btracht Posted October 7, 2006 Share Posted October 7, 2006 I was first exposed to the drum corps back in the early 70’s when there were between 400 and 500 active drum and bugle corps in North America. In 2006 it was report there were 65. Wow!!! What a change! But look what else has changed. The number of competitive marching bands has skyrocketed since the early 70’s. The color guard activity in the 70’s had its national championships in conjunction with DCI or some other national drum corps championship. Only a relatively small number of guards were active. Now there are hundreds and hundreds of winter guards who complete annually. And lets not forget this indoor percussion thing. It has kind of caught on hasn’t it? Yes, there are fewer “drum and bugle corps” but certainly their offspring has increased to truly amazingly large numbers. I would imagine most of us think of drum corps as this activity where a group made up of young adults from all over the country forms in November, gets together once a month through the winter and spring to practice, has an extended pre-tour training camp, and then embarks on 6 to 8 week national tour. Yes, there are still a few junior parade groups, local corps, and weekend warrior groups, but most that are left are like what I have described above or aspire to be the above. Certainly 30 years ago this wasn’t the case. The category “drum and bugle corps” connected groups by instrumentation and style. Within that category there were quite a few subcategories. There were virtually no groups like I first described above. This evolution has occurred for a variety of reasons. Today’s drum corps is a whole different beast so I believe that is useless to make census comparisons unless one includes all of today’s offspring and the increase in numbers is staggering! If you do that you find that the marching arts, drum corps, is healthier than ever! Drum corps, the groups that do the summer thing, is most certainly the “Marching Music’s major league” as the DCI promotional materials tout. We who have done and/or do drum corps know that that experience is something very special so very many reasons. Feel privileged to be one of the few in the marching arts that gets to do or has had the drum corps experience. We don’t need to get all doom and gloomy. The drum corps activity is healthier than ever! It’s time for celebration! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morganhill Posted October 7, 2006 Share Posted October 7, 2006 Someone is living in a dream world. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Matczak Posted October 7, 2006 Share Posted October 7, 2006 Someone is living in a dream world. some call it satire,.............. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guard-ian Posted October 7, 2006 Share Posted October 7, 2006 Or maybe he just views the glass as half-full rather than half-empty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OMello1 Posted October 7, 2006 Share Posted October 7, 2006 Someone is living in a dream world. I disagree. I also feel that "marching music", taken into consderation as a whole entity (DCI, BOA, USSBA, WGI, DCA and the numerous smaller reginal circuits) is quite healthy. We, as die-hard drum corps fans, tend to have a fairly limited view on who we are and where we fit in with the larger marching music activity, and how our health should be measured (especially that last part). Granted, DCI and all the other organizations I listed have little to no direct bearing on each other, but the all have TONS of indirect affect. The health of our activity have MUCH to do with things other than the total numer of organizations. I sure hope people can understand that... There is also merit in the idea that a drum and bugle corps organization of today is hard to compare to one of 30 or 40 years ago. Our world is different (at least so I hear over and over...I'm only 30), and hence the organizations are different: bigger, more regulated, more insured, more oversite...more difficult. I've said this before, but I would rather have 50 or 60 strong, healthy organizations that provide quality experiences to their memberships than have 300 organizations where DCI, with their limited resources (though they have more now than ever...), would only be able to provide limited oversite to the organziations, especially the ones experiencing difficulties. Think about it...we have approximately 25 D1 corps. Last summer, Capital Regiment had trouble providing a quality experience. In the past, it might have been another corps. So, for every 25 D1 corps, we will have one that experiences problems and isn't able to provide a quality experience. So...extend that to 300+ corps, and we have at least a dozen organizations that can't feed their kids, get them down the road safely, or provide quality instruction. AND, I might point out, it might be a little difficult finding 300 *qualified* individuals to run these 300 groups. Heck, it seems we have trouble finding 25 these days. (Okay...so maybe that analogy isn't perfect...but the point remains...) So...to be honest, I would hate to see the day when there are 300 D1 (or D1 - D3) corps around the country...I can only imaged the horror stories that will come about... Give me lean and mean over bloated and shoddy anyday... M Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elphaba01 Posted October 7, 2006 Share Posted October 7, 2006 "Healthier Than Ever": Yep. MARCHING BANDS are indeed "Healtier than ever", thanks in no small part to DRUM CORPS. Elphaba WWW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarimbasaurusRex Posted October 7, 2006 Share Posted October 7, 2006 Got Kool Aid? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alto92 Posted October 7, 2006 Share Posted October 7, 2006 If DCI placed priority strictly on the number of corps they were fielding year to year, they would be *wasting* precious precious resources. The fact is, this isn't 1977. Other things completely out of DCI's control have affected drum corps' role in our society, including the perceived or real necessity that one go to college to secure a future. Summer school, having to work, career related internships, and summer marching band programs have all taken precedence in the pool of kids that corps used to pull from. If some of you would pull your heads out, you would realize that drum corps' popularity and influence, combined with the aforementioned factors has contributed to the explosion of closely related activities like indoor percussion, winterguard, and competitive high school marching band. There is something to be enjoyed in all of those activities that might possibly resonate with even the most stubborn old-skooler. Also, the training that these musicians and performers receive, is in many cases, BETTER than drum corps ever was. So if the kids are better educated (thanks in large part to the baby boomers and the generation after's hard work), if they're receiving better instruction, if it's reaching a larger audience with more participants, and if those involved continue to further the advancement of society with what they learn in the classroom and on the field, then what's the big deal? No, it's not like it was, but how much really is, these days? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lancerlady Posted October 7, 2006 Share Posted October 7, 2006 Yeah drum corps...for being so gosh darned healthy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GGarrett Posted October 7, 2006 Share Posted October 7, 2006 ... I would imagine most of us think of drum corps as this activity where a group made up of young adults from all over the country forms in November, gets together once a month through the winter and spring to practice, has an extended pre-tour training camp, and then embarks on 6 to 8 week national tour. Yes, there are still a few junior parade groups, local corps, and weekend warrior groups, but most that are left are like what I have described above or aspire to be the above. Certainly 30 years ago this wasn’t the case. The category “drum and bugle corps” connected groups by instrumentation and style. Within that category there were quite a few subcategories. There were virtually no groups like I first described above. This evolution has occurred for a variety of reasons. Today’s drum corps is a whole different beast so I believe that is useless to make census comparisons unless one includes all of today’s offspring and the increase in numbers is staggering! If you do that you find that the marching arts, drum corps, is healthier than ever! Drum corps, the groups that do the summer thing, is most certainly the “Marching Music’s major league” as the DCI promotional materials tout. We who have done and/or do drum corps know that that experience is something very special so very many reasons. Feel privileged to be one of the few in the marching arts that gets to do or has had the drum corps experience. We don’t need to get all doom and gloomy. The drum corps activity is healthier than ever! It’s time for celebration! ... There is also merit in the idea that a drum and bugle corps organization of today is hard to compare to one of 30 or 40 years ago. Our world is different (at least so I hear over and over...I'm only 30), and hence the organizations are different: bigger, more regulated, more insured, more oversite...more difficult. I've said this before, but I would rather have 50 or 60 strong, healthy organizations that provide quality experiences to their memberships than have 300 organizations where DCI, with their limited resources (though they have more now than ever...), would only be able to provide limited oversite to the organziations, especially the ones experiencing difficulties. Think about it...we have approximately 25 D1 corps. Last summer, Capital Regiment had trouble providing a quality experience. In the past, it might have been another corps. So, for every 25 D1 corps, we will have one that experiences problems and isn't able to provide a quality experience. So...extend that to 300+ corps, and we have at least a dozen organizations that can't feed their kids, get them down the road safely, or provide quality instruction. AND, I might point out, it might be a little difficult finding 300 *qualified* individuals to run these 300 groups. Heck, it seems we have trouble finding 25 these days. (Okay...so maybe that analogy isn't perfect...but the point remains...) So...to be honest, I would hate to see the day when there are 300 D1 (or D1 - D3) corps around the country...I can only imaged the horror stories that will come about... Give me lean and mean over bloated and shoddy anyday... M If DCI placed priority strictly on the number of corps they were fielding year to year, they would be *wasting* precious precious resources. The fact is, this isn't 1977. Other things completely out of DCI's control have affected drum corps' role in our society, including the perceived or real necessity that one go to college to secure a future. Summer school, having to work, career related internships, and summer marching band programs have all taken precedence in the pool of kids that corps used to pull from.If some of you would pull your heads out, you would realize that drum corps' popularity and influence, combined with the aforementioned factors has contributed to the explosion of closely related activities like indoor percussion, winterguard, and competitive high school marching band. There is something to be enjoyed in all of those activities that might possibly resonate with even the most stubborn old-skooler. Also, the training that these musicians and performers receive, is in many cases, BETTER than drum corps ever was. So if the kids are better educated (thanks in large part to the baby boomers and the generation after's hard work), if they're receiving better instruction, if it's reaching a larger audience with more participants, and if those involved continue to further the advancement of society with what they learn in the classroom and on the field, then what's the big deal? No, it's not like it was, but how much really is, these days? ^OO^ good posts from people who have paid attention (on a comparative level) from "then" and "now" ... (IMO) I actual feel a spirit of decent debate and conversation here, and I may have "clicked into" a different point-of-view... maybe. I have said here before and am saying again... drum & bugle corps may have lost some of it's appeal around the time Nintendo and computers really started to hit. A slow but steady decline in participation, perhaps not SOLELY due to those things I mentioned, but certainly a contributory factor. School programs that became more academically required, or even just more academically FUN... school sponsored athletic programs... and certainly school music programs, all offered more to parents and kids than what we had available in the '70's. The small "local corps" that rounded out the drum corps world were mostly active in local competitions, and rarely did they do much of a "tour" per say. Maybe one swing out to a competition somewhere with a few parade stops and small shows along the way. 2006 was an exciting year for drum corps, I think in small part because of the buzz created by the alumni projects. 2007 looks to be shaping as exciting as well, with another reunion project creating a little excitement. But most importantly, ALL the corps in all divisions are competing with spirit in their hearts at a talent level that is very high, even in the lower ranking corps. They look like they're all having fun!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.