DCA, The Savior of Drum and Bugle Corps

[Blackstar]

sure maybe it does ~ but making it into a good school beats flipping burgers at Burger King any day of the week

:P

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Do you know how many college grads I hired while managing a Wendy's? :P

[Jeff Ream]

I believe the rule change to allow Bb in DCA was done for different reasons than it was in DCI. Without the major DCI corps buying G's the company's making them were liking to raise their price for less demand or stop making them in the long run. DCA's rule change was more of a look to the future where a DCA corps could possibly not afford G's.

We changed the 128 marching members to not include Drum Majors but that's the only number change we did right?

We can do moving unjudged warm ups but how often is that utilized?

What other major changes am I missing? We don't have woodwinds at I&E this year do we? How many cymbal lines will we have in the top 10 this year? I'm hoping it's more than one compared to DCI.

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cymabl lines in the top 10?

un...4 that I know of. oh and Empire does the moving warmup thing annually, but we no longer have the gun.

[Drumcorpsbrat]

I have been following this thread for a few days now. I am distrubed by the drop in numbers of both Senior and Junior corps. I remember how big corps were in the 70's. I remember BIG shows. I have to agree with Keith (Mr. Hall) :P That there is a significant drop in numbers over a period of 20 years for both groups.

Some of this, I know in our area at least, I think is due to the cuts in music programs in schools around this country. I could be wrong, but here in Erie we have about 10 High Schools....Out of those 10 we have about 6 marching bands. One of those six is 4 schools combined into one All City Band. One band, that I used to march with, no longer exhists at all. If you aren't a jock then there is no money out there for your activity. Maybe we need to get on our legislators and bring music back to our kids. (Kids are the future of Drum Corps or maybe they should be called the "saviors" of Drum Corps)

Another thing I didn't know...While talking to some instructors of Lake Erie Regiment Junior Drum and Bugle Corps, I found out that the schools do not allow them to do assemblies to try and promote this activity.

I'd be curious to know if this is happeneing all over the US or if others think this has alot to do with the drops in numbers.

[LegalEagle50]

Some of this, I know in our area at least, I think is due to the cuts in music programs in schools around this country.  I could be wrong, but here in Erie we have about 10 High Schools....Out of those 10 we have about 6 marching bands.  One of those six is 4 schools combined into one All City Band.  One band, that I used to march with, no longer exhists at all.  If you aren't a jock then there is no money out there for your activity.  Maybe we need to get on our legislators and bring music back to our kids. (Kids are the future of Drum Corps or maybe they should be called the "saviors" of Drum Corps)

Another thing I didn't know...While talking to some instructors of Lake Erie Regiment Junior Drum and Bugle Corps,  I found out that the schools do not allow them to do assemblies to try and promote this activity.

I'd be curious to know if this is happeneing all over the US or if others think this has alot to do with the drops in numbers.

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in CT competitive marching band has grown exponentially in the last 15 years. i can think of 1 school that had a marching band program that folded it to concentrate on its award winning orchestra. but i can think of at least 7 schools that had little pep bands or solely did half-time shows, who are now out there competing. still we only have had one viable new junior corps pop up, and the Hurcs are still having to fight to get members. :(

i'd love to blame it on the demise of school band programs, but sadly it seems, the blame can't be laid there in some parts of the country. note ~ i'm not saying all. i just used what i know as an example.

[Jeff Ream]

I have been following this thread for a few days now.  I am distrubed by the drop in numbers of both Senior and Junior corps.  I remember how big corps were in the 70's.  I remember BIG shows.  I have to agree with Keith (Mr. Hall)  :P  That there is a significant drop in numbers over a period of 20 years for both groups.

Some of this, I know in our area at least, I think is due to the cuts in music programs in schools around this country.  I could be wrong, but here in Erie we have about 10 High Schools....Out of those 10 we have about 6 marching bands.  One of those six is 4 schools combined into one All City Band.  One band, that I used to march with, no longer exhists at all.  If you aren't a jock then there is no money out there for your activity.  Maybe we need to get on our legislators and bring music back to our kids. (Kids are the future of Drum Corps or maybe they should be called the "saviors" of Drum Corps)

Another thing I didn't know...While talking to some instructors of Lake Erie Regiment Junior Drum and Bugle Corps,  I found out that the schools do not allow them to do assemblies to try and promote this activity.

I'd be curious to know if this is happeneing all over the US or if others think this has alot to do with the drops in numbers.

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the good thing tho Shelly is DCA IS growing.

1993....13 corps at prelims

this year...what is the offical #? 25? 27?

so basically DCA has doubled in 12 years, and really the growth has happened more in the last 5

[Drumcorpsbrat]

the good thing tho Shelly is DCA IS growing.

1993....13 corps at prelims

this year...what is the offical #? 25? 27?

so basically DCA has doubled in 12 years, and really the growth has happened more in the last 5

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I stand corrected. I guess I was just lost in days gone by. I do know that DCA has grown but it still seems so much smaller than it was in the "glory days". Then again I was much smaller then and everything looked BIG. b**bs

[Jeff Ream]

Shelly, I agree. However the only time DCA may have had this many corps is when many did just RCA and not both DCA and RCA. and that died out in the mid 70's.

[Blackstar]

Dude,

Were you at any of the DCI shows last week?  53 corps competing in Div I, II & III prelims & finals with my guess of 15,000+ at semi-finals and well over 25,000 at finals hardly seems like a "slow death". 

This is what furstrates me so much. It's not about the performances. They are great each and everyone. But guess what so were they in 1980 when there were over 100 plus corps in championships in all divisions.

It's about the fact that there are less and less corps marching.

The corps put on fantastic performances and the audience was eating it up.  (Yes, I was there.)  The corps members, instructors, designers and administrations deserve a lot of credit for putting on another great season of drum corps.   

I have been involved with drum corps for 20+ years, both DCA & DCI and the one thing that has been constant is change.  Change is good, especially if it allows more people to participate and attend shows. 

If there are less corps, then less people can participate. Crossmen has over 250 kids try out for the horn line. Were did the other 190 that didn't make it go? Radiers, LVK, Cadets of NY. No they didn't. Why, because they most likely don't know about these corps. Why because their not on TV. ESPN will only help to kill DCI. (I'm not going to say the activity any longer because theres always DCA) Kids that want to march but can't because some 20 year old music major has the spot locked up. Or how about the 17 year whose parents could afford private lessons. What happened to this being about the kids. How many corps and I mean the big boys that get ALL of the benefits DCI has to offer help the KIDS. NONE not one. Whats the average age of Cadets, SCV, Blue Devils, Bluecoasts, 18,19,20. Most corps back in the day would have kids of all ranges of skill levels. Theres more segagration then a Mississippi diner in the 60's. 

Lets be real folks, DCI is not about the kids anymore. My 19 year old son is a grown ### man. He lives on his own pretty much. At 21 your are an adult. If DCI was about the kids they would give more love to those that actually help the kids. The D3's and D2's. But we want to be blow away so we're looking for the 60-70 member hornline. We want the best of the best. I've heard the term "ALL-STAR" several times in the past week or so. If that wants you fine. But don't pee on foot and tell me it's raining. Do away with D2-3. Concentrate on what you really want. Settle on having 12 of the best and showcase them on TV.

DCI & DCA are circuits made up of the member corps and they are put together to serve the best interests of those member corps.  They vote on all of the rule changes and they have very intense debates about the pros and cons of each of them.  No one is trying to change the activity for the worse.

No not for the worse but sometimes for the wrong reason.  If the decsions being made hurt the association then it is for the worse.

It's fine to not like a certain style or the use of certain effects or equipment, but it is important to not lose sight of the fact that the members of the drum corps, DCI & DCA alike, are still doing what they always have been doing....working their ###es off to put on the best performance they possibly can for the audience and for themselves.  This is what has always been and will continue to be so appealing about drum corps, no matter what changes come to the activity.

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Until the last JR corps marches off the field for the last time.

[LegalEagle50]

I stand corrected.  I guess I was just lost in days gone by.  I do know that DCA has grown but it still seems so much smaller than it was in the "glory days".  Then again I was much smaller then and everything looked BIG.  b**bs

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another thing that IMO adds to the perception is some of the big corps from the old days are now not the big corps of today. i.e. Hurcs, Sky, Sun. and yes, we've lost some corps. BUT they have been replaced by new corps, bigger corps, etc. note ~ i won't say better as better is totally in the eye of the beholder.

another thing that makes the perception seem different IMO is that pre-lims now start on Sat. afternoon instead of Sat. morning. when it began in the early morning and went all day (or so it seemed sitting in the heat sometimes) IMO it gave the impression that there were more corps. i like the set up they have now. i see them having to push the starting time back with the addition of more corps in the future. (yes, i think we will see more corps continue to join in the fun.)

i totally get the idea of how everything was BIG when you were small though. i wasn't all that young or small when i went to my first DCAs ~ but i was in awe. sometimes it still shocks me that some of the people i sat there gawking at talk to me like a person who belongs here, when i will never come anywhere close to accomplishing what they have.

[JimF-LowBari]

i wasn't all that young or small when i went to my first DCAs ~ but i was in awe.  sometimes it still shocks me that some of the people i sat there gawking at talk to me like a person who belongs here, when i will never come anywhere close to accomplishing what they have.

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Same thing for corps as for people Liz. 1975 we still royally sucked as we were still at the beginning of our rebuilding program. That year we did the pre-show exhibition at the Yankee Rebels show at Memorial Stadium. As each corps went off the field, the score board would display a message for each corps. Never forget out message was: "Welcome Back Westshore - We Missed You". Also had Skys Lefty Meyer drive down to give us a pep talk during one of our rehearsals and many other people wish us well as we regrouped.

Not sure how it is in the DCI world but the Seniors sure seem to watch out for the smaller guyz. :)

Edited August 17, 2005 by JimF-xWSMBari