Rules Are Made to Be … ReWritten

Yeah, I'm a rebel.

This weekend I’m heading to a work related conference in Tampa, but there is another conference going on 80 miles away in Orlando that could be just as ... ok, more ... fun! DCI is considering 12 rules changes, which you can read about here. Most are proposed George Hopkins, the quiet and unassuming director of the Cadets.

Riight. George Hopkins is a lightening rod, the man “traditionalist” love to hate. And I hate as well … hate to admit that he has challenged me to challenge tradition. Hoppy can be agitating for agitation sake. He’s hard to figure, even up close, where I have seen him. But he is a very, very bright guy, reading and thinking at levels that I would like to reach. (Hey, George, you can send the check to me later.)

Hoppy has proposed new rules on amplification, on using water as an effect, on changing judges. Hoppy may not win this time, but it seems that over time he manages to drag drum corps into the future, kicking and screaming all the way. (Which, when the fans see what happens, usually results in waving and screaming!)

Back in the late 1980s drum corps brass was two piston bugles pitched to G. Slowly a third piston was added (more notes), and then “conventional” brass was adopted. All of these events were to mark the end of drum corps. In fact, I was one of those that said “Keep 2 Pistons”, even though I had never played one myself! But I was wrong.

Sometimes I want to be the Hoppy of my profession. Well, a bit of Hoppy, and a bit of Tom Peters! I’m not sure I ever will get there. But at least I have a target, albeit a moving one!