Jump to content

How Does the Activity Expect to Survive.


Recommended Posts

2 hours ago, TOC said:

Not yet.  When more WC corps start using those instruments and more than a couple of them, then you'll see the empty seats. 

Well, again, I'm talking about Open Class, where no one is showing up for them relative to the WC shows anyway. So the same old timers who ignore Open Class now would be ignoring Open Class if they had a few flutes in the interest of having more kids doing summer band (which is what drum corps is, call it what it is). Net effect, zero

Without increasing participation, there is zero chance of building a more solid foundation under the activity that will generate the type of outside revenue that makes it affordable to do this. Taking just the two SCV orgs off the field this year and adding in Legend takes 400 kids off the field who would have been doing drum corps. No one is replacing them. If a business is dying, you stop and ask "why?" and then 'what can we do to fix it".

But in this case, doing more of the same, as so many in this thread seem to be demanding, is a guaranteed fail. The activity needs more participation in order to survive. Now you can hope more people show up, or you can look at the tools you have accessible, and try to use those tools to your best advantage to affect that change.
 

Edited by Slingerland
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

58 minutes ago, Tim K said:

The original comment has been edited, but I would like to know the source of the 12% of the audience being “old farts.” I know some shows I’ve attended in the past have had younger crowds, namely NightBEAT and Atlanta, some shows clearly older. I think whether Eliquis is an effective blood thinner and whether Lisinopril keeps blood pressure under control could be hot topics in the stands at Allentown, not so much at others. Regarding Indy, the crowd gets younger as the days progress, with Saturday being the youngest, but depending what qualifies as “old fart,” I would say the 50-plus crowd is more than 12%.

I’m dying here because I take both of those meds. Lol yes indeedy, we could have that discussion. 😂 

  • Like 2
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, Slingerland said:



On the point about band directors not wanting to do summer shows, as noted, that was once the norm, and, comes down to it, summer competitive marching band makes a lot more sense than fall competitive marching band. Give them an option that de-stresses the BOA calendar in favor of something more casual and lower cost, and you might find that some of the thousands of high schools who don't WANT the fall competitive band experience could do it as a summer school project (we're aware that the vast majority of high schools aren't into the fall competitive band thing, right?)

There are somewhere around 25,000 HS bands in the US, so you will find just about every possibility when you are analyzing that many band programs. With that many, maybe you would find some to compete in the summer. Even 1% is 250 bands, when you look at the totality. 

I don't think summer competitive band was ever the 'norm', actually. There were a handful that did it, and some of them were not scholastic bands, but local community ensembles, like the old style local corps. 

The BOA calendar is not the driver for most of the competitive bands, actually. Numerically speaking, very few actually compete in BOA. Local circuits like USBands, TOB, NYSFBC, etc here in the mid-Atlantic area provide that more casual and low cost option for the vast majority of competitive bands. 

I did do some high level research a number of years ago on my area here in the mid-Atlantic area, looking at the primary local circuits like USBands, TOB, NYSFBC, NESBA, PMBA, Cavalcade of Bands, etc, and saw about 1300 bands on their collective websites. That covered bands from parts of the South through New England. Some bands would be on multiple lists, of course. As I said, a high level research effort. 

Marching bands compete in the fall, as that is football season for schools. I just do not see that there would be much interest in summer competitions, though based on the first paragraph you may find some. For most band directors I have known since the early 70's, marching band is the tail, and concert band the dog...and most want the tail to be as small as possible. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, TOC said:

That might work.  Then, during the school year the musicians do jazz, concert, band, and other non marching options.

Except that for many HS bands, competitive and non-competitive, the fall football season is the primary reason the marching band exists, at least in the eyes of the administration.

 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, ironlips said:

Fran speaks as someone who marched in a certain era. I too remember the Boonton show.

 

 

Interesting show, held after Nationals close to Labor Day. A lot of the class 'A' corps looked like swiss cheese at that show, as many members had left for college by that time.

The show was sponsored by the Boonton Harmony parade corps. They used band brass, not bugles, at least in my era at that show, 1970-71. They also had a glock section. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Slingerland said:

Well, again, I'm talking about Open Class, where no one is showing up for them relative to the WC shows anyway. 


 

 

That situation was common for class 'B' corps in my era as well, here in NJ.

I competed in the Garden State Circuit in 68/69, taught there in the mid-70's, and judged from mid-70's to early 80's. MANY of our shows had just about zero audience. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

27 minutes ago, MikeD said:

There are somewhere around 25,000 HS bands in the US, so you will find just about every possibility when you are analyzing that many band programs. With that many, maybe you would find some to compete in the summer. Even 1% is 250 bands, when you look at the totality. 

I don't think summer competitive band was ever the 'norm', actually. There were a handful that did it, and some of them were not scholastic bands, but local community ensembles, like the old style local corps. 

The BOA calendar is not the driver for most of the competitive bands, actually. Numerically speaking, very few actually compete in BOA. Local circuits like USBands, TOB, NYSFBC, etc here in the mid-Atlantic area provide that more casual and low cost option for the vast majority of competitive bands. 

I did do some high level research a number of years ago on my area here in the mid-Atlantic area, looking at the primary local circuits like USBands, TOB, NYSFBC, NESBA, PMBA, Cavalcade of Bands, etc, and saw about 1300 bands on their collective websites. That covered bands from parts of the South through New England. Some bands would be on multiple lists, of course. As I said, a high level research effort. 

Marching bands compete in the fall, as that is football season for schools. I just do not see that there would be much interest in summer competitions, though based on the first paragraph you may find some. For most band directors I have known since the early 70's, marching band is the tail, and concert band the dog...and most want the tail to be as small as possible. 

Directors that want to do summer are already on tour. Everyone else wants their summer off.  Many bands already charge students to participate, and to cross state lines you often can’t use a school bus. So renting is the only option. 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 minutes ago, C.Holland said:

Directors that want to do summer are already on tour. Everyone else wants their summer off.  Many bands already charge students to participate, and to cross state lines you often can’t use a school bus. So renting is the only option. 

In addition, many bands do some amount of summer rehearsals to prepare for fall marching band, including full band camp to learn the show, at least in my experience.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 minutes ago, MikeD said:

In addition, many bands do some amount of summer rehearsals to prepare for fall marching band, including full band camp to learn the show, at least in my experience.

Many for 2 straight weeks, others may actually go away a week, and that's beside auditions ( for some ) I've taught bands that leading up to band camp in Aug. had 1 night per week sectionals all summer.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...