Blackstar Posted July 28, 2006 Share Posted July 28, 2006 Years ago drum corps WAS the musical education system of middle class America. If you wanted to learn an intrustment you joined a drum corps. Some schools did trwch music but not like drum corps. But now a days school equal or surpass what is taught by drum corps. Only D3-2 corps "teach" music today. By teach I mean you walk in and learn how to play. D1's are turning away high school seniors and college music majors. The members come into the corps with the needed skills and 95% of those skills were taught in high school band. So my question is in todays world could drum corps exist without bands. My answer is no, just take a look at whats happening in Canada. And if thats the case and most of us came from HS bands why the, for a better word, hatred for the band systems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bawker Posted July 28, 2006 Share Posted July 28, 2006 (edited) You answered your own question. :P Not much to discuss here, really...if there wasn't band/music education in place now, drum corps would exist...but it would be far, far different: fewer than even now, much more localized, and certainly much less technicality in the books. The important thing to remember is that it's not "hatred" fueling the division between what is "band" and "corps". It's a matter of keeping an identity intact....hence the resistance to some of the things we've seen come to pass lately. Certain things could be considered chipping away at the tradtion, military roots and bearing that some still associate with drum and bugle corps. People don't come to get the same things they could at their band progam. They come for the execution and experience drum corps provides. It's important to preserve that in some aspect (and how to do so is where a lot of the arguments come in), lest we be swallowed up by the band programs and lose the identity the past few decades have created. Edited July 28, 2006 by bawker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nummy1 Posted July 28, 2006 Share Posted July 28, 2006 I don't think there is anyone that hates bands... it was kindof amusing last year, with the Music is Cool clinics.. there were kids in the group making fun of the band kids... these were 16 yr old drum corps kids making fun of band kids...very funny since there are STILL in marching band... we need to have a little more respect for high school programs, if it wasn't for them we wouldn't be were we are today... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madscout96 Posted July 28, 2006 Share Posted July 28, 2006 Yes I think there would be drum corps if there were no bands. If all the school bands in the USA disappeared right this moment, we'd have a huge void. A void that would need to be filled by SOME sort of organization offering group instrumental music instruction to young people. I don't think that any div II/III corps would be hurting for kids if this happened. It would probably be alot easier for a new corps to sprout up. Sure there would be alot more localization of the activity, the top corps might not be as technically advanced as they are now. They'd have to get their kids strictly from lower tiered corps, since there wouldn't be any bands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cire Posted July 28, 2006 Share Posted July 28, 2006 D1's are turning away high school seniors and college music majors. id disagree with that.. turning away is different than being cut. the big difference today than years past.. is just talent level. overall, the talent level is a lot higher, playing AND marching wise. also things like marching out of state, or country.. has helped that. how many non-US/Canada members were there in the 70s? im guessing not as many as today.. So my question is in todays world could drum corps exist without bands yes, but think DCI would be a lot different than it is now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeBob Posted July 28, 2006 Share Posted July 28, 2006 I don't know about that. Bands do more than train kids for drum corps; they condition kids to accept the art form itself. Many high school band students encounter and gain an appreciation of marching band first, and that appreciation makes drum corps appealing. I know plenty of people who weren't in their high school bands who wouldn't look twice at a drum corps DVD, but, in my experience, anyone who marched anywhere will watch with interest even if they've never seen drum corps before. Their own experience with marching band lets them identify with and appreciate what the performers in a drum corps do more than someone who's completely uninitiated, in most instances. Of course, there are drum corps fans among those who never marched -- I threw on some 2001 Cavies (among others, including '87 VK) for some classmates here, none of whom knew anything about drum corps or marching band, and they were fascinated. However, they're also older than high school age and probably have longer attention spans and a greater appreciation of non-CGI art than your average teenager (not that there are any average teenagers on the boards here; you guys are all great). So... I think high school bands serve a number of vital functions for drum corps. That number may be "two," but, y'know, still a number. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldbandguy Posted July 28, 2006 Share Posted July 28, 2006 No...certainly not drum corps as we have known it for the past couple of decades. Not only would the impact be felt on the field (in numbers and quality), but it would certainly be felt in the stands. The crowds and number of shows would be MUCH smaller. I have never understood the "we are so much better than you" attitude I have observed and certainly heard expressed by some (a few) drum corps folks towards the band world. We have all read posts right here on DCP knocking or making fun of the "bandos". Weren't 99.9% of drum corps members "bandos"? Aren't most of the instructors and designers in drum corps really dependent on the band world for their "real jobs"? Aren't most of the shows around the country sponsored by bands? Aren't most of the corps housed at schools as guests of the bands? Aren't most corps off season rehearsals done at schools as guests of the bands? Aren't most of the show tickets and souvies purchased by "bandos"? Do you think FJM, Pearl, Yamaha, Dynasty, and etc. would be providing assistance to drum corps if they did not think it would help them sell things to the bands? Could there be drum corps without bands? I don't think so. Could there be bands without drum corps? Without question. But the summers sure would not be as much fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackstar Posted July 28, 2006 Author Share Posted July 28, 2006 I guess the main reason for my question was that many schools are cutting out the music department. It may happen here in Delaware because of a budget shortfall. It may not effect Corps in the near future but it happened quite quickley in Canada. It would be a casade effect from high schools to colleges to drum corps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt_S Posted July 28, 2006 Share Posted July 28, 2006 I have never understood the "we are so much better than you" attitude I have observed and certainly heard expressed by some (a few) drum corps folks towards the band world. We have all read posts right here on DCP knocking or making fun of the "bandos". Weren't 99.9% of drum corps members "bandos"? Aren't most of the instructors and designers in drum corps really dependent on the band world for their "real jobs"? Aren't most of the shows around the country sponsored by bands? Aren't most of the corps housed at schools as guests of the bands? Aren't most corps off season rehearsals done at schools as guests of the bands? Aren't most of the show tickets and souvies purchased by "bandos"? Do you think FJM, Pearl, Yamaha, Dynasty, and etc. would be providing assistance to drum corps if they did not think it would help them sell things to the bands?Could there be drum corps without bands? I don't think so. Well said indeed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted July 28, 2006 Share Posted July 28, 2006 they could, but then show ideas wouldn't be stolen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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