The Drum Corps Activity is Healthier Than Ever!

[ScribeToo]

I like soup but sometimes I get a bad batch and it keeps coming back.

[Jeff Ream]

I'm glad you finally see it my way.

(That quote is totally out of context, people, I'm just joking. Just a trick I learned from our local politicians)

I now have seen the light and agree with you. See my earlier post on why we never did DCI shows way back when.

You DCI guys are supreme. All hail DCI.

sorry this doesnt help your argument at all. makes you look whiny

[dbc03]

sorry this doesnt help your argument at all. makes you look whiny

I'll take that as agreeing with me, which makes #3. You now owe me a beer at the next event we both attend... Which may prove difficult considering you don't go to DCI shows and I've never been to a DCA show :P

[Jeff Ream]

then you need to go to a DCA show

[Snapettes Mom]

Jeff, is it true you never go to DCI shows?

I know they can be so squeeky clean that they have a chemical oder, but there are actually some rediculas moments of magic to be found on a clear night at finals. Besides it's before hurricane season.

Mom

[Jeff Ream]

I went to East last year at the request of a former student who marched Glassmen. that was my first since 2003.

and unless other students march, i won't be going back without a few changes

[Snapettes Mom]

I'm guessing here. Could it be electric instruments and what bar on the chart horns try to tune from. Probabably not the Bb thang. Oh yes it could be performers using microphones to be heard from the field.

I think if anybody deserves a microphone its the drum major and only during rehersal.

My personal take on that electric stuff is 25 years from now it will go from a science to a true artform. Sort of like what a marching pit from the seventies sounded like to how much better they sound now with a full pit.

Mom

Edited October 19, 2006 by Snapettes Mom

[WWonka]

Hmmmm it's "Healthier Than Ever!" but we still just lost another great corps.

The people who only go do D1 shows probably won't notice but ECJ was an INCREDIBLE Drum Corps with

highly entertaining shows... what a loss..... :(

It's supposed to just be a year off but a lot of those end up being permanent... boy I hope not in the case of ECJ.

[btracht]

This thread has certainly spawned lots of discussion. The three main opinions I have read are:

You buy into the premise that the drum corps activity does include competitive marching bands, winter guards, indoor drumlines and junior competitive drum and bugle corps. Under that definition, the drum corps activity is healthier than ever.

You don’t buy into the premise that the drum corps activity now includes other groups and when you look at the junior competitive drum and bugle corps, the activity is not in good shape because of the huge decline in numbers of participating corps.

You don’t buy into the premise that the drum corps activity now includes other groups and when you look at the junior competitive drum and bugle corps, the activity has evolved and still doing well even though there are fewer groups.

Let’s put this thread to sleep. I request this thread be closed. I have enjoyed reading all of the thoughtful responses. Thanks!

[nemesiscorps]

This thread has certainly spawned lots of discussion. The three main opinions I have read are:

You buy into the premise that the drum corps activity does include competitive marching bands, winter guards, indoor drumlines and junior competitive drum and bugle corps. Under that definition, the drum corps activity is healthier than ever.

You don’t buy into the premise that the drum corps activity now includes other groups and when you look at the junior competitive drum and bugle corps, the activity is not in good shape because of the huge decline in numbers of participating corps.

You don’t buy into the premise that the drum corps activity now includes other groups and when you look at the junior competitive drum and bugle corps, the activity has evolved and still doing well even though there are fewer groups.

Let’s put this thread to sleep. I request this thread be closed. I have enjoyed reading all of the thoughtful responses. Thanks!

Why am I even bothering with this?

Not so fast my friend...

I can see how the various opinions make sense to those that have spoken to the issue. As I have often said, we are an inbred activity, meaning that many of us participate in "the marching activity" or the pageantry arts on multiple levels (fan, marching participant, instructor, management, volunteer, corps, winter guard, marching band, indoor percussion, etc.). Our passion has the ability to blind our objectivity when it comes to assessing what and who we are, let alone how well off or lacking we are.

Please take a moment to consider how an outsider would view the health of the "drum corps" activity.

I emphasize, "drum corps" because it is only fair and correct to do so. We don't call marching bands drum corps, we don't call winter guards drum corps, and we don't call indoor percussion lines drum corps. We all agree that they are related, but if you wanted to speak of the health of the "marching activity", you should have stated so and made your case. Instead, you chose the term "drum corps" knowing that there is a strong division about the state of the "drum corps" activity. I think you were really trying to make the case for the "drum corps" activity specifically, and cited several "related" activities to make your case, and that is something that many "traditionalists" couldn't take laying down.

Anyway, I believe that when a semi-intelligent and impartial outsider views facts, they would agree that the "marching activity" is healthier than ever, but they would also be able to make a clear separation between the three activities, compare and contrast them, and come to a logical conclusion on the general health of either from a practical standpoint. I will use the following analogy that an outsider can relate to, and then we can all go to sleep.

Imagine if in 2006, private "youth soccer" was it's own little niche in the USA, and was comprised of roughly "only" 60 teams or so nation-wide, of which two-thirds or so were actively "playing against" other teams. I use the term "playing against" rather than "competing against", because the playing field (no pun intended) would not be level, meaning that some of the soccer teams have healthy amounts of money, affording them the best equipment, coaches, facilities, marketing/recruiting capabilities, and general support from sporting equipment manufacturers and other related sports endorsers and enthusiasts. Imagine that much of this has come about because those that win have continued to reap the benefits of winning over time, the most important benefit being the ability to create their own self-governing entity, and thus decide what the rules will be and how the game will be played to suit the collective body of winning teams.

Of course the other teams would still exist in their own right, but under very different circumstances, such as operating with limited funds and similar issues that generally come with a program facing significant financial challenges, the most important being having no say in the rules and how the game will be played. Nonetheless, approximately 21 or so of the teams would be considered "strong enough" to be invited to play against each other as the "best active teams", and therefore they are eligible to receive money for competing against each other at regional games across the country. The rest of the teams simply "get by" however they can. It is not important how some of the teams have achieved their levels of success, and how some have not achieved those levels... it's simply the way it is.

Of the fifty or so private youth soccer teams that would be currently "playing against" each other, only 6 have ever actually won the top prize in over thirty years. Furthermore, it's likely that those same five or six will continue to be competitive "against each other" for winning top prize in the foreseeable future. At least there is no reason to believe that the competitive results will change since the same trends have continued for over three decades, with nothing to indicate different results in the near or distant future. Continue to imagine that each year, of those 75 teams, one or more of the teams folds as a result of their inability to compete at levels that bring beneficial returns in revenue, recruitment, overall status, etc. Finally, imagine that while the youth soccer activity continues to exist as described above, other youth sports are thriving and growing (participation wise, number of teams, number of spectators/supporters, etc.), such as youth baseball, youth football, youth basketball, and other scholastic sports.

Even though any intelligent person can speak to the success of specific youth soccer teams or groups of teams (as well as speak to the health of youth sports in general), no honest and objective thinker could possibly make the argument that "youth soccer" (as I have described above) could possibly be "healthier than ever." In addition, to suggest that we should "celebrate" because of how healthy the SPECIFIC sport of "youth soccer" is, is beyond outrageous. Youth soccer is not basketball, football, basketball, etc., and the "drum corps" activity is not winter guard, marching band, indoor percussion, etc.

Make your case for the "marching activity" and you'll get little debate from any honest and objective person, but stop trying to "spin" this passionate issue in the manner that you have. It's not an honest reflection of where the "drum corps" activity has been and where it's going. It's a twisted way of trying to defend the tragedy of what has happen to THE drum corps activity. The truth is that it has gone beyond “change”. It is an unhealthy competitive environment that has contributed to the demise of past drum and bugle corps that could not sustain the demands of what it takes to survive and be competitive. There are obvious examples of corps that have "survived" this so called evolution of drum corps, but they are by no means competitive, and it's unlikely that they ever will be again. Many of you are comfortable and pleased with where we are today, go ahead and celebrate. Meanwhile there will always be those of us that mourn a once great activity that was unique in what it was and in it's clear service to the cause of youth development. That activity no longer exists. I’ve accepted the fact that the fight is over, though the debate still goes on.

Let’s debate specific, real and articulable facts, and leave fiction, fantasy and spin agendas alone.