Drum Corps Research Paper

Words: 856
Pages: 4

The stadium is packed to the brim, overflowing with fans of all ages – not for football or any other conventional sport – but for drum corps. Every year, thousands of fans flock to Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana, to view the Drum Corps International World Championship, which is the marching band equivalent of the Super Bowl – that being the simplest way to explain drum corps to a non-fan. Drum corps have been around since the post World War II era, starting in the 1970s, with their origin stemming from a rich American and Canadian military history. Almost 50 years later, drum corps has developed from militaristic style corps sponsored by Boy Scout troops and the VFW to high class and internationally recognized corps that travel …show more content…
For over 40 years, the only instruments allowed into DCI have been brass and percussion. The major question surrounding this topic is whether or not woodwinds would change drum corps so significantly that they would begin to be just professional marching bands and not corps any longer. Woodwinds are the main distinction between drum corps and marching band besides the differing level of professionalism. The fear of many is that the uniformity would disappear, the stunning full brass tone would thin out, and the tradition of drum corps would be lost. Assimilating woodwinds in would be too far of a stretch - it would cause such a drastic change to DCI that drum corps may no longer be drum corps. Change definitely has the ability to foster positive growth, but, in this case, there is such a thing as excessive and damaging