A Cost-Cutting Proposal

[Jeff Ream]

5 hours ago, HockeyDad said:

We were sold a lie !!!!!!

Ok, actually, everyone knew at the time the - we can reduce pit size - was a load of B.S.  In drum corps as in the government, a thing once introduced can never be taken away.

except the penalty for vocals way back in the 70's

[Jeff Ream]

5 hours ago, IllianaLancerContra said:

Or, maybe, encourage HS bands to march DCI competitions, with the following limitations:

1 - Brass, percussion and guard - no woodwinds.  Most big HS music programs have selective ensembles already (i.e., winter drumline, wind ensemble, etc.) this would be another. 
 

2 - They can enter as many shows as they want or their travel budget allows.  
 

3  - They will be scored on Open class sheets their first year; after that they can choose World or Open class. 
 

4 - They have to meet all DCI size (165 max) and member safety requirements.  

won't happen. schools won't cough up the extra cash to allow it to happen. kids won't want to do it, and booster groups will burn out

[dbc03]

18 hours ago, Jeff Ream said:

or cut spring training in half. that will save 6 figures across the board

This would need to be regulated by DCI across all corps to be worthwhile, otherwise the competitive disadvantage ends up losing too much, winning brings financial support.

Then the audience has to be ok with lower quality performances across the season. Will people be willing to pay Allentown prices for the equivalent of early July performances? A lot probably will, but some won't and you shrink the audience and the money that bigger audiences bring.

Edited October 16, 2023 by dbc03

[HockeyDad]

4 hours ago, 2muchcoffeeman said:

You can look at the front ensemble in the same way that you look at a bloated government program.

Or you can look at the modern front ensemble as the kind of performance group that young people audition by the thousands to participate in. Where else but DCI can a young person who isn't pursuing first chair in the NY Met get the opportunity to perform to such a level of professional musicianship in such a powerful percussion ensemble? There are a lot of young people in the FE because there are a lot of young people who like what the FE is. The USS Front Ensemble can't be seen only as a fever dream of some undisciplined show designer; it meets a demand.

Maybe FEs need to be scaled back for the financial health of the activity. Fine. But let's not delude ourselves that the FE has become some kind of external burden that's been foisted upon us by a nameless bureaucracy.

I think you may have missed the point. One of the arguments used to sell amps and electronics was that the pit size could be reduced. That didn’t happen.   Having said that, I don’t disagree with what you are saying. 

[Jeff Ream]

5 hours ago, dbc03 said:

This would need to be regulated by DCI across all corps to be worthwhile, otherwise the competitive disadvantage ends up losing too much, winning brings financial support.

Then the audience has to be ok with lower quality performances across the season. Will people be willing to pay Allentown prices for the equivalent of early July performances? A lot probably will, but some won't and you shrink the audience and the money that bigger audiences bring.

so how did they do it in the past putting out killer shows without moving in in May and just rehearsing for 6 weeks?

housing isn't free. food isnt free. the cost of getting people....staff, admins and kids...in and out isn't free. thats gotta cut 6 figures off of the bill.

quality won't suffer and in fact may help corps get the ending they need from day 1 instead of wasting cleaning time in July and August adding the new super secret ending thats used for what 2 weeks?

[dbc03]

8 hours ago, Jeff Ream said:

so how did they do it in the past putting out killer shows without moving in in May and just rehearsing for 6 weeks?

Don't know, we moved in in May 20 years ago

[Mello Dude]

9 hours ago, Jeff Ream said:

so how did they do it in the past putting out killer shows without moving in in May and just rehearsing for 6 weeks?

housing isn't free. food isnt free. the cost of getting people....staff, admins and kids...in and out isn't free. thats gotta cut 6 figures off of the bill.

quality won't suffer and in fact may help corps get the ending they need from day 1 instead of wasting cleaning time in July and August adding the new super secret ending thats used for what 2 weeks?

Ya, I am not buying lower quality shows.  Corps back in the day actually competed a full month earlier than today with full shows.  Stuff was added in over an entire year.  I would hazard a guess that if all the huge props were removed and they worked on music and marching rather than staging stuff all over they would do fine.  In FACT I bet a sizeable amount of time saved not hauling stuff on and off the practice fields.

 

Edited October 17, 2023 by Mello Dude

[IllianaLancerContra]

15 hours ago, Jeff Ream said:

won't happen. schools won't cough up the extra cash to allow it to happen. kids won't want to do it, and booster groups will burn out

Even if only a few do here & there it could help by adding a unit or two to a show.  
Kids would have the thrill of being on field with ‘the big league’ & seeing how they stack up; band director would get feedback from judges that they don’t usually see.  
 

In conjunction with more regional emphasis this would be a way to increase available units at individual shows.  Heck, some of the HS’s might even want to host a show, which would also help w/ regionalization.  

[IllianaLancerContra]

40 minutes ago, Mello Dude said:

Ya, I am not buying lower quality shows.  Corps back in the day actually competed a full month earlier than today with full shows.  Stuff was added in over an entire year.  I would hazard a guess that if all the huge props were removed and they worked on music and marching rather than staging stuff all over they would do fine.  In FACT I bet a sizeable amount of time saved not hauling stuff on and off the practice fields.

 

To paraphrase Bill Cook ‘less time moving props, more time cleaning drill’

[RiverCityAndTroopersFan]

21 hours ago, IllianaLancerContra said:

Or, maybe, encourage HS bands to march DCI competitions, with the following limitations:

1 - Brass, percussion and guard - no woodwinds.  Most big HS music programs have selective ensembles already (i.e., winter drumline, wind ensemble, etc.) this would be another. 
 

2 - They can enter as many shows as they want or their travel budget allows.  
 

3  - They will be scored on Open class sheets their first year; after that they can choose World or Open class. 
 

4 - They have to meet all DCI size (165 max) and member safety requirements.  

Or just have HS bands compete as SoundSport ensembles to open up to woodwinds, directors would be in a hell of a fix if they have to explain to 50% of their horn line why they can’t march