D.C.I. Reconsidered
Mr. Don Warren, Keynote Speaker
I believe the first step would be to determine why D.C.I. was considered in the first
place. To do this a brief summary of drum corps prior to D.C.I. is necessary. There were
hundreds of drum corps in the 50's, 60's and even early 70's, with average size corps 60 to 70 in
total membership. The membership consisted of local neighborhood boys and girls. The
purpose was to keep kids occupied, interested and off the streets. Most corps were organized by
the Catholic church and fraternal and private organizations and all acquired American Legion
and/or V.F.W. sponsorship to participate in state and national championship competitions that
were affiliated with the veteran groups. As drum corps was merely a part of the veterans
organization they had little or no control of their destiny. Many sponsors and private individuals
utilized drum corps for fund raising, and in some cases, a living. These individuals were not
taking advantage of corps, but the corps received little renumeration from their efforts. We must
also realize that society in general was progressing rapidly in many ways and drum corps were
no exception.
With change in mind, and proper organization a necessity, I approached Mr. Jim Jones of
the Troopers in 1970 and suggested that in some way we should form a organization of a few
drum corps (similar to a union) to see it we could improve our benefits and begin to control our
own destiny. We approached 3 additional Midwest and Western corps (Madison Scouts, Blue
Stars, Santa Clara Vanguard) and formed the Combine. The Combine operated like a union
during 1971. In the fall of 1971 the Combine met with U.J.O.C., an Eastern drum corps
association, and together formed D.C.I. The original board of directors (consisting of 13 corps)
were all dedicated individuals whose drum corps activities were an avocation, not a vocation.
They were determined to organize the administration, finances, contests, the rules and
regulations for both on and off the field and, most importantly, never lose sight of the young
people involved in this not-for-profit organization. Although D.C.I. consisted of 13 corps, all
corps were invited to participate.
The goals of D.C.I. were many - 1) to promote the trust between corps, 2) to give all
corps, large or small, a voice in the rules and regulations, 3) to create honesty in D.C.I. and the
individual corps operations, 4) to improve drum corps programs, increase attendance, and
publicity, 5) to develop a more equal distribution of finances and to give the participants bigger
and better contests with high standards of judging, 6) to create a governing body for D.C.I. - a
board of directors consisting of managers or directors of the top 12 competing corps, with all
corps earning their position on the board through the competition field. D.C.I. was a huge
success right from the beginning. Change is always necessary and improvement is always
desired, but sometimes both can come too fast. With the increase in tour schedules and
improvement in music and musical instruments, the demand for finances became a heavy
burden. Although the improvements were beneficial, they were very costly. We saw many good
corps fall by the way side. All drum corps, large or small, have a following, with parents
supporters, boosters, etc. As more and more corps cease to exist, D.C.I. will lose that following.
The loss of these corps and the loss of their following is the unfortunate change in D.C.I. from
1972 to 1995.
We all know that over a period of years change is inevitable, some good and some not so
good. As change occurs it is always advisable to look at what were the original values and goals
and see how change has affected them. It is also a good idea to look back and see what we were
and what changes made us what we are today, some good and some not so good. I do believe
that the drum corps need D.C.I. and of course D.C.I. needs the drum corps. As we have fewer
corps and fewer fans we should take a good look at what we are today and what we have always
been: drum corps with drum corps fans. We have a great deal of talent amongst the young
people performing and a great deal of talent in our instructing staffs. This combination, with the
basics of what drum corps is, can continue to produce outstanding drum corps programs, as we
have through the 70's, 80's and 90's. As we know, a proper drum corps performance requires a
football field in a stadium so that the basics of drum corps - a musical, marching, visual
performance - can unfold. This is what the fans expect and it is out obligation to entertain them.
There is always room for something different, but it should be the exception and not the rule.
Drum Corps is its own identity, and if we lose that we will lose our fans, young and old.