JamMan Posted October 13, 2006 Share Posted October 13, 2006 When did drum corps become just about winning? When did corps decide: "That's too hard to play. Water it down. It's boring, but it's clean." When did the judges decide to reward little drill and an easy music book (clean), over a difficult drill and demanding music book (maybe not as clean)? The answer is actually the cause: sponsors. Corporate sponsors (drums, brass, uniforms, etc.) shower free or extremely cheap merch on the winning corps and stiff everyone else. This is huge incentive for the corps to play it safe rather than go for it, and it makes me sad. Now, I'm not saying this happens every year, to the same corps, or the corps as a whole. I'm also not saying this only happens in the top ranks of Div I. I've seen it happen with drumlines in Div I, with visual programs in Div II, etc. DISCLAIMER: This has nothing to do with amps, B flat horns, asymmetrical drill, or any of the other changes that have improved (debatable) the drum corps experience. The first person to mention these things as a negative gets shot. END TRANSMISSION. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thederek Posted October 13, 2006 Share Posted October 13, 2006 I agree...while winning is nice and being competitive makes you better, it would be nice if the experience and doing your job of entertaining came first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thePerfectbuzz Posted October 13, 2006 Share Posted October 13, 2006 (edited) When did the judges decide to reward little drill and an easy music book (clean), over a difficult drill and demanding music book (maybe not as clean)? when they gave Phantom Regiment 2nd place over the Blue Devils this season. Not putting down their efforts as they performed a great show, but the drill (yeah im getting shot at for this one) was not that hard or demanding. yeah yeah, i know, they had like one crazy drill move they threw in the end of the show where they were jazz running like 64/5's (yeah its an exaggeration, it was really a 8/5 step :P ) but blue devils were definitley performing a higher demanding show with a little (actually a lot) more visual technique...((zips up flame throwing resistent suit to protect against overzealous Phantom die hards who always believe Phantom deserves to win no matter how much they stand around and sound raunchy aka "beautiful brass sounds" )) ((now puts on a safety helmet)) Edited October 13, 2006 by thePerfectbuzz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piper Posted October 13, 2006 Share Posted October 13, 2006 I think that the human urge for competion might have something to do with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgoth Bauglir Posted October 13, 2006 Share Posted October 13, 2006 You can go ahead and add us fans to that as well. Who do you go watch in the lot? Who's APD do you dowload, and who's do you skip? Where are you when the first corps goes on at a local show? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldBones Posted October 13, 2006 Share Posted October 13, 2006 When did drum corps become just about winning? When did corps decide: "That's too hard to play. Water it down. It's boring, but it's clean." When did the judges decide to reward little drill and an easy music book (clean), over a difficult drill and demanding music book (maybe not as clean)?The answer is actually the cause: sponsors. Corporate sponsors (drums, brass, uniforms, etc.) shower free or extremely cheap merch on the winning corps and stiff everyone else. This is huge incentive for the corps to play it safe rather than go for it, and it makes me sad. Now, I'm not saying this happens every year, to the same corps, or the corps as a whole. I'm also not saying this only happens in the top ranks of Div I. I've seen it happen with drumlines in Div I, with visual programs in Div II, etc. DISCLAIMER: This has nothing to do with amps, B flat horns, asymmetrical drill, or any of the other changes that have improved (debatable) the drum corps experience. The first person to mention these things as a negative gets shot. END TRANSMISSION. I disagree. Corps that perform harder shows at a very high level get the credit. Didn't the judges decide to reward corps for their efforts since the beginning of DCI? If I remember correctly, (and believe me I do) pre DCI used a tic system. (.1 came off your score for every mistake you made on the field). Using your theory, a corps can come out and play just whole and half notes very cleanly and win. As far as designing a show around wether you land a sponsor, that doesn't work either. Show design should be written according to talent level of the corps. Not to pick on any corps or their members, but I'll say Crossmen (of which I am an alum) could not perform a show at the same level as any of the top 6, because of the age difference and talent level. So Crossmen designed a show that showed off their talents. And the Crossmen's show was much easier than any of the top 6 shows. Unfortunately it wasn't good enough to make finals. That is just the facts of Drum Corps life. And you can use that example all levels of DCI, DCA and International. BTW, I am one old timer who doesn't mind amps (if only used to properly bring out the sound of the pit, PLEASE no singing) Bb horns (though at one time playing the G horn very well was the difference between drum corps and brass band), and a drill that accentuates the music. These changes did improve the activity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhantomFanT10 Posted October 13, 2006 Share Posted October 13, 2006 (edited) ...No first poster. It became about winning when corps starting pushing each other to get better. And it's still only superficially about winning. ...No third poster. Just no. :( Edited October 13, 2006 by PhantomFanT10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistofflies Posted October 13, 2006 Share Posted October 13, 2006 When did drum corps become just about winning? When did corps decide: "That's too hard to play. Water it down. It's boring, but it's clean." When did the judges decide to reward little drill and an easy music book (clean), over a difficult drill and demanding music book (maybe not as clean)?The answer is actually the cause: sponsors. So first of all, despite the fact that you're just plain wrong, do you think corps should no longer have sponsors? Should they purchase their own equipment? The fact that demanding and entertaining wins out over execution any day is obvious if you watch the Cavaliers from the few years. In the general effect aren they are off the charts, but in execution (especially lower body) they are actually pretty dirty at times. As long as the scoring system stays the same, with 40 points of your total score coming from GE, the Cavaliers will remain on top because they are the masters at GE. They know that they can maximize their points by focusing on that instead of lower-body execution of drill and style. I don't mean this as a knock to the Green Machine in any way, shape or form. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Oz Posted October 13, 2006 Share Posted October 13, 2006 When did drum corps become just about winning? When did corps decide: "That's too hard to play. Water it down. It's boring, but it's clean." When did the judges decide to reward little drill and an easy music book (clean), over a difficult drill and demanding music book (maybe not as clean)? It became about winning the day they started keeping score. Say 1940 or so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScribeToo Posted October 13, 2006 Share Posted October 13, 2006 It became about winning the day they started keeping score. Say 1940 or so. Look, Jim! Finally something we agree 100% upon! Stef Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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