What do you really want out of DCI

[ScribeToo]

No complaints at the present time.. just keep up the great work. Love the shows they organize.. love the media coverage.. love the passion for the activity with which they do their jobs.

Thanks, DCI!

Stef

[LunchboxTScontra]

Edited March 25, 2007 by LunchboxTScontra

[audiodb]

I think DCI is doing just fine. They have taken drastic steps in recent years to enhance their revenue, to enhance the fan experience, especially with their web site, Season Pass and more, and the Cinecast productions; and DCI is expanding in some areas while cutting back in others that no longer fit the bill.

In those senses, they are doing well.

As for retreats, I can do without them. They take too long, most people leave before they start, and at most shows I just want to hear scores and go home. Retreats are fine for a few really big regionals and DCI Finals anf that's it. Otherwise, it's just too much pomp and circumstance for me, especially for some regular-season show in which the corps need to travel and the licensed CDL drivers need the appropriate time to get to the next city and school. The law requires that the drivers have a certain amount of time to get to the next city and rehearsal site for the corps, and that must include stops for bathroom and food. This isn't the 70s anymore and DCI needs to clean its image of how its corps used to travel in the past. While those days make for some great stories, they also do not cut it under the law today.

I'm with you on that whole paragraph.

Times change, people change, rules change, and in an activity like this one, artistry changes. If you can't handle change or if your needs are not being met, then I suggest, as George Carlin once stated, you drop some of your needs.

I'll remember you said that....

This sounds harsh, but only because we choose to look at it this way. In reality, the person who needs G bugles, less dance, no electronics and no amplification, no singing, no play-acting, no artsy-fartsy shows, just balls-to-the-walls brass and drums as often, as loud, as high, and as exposed as possible, is someone whose needs are not only limiting for the activity, but they become the antithesis of what DCI has been from day one.

And what on Earth do you think DCI has been about "from day one", that you can twist into the previous sentence?

I'll admit I'm doing this from memory, so I may not be 100% accurate, but I'm still pretty sure that from "day one", DCI was founded to be a drum corps organization. Call it a hunch, but if DCI's founders wanted an organization to support change for the sake of change, they'd have named it "Change for the Sake of Change International" from the beginning.

They see their needs as upholding the tradition of the activity, yet the activity has been changing since day one. Exactly where is the cutoff point for all that change for which we can hang our definition of the activity and proudly pronounce, as we pound on our chest, that this is DCI and nothing more will be accepted?

I don't know. We've gone from 400 corps to 50. Wanna take it down to 25 and see what happens?

The activity stages (at most) a quarter as many events as circa 1972. Want to trim that number down further?

This more expensive, tour-intensive version of drum corps relies on revenue from it's fan base to continue operating. Shall we turn away from that fan base?

It is hard to predict where that cutoff point would be. The only way to find out for sure is to go there, and drive the activity to extinction. I'd rather leave the question unanswered, personally.

Because it is an all-inclusive activity,

....when did this happen? Drum corps was never quite "all-inclusive". And it has become far less inclusive as a result of the focus on band kids.

there will always be those who desire different aspects of the many faces it wears, and in that sense those many faces will attract people for all kinds of reasons. You can't define that or control it, nor should you, and if you find that this is the only place you can whine and mone about the decline of drum corps as you know it, then perhaps you need to seek other entertainments. If you are so inclined to really get involved to be a part of the shaping of the activity, then by all means get involved. Rome was not build in a day and DCI will not change overnight, but all of you can find more positive ways to enhance and shape the future of drum corps, little by little, by getting involved. To blame the current state of DCI on one person, providing you don't like where DCI is at the moment, is akin to blaming the President for everything that goes wrong when so many others are involved. It's really naive and misleading, and it presupposes that all one has to do is come up with a proposal to change the activity in some way and that everyone will vote for it. To that end, the person who gets involved can clearly see the connectedness to current financial needs and alternatives, to the new generation of members whose culture is vastly different from that of the 70s or 80s, and the to need for a alliance with scholastic music programs.

Yet, I'm involved, and I don't see those as "needs". Moving away from a wider-scope youth activity to becoming scholastic band's advanced summer class was a "choice", not a "need". And that choice will only sustain a couple dozen junior corps, not the 50 we currently have, and certainly not the 400 we had at DCI's inception. So now who's needs aren't being met?

[drumcat]

Does drum corps--as an entertainment--have a responsibility to common tastes or is it art which has a responsibility only to itself? Every year we see examples of corps which balance this line with amazing deftness and dexterity. Clearly drum corps benefits from the visions and energies of artists, but I wonder if the medium itself is really better off in the realm of "entertainment" making the need for "creating" far less important. It becomes a question of craft, not genius...skill, not invention.

They have a responsibility to put a product out there that sells tickets. Good, evil, or indifferent, the activity goes away without tickets. Thus removing unique attributes and removing the boundaries that encourage creativity are dangerous for those who view the activity as a unique kids activity.

[MikeD]

I'll admit I'm doing this from memory, so I may not be 100% accurate, but I'm still pretty sure that from "day one", DCI was founded to be a drum corps organization. Call it a hunch, but if DCI's founders wanted an organization to support change for the sake of change, they'd have named it "Change for the Sake of Change International" from the beginning.

They formed DCI so that they could control their competitive environment...including what makes up the organizations called 'drum corps'.

Yet, I'm involved, and I don't see those as "needs". Moving away from a wider-scope youth activity to becoming scholastic band's advanced summer class was a "choice", not a "need". And that choice will only sustain a couple dozen junior corps, not the 50 we currently have, and certainly not the 400 we had at DCI's inception. So now who's needs aren't being met?

No, it WAS a need. Little local corps died out by the hundreds...with no replacements to take their place as had happened prior to the 70's. It wasn't due to DCI that they failed. These little corps were a prime source of members for the national corps. They did need the band kids to remain viable at all.

[PR_ducky]

I have no complaints other than all the electronics.

I am not against change or innovation, valve rotor, 2 valve, 3 valve, g, Bflat, whatever.

I am one of those people who believe drum corps should be Brass and Percussion.

For instance, I would have no problems with trombones. They might actually make for some great jazz shows.

I am against woodwinds and electronics.

If someone put a gun against my head and forced me to choose between woodwinds or electronics, I would take woodwinds without a second thought.

I would much rather listen to a clarinet than listen to a synthesizer recreate the sound of a clarinet.

Then again I would much rather listen to clarinets in the fall at the marching band competitions and keep them out of Corps all together.

end of rant.

Also, alot of good reasons have been given why not to do full retreat, but I would love to see it again.

I always enjoyed retreat and if you go to the historical section on here you will see a whole thread of retreat stories about how we all enjoyed it immensely.

I just think since its been done away with people have forgotten what they are missing.

BUT, I can appreciate the CDL law problems and so on.

[shawn craig]

I like most changes and am mostly happy.

I'm not looking forward to electronics and I really don't want woodwinds. I like the unique all brass and percussion sound. Like PR_duckyI'd rather see trombones and other brass instruments used for solo and ensemble work and explore the brass choir in new ways rather than add woodwinds.

I love retreat but understand why it's not going to happen. However for those who complain about how much time it takes, thats because of two things. First, the corps itself. I remember always being lined up and ready for retreat as soon as the last corps finished. Secondly, it's up to the chief judge and show sponsor to make sure everything runs on time, including retreat.

Edited March 26, 2007 by shawn craig

[kksop17]

I think as a whole DCI is doing an excellent job. The activity is progressing, albeit slowly.

I think that the main issue facing DCI is establishing a better system of competition that will allow corps to grow properly while sharing in revenue. Currently a large number of DC's are facing a common business problem; if you grow too large, too quickly cash flow quickly becomes a problem.

I believe that DCI has done an excellent job making the activity more readily accessible for a lay-fan, adding some new features to the website, and generally creating a better overall fan experience. However, there are far too many problems with Drum Corps's entering the activity, leaving the activity, and going inactive for a year, two years, etc for DCI to every truly become a large, main stream sport/concept.

I feel that it is not out of the realm of possibility for Drum Corps to become a main-stream activity; or at least more main stream than it is right now. However, it will take organizational stability within the Drum Corps themselves before this is possible. Furthermore; the presence of a few super-corps is actually the most limiting factor in drum corps right now.

[shawn craig]

I agree that stability of individual corps is something to be concerned about.

However, this is a big problem throughout all nonprofit arts organizations. A few cities either have lost or are on the verge of loosing their orchestras. Community choirs and bands come and go with only some maintaining relative stability and continuity over time.

[triplefunk]

I love DCI. Much better the activity is now, than it was years ago. Especially electronics.

Edited March 26, 2007 by triplefunk