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Don't ever let anyone tell you that it's OK to show up at auditions wearing a T-Shirt from another corps. I've seen a few people on DCP try to pull that stunt on the the unsuspecting. Don't fall for it.

dingdingdingding I think this hits the nail on the head: it's silly to get all upset, freak out, cry conspiracies, etc. without actually seeing the sheets and knowing what we're talking about. I'm not directing this at you personally, glory, I just think it bears repeating that without ANY of us fans having seen the proposal, it's pointless to even begin to debate what we don't like about it. Lets at least WAIT to see what we're talking about before condemning it

But SOPA and PIPA address serious legal issues that will have far-reaching consequences for creators of artistic and intellectual property and their consumers/audiences (which pretty much amounts to the general public) worldwide. DCI is basically a self-contained, self-regulatory entity; the member corps make their rules by and for themselves. Yeah, I understand we are their "consumers." But I still don't think they are under any obligation to publish judging sheets that have not yet been approved/adopted for general inspection - regardless of who might like(or feel they are entitled) to, for whatever reason, have a look-see. Peace, Fred O.

I hadnt even heard of Drum Corps untill i started high school band and my band director(former star of indiana member) turned me onto it, and i was very slightly interested in it. But it wasnt till year that i truly fell in love, perhaps because of my marching bands success this season. But I have three performances that really got me hooked, Blue Knights 2010(my first live show), Bluecoats 2011, and Madison Scouts 2011 especially "Empire State of Mind." Empire state of mind is what made me really fall in love, weird considering I only saw youtube videos, but for me personally this was one of the most emotional moments in music ive ever heard, gives me chills everytime. Ever since hearing that ive become drum corps crazy, already bought tickets for a few shows next season and I hope to audition and hopefully become a member someday!

Hymn to a Blue Hour

For everyone who trashes Dynasty's percussion equipment, Paul Rennick and Phantom Regiment's drum trophy in 2010 says otherwise. I find nothing wrong with Dynasty's percussion equipment. I think their battery sounds fine if you tune them correctly. In my opinion, the Blue Devils never tuned them correctly. I think they have really good front ensemble equipment as well. In fact, in about a week, I'll have one of their rosewood 4.5 octave marimbas in my living room.

Hey there DCPers! We have been tirelessly working behind the scenes since our Rochester, NY debut at DCA last September. I'd like to personally thank all of you who have reached out and supported this effort. It's a true testament to power and heart we have within our own Drum Corps community. Your continued support will certainly help us reach our goals. Success on a TV show like America's Got Talent will be a HUGE perk for Drum Corps' across the United States. Please pass the press release below on to family, friends and loved ones - we'll see you all on ... "The Edge"! Much Love, Joey Pero --------------- “The Edge” to audition for America’s Got Talent! Bringing the drum corps activity to national television Rochester, NY (January 19, 2012): David Bruni announced today that after submitting a video clip of “The Edge” in performance to America’s Got Talent, he received an e-mail requesting the group to audition for the nationally televised program. America’s Got Talent is an American reality television series on the NBC television network. The talent show features dancers, comedians, singers and other performers of all ages. The show gives opportunities for amateur performers to be recognized by an audience vote in the final round. Prior to that, contestants need to pass through a celebrity judging panel. This year, the panel includes well known stars: Sharon Osbourne, Howie Mandel, and Howard Stern. The show is hosted by Nick Cannon. Born out of an American art form, Drum and Bugle Corps, "The Edge" is a stage show comprised of blazing brass, incredible percussion and powerful contemporary visuals! The show is designed to entertain every fan of passionate performances. All elements of Intensity and precision are part of the cutting Edge performance that you will witness. Through their combine efforts with the Empire Statesmen Drum and Bugle Corps from Rochester, NY "The Edge" has assembled a national cast comprised of some of the finest entertainers in our field today. Under the direction of Creative Director David Bruni, Musical Director Joey Pero, Colorguard Director Matt Winans, Percussion Director Joe Guadagnino and Music and Visual instructor Jimmy Steele. ”Edge” will take you beyond the stage. Viewers will witness the stunning visuals and music that test the very boundaries of the stage itself. “The Edge" is setting out to capture America's hearts as told through the music of approximately thirty-five of the world’s premier performers Join us on the first leg of our modern yet nostalgic journey to stardom! We'll see you all on..."The Edge"! The Details: 2/3 “The Edge” departs Rochester, NY. 2/4 “The Edge” arrives and sets up to give two performances prior to the show. One of these performances will be with Nick Cannon, the host. This will be a taped performance in which clips will be used to promote the new America’s Got talent season. “The Edge” has an audition time slot of 10am with two minutes to “wow” the judges in the initial round. Should the initial judging panel approve, “The Edge” will move on to the final rounds in July. The live television show will take place in New York City! As the audience to many drum corps shows have decreased, Bruni believes that taking this group to a nationally televised show will create banter among those who do not know what drum corps is. The millions of viewers (2011 season average 11.82 million and finals of 14.37 million) will make a significant impact on the visibility of the drum corps activity. ”This is an epic opportunity to bring drum corps to millions of people in one shot!” states Bruni. The group sends special thanks to the Carolina Crown Drum & Bugle Corps for their assistance in this project. For further information on this venture, please contact David Hobart on (917) 528-9340 or e-mail dhobart1@gmail.com. You may also reach out to David Bruni on his e-mail dbruni1@rochester.rr.com. “The Edge” is a program of the Empire Statesmen Drum & Bugle Corps. Founded by Vincent Bruni in 1983. If you would like to make a tax deductible contribution to assist the Empire Statesmen in getting “The Edge” on the road to North Carolina, please contact David Bruni at his e-mail above. # # # Members come from the following Corps: Empire Statesmen Santa Clara Vanguard Cadets of Greece Genesee Quest Drum and Bugle Corps St. Joe's The Rochester Crusaders The Crossmen Ghost Riders Spirit of Atlanta Sun Coast Sound The Blue Devils The Cavaliers Carolina Crown The Boston Crusaders Rochester Patriots The Bluecoats The Cadets The Brigadiers Madison Scouts Phantom Regiment Southwind Reading Buccaneers Prime Time Brass Power Zone Ghost of Power Zone White Sabers San Francisco Renegades The Colts Thunderbirds WNY Alumni Kingston Grenadiers 3rd Regiment L'Insolite The Bushwackers

"Rigged?" Really? This is such hyperbolic nonsense it's hard to take anything else you say on the subject seriously... Conversely, you can say that unless someone is on the field they can't judge the detailed minutia of clarity, uniformity of technique, etc anyway. Are you implying that judges currently don't appeal to a bigger audience and should? If so, that's not exactly the purpose of adjudication. Are you implying show designers don't appeal to a bigger audience? That's subjective, and the general consensus seems to be that 2011 was a pretty crowd-friendly/popular year or DCI.

This is beyond words how great this will be, for not only drum corps, but for you as performers, So cool to see this. Best to you Guys and Gals. No doubt you will show them what throw your babies means..... Will share with as many people I know, when you guys are on.

Last I heard, Madison still had openings and their camp on 2/17-19 is in the Dallas area. Sounds like you should go check it out. http://madisonscouts.org/Madison_Scouts/Auditions_Overview.html

releasing the sheets give DCPrs another thing to complain about.

well....that would narrow it down to hot women barely dressed, hot women not dressed at all, or either of the two options where they also like women

Now for the crowd that see Drum Corps only as "art for art's sake," I suppose that's really important. But truthfully, I think some of the lure of drum corps was that in many ways it was a bunch of kids (and I mean kids-14,15,16 year olds) playing waaay over their heads and doing so simply by their determination and drive. I think that element added a lot of drama that drew community folk into the activity (also the festivals, parades). etc). I also think people miss out on the context of the 70s &80s when HS bands were overwhelmingly show bands and few were "corps style." So for the corps of that era to get to the level they performed at, really was almost something of a miracle. Nowadays with the HS programs full of drum corps staff, and style, it's not so surprising that a bunch of 21 year old music majors play like... music majors.

@Jeff Ream we sure will. We have a few tricks up our sleeves to tickle his fancy! Folks, we just created "The Edge" public fan page - please be our friend on facebook! https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Edge/171844302921592?notif_t=page_new_likes

You know what I love about this? They show up in 1994 and other than the size, it appears as though they never even left or skipped a beat. Put this performance in a time machine and take it back to 1980 and I think it STILL would have made the top 2 or 3.

Which is why I'm a skeptic (if you can be a skeptic having not seen the proposal). There is this mysterious consensus around drum corps that credits Cesario with bringing entertainment back to the field last year. I think the reality is far more complex. Cesario's well-intended and well-timed effort didn't start a wave; it road its crest. In other words, 2011 was more a natural evolution than an engineering marvel. And all on the old sheets. I'll be the first to agree that the sheets could stand to benefit from transparency and clarity. I'm not sure that's what this is about. It seems to me that "overhauling" the judging process has larger goals in mind. It seems that Cesario and others might be pumped up with enough false pride to believe that if they created 2011, they can replicate last year into the future by re-engineering the judging criteria. I am a skeptic - a skeptic on the Cesario consensus, a skeptic about this judging "simplification." We had a good thing going in 2011. Why overhaul it? Tinker maybe. Overhaul why? Music analysis never. HH

If you didn't see "The Edge" at DCA, check out this youtube video link; kindly put together by BFD TV. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CI6C8NiWZFU&feature=relatednk

When he was teaching Sun and Cabs... they won championships!

OK, this makes me old.... The first show I saw was the first show I ever marched in. Springfield, IL, 1979. We were the host corps (Statesmen) and got "written" off the sheets" scoring a 21! We exited the field and lined up on the home side track to watch the Guardsmen. Classical intro....Tiger of San Pedro...all good. Greensleeves played backfield, exquisite. But the three count turn and push (WOW) made me realize this was something completely different. I was hooked. Later that summer it was Madison and Phantom at DCM, Cavies every weekend in a parade or show. Saw my first DCI finals on PBS at a pizza place with a big screen TV because we were too broke to make the trip to Birmingham. Two years in Springfield (79-80) and three years in Geneseo (81-83) and then I gave up DC at 19 so I could go gigging. Last summer the new generation started with my (then) 16 year old filling spot 150 with Madison two weeks into spring training. It changed my life, my family's lives, and now my student's lives. Too bad we keep it such a secret.

Loooking forward to coming to camp on Sunday the 29th to hear the progress since open house. Wish I could come on Saturday unfortunately I will be in trouble to go on my wife's birthday.

As a card carrying member of the Antique Auto Club of America (35+ years) I have to shake my head at the intolerance that is show by some DC fans towards other opinions. In AACA, like DC, there is a wide range of vehicles and also a "evolution" (yeah, I'll use that word ) over the decades. But what is different is I have yet to hear anyone insult another AACA member over what kinds of vehicles they like. LOL, also never heard anyone say "Wow, Model Ts suck cuz they don't have automatic tranmissions or A/C". Back on topic - wonder what the leagalites be for "pick 'n choose" CDs or DVDs (especially DVDs). Hard enough to get the clearance for older shows that have never been released. Wonder if using shows that DCI has already released in complete season sets would have new legal hoops in a pick n choose.....

I cannot imagine a drum corps show where poor performance will be richly rewarded because of the outstanding design as there will always be a fundamental lack of design clarity in poor performance. But a great performance of a mediocre or poorly designed show can...and should...still find a modicum of points and rewards on any set of sheets.

From SCV: "We are excited to announce that "Jupiter: The Bringer of Jollity" from "The Planets" by Gustav Holst will be part of the 2012 program!"

In the last DCI season ever.... 1. BD will finish 4th (or lower) 2. Blue Stars will, unfortunately, not make finals. Glassmen will return to the top 12, Spirit will stay 3. The winner will be a corps that has never won....Bluecoats 4. SCV will be higher than BD for the first time in a while, at either 2 or 3 Thus sayeth the gods

Gotta love a corps whose season is just a single performance. Too bad the gig is 750 miles from home.

There are just some corps that you associate with certain equipment. SCV=Pearl. And, yes, BD has done great things with Pearl; but I still associate them with Yamaha. And, I also know there was a time when SCV used Premier, etc; but they've used Pearl for so long that it has become part of their sound and identity, in my opinion.

Duke always said there's only two kinds of music "Good and Bad"

its actually the sentence after that I give a flawed statement ;) My real opinion in a non conflicting statement is that BD has their ways of working and is proven to work, in which the way they do things is non-traditional and unorthodox to older ways, which people have strong connections to those old traditions, which I guess upset some when they see a group like BD go out and win so much compared to X-corps who do things the "old fashioned" way. better?

I didn't know you can shout through typing things I think a lot of people don't like BD is because they are a lot more relaxed than other groups. you see all these other corps in the lot who stare straight ahead, walk in step with the person next to them, don't talk, don't laugh, don't have fun. when others see BD roll into the lot and come off the bus smiling, i guess they get a little uncomfortable with the thought that ITS JUST MARCHING BAND. fun is the reason why people do the activity, I know I wouldn't pay 3k to not have fun, if your into the hardcore, stick up the butt routine, good for you, don't bring down all the fun happening in blue land, or green land. I marched with a hardcore group and I didn't like it, at all. thats why I love BD, and Cavies imo. :)

I never get this. Everytime someone mentions malaguena some people chime in that theyre sick of it. Doesnt seem to happen with any other piece. Its not like we've heard it recently. The most recent d1\wc corps to play it was nearly a decade ago. Dont see the same kind of hate for say.. appalachian spring, played every other year forever now.. or numerous other ones that have been repeated at least as often if not moreso than malaguena.

.... and thank heavens that Ravel decided not to make Bolero " repetitive " in verse and structure.

Man, people get fired up about some equipment. The fact is, good players make equipment sound good. Bad players make equipment sound bad. 90% of the sound that comes out of a drum comes from tuning and approach. Look at the Blue Devils in the Dynasty years. I know plenty of people who loved that sound, and plenty who didn't like it at all, but there is no denying that their approach to tuning and playing was very different from that of any other groups out there. On the other hand, if you listen to them last year playing Pearls, the sound was not that different. Another example, look at the Cavaliers in the early 2000s. Then look at them in the few years that Casella and company took over. Then look at them again when Mac returned. 3 very different approaches, 3 very different sounds, one product. None of this equipment is crap, or the company wouldn't have a place in the industry. There is certainly an element of personal preference involved, but to say that because a group switched its a move to "lesser equipment" is kind of over the top. I've worked extensively with Pearl, Dynasty and Mapex/Majestic, and can say from my experience that they all had their strong points and weak points. However, I wouldn't consider any of them "lesser companies" in comparison to the others. Not everyone is going to like every sound that comes out of every drum. That doesn't mean that the equipment is faulty.

What a fantastic legacy show! Current members of The Blue Stars should be just as proud of this show as I know the 1979 Blue Star members are of the current corps.

please Horns stay away from dynasty.please Horns stay away from dynasty.please Horns stay away from dynasty.

1993 Phantom Regiment. I can't describe what it was like see that show on the Finals broadcast for the first time. 93 Star is given so much credit for revolutionizing drum corps from a visual standpoint, I don't think 93 Phantom gets enough credit for being not only visually innovative but exceptional from a programming standpoint. It was so... different from anything I'd seen or heard on the field before: the corps starting spread out over the entire stadium it seemed; the pit not just on the field but off-center, at an angle, on a stage with a custom-designed back-drop; the repeated "swirling" nature of the drill, yet still chock-full of original ideas... The four or five standing ovations speak for themselves, I guess. The end of Madison's 1995 is the biggest "in the moment" crowd response I've ever seen, but Phantom 1993 has the most wild, start-to-finish crowd response of any DCI show I've ever seen.

engaging haters in discussion just makes more just saying

One of my favorite shots...the Jersey Surf Cymbal line: BTW - Last year the following corps had cymbal lines: 1. Spirt of New Jersey 2. Colt Cadets 3. Forte 4. Jubal (the largest with 7 performers) 5. Raiders 6. Legends 7. Yokohama Scouts 8. Spartans 9. Vanguard Cadets 10. Oregon Crusaders 11. Blue Devils B (2nd largest with 6) 12. Pioneer 13. Jersey Surf 14. Cascades 15. Mandarins (new in 2011) 16. Teal Sound 17. Pacific Crest 18. Crossmen 19. Colts 20. The Academy 21. Spirit of Atlanta 22. Santa Clara Vanguard I think the three lines I really miss are Madison, Bluecoats, and Troopers. If Cadets are indeed bringing back their cymbals, my heart just burst with joy. Zing and Hooya to all my platepeeps! Mav

Liar. I saw you kick a kitten then blame it on BD.

Yeah this is great the word is spreading and being a alumni myself I'll definitely be doing my part in the campaign.

More like...

Most definitely '91; although I liked '86 Suncoast Sound's version better.

If a member has a bad experience, they should be under no obligation to continue. The current vet discounts most corps offer are a good start but most young people are NOT in a position to commit to multiple seasons. Some are, sure. But the vast majority are definitely not.

I am waiting for corps to start tackling music from video games. The best music being written today is in that genre. It's the new "movie score" for the modern age.

The types of music you mention don't have a lot of tempo variation or melody, and quite frankly I don't think they are becoming more popular. The are a fringe type of music that is popular for parties and at clubs. If you want to hear what the kids are listening to today, simply tune into the radio. I could see a corps trying something like this for a small snipet, but 11 minutes of any type of music you mention would send anyone not on ecstasy straight to the hot dog stand.

I think it's a terrible idea because almost all of the musical genres you mentioned are rhythm focused, with little (if any) attention paid to melody and harmonics. Certainly there are exceptions in EVERY genre, but the majority of music in the genres you mentioned doesn't have the depth of sound to be able to be arranged and spread out to fit a 150-member drum corps. There would be too much doubling of lines and a very thin overall sound from a large ensemble. A good drum break could be fashioned from these genres, but a whole show? Nah.

Message I got via email en route to Wildwood: "A feeder for Cadets eh? Guess surf kids aren't bailing like they hoped and maybe selling Crossmen off wasn't such a good idea after all" I snarfed my iced tea reading it, because the sender was a Cadets alum

Correct. It's never been up for a real vote in DCA because DCA looks at art yes, but fiscal reality too. They dint always mesh, but DCI hasn't learned that yet. I just hope YEA does this better than when they ran Sun. They never fully recovered

I look at drum corps as I do any performing art, so what draws me in the most is the product. I always thought the designation as a youth activity to be unnecessarily exclusive and arbitrary at best. There's nothing about what corps do that would suggest 21 being an appropriate maximum age (aside from a summer-long time commitment for the top corps, of course).

Maybe you should front the money for all the corps to use the brand you like

You know, I marched that year (Les Eclipses) and toured with Boston alot. We all knew about the electronic keyboard in "Axel F" - but it never seemed to be a really big deal. It was sort of "huh, ok, that's cool". I don't think anyone would have dared say anything against Boston back then. They were very intimidating :P Best "small" corps I ever saw! Later, Mike