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We are extremely proud to announce that Legend has risen! 2012 Legend will field a Mini Corps that has plans to perform in three events this year including the 2012 DCA World Championship. Fall will bring the rising of a winter drumline. Here's the important details: Legend info

Ding, ding, ding. Winner! This is what I appreciate about Surf. They are out there forming alliances, sponsoring local band shows and just working to get the word out about their organization. There are some lower tier corps that are squandering or ignoring these same opportunities. Cheers to Jersey Surf for making things happen.

the only thing I could see is that if a kid has to pay $1400 plus extras to march DCA, maybe $2300 to do a full tour minus four days is more worth it. But I gotta be honest...Surf is out there working their ##### off at recruiting. And that's why they are getting bodies. They've built a buzz they never had before, they have good working relationships with some of the local band circuits, and they are starting to build a core of loyalty within that may help them retain bodies for the long haul, not just til those kids are good enough to go elsewhere

Rather than posting placings for each corps at a point when very little has been seen or heard from many corps, I'll give some thoughts on who I think the top 12 will be (corps I am more familiar with, sorry to 13-25, I feel I would not have enough to say on your programs). In alphabetical order: The Academy - This corps has been improving so much in recent years, and when I saw them in Allentown this past year, I was very impressed with what I was hearing/seeing. It's always nice to see a fresh face in the top 12, and The Academy seems to really want it. Blue Devils - Consistently and technically great. I personally enjoyed 2011 over 2010 from them, but the execution is always there. They will be great no matter if the show is "liked" by many or few. However, I think I will appreciate their show more this year after realizing just how high of a performance level this corps can get from the members. Blue Stars - I think the Blue Stars are going to surprise many this year. With some of the changes, including the addition of Myron Rosander, and after last year, I think they will be working harder than ever. I see them rising this year. Blue Knights - The Blue Knights will be entertaining this year. Last year's show was pretty fun, and I don't think they will change much from that. That being said, I could see them losing a little momentum to some of the corps around them. Bluecoats - With "Creep" last year being one of my favorite moments on the field, I would love to see another Bluecoats show with that kind of energy and emotion throughout an entire show. staff changes could affect them a bit, but we will see. Boston Crusaders - Great corps. The video sounds pretty decent for this time of the year, but I can't help myself from comparing them to Star. They have pretty immense shoes to attempt to fill with their arrangement sounding very similar to Star's, yet different at times. But obviously this is not 1991, so it's all on them how well they do this year. I just hope for a ballad that involves the entire corps. Just my preference. The Cadets - I personally would get tired of playing Christmas music if I were marching with The Cadets. That's not saying the product won't be great, but there's only so much of that music I can take. I think they will still be fighting for top spots, but I don't see them taking it all again with this show. Carolina Crown - Fantastic brass is always what comes to mind with Crown. I can't wait to hear what they have in store for this year. It would be nice to see them medal again, but with a show that doesn't try so hard to sell its story. The Cavaliers - I never really know what to expect from the Cavaliers other than it will be a product that is fun to watch. With Michael Gaines gone, I hope they can maintain their visual identity. I also hope for a show that doesn't have such a "far-out" theme this year. It seemed like they were trying a little too hard with 2011's show design. Madison Scouts - There's been enough hype on Madison this year, I don't think I will add to it. I think they will be working just as hard as they have been the past few years, and possibly rise in the rankings. Phantom Regiment - My personal opinion on last year's show was that the drill was far too easy for a drum corps. Obviously back in the day drill was easier, but in the current times, that drill just didn't cut it for me. They play emotionally, so I hope they continue to do so. I could see them either staying where they are or dropping. No real basis for it, just my opinion. Santa Clara Vanguard - Well, I am glad to see some repertoire that isn't completely "out there" but that doesn't mean it cannot be arranged in a strange way. But with their staff changes, I see them making many changes for the better, and will likely rise. I was not impressed with their brass last year, or the year before, so I see no way but up for them, as far as brass goes. Again, not very much "meat" to what I am saying, but I am very excited to see what is in store this year from all the corps.

I absolutely loved that show.

I'm suggesting that there are no longer enough corps in existence to make it a practical or effective tactic. I'm also suggesting that a completely untrained kid is rejected out of hand because the highly professional staff of "music educators" in today's very part time, non-local drum corps has no time to actually educate a noobie. They regard that as someone else's job. Mr drillman states that DCI is University level. That's true. Maybe in some places the school systems have great music programs. Those places are usually not in urban areas where music programs have been eliminated, or severely curtailed. I'm not aware of any way to get into a university is you've never gone to elementary school or high school. BITD all corps trained their own kids, either with the big corps, or through a feeder corps. ALL corps had a few "subs" who didn't make the line, but filled in in case a starter was sick, of injured. I'm sure the big boys have a few subs travelling with them for emergencies. But. Here's the secret. BITD, when there were over a thousand corps, very few of the kids involved had any interest in having a serious musical career. They did it for fun. They rehearsed twice a week during the fall, winter and spring. It was a year-round, local activity. It cost them very little money, only their time. They did it to hang around with the other kids in the neighborhood. The corps provided the instruments, and the basic instruction. The kids with more talent learned to play well. The kids with less talent played the best they could. That was why, even in the big corps, the third soprano and third baritone parts in all corps were pretty basic. Can you imagine some of today's brass arrangers actually having to tailor their charts to fit the ability of their players? Of course they do have to make those choices in many of the "lesser", or Open Class corps. But not for the top units. According to Mr drillman, and other posters, those top units are the only ones who should be allowed to exist. Well; guess what? You elitists are about to get exactly what you wished for. I hope you like it.

Well, that logic happens every year regardless of Cadets2 being in the mix or not. Actually adding another corps dilutes the talent pool even that much further. But going back to an earlier post, it is clear that A LOT of the kids are in Surf for the program. There are quite a few rookouts this year.

I'd rather hear Malaguena or West Side Story any day than a lot of the crap some corps seem to drag out from under a rock year after year thinking it's "art".

Gosh - I thought you would have placed Crown a little higher.

Malaguena or Malaga?

sick of malaguena and would really be okay with never hearing it again...so malaga, I guess.

1998 Madison Scouts ("Power, Pizazz and All That Jazz") is DCI.org Download of the Week.

I have to agree with you there!

Best. Closer. Ever.

How about a show with both tunes in it?

The Jupiter sound is fantastic. It plays well. It plays differently from the Yamaha (also an excellent sounding horn), but the sound is excellent.

You're very welcome, Irene. And a big thank you to the Selden Cadets for, once again bringing a powerful and entertaining performance to the show. Always happy to have you folks with us. Have a great show in Philly!!! Ray

Apparently you failed to read his origonal post, the very first post in this thread, where he wrote this: "I am planning on auditioning for Crown and Spirit this fall...".

Sweet!

mellophoniums.... nice.

This is just a question and nothing more than a question; so you DCP hound dogs who cry foul all the time please try to not pounce: Are you suggesting that the OP, who is from Georgia, purchase rather expensive flights to two Cavalier Camps and two Crown camps withing the span of eight weeks to check out the atmospheres when he could merely drive to two Spirit Camps for a lot, and I mean a lot less money?

One thing that not been discussed much is that even within a single corps, the "atmosphere" (for lack of a better word) may differ from year to year. Most years everything clicks and most of the members have an "amazing, wouldn't miss it for a million dollars" experience. Some years just don't seem quite so positive. And it doesn't seem to necessarily correlate with the corps' finals placement that year. 2010 seemed that way, to me, for a lot of the kids in Crown. Expectations seemed to be so high- as much from the members themselves as from anywhere else, and a lot of the kids just seemed to be uptight and not having as much fun as normal. 2011 seemed to be the polar opposite. The atmosphere was truly amazing. So someone auditioning in 2010 may have gotten a totally different impression of Crown than somebody auditioning in 2011. To the OP, if it's possible, attend camps at BOTH Crown and Cavies. In a couple of camps, you should get a pretty good picture of how things work and what the atmosphere is at each corps. You will also get a pretty good idea of whether you have a chance of getting a spot. And even if you don't happen to be a prodigy, sometimes you get a spot because the staff sees the POTENTIAL in you. My son auditioned for Crown for 2006, when he was 15. He turned 16 right before they went on tour. He aged out this past summer after marching his 6th season. He would probably be the first person to tell you that he was NOT a prodigy. I think the staff saw the gleam in his eye, saw how great his desire was to march Crown, and saw how willing he was to work hard to improve. Best of luck to you! Above all, march SOMEWHERE !

To answer the original question, no corps practice in the city they are from because DCI killed real drum corps. Duh.

Nice to see they're deleting public comments on their Facebook page now.

Oh and don't get me wrong here as I understand your point here too. I wish the Red Sox and the Brewers had their Spring training camps in New England and Wisconsin too. But sometimes the baseball diamonds are covered with white stuff in January and the sub freezing temps would make the pitcher's spitballs freeze up while they're on the mound, and doing a Corps camp outdoors in New England and Wisconsin in January- February would likewise make the lips freeze on the brass instrument mouthpiece ala The Christmas Story sadsack with his frozen lips on the pole, you know ? I can certainly understand that if a New England or midwestern Corps has the opportunity to do an outdoor camp in Jan- Feb in a warm weather locale that'd it'd be better than doing it outdoors in Jan- Feb in sub freezing New England and Wisco. Its a lot easier to get 30 pages of drill practiced outdoors in places like Florida than in New England, Wisco. This isn't a a Divine Revelation to anyone. So thats why these Corps ( like MLB teams ) head south in Winter or early Spring to do their camps.

apparently "in the next two days" means "in the next nine days" https://www.facebook.com/accentmarching/posts/309403409112886?notif_t=feed_comment_reply not that i was digging.

Every corps in the country spends MOST of their time rehearsing outside the city of where their main office exists and it has been that way for years - as TOUR makes up the majority of time a corps spends rehearsing (thus it really doesn't matter where a corps has camps or spring training any more than what random school they rehearse at for the random show in Colorado Springs Colorado). But to take the tongue out of my cheek now and address your question. Interesting how you put it as "where they say they are from" (implying that a corps like Madison, Boston or Blue Stars are not really from their said cities anymore). Guess what, each one of those corps IS still from those cities. Their main offiices and corps halls still exist in the cities they are said to be from and is still where they get their mail (and people thought my Broken Arrow thread was...........never mind ).

Tim is a great addition to the White Sabers 2012. The soprano line is shaping up with a few more spots left. Any horn players or percussionists that haven't found a home come on down to Saberland and you won't be disappointed. The music is fun to play and the people are great. So get off the fence and come on down. Help us make 2012 a great year for the White Sabers!!!

Thanks for the kind words and recognition. I am very excited to start working with this group. The young staff has extraordinary talent which should lead the White Sabers up the ladder in the ranks of DCA.... Good Stuff!

White Sabers have always been one of my favorites. You're director is a Class Act with a HUGE heart for you guys. Keep up the fight!!!

wow 4 months to go. looking forward to seeing all the corps, including crown and cavies.

Look, I never said the kid could never, ever, not in a million years make it. Trust me. I've been in and around the activity for a while now. I know what I'm talking about. I'm not the idiot you and the OP are insinuating I am. All I was trying to say is that the kid stands a much better chance trying out somewhere else at such a young age than going for a spot at Crown or Cavies. Sorry for trying to add to the conversation. Next time, I won't. OP- good luck. I'm sure you'll land somewhere. Steve- good for you. you won an argument on DCP.

Well, I can tell you pretty firmly... We are not going bankrupt. Pat61 - If I can give you any information to make an informed decision, please contact me.

There is a rep of the Crown brass staff that IMO is totally unmerited. And that is the rep of being a little harsh or overly strict. The staff comes from the Donnie Van Doren lineage and his approach has always had that reputation. That is probably what your instructor meant by "learning environment." He is saying that Cavies are better because they are more positive. I would argue that Crown is better because their feedback is more honest and more demanding and definitely less laid back than Cavies. So if you want to have an "easier" summer go with Cavies. If you want to be challenged beyond your imagination to be great and indeed achieve that greatness, even if it means getting your ego hurt every now and then, go to Crown. And, especially by the end of the season, the experience with these teachers is nothing but positive. I have a lot of friends on that staff most notably Ben Harloff, and all of them are very passionate about great music education. Once again, their sometimes blunt feedback gets misconstrued as harsh. There is one person that I actually taught at Capital Regiment that marched both Crown and Cavies. And I know that his opinion is different than mine and can give you another perspective. I can give you his name in a PM if you like.

I remember when I had my first beer.

"I had the experience of learning great brass technique that helped me develop as a musician by marching a horn line that had awesome instruction focusing on my development as an awesome brass player." "Did your corps have girls?" "Uh, what? Why would that matter? I went to the corps for the experience of marching and playing and what I would get out of that. I didn't go for the girls." "Did your corps have girls?" "Before I answer that...again...why would that matter?" "Did your corps have girls?" "I can tell you they were never far away, either on the buses and the field or on the sidelines and the volunteer crew." "Why won't you just answer if your corps had girls?" "Because it's not relevant." "Why not?" "Because I didn't join drum corps for the girls." "So your corps didn't have girls?" "I didn't say that." "Why not?" "You realize there are girls outside of drum corps." "Yes, but were there girls in your corps? If there weren't didn't you miss having them?" "Again, I wanted to march drum corps for what I would get out of it. Having girls in the corps or not in it had nothing to do with my decision." "So you're saying 'no.'" "No, I'm not saying that." "Why not?" "Honey, help me out here. Oh, meet Emily." "Hi. Pleased to meet you. Why do you care if there were girls in his corps?" "Is that where the two of you met?" "No. We met at a convention of brain surgeons." "Are there lots of girls at those things?" "I'll tell you after I get a chance to open up your brain and reset your switch."

Gorgeous...

Boy I must be losing my mind. All these months since 2011 Finals of thinking that Crown won the Jim Ott Brass title over Cavies and I guess I was just making it all up in my own mind because obviously as the above derp has now enlightened us of, Crown has nothing of a comparable value to Cavies. Got it now. Thanks CQuinn. I would have never figured it out without you.

And KING is just right

No, that's just how the tenors are in Australia.

LOL! at :53 she yanks her husband's arm practically right out of it's socket and dude is like WTF?!

Sure hope so..love Madison..BUT with hype...even 1st hand hype..corps tend to not live up to the expectation..and there will always be people that dont like...so better off being surprised.Good Luck MAdison

Don't tease me with the thought of that. Would like to see one of the Big Boys do it. I can see Crown doing somehing like that.

The 1980 Madison "Squat and Blow" in Malaguena towards the end gives me goosebumps.

Rumor has it that, Chris Komnick left his facebook on his laptop while George Hopkin's so cleverly hacked on, and posted the false information, so the Cadets wouldn't be the only corps to announce one show, then totally change their minds. :) lol I kid. I kid.

Star 92 had loads of choreography in it, probably as much as 93, just a lot of it was behind scrims or not as exposed, so not as obvious. While the 93 book was intense.... seems like 92 was a better line.

Why does he need to be?

Most interesting brass writing: Carolina Crown Most interesting percussion writing: Santa Clara Vanguard Most interesting visual writing: The Cadets Most challenging show concept: Santa Clara Vanguard Most visual gimmicks: Cavaliers (no doubt, the upside-down playing and stuff was cool, but it's still gimmicky) Most improved section: Phantom's guard (9th in 2010, 3rd in 2011) Most under-rated show: Carolina Crown (and boy, am I going to catch heat for this next one...) Most over-rated show: Madison Scouts (you know that Family Guy episode where Lois is running for mayor, and at every speech or debate she just steps up to the microphone and says "Nine. Eleven." and the audience explodes in applause? Yeah, that. People were so caught up in what the show was representing that I don't think they look closely enough at the DESIGN of the show--which, IMO, wasn't that good at all.)

These are for Nikk Pilato. B)