas and other so called unexpected changes in the economy and I expect prices to skyrocket.