drumcorps4ever Posted December 1, 2005 Share Posted December 1, 2005 [DCI IS NOT TO BE ALL THINGS TO ALL PEOPLE. IT IS TO BE A DRUM AND BUGLE CORPS. This is one of the TRUEST statements uttered on this forum for QUITE some time............:) I marched on 2-valve horns, so what do I know? I'm still getting over all the dancing and amplified pits................ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Einstein On The Beach Posted December 1, 2005 Share Posted December 1, 2005 I for one don't claim that the people already in a corps are in favor of it....they are in a corps, after all.I just happen to think it in the best interest of DCI long-term. And there are many NOT in corps because they play a non-brass or percussion instrument who would benefit from these changes. Mike Really? Funny, I don't know any sax and clarinet players who think ill of DCI because they only allow brass instruments. And all the woodwind players I know who really DO want to do it, they learn how to play a brass instrument. How many talented women are the Cavaliers and Madison turning away because they only allow males? Better yet, how many talented preteens are corps turning away!? I don't think any Div. 1 corps would allow a 10 year old to march with them, but imagine the possibilties, the evolution the activity would made. :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrumCorpsFan27 Posted December 2, 2005 Share Posted December 2, 2005 I for one don't claim that the people already in a corps are in favor of it....they are in a corps, after all.I just happen to think it in the best interest of DCI long-term. And there are many NOT in corps because they play a non-brass or percussion instrument who would benefit from these changes. Mike I played a woodwind instrument. I didn't need an instrumental rule change to benefit from drum corps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted December 2, 2005 Share Posted December 2, 2005 Really? Funny, I don't know any sax and clarinet players who think ill of DCI because they only allow brass instruments. And all the woodwind players I know who really DO want to do it, they learn how to play a brass instrument. How many talented women are the Cavaliers and Madison turning away because they only allow males? Better yet, how many talented preteens are corps turning away!? I don't think any Div. 1 corps would allow a 10 year old to march with them, but imagine the possibilties, the evolution the activity would made. :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted December 2, 2005 Share Posted December 2, 2005 there are many who play those instruments that wouldnt be in corps anyways Mike. There are many brass and percussion players who wouldn't be in corps either..not sure how that is relevant. I mean good god, we're turning away 7000 kids now. so is it cool to turn away 10K? 15k? The membership limits would have to expand for those groups choosing to add WW. not only that, there is NO evidence adding this stuff will bring kids out in droves to join. Not only that, it may drive kids there away when they see it losing it's uniqueness. There is no proof of that either. This is all just us discussing personal opinion. DCI IS NOT TO BE ALL THINGS TO ALL PEOPLE. IT IS TO BE A DRUM AND BUGLE CORPS. They do not play bugles and there is a lot more than drums in percussion today. No reason to not add WW and electronics if the voting BOD chooses to do so. marching bands with unlimited instrumentation already exist and they can stay there. And they can be in DCI too someday. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted December 2, 2005 Share Posted December 2, 2005 Really? Funny, I don't know any sax and clarinet players who think ill of DCI because they only allow brass instruments. And all the woodwind players I know who really DO want to do it, they learn how to play a brass instrument. Never said they think "ill" of it. And of some want to spend a year or two learning a brass instrument before trying out for the Cadets or Regiment, fine. IMO I'd like to see them be able to stay on the instrument they chose to master and still march with them, if the corps choose to go that route. How many talented women are the Cavaliers and Madison turning away because they only allow males? Better yet, how many talented preteens are corps turning away!? I don't think any Div. 1 corps would allow a 10 year old to march with them, but imagine the possibilties, the evolution the activity would made. :P The pre-teen thing I'm not understanding as an analogy. As for the Cavies and Scouts...I don't see them turning women away...as they don't try out. Personally, I wish both would become coed, but that is just MHO. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted December 2, 2005 Share Posted December 2, 2005 I played a woodwind instrument. I didn't need an instrumental rule change to benefit from drum corps. I did too. Doesn't mean anything, esp today. Tough to pick up a trumpet cold and audition for the BD against people with 10 years+ experience on the horn. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oboes7 Posted December 2, 2005 Share Posted December 2, 2005 (edited) I know this argument has been quite extensive, but here are my thoughts for what it's worth. First of all, I am another woodwind player who learned a different instrument so I could march drum corps. I know of many, many former woodwind players who learned to play a brass instrument in order to participate. And while they won't be able to pick up a trumpet for a few months and expect to have any chance auditioning at BD (as in the previous example), they could certainly play for a few months and through ongoing work and dedication march in another Div I finalist corps that summer. I've seen it done, many times. I have never heard any of these people say "If only DCI would let me march with my saxophone, I wouldn't have had to go through the trouble of learning to play the baritone." They say this is what I have to do to participate in this activity, and I'm going to do it. Secondly, I wonder how many of you arguing for inclusion of woodwinds have actually considered the impracticality of mixing reeds with extended outdoor playing during the summer months. Double reeds, for example, are especially sensitive to changes in temperature/humidity/etc. Reeds would constantly be breaking or wearing out, and where would any accomplished double reed player find the time on a drum corps schedule to make their own reeds, a process which takes a lot of time and effort? The idea of woodwinds under drum corps rehearsal conditions for an entire summer just strikes me as so impractical that I wonder if corps would even be able to sustain them as an integral part of their show. The monetary cost alone of replacing so many reeds would be staggering, plus the costs of time and labor. Maybe a corps could use soloist or two, but entire sections of the corps? No way, IMO. One more thing... If the pro-woodwind argument is saying that we should allow people to march on whatever instrument they learned originally, then where do we draw the line? By extending your argument, why don't we open drum corps to people who never learned an instrument at all? Why should they have to learn any instrument to be in drum corps? Let's just have them stand out there on the field with nothing. Oh, and we shouldn't make them learn how to march either, unless they already know how to, so maybe they can just stay in one place for the whole show. But at least they could be in drum corps, right? I do have to say, though, that I've always seen Mike (and others) be very civil and respectful in presenting his opinions. Hopefully the discussion can continue in such a manner on both sides. Edited December 2, 2005 by oboes7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarimbasaurusRex Posted December 2, 2005 Share Posted December 2, 2005 The monetary cost alone of replacing so many reeds would be staggering Kevlar reeds! B) (patent pending) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HornlineDiva Posted December 2, 2005 Share Posted December 2, 2005 (edited) there is NO evidence adding this stuff will bring kids out in droves to join. Not only that, it may drive kids there away when they see it losing it's uniqueness. It's not so much that it will bring them in droves. It's about what will happen if DCI isn't constantly updating and innovating and changing. If someone gave me the oppurtunity to march in a 70's corps, I wouldn't take it. It doesn't interest me. That's just my preference. What makes you think kids 20 years from now would want to do what we did this summer? They wouldn't. Because bands would continue to change, and would probably take DCI's current position as "most elite marching activity". Yes, I know there are probably some kids that would be into traditional drum corps, and yes, I know some kids choose to do traditional DCA corps. But those numbers are miniscule, compared to the thousands of kids that audition for DCI every year. DCI is the cutting-edge of the marching world, and HS kids do it to achieve status. Yes, BOA and DCI borrow from each other, but DCI is still regarded as the highest level you can achieve in the marching world. Yes, some of you did drum corps because you had to learn a different keyed-horn. I promise you that high school band kids don't consider that anything out of the ordinary. They learn to play different-keyed horns all the time. If DCI does not make every effort to appeal to each new, mainstream generation, it will shrivel, and become some kind of obscure special interest group for some archaic form of marching band. I know I say this a lot, but the uniqueness of this activity is not the instrumentation (although that is one thing that contributes to it).... the uniqueness is the experience. That is the core element that seperates DCI and band. That is also, thankfully, something that band can never, ever provide. IMO, DCI will always be unique for that reason, and the only way that could change is if schools started going year-round. People here have preferences. I prefer Bbs, I enjoy amplified pits, and even the human voice sometimes. I can't say I love the idea of adding woodwinds. I taught myself baritone so I could march, and I made it into a DI corps that year. I would probably stand by the activity, so long as it provides its unique experience, but I would be disturbed, just as many would. Because we all want things to stay as they are in our memories. But that is not the point - the point is, your preference is not necessarily what is best for DCI. Edited December 2, 2005 by HornlineDiva Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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