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.

Just to play devil's advocate, horn does have a different embouchure than mellophone (2/3 and 1/3 split vs. 1/2 and 1/2). So yes, if you're not practicing on horn all summer, you'll probably have some issues when you come back home from tour. Your finger dexterity on horn will suffer a bit too because mellophone is obviously a right-handed instrument. What should be better after tour is your ability to hear intervals, blowing through phrases, playing with more musicality, etc. ("insert other general musicianship and brass pedagogy here") If I were a horn performance major in college, I would honestly not march drum corps. It wouldn't be because I think drum corps isn't a worthwhile activity for people, but I think an entire summer for a performance major can be spent doing other great things like Aspen, Tanglewood, and other notable music festivals. If I'm dead serious about becoming a better horn player, why would I spend my summer playing a different instrument? Perhaps this viewpoint is something I picked up from my horn professor, but I just don't think drum corps as viable for someone committed to making a career out of performing on horn as opposed to someone who wants to be a music educator. Added a little bit later: I also suppose that I think this way because when I'm in college, I have a certain practice routine on horn. It begins with the warm up in the morning, practicing sometime during the midday, and going to band in the afternoon. Drum corps takes you out of that element for 2 1/2 months, so you come back from tour and will likely have a bit of a rough start getting back into the swing of things. The long term effects of this could be chair placement audition results for the fall semester. If you're in a somewhat competitive studio, I know personally what it's like to come back to see an audition excerpt list with several things not even in the key of F. It took me a couple years to know what to expect when I get back to school.

I can't speak about Crohn's disease, but I have marched four years of World Class drum corps with exercise-induced asthma. How you handle it is completely up to you. I've had my days where I was stupid and didn't use my inhaler before a full run-through on a rehearsal day. I'd have so much trouble breathing that I couldn't play the whole show to the end. At the end of the show, it would be frustrating because people around you are asking if you're alright. The answer is obviously no, but you're too stubborn to run off the field to use your inhaler right away. There's also the days where I'd full on sprint during running in PT just to see how far I could push myself. Once again, I probably hadn't used inhaler, so I run back in a situation that could have been prevented if I was smart about it. It's a combination of how stubborn you are and how much common sense you have that will either help or hurt your asthma. I know that I personally have those "figure it out" moments on tour, so it's likely to happen to you too. I always use my inhaler before performances. I usually give it to a staff member or put it in a bag that will be accessible as close to gate time as possible seeing as most albuterol inhaler prescriptions are only good for four hours. As I become more conditioned throughout the season, I ended up leaving my inhaler in the brass bag at all times so I would always have it at shows. I didn't really need it during rehearsal because we wouldn't do full runs on show days. One thing I especially learned this past summer is to always let the staff know what's up with you physically. The last thing you want is for the staff to be overly concerned about a situation you do have control over. They only want what's best for you and the corps. Please do not be afraid to sit out if you have something that incapacitates you from performing at a high level. It is better to take a few reps off than to further injure/hurt yourself permanently. Hope some of this helps

1992 Santa Clara Vanguard: Fiddler on the Roof It was one of the first shows I ever heard a recording of, and I didn't actually know who it was who played the show at the time. When I finally got to see a video of the show, I noticed it wasn't exactly the cleanest visually or musically, but it possessed excitement and drive! Love the ripple, love the Bottle Dance... ahh. It's one of the few drum corps shows I'll listen to before I go out and perform my own. So in conclusion, it's loud and exciting! I'm going to go watch it again right now :)

It's the top 8 corps going into that week of the competition. I can't remember if it's based off of the previous regional placements or an average of the scores from the week, though.

By corps: Spirit 2006 (the biased answer) Bluecoats 2005 Bluecoats 2006 Bluecoats 2007 Cadets 2001 Cadets 2003 Cadets 2005 Crown 2004 SCV 2004 Cavaliers 2002

The percussionists *are* always practicing. Even when I walk in for 7 am horn warm ups, I'll hear someone playing a marimba in the basement of HMU.

Actually, the trumpet line, euphs, and lead baris were on Yamahas. The rest of the hornline was still on Kanstuls.

A) What did you use as a rehearsal bag? Did it prove to be useful or did it just get in the way? I used a backpack I bought at Walmart in 2005. It was and still is very useful. B) What did you keep in there? Everything, or just about nothing? For Rehearsal: horn towel(s), music, dot book(s), lots of pencils, extra shoe string, DCT, valve oil, slide grease, extra gloves, my F horn mouthpiece (for buzzing since bringing my F horn on tour is not very feasible), t-shirt for meal times, polishing rags, asthma inhaler, Advil, my old UMI/CKB Mello 6 mouthpiece + mouthpiece protector, SPF 50 sunscreen, tropical-scented bug spray (IT EXISTS! I won't buy any other kind, lol), hats, glasses. I attach my water bottle with a keyring thing. Added when I'm on the bus: my running shoes and purse with cell phone, digital camera, and money. C) How many seasons did it last? It's going on its fourth season of use, and it's still in great condition. I just need to throw it in the washer because it still smells like sweat and sunscreen from last summer, woops.

Someone already mentioned this as a music education venture. I view it as more of a community support type of thing. That's how music education became a stable in the the United States in the 19th century; Lowell Mason took his ensembles out into the community. What does this have to do with the Academy? They're gaining support from an area that hasn't previously had a World Class Corps in their backyard. This performance can bring in more revenue and long term support of the drum and bugle corps. Much like Lowell Mason's approach, community support is one of the biggest ways to get kids involved in music and money into your program's pocket. IMO, I think something like this logistically should be done during the off-season to maximize rehearsal time during the summer, but there are probably reasons for doing it during the summer that I don't know. I'd give the benefit the doubt

I was introduced to that term the day I started playing French horn in the 7th grade