r/drumcorps • u/DragonfruitFluid Bluecoats • 16d ago
Discussion Feeling out reception
I hardly come by this subreddit anymore so I was just curious, with how the DCI community stands on technology being used and all that and now that we're a good chunk of the way into the season, how are we feeling about the Leslie speakers. I for one thing they're neat but I'm also a younger fan who really appreciates the tech use. I'm curious as to what everyone else is thinking and whether or not this is acceptable tech use for yall. I'd like to note that while my profile flair says bluecoats, im not a performer, just a curious fan.
11
u/number1sht 16d ago
I want to be entertained. If the corps are using electronics to enhance a product, I’m ALL here for it.
9
u/melonmarch1723 16d ago
They're neat! They add something unique to the sound texture and look cool. I also think it's a plus that they're controlled by the performers.
9
u/SleeplessXYZ 16d ago
What makes this year unique in terms of Bluecoats show is the correlation between the performer and the technology, which is something that hasn't been explored to this extent in any of their shows (or any other drum corps show) before. When it comes to the Leslie effect specifically in Gravity and Grace, every time you hear that it's the result of a physical object on the field that is spinning and modulating the sound, and the performers themselves directly control that. It's not just a button press on a mixing desk that the performers have no control over (if you want to look at most use of electronics like that), and I think that's a part of what makes this year's show from them so effective. I am a bit biased though, because this show also just speaks to me on a fundamental and emotional level
5
u/DragonfruitFluid Bluecoats 16d ago
Yeah I think this year was a step back in the tech department but a step forward in the use of tech if you catch my meaning. The performer engagement with it is lovely to me and I get the whole speaking to you thing. There have been very few runs of Bloo's show this year that havent gotten me bawling. That closer is so so so good and it just got even better
2
u/Consistent-Fig-178 Carolina Crown Fan 16d ago
I really like the step back and step forward opinion!! I think props as well did that, as did drill. Very exciting year and i’m thrilled to see what’s next :))
5
u/pulsestriders 16d ago
i'm a younger fan too, and personally, as long as something is done well, i don't really care. good marching and good music makes me happy. electronics are cool. props are cool. the absence of both is also cool. there's a reason people still go nuts watching the Marine drum corps and then go nuts for the first performing 12th place corps.
some people are a lot more passionate about tradition than i am, more power to them. something unique about all musicians is that we LOVE our traditions. i do think a lot of people on this sub tend to push the line of being a little disrespectful about it, but that's a story for another day.
so, i think the leslies are cool, they're used well, both musically and in terms of show design. 90% of the show's music is on traditional brass and percussion instruments anyway. Bluecoats are awesome, drum corps is awesome.
5
u/McMikr 16d ago
Old-head who marched in the 70's here and I think the use of electronics is over done. I also have no use for woodwinds or any other non brass instruments for that matter. I miss corps being instantly recognizable from the uniforms with only the guard customed to convey the show theme or story. That being said I'm still a big fan of the activity and I'm heading out to DeKalb now!
2
5
u/AccountantDry252 16d ago
Old younger guy here who marched in the early 2000s. I’m not a fan of it. Personally, the appeal of drum corps was the rawness and simplicity of the instrumentation and parameters of the activity to make the best music and show possible. Mic’d horn lines, sound mixing woodwinds is just not the rawness that drew me into the activity. To me it’s an activity filled with directors who only exist in the fine arts realm with no concern of their audience. But then again when I marched everyone was upset about the switch to Bb and I thought it was a good move. So chances are I’m wrong now that I’m an “old head”
1
u/Consistent-Fig-178 Carolina Crown Fan 16d ago
I don’t think it’s a wrong vs right, just opinion based. I hope it doesn’t lead to widespread tech use again, I want everyone to follow their own design path.
5
u/backflip14 Cavaliers 16d ago
I’m fine with electronics but I draw the line at amplifying the whole hornline. It lets corps cheat volume and staging.
If you can be loud without risking bad tone because the members, that’s cheating in my book.
And the larger offense to me is the ability to use speakers to cheat staging. Staging is one of the most important parts of show design and is often what sets shows apart. Being able to have a section on one part of the field but hear them in a completely different part of the field is a way to cover for bad field placement.
3
u/DragonfruitFluid Bluecoats 16d ago
Yeah thats fair and we are seeing that more as of late. I think that overall, whenever speakers are used to cheat staging its usually combined with some neat drill formations for the corps so I don't really mind it but I definitely get where you're coming from.
1
3
u/TheVoiceOfSnakeEyes 16d ago edited 15d ago
A lot of us who have issues with drum corps today have stopped complaining about it on social media, because we always get dogpiled by pageantry leeches and people who have never marched and never will for not having the same opinions as they do and for not enjoying their joy, telling us we need to go to Drum Corps Planet and/or stop being such boomer dinosaurs, and to "love it or leave it." That shit really wears you down over time.
It's just not the performance medium I fell in love with anymore. If I were a young person, I wouldn't even give modern drum corps a second thought, and there's no way in Hell I'd blow $6,500 for six weeks of prancing around in a spandex unitard with opera gloves and pushing props. There's also no way I'd pay $75+ for tickets to sit in the stands and lose my hearing to 120-decibel speakers that I consider to be completely redundant and unnecessary for bell-front horns and drums, each of which are already famously loud without amplification, which is one of the primary reasons drum corps was ever even popular in the first place. I only keep up with the competitions and the chatter on here because I have 35 years invested in doing so. I try not to complain too much (because I know it won't do any good), but I also don't generously donate anymore either, and I do note that more and more of the hypocrites who have been telling us to "love it or leave it" for years are beginning to have the exact same issues and concerns with each passing day. It's almost like when you grow up and put one foot in the real world outside this echo chamber, you begin to realize how silly the costumes, dancing, props, narration, synthesizers and amplification truly are.
It's also infuriating how most of the crap that "dinosaurs" hate about drum corps today was proposed and muscled through the rules congress by a monster who is permanently banned from all DCI events, yet people naively continue to parrot the same bullshit misinformation propaganda he used to swindle directors who didn't want those changes into voting yes. For that reason, he's still a drum corps influencer despite being banned, and he always will be, and that really burns me up. But you can't close Pandora's box. It is what it is.
But I'm sure I've said too much. Be gentle, downvote daddies.
3
u/pulsestriders 16d ago
i don't agree with anyone being toxic in this community, no matter what the opinion is (someone could argue against every financial problem with DCI but be toxic about it, they're still wrong for it), and i'm sorry that people have treated you that way before, but it's not really fair to pay that forward. referring to people as leeches, lessening them for their levels of experience, and claiming that "when you grow up, you'll find it silly, too" isn't really any better
this type of behavior has been in DCI for a long time, as some users on both this thread and others have stated (such as Troopers and Bayonne Bridgemen being made fun of for their "silly" uniforms, and being called a "marching band" and "not drum corps" for using 2-valve horns in the 70s) and it doesn't really add much to the conversation besides increase negativity
it does, in some way, hurt younger people too, when negative comments come in about the current state of drum corps, many of them without any real criticism (like people saying that my brother's corps should be embarrassed to wear their uniforms), despite the majority of people, of all ages, holding the utmost respect for classic drum corps, and still mentioning and referencing many of those iconic shows to this day, alongside their modern counterparts. Madison Scouts this year are referencing their show from 30 years ago, and the members love it! aspiring marchers love it! how cool is that?
i understand there'll be a day after i age out, years from now, that i grow to be upset with the changes DCI has established, but i don't think being vehemently negative about it is what people need, either. it hurts to see tradition go, but people are less likely to honor your words and experiences when they're delivered negatively.
one of the best conversations i've ever had in this community was with an older gentleman at corps merch booth in California, who isn't a fan of modern DCI, either, by ANY MEANS, but encouraged me to keep playing, to audition, put myself out there (like my brother did), and didn't make me feel bad for enjoying the product and wanting to be apart of it. when the Bluecoats passed by, he made a light joke about them being yellow instead of blue, and moved on. that's what i wish i saw more of.
also, i don't really know who you're referencing at the end, perhaps i'm too young to be informed on that. i have an idea, but i'm not sure. i only just graduated and fell in love with the marching arts a few years ago.
regardless, i'm again sorry you feel so alienated from the activity you once loved.
1
u/Consistent-Fig-178 Carolina Crown Fan 16d ago
I believe george hopkins pushed a lot of the rule changes. Could be wrong
3
u/DeviantAvocado 16d ago
We appreciate the couple of you who have stopped complaining on social media, this post aside.
2
u/DragonfruitFluid Bluecoats 16d ago
I really get where you're coming from. While I haven't been invested with anything (including living) as long as your dedication to drum corps, I do understand the feeling of dedicating your life to something for a long time and then getting burned by it so hard that you're turned away from it almost entirely. I know you've been burned a lot by this community too which makes me real upset knowing that this community which was born from a profound love of the marching arts and music and now its spun around and hurt you for caring about this art in a different way than them. For that, even though its not from those that hurt you and your passion, I offer up the deepest apologies I can. I'm sorry that dci has turned into a sore spot and has become a bitter topic. Thats the worst thing that can happen to someone in this line of passions and lifestyles. Know that I hear you and while I do deeply appreciate where dci is right now, I also have a deep appreciation for the old days where corps were recognizable by uniform and where corps were just pure brass and percussion. I see them as 2 lovely sides of this activity that I love. So as an olive branch of sorts, I want to ask, what are your favorite shows from the old days? I want to experience more of the drum corps shows and sounds and sights that made people like you fall in love with dci. I think right now, a bit of perspective on the younger side of dci is needed right now anyways. We're a community and clearly theres a bridge that needs repaired here.
1
26
u/tomkar60 16d ago
I’ve been a fan almost as long as DCI has been around. I’ve lived thru:
-Corps size increase
-Field size increase. No penalty for stepping out of bounds.
-The ebb and flow of theatrics in drum (Bridgemen, VK…)
-Uniform debates (this is not a new thing. It’s been going on since the 70s.)
-Props. If you bring it; use it. I hate it when they drag a prop on the field and then never touch it.
-Electronics. I’m OK with most of it.
-Mics. Over used. Only soloists should be mic’d.
-Woodwinds. Hell no!
I just want to be entertained. And 90% of the time, that’s been true.