MikeD Posted January 8, 2007 Share Posted January 8, 2007 You're 19 and a woodwind player that wants to march drum corps.What's with people today, you would rather change the entire activity to suit you than go thru the effort to adapt to the activity? I am 53...see sig for marching years...and I agree with him 100%. No need to personally attack someone for daring to post their own opinion that may differ from yours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bawker Posted January 8, 2007 Share Posted January 8, 2007 I am 53...see sig for marching years...and I agree with him 100%. ...and just like the OP, you are an anomaly. :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drumcat Posted January 8, 2007 Share Posted January 8, 2007 I am 53...see sig for marching years...and I agree with him 100%. No need to personally attack someone for daring to post their own opinion that may differ from yours. He didn't personally attack anyone MikeD. He said that it was a shame that potential marchers would rather hope for a rule change rather than adapt to brass. Just because you agree with him doesn't mean that he was personally "attacked". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tank Posted January 8, 2007 Share Posted January 8, 2007 The Case for Woodwinds in Drum CorpsTo become a brass player in a Division I corps, it takes a year of learning the instrument, plus another year of either a DCA or Div II group. While it certainly does take a considerable amount of time to learn the instrument, I think it could be done in less than a year with the correct amount of drive. Also, I have friends who have proven the second part of this statement (the D-II/DCA part) false. With a championship corps, no less. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tank Posted January 8, 2007 Share Posted January 8, 2007 How about DCI starting a new division where any instrumentation is legal, a la MB? I might actually agree to this, but I heavily worry that the current D-I would become the same as D-II and III now: constantly ignored and slowly dying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeM Posted January 8, 2007 Share Posted January 8, 2007 And what is wrong with cutting your teeth in a DII/III or DCA corps? It would be seen as trying to make yourself better for the D1 corps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jared_mello Posted January 8, 2007 Share Posted January 8, 2007 Sorry percussion players, but are there any drum solos that we haven’t heard over the past 30 years? Don’t all the initial brass impacts for the corps kinda sound the same? Hahahaha, I love when people pose these arguments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geluf Posted January 8, 2007 Share Posted January 8, 2007 Yes, lets homogenize all music ensembles. Every music ensemble on the planet should have every instrument in it. All this "uniqueness" crap is tiresome. Everything should be the same. Ensembles with different instrumentation are a thing of the past and we should all forget about it. We've got to destroy as many unique ensembles as we can...for the good of the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawn craig Posted January 8, 2007 Share Posted January 8, 2007 JetmanWhat a great post. It was well thought out and you presented your case in a way that others on this site can learn from. Although, I must respectfully disagree. For one, yes, I am a "Drum Corps Purist". There have been a lot of things that I lived to see change in this activity. Some diminished my experience (amped vocals) some increased my experience (B flat bugles, pits, to some extent, dance). Try to think of it like this; I decided a long time ago that I wanted to play trumpet through grade school and high school. I was committed to develop my "talent"; I was good at it and loved it. But, deep down I REALLY wanted to play guitar for a rock band. (They got the chicks!) Because I committed to the trumpet it opened the doors to many wonderful things including marching drum corps and meeting my wife. The rock bands I wanted to play in didn't want trumpets/brass. I felt left out and hurt (I was very young) but I got over it once I realized that by adding brass to a rock band it would totally change the dynamics and sound of the band. This is the same with woodwinds and drum corps. Like I had to deal with my "choice" to play trumpet instead of guitar, you have to deal with your choice to play a woodwind instead of a brass instrument. Lastly, the lines between BOA and drum corps are already thin. This is one last thing that keeps us what we are and what they are. I disagree with your comment that the two will still be separate if woodwinds are allowed. The addition of woodwinds will turn drum corps into non-school affiliated musical organizations that will eventually compete against marching bands. Then, eventually DCI and BOA will merge. Once this happens, it will be the death of something that I have loved for over 30 years. p.s. Oh, that rock band I wanted to join. It was a little neiborhood band from Chicago called Styx. You might of heard of them. If you are too young to know them download a song or two or ask your parents about them. After you hear one or two of thier songs, imagine them with a brass section. I am sure you'll agree, it would sound much different. Styx wouldn't be Styx and they may not have been one of the most popular bands of the 70's and 80's. Excellent post! We all have or had dreams but for a variety of reasons, our own decisions as well as circumstances we can't controll, some have come true, some have not, but also some great unexpected opportunities have come along. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bleu Raeder Posted January 8, 2007 Share Posted January 8, 2007 Aren't there already drum & fife corps'? They compete, but perhaps not at the same level. Maybe that should be fixed. Adding WW to drum and bugle corps is a fundamental, earth shattering change to the activity. It would no longer be (and arguably is not now) drum corps. Let's go ahead and add strings, make it OCI, or guitars and make it RCI. It removes any uniqueness, and drum corps is and has been unique for many, many decades. While the OP's points are well thought out they are specious at best. I cannot imagine the amount of support that would be lost for the activity, something that would not be made up for in fans of WW's. I cannot imagine droves of piccolo players/clarinetists/saxaphonists rushing to D1 bandcorps. Add costs to the fray. Many corps now have a hard time moving and maintaining equipment now, adding more folks would put a definite strain on that. More uni's, horn parts, busses, food, etc.....it all should be taken into account. Corps fees for an additional 30-50 folks in D1 corps resized for WW's is not enough to cover the ever growing costs in fielding a competitive unit. I am sympathetic to the OP, he wants to march drum corps which is an activity I think that any who participate treasure the rest of their lives. I marched with several WW players who converted to brass or percussion instruments in the late 60's and early 70's for the summer. They had a ball and benefited from learning another instrument. Let's end the call for WW's in drum corps lest another unique activity goes extinct. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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