Jeff Ream Posted March 21, 2023 Share Posted March 21, 2023 On 3/19/2023 at 3:25 PM, greg_orangecounty said: An iconic World Class Corps like the Cavaliers can't find 2 or 3 (at the most) qualified full-time guard instructors to go on tour for 11 weeks? You're probably more connected than I am on the running of a modern Drum Corps, but I just find that very odd. Our guard was self-taught except for bringing in Stanley Knaub for a couple weeks a season and they did just fine. Completely different eras and styles - I understand - but something seems out-of-whack to use 13. But if they're UNPAID interns.....then no problemo. no. people have careers that don't give 11 weeks of vacation. 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted March 21, 2023 Share Posted March 21, 2023 1 hour ago, greg_orangecounty said: I “care” in as much as I’d like to see the activity survive long-term and exist for more than just a handful or elite corps. Give kids that can’t afford $5,000 or more the same opportunity to march as we did. Drum Corps is dying before our eyes and for a chance to survive it needs to find a way to do business differently and cut expenses. There’s probably not much opportunity to cut expenses in housing, food, and transportation, but the size of staff…….? Plenty of opportunity in my opinion and the product won’t suffer, nor will the audience. you realize most are only paid for thir time with the corps right? It's not like they get a check every week sitting at home. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg_orangecounty Posted March 21, 2023 Share Posted March 21, 2023 1 hour ago, Jeff Ream said: you realize most are only paid for thir time with the corps right? It's not like they get a check every week sitting at home. I’ll frame my argument from another perspective. Blue Stars published how they spent their funding for 2022. About 1/3 of their budget was spent on show production which includes staff salary, so I’ll assume that’s roughly the same percentage for all corps. Take that 1/3 in spending for “show production” in 2022 and cut it by 50% for 2023. Everything else falls into place accordingly. Accountants exist for a reason and Drum Corps should listen to them more and the design people less. Much less. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hook'emCavies Posted March 21, 2023 Share Posted March 21, 2023 Well..... we also need to include our countries inflation. Everything is up right now. Sure, prices for marching during the summer are very high. However, gas is up and, well, everything is inflated. As an example, I noticed that baseball socks used to be $5.99 and right now they are (looking over my right shoulder to see the price) $9.99. Those few dollars really do matter. At the end of the day our economy isn't good at the moment. So... the cost of everything goes up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LabMaster Posted March 21, 2023 Share Posted March 21, 2023 25 minutes ago, Hook'emCavies said: Well..... we also need to include our countries inflation. Everything is up right now. Sure, prices for marching during the summer are very high. However, gas is up and, well, everything is inflated. As an example, I noticed that baseball socks used to be $5.99 and right now they are (looking over my right shoulder to see the price) $9.99. Those few dollars really do matter. At the end of the day our economy isn't good at the moment. So... the cost of everything goes up. But I’ll bet staff salaries have not gone up proportionately. Not every staff member is being paid either. I would expect salaries and wages for corp staff; designers, techs, admin., etc. can be found in their tax filings. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hook'emCavies Posted March 21, 2023 Share Posted March 21, 2023 1 minute ago, LabMaster said: But I’ll bet staff salaries have not gone up proportionately. Not every staff member is being paid either. I would expect salaries and wages for corp staff; designers, techs, admin., etc. can be found in their tax filings. I would bet on that too. I have a gut feeling that there will be cuts in other areas. What they could do is cut amps and electronics and add at least 20 contras lol!!!! 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewToPosting Posted March 21, 2023 Share Posted March 21, 2023 9 hours ago, greg_orangecounty said: I’ll frame my argument from another perspective. Blue Stars published how they spent their funding for 2022. About 1/3 of their budget was spent on show production which includes staff salary, so I’ll assume that’s roughly the same percentage for all corps. Take that 1/3 in spending for “show production” in 2022 and cut it by 50% for 2023. Everything else falls into place accordingly. Accountants exist for a reason and Drum Corps should listen to them more and the design people less. Much less. You're not wrong that drum corps (winterguards, drumlines, marching bands, and winds groups) should make more financially sound decisions. Tossing this out there (see what I did?)... The colorguard doesn't have sheet music. They don't all come in having done a similar "slur" exercise. A Drop Spin for one kid is vastly different for another kid. There is A LOT of workshopping required for a colorguard. A LOT. It does actually require eyes from all angles and it does also require specialties, as noted. What probably has a larger financial impact is flights in and out of camps and on the road. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keystone3ply Posted March 21, 2023 Share Posted March 21, 2023 (edited) 58 minutes ago, Hook'emCavies said: I would bet on that too. I have a gut feeling that there will be cuts in other areas. What they could do is cut amps and electronics and add at least 20 contras lol!!!! It was last year that "The Cavies" had the most & best characteristic tuba/contra sound. It was live at the Murfreesboro show where I first noticed it. They really sounded like vintage G contras! Probably a product of great breathing teaching from Freddy Martin. ("Breathing Gym") Lots of air going thru those horns... Edited March 21, 2023 by keystone3ply cx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hook'emCavies Posted March 21, 2023 Share Posted March 21, 2023 1 hour ago, keystone3ply said: It was last year that "The Cavies" had the most & best characteristic tuba/contra sound. It was live at the Murfreesboro show where I first noticed it. They really sounded like vintage G contras! Probably a product of great breathing teaching from Freddy Martin. ("Breathing Gym") Lots of air going thru those horns... YEP! No doubt about it. I said the same thing in Tomball. Putting my extreme fanself to the side, they rocked! I hope they can build on that powerful contra line. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjohn76 Posted March 22, 2023 Share Posted March 22, 2023 (edited) 22 hours ago, greg_orangecounty said: I’ll frame my argument from another perspective. Blue Stars published how they spent their funding for 2022. About 1/3 of their budget was spent on show production which includes staff salary, so I’ll assume that’s roughly the same percentage for all corps. Take that 1/3 in spending for “show production” in 2022 and cut it by 50% for 2023. Everything else falls into place accordingly. Accountants exist for a reason and Drum Corps should listen to them more and the design people less. Much less. While the advice of an accountant is important, it's also important to recognize that the marching members expect a much higher level of instruction now days compared to 20 years ago. That's the reason why the bulk of the staff on tour are professional educators, professional musicians or in some cases aspiring educators/musicians. Acquiring & retaining the services of those folks cost money, and drum corps honestly is paying out on the cheap to get them. There's actually been a push on multiple fronts for staff members to be paid MORE... not less. Members also expect to have a tech for their section present at all times. All of those professional staff mentioned above have commitments & obligations that they need to tend to outside of the corps, which is why the staff is stacked several layers deep to allow people to rotate on/off tour as needed. Gone are the days of only having one or two staff members on tour trying to cover an entire caption. It's also important to keep member safety in mind. Having someone on the full tour + spring training can lead to burn out. When people are burned out, they're more likely to mishandle or completely miss a critical incident where member safety is at risk. One last thing to keep in mind is that many corps now have full-time administrative staff (ex. CEO, director, etc...). That's going to chew up a fairly large portion of that staff expenditure percentage. You can argue whether it's necessary to have those full-time people in place, but reputable sources that the corps are being referred to use for guidance all suggest having that type of structure. Edited March 22, 2023 by rjohn76 Additional context. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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