Michelle

While I think a show at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee would be awesome, I highly doubt the school higher ups would go for it. The stadium grass is like a shrine to all that is Seminole football. There's a stained glass window of Bobby Bowden on the side, if that says anything. If they rarely let the Marching Chiefs on the field for a practice, I doubt they'd want 5+ drum corps marching on it during a time of the year when the grass isn't manicured.

He played piano to pass through Julliard. Though, he joked around at the composition seminar I went to that all he had to play was a Bach Invention.

Louisiana in July = Ew.

I'm not quite sure I understand. Are you saying that you stopped donating because drum corps starting billing themselves as having a place in music education? Maybe it's just because music education is something I'm passionate about, but I don't understand how that is a bad thing. I started marching at a time where almost everyone on the music staff has a music degree of some sort. I don't think drum corps can survive without the facility of the music education community. You can't expect to draw membership from an area with very little support for the arts. Most kids marching these days have their first marching experience in high school marching band. By offering clinics and building relationships with music educators, you are gaining the approval of the people who see students on a daily basis. More over, you can gain community support because people need to see the benefits of music education. In a day and age with No Child Left Behind and National Education Standards, I think anything drum corps can do to appear valid in a student's music education is great. Otherwise, the never-ending debate over funding for the arts will get torn down in our own little niche. Community support + music educator involvement = more money and membership bases for drum corps And this is when I've realize I spend a lot of time listening to my music education professors... I would also like to add that I don't think the fraternal and social aspects of drum corps will ever change. That is what makes the experience well-rounded, by and large. People get upset over the evolution of instrumentation and show designs, and I sometimes think we forget that the members on the field still love what they're doing. Those memories and friendships we form are related to how a drum corps functions on a day-to-day basis. The fact that we learn something about playing our horns, spinning our flags, and playing our drums is a wonderful extra benefit.

I'm wondering if attendance will be higher because 2008 was the last year MENC decided to have their biennial National Conference. These kinds of festivities in Washington, D.C. and other locations each summer are supposed to replace what that conference was. In theory, this is a wonderful partnership of music education and DCI. However, a lot of music educators do choose to stay with their respective state conferences given the economic situation of traveling. I'm hoping for the best.

I think another thing to consider with college bands is how some of them revel in tradition. FSU's pregame drill hasn't changed in a very, very long time. There is no pit to amplify. High mark time, flanks, and the "Chief Step" can be found in any given halftime show as well as corps-style roll step marching.

45 minutes of PT in the morning with everything from stretching, running, and football drills everyday. In sectionals we would march and play in the drill as opposed to tracking.

As long as you don't walk in talking about the other corps and how you're checking out both, I don't think you'll run into any problems. I think finding where you fit in is great because it can have quite an impact on your summer. Why go somewhere and be miserable? You'd bring the people around you down. Essentially, you would be "that guy" in a different respect.

Gatorade - bottled. Money for laundry stop - can really depend on the size of the laudromat. $10 in quarters is a good start. Souvie supply shopping time depends on the performance order at night. For example, a kid in Pioneer might have more time to do so that a kid in Blue Devils just because one performs later than the other. Feminine products - one bigger box should last the entire summer because the amount of physical activity reduces it to a minimum. (I can't believe I just typed this... haha)

I've missed November camps every single year since I started marching for a marching band or concert band related thing. My freshman year of college was because Thanksgiving weekend is the traditional weekend of FSU vs. Florida. Last year it was because we had a concert band dress rehearsal the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend. This year I'm going to a November camp that is not on Thanksgiving weekend -- thank goodness -- or else I would have to miss that one, too. I know Bowl Games can conflict with some December camps. I had a friend who missed the Florida game to go audition for Phantom, made the cut, but had to miss their December Camp for the bowl game in Nashville. She worked that out though and marched with them last summer. She was lucky because she was the assistant section leader of the horns (35ish person sized section each year). Usually you can't miss stuff when you're in a leadership position. For the spring, there are mostly concert band related issues that may arise. I left one camp early and went to one camp late because of concerts on Friday and Sunday evenings. It's especially harder if you're flying. If you have a conflict on the Saturday of a camp, I personally would consider not attending the camp altogether considering the travel expenses -- unless you're close enough to where that isn't an issue.

^ Tell me that in January when I'm still wearing shorts :P

Whoever runs the organizations kills the drum corps. I've lived in Florida for the past eleven years of my life, and I agree with whoever said the state is fertile for recruitment. We have: - the second or third largest music education conference in the country - the most all state ensembles in the country - ten or eleven (with FGCU?) public universities that all offer degrees in music - FMBC which runs the local competitive marching band circuit - BOA St. Petersburg - a number of indoor guards and drumlines that compete in WGI ... so to say that the state is a drum corps killer is quite false. I know that when there was no DCI Orlando show, people were just like, "Go to the Atlanta Regional." That could work well for the people in North Florida, but you have to remember that the state is a peninsula. For my parents who live in Fort Myers (Southwest Florida), they had to drive 10-15 hours to either Jacksonville, AL or Atlanta, GA to see me in a show. I was lucky enough to start marching 2005 when there was still an Orlando show, so 2008 was wonderful for me when I marched in the Citrus Bowl again. I was that person who was wide awake on the bus the minute we pulled into Kissimee. I'd love another home show! I've been through high school band camps, sports camps, about a week's worth of drum corps rehearsal, and two weeks of drum corps move ins all in Florida. To those who complain about the weather, at least it's the most predictable weather you'll run into all season :P My high school band planned rehearsal around the afternoon rains, and it worked for us. Hurricanes are an entirely different issue. Philosophically, I would say competition is discouraged in this state. FMBC is not tied to FBA, the bandmasters component of FMEA. I don't think it ever will be as long as a school like FSU puts out research findings that discourage competition. I think this could effect the mindsets of high school band directors and music education majors who graduate in this state. It's an interesting phenomena because the competitive marching bands tend to be found in pockets. When I went to high school, there were virtually no competitive marching bands outside of Mariner High School from Cape Coral, FL in my area. Whenever I fly home from DCI Finals, there is almost no one else on a flight to the same area that I run into... until this year when I ran into one of the several Pioneer recruits from Lemon Bay High School. I find it crazy that the 2005 Jim Jones Leadership Award winner was my high school drum major my freshman and sophomore years. As a whole, I see Florida with a lot of potential. It just depends on who finds the right way to tap into it. I could see coordinating things with school districts still tainted from having finals in Orlando in 2003 being a problem. It's unfortunate that I wouldn't be marching drum corps had I not seen that show. A drum corps would have to build a strong relation with an area and be consistent with their approach in order to build a strong foundation.

I don't think it's so much about being ignorant. If people have never heard of drum corps, can you really expect them to know that it's a brass, percussion, and colorguard ensemble? I tell people it's like professional marching band so they have a much better idea in their head of what it is. (Oh no! She used the "marching band" word :P)

If it makes you feel any better, I remember looking at the score of the opener in 2007 and asking why the last chord was I chord in the second inversion. I had just learned in theory that it was a no-no because I 6/4's would be used as passing chords or for a cadential 6/4. [/music major-ness]

I can beat you on that one. My first show was Finals Night in Orlando in 2003. I had just heard of this "drum corps thing" the previous school year when I was a freshman at band camp. My high school's drum major and guard captain were marching in Magic. I went to see the show with my mom, one of my best friends, and her mom. During intermission, my friend's mom says, "I'm tired... let's get on the road and head home." (It's a 3 1/2 hour drive from Orlando to my house, and school was starting that Monday) Well, I started crying like a little baby, and I missed 2003 Phantom, Blue Devils, Cadets, Santa Clara Vanguard, Cavaliers, and whoever else was after intermission! Of all years to miss watching finals as a spectator... :tongue: I asked my mom, while being dragged out of the Citrus Bowl, if I could possibly march one day. I finally got off my butt and did it two years later. I haven't stopped since.