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What is wrong with US?


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1 hour ago, greg_orangecounty said:

We were a small corps and our "audition" consisted of a pulse check.  If you had one you were in.  

I was in a small corps that waved the pulse requirement

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1 hour ago, Richard Lesher said:

There are just less corps to go around. That's what's causing this. Auditions are not the issue. BDC for example doesn't audition. Age is the factor, not talent, but they learned, BDC is the back bone of their parental volunteer base. 

Oh I understand about less corps and hence less spots in corps. Same people who say “we never had auditions” also complain about lack of lots of local corps. Of course in this case it’s cause and effect. Some just can’t or don’t want to realize things have changed and not just in the DC world.

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2 hours ago, greg_orangecounty said:

We were a small corps and our "audition" consisted of a pulse check.  If you had one you were in.  

Lol I joined a Sr corps that had been inactive. They had to open up the ranks to high schoolers like me to get enough warm bodies. Scared the crap out of management having that many minors.

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3 hours ago, JimF-LowBari said:

Oh I understand about less corps and hence less spots in corps. Same people who say “we never had auditions” also complain about lack of lots of local corps. Of course in this case it’s cause and effect. Some just can’t or don’t want to realize things have changed and not just in the DC world.

Less Corps & thus less spots.  But then there is the DCI fill every Corps spreadsheet that comes out in spring listing all the open spots.  
 

What I don’t know is how they come up with number of open spots.  Does it assume all Corps want to march 155 members, or is it more nuanced; Corps X wants to march around 140, but could use 2 more mellophones?  I do think that it is safe to say that there are Corps that have no desire to march full Corps.  Although I would love to see Les Stentors with 145 members- just for the chaos it would cause in prelims & semis.  

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1 hour ago, IllianaLancerContra said:

Less Corps & thus less spots.  But then there is the DCI fill every Corps spreadsheet that comes out in spring listing all the open spots.  
 

What I don’t know is how they come up with number of open spots.  Does it assume all Corps want to march 155 members, or is it more nuanced; Corps X wants to march around 140, but could use 2 more mellophones?  I do think that it is safe to say that there are Corps that have no desire to march full Corps.  Although I would love to see Les Stentors with 145 members- just for the chaos it would cause in prelims & semis.  

My understanding with Les Stentors is they do not require auditions which makes sense since they recruit with the promise of giving lessons. They do require interviews. They want members who are serious about performing and being committed. They’re not afraid to cut those who just want to travel to the United States. They’re pretty talented kids. I know Cadets and Crown actively tried to recruit some members who they learned were attending college in the United States. If they ever had 145 members, they’d probably be competitive, maybe even a powerhouse in OC.

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11 hours ago, Terri Schehr said:

They took me into the kitchen at the Skokie AL post and told me to play some scales for Imperials. I did on the bugle I’d never played before.  I don’t think I had to do anything when I went to Guardsmen. 

I learned to play on a valve/rotor in the cadet corps.  Stayed on one until I got a two valve in the late 70s...which was after I joined the HS band and was given a trumpet at my first lesson (we had an alumni sponsor for part of their cost)...the instructor put some music up, asked me to play, and I looked at him and basically said "what the h3ll do I do with this?" 😂

Edited by gak27
minor date correction
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On 10/29/2023 at 2:50 PM, JimF-LowBari said:

Drum corps is thriving? Getting harder to find housing, three top corps (counting SoA) have taken season off due to issues and expenses keep going up just like everywhere else. I’m glad for what we have and surprised the activity still exists as well as it stand today, but have to be realistic

Also, DCA's not thriving either, as they've turned to DCI.

OTOH, marching band in the Midwest looks like it's going gang busters if my attendance to BOA and ISSMA, OMEA, KMEA, and Mid-States' circuits is anything to go by...

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30 minutes ago, jjeffeory said:

Also, DCA's not thriving either, as they've turned to DCI

Yeah my background was Senior corps and marched DCA and two other Senior circuits that no longer exist. 
Another “what’s wrong” is the idea that DCI and DCA are totally separate from each other. IMO what hurts one circuit is bad for the other. We will see how the change goes

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On 10/27/2023 at 10:05 AM, 2000Cadet said:

All of us have dirty laundry. I don't expect for a drum corps or any organization to be completely "clean." 

What's interesting is people seem to think this is limited to Vanguard and the Cadets. Vanguard was yesterday. Cadets are today. Someone else will be tomorrow. This is an activity wide problem, not just a problem with two organizations.

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