truman Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 I was at the Meadowlands for a YEA DCI show 2 summers ago. YEA also uses this venu for bands in the fall. The signs that directed you in the lot read: MARCHING BAND SHOW >>> I wanted to get out of the car and rip down the signs. DRUM CORPS IS NOT MARCHING BAND! If you want marching band, then be one or go see one, or click on the convenient www.marchingbandplanet.com We all responded to the difficulty of the thing - that you HAD to perfect what you were doing or lose points for your corps, that you HAD to learn how to play for 8 hours a day without blowing your chops, that you HAD to stop yourself from swatting at the mosquito on your nose when you were standing at parade rest in public, because there was and is accomplishment in that discipline. This is what it's all about. There have been some changes in the activity in the last few years that have tried to simplify things. While I wasn't enthusiastic about some, I was willing to allow that there could be some sense in others. I was in favor of mic'ing the keyboards 20 years ago when I was still instructing, since it was a way of compensating for a natural disability of those instruments when it came to outdoor use. Mic'd vocals, on the other hand, I've never cared for and don't to this day - because they're cheesy and usually come off as amateurish, two things that drum corps has historically striven NOT to be Great point here MOBRIEN, thanks. I have been struggling with what I didn't like about the direction of DCI. It's not the kids efforts or work ethic, or even the majority of the performances and show designs. Those things keep me driving alot of miles and spending thousands of bucks to see blocks, run throughs and shows. Every year I see more and more examples of the lack of disciplines in the activity. Sometimes I see things in some corps that at least let me know that some people still get it. Last year at East, PR joined Cavs for the encore. They had a few extra Euphs, (from Ave Maria), and didn't have time to load them on their truck. In the baseball field outside the gate the Cadets roadies were trying to rip down all the props and load them on their truck. In the middle of the chaos, laid out in a perfect straight line were the PR extra horns. "Standing guard" over the horns, at parade rest, was a PR Drum Major. For the 30-45 minutes it took to get the corps on the field and read the scores, we waited by the back gate. I spent alot of the time watching the prop roadies as they struggled with all the crap, and the entire time, the PR DM never moved a muscle. If you get that, then you get DRUM CORPS. YEA might as well bring their Meadowlands parking signs to the board meetings, and hold them up when this proposal goes to vote: MARCHING BANDS THIS WAY>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lancerlady Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 Ya know, I was surfing today through the channels and came across this band competition they have up here in Tennessee, and I saw this band that had a keyboard player in the front line, and I shuddered at the thought of that being in drum corps. In the first place, they didn't have the sound right and you couldn't even hear it anyway...it was just an awful sight to see, and I hope to never see it again. Call me a purist all you want, I really don't care. Electronics proposal should NEVER pass! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 Or you could look at the corps overall in 2006:1st place- No voiceovers, no vocals, no singing 2nd place- No voiceovers, no vocals, no singing 3rd place- One voiceover 4th place- No voiceovers, no vocals, no singing 5th place- Narration, voiceovers, and singing 6th place- No voiceovers, no vocals, no singing 7th place- No voiceovers, no vocals, no singing 8th place- No voiceovers, no vocals, no singing 9th place- No voiceovers, no vocals, no singing 10th place- No voiceovers, no vocals, no singing 11th place- No voiceovers, no vocals, no singing 12th place- No voiceovers, no vocals, no singing so what this shows is that the corps pushing for the rule didnt do what it could have to place higher with the show they did. basically it comes down to trying to stuff so much #### out there they win because they have the most ####. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 The fact at BOA Atlanta in 2004 approximately 83% of the bands in finals used extensive narration says otherwise. But I haven't been to BOA since then, maybe things have changed. so you're saying lets just run out and copy bands. that means we'll have a 12 way tie for 5th Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 I was wondering who at DCI is going to read the feedback and if any of it will be presented to the directors.Is it a way to refrain some of us from bombading the directors directly with emials? I hope someone does read the comments and pass them along. Especially mine! :P DCI doesnt care. they have proven that time and time again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrunchyTenor Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 Hit the bar with the mallet...or the drum with the stick...and the pre-programmed (by virtue of the manufacture) sound comes out. Here's the difference, Mike. Hit the bar with the mallet and you'll get one unique sound. Hit the drum with the stick and you'll get one unique sound. Neither one of them requires power, a mixing board or a sound engineer. Touch a key on an electronic keyboard and you could get virtually thousands of sounds, some of which could not be produced acoustically, or heard without amplification. In other words, things that don't belong on a football field...IMO. Garry in Vegas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 Touch a key on an electronic keyboard and you could get virtually thousands of sounds, some of which could not be produced acoustically, or heard without amplification. Or, if the sound isn't loud enough just turn a knob instead of getting the player(s) to gut it out to play louder. IOW, control taken away from the players and given to techie staff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hrothgar15 Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 so you're saying lets just run out and copy bands.that means we'll have a 12 way tie for 5th I brought that up to show MikeD just how commonplace and almost necessary narration has become in BOA. Copying bands should be the LAST thing DCI should ever do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hrothgar15 Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 DRUM CORPS IS NOT MARCHING BAND! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tekneek Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 Electronic instrumentation is foreign to the activity. The changes with the horns are one thing, because at least they are still brass instruments and the fundamental way you play them essentially remains the same. Adding the amplification to the pit instruments does allow the instruments to be played with a technique that is more proper and produces a better sound than when they had to be pounded to project to the box, so I can buy into that. Sampled sounds just aren't fitting into the picture for me. I don't see the reason for even wanting them. The potential for abuse far outweighs any benefit there might be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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