kauliflower

ahhh! I wiki-ed the cavaliers this morning (australian time) and noticed the corps mission statement mentioning a "fraternity". I got a bit concerned after that, but I take it that most other corps accepts females. Just out of interest, what do you think the proportion of female members in corps are these days? I'm not actually sure about where in California at the moment, but I'll find that out soon. Just checking, are div 2 and div 3 for younger corps? I understand that I'm going to be working my butt off wherever I go, I just want to have an ok chance of making it in. Marching til the dirt hits my face sounds like fun though. Do people really hang around until they're like sixty? That arm swing made me go "errrrgghhh". It made me think of the videos they make us watch in history, about the parades and things for the arrival of the queen back in 19(something pre-60s). lol, "by the centAH"! Ok, so I'll have a good look at the golden roos then. Do you... ever find yourself just roll-stepping as you walk around? I've been trying what i've read read from fairly generic descriptions, it's starting to become a bit habitual. For backward and slide marching, do you think it'd be better just to leave it or to make an attempt off online tips? unlearning and relearning something is always much more tedious than just learning it right the first time. It will be a rather steep learning curve for me if/when i try this drum corps thing, but steeper learning curves are more exciting! Besides being more daunting and stressful.

haha, ahh trumpet. if i learnt the trumpet i'd have to take a year's worth of telling people that the french horn is far superior, and i couldn't possibly do that :P nah, i've borrowed a student trumpet off a friend and have been randomly playing some of my horn pieces on it, but i find the trumpet harder than the french horn. I'm a bit fuzzy on what a caption head is. It sounds like the manager for brass/percussion/color guard, is that right? I don't think I'll be having a go at drum corps for at least year because i need to learn to march first, but in the mean time i'll be having a look at the different corps. I need to figure out what i want to look into before i start blanketing all the corps with enquiries lol. Do different corps tend to have definite styles? Like i saw a youtube video of the renegades doing a jazz thing. standards-wise, I have a feeling i'm not very good at playing the french horn but i can't tell because i've only ever been in my school music program and people don't practise very much here. It sounds a bit dodgy, but considering I've never marched before, do you think you could suggest some lower standard corps? Probably in california too, because my cousin is staying there. Eeeep! I'm 17, turning 18 next january, that only gives me.. 4 years to try and get into a drum corps! But first things first. The local marching band I mentioned has some videos on their website and from the looks of it, the french horns just march holding up their concert french horns... Do you think that would still help with marching technique? I'm a bit skeptical. I've tried walking around and playing before when i want to get something, and it really doesn't work very well. If you feel like taking a look at an humble australian marching band, here's a link to their website. I'm a bit skeptical to be honest. that's all for now, thanks for answering all my questions

Wow. i'm still trying to figure out how you remember the details from umm... 23 years ago. i've youtubed a couple of drum corps shows and it's starting to sink in just how much practice it must take on the field. It sounds like heaps of fun (and hard work). Some more questions: With respect to instruments... do most people do their first audition for the hornline on a trumpet? or do people actually own sopranos, mellos and baris before they start?? i have no idea where i'd get a mellophone from in australia and i can't see there being any use for it here lol. from general talk on this forum, it sounds like people switch between horns a bit and I wouldn't really mind playing other horns, but i couldn't handle anything big. I'm 150 cm, i'm not sure what is in feet, but it translates to "midget" Is junior drum corps the one i've researched a bit where you have to be aged between 16-24? i'm a bit confused with ages in drum corps. it'd be really nice to see what kind of standard you generally have to be at for drum corps so I'd have something to aim for. We have AMEB (australian music examination board) exams here, can someone suggest something to compare that with?? Sorry if these are really obvious questions, I haven't really been able to research much because i'm meant to be studying for my HSC (read "last exams in high school, EVEEEEEEERRRRR!!!"). Thanks in advance for any help that comes my way :)

awwww, thanks lonelysnare! so yeah, about marching. how do you rehearse? like is it done indoors and only the last few rehearsals done marching?

Hey guys! My name is Rachel and like the topic title says, I've never actually marched. The reason I'm here is that I accidentally wandered across drum corps on facebook and began to look into it from there. It looks really really interesting and I've been playing the french horn for 4 years now and so I thought there might be the slightest possibility I could get involved, but the major hurdle is.... I live in australia. Still, I could always take a gap year from university some time (i'm 17 now, leaving high school) and give an audition a go, but before I make some sort of gargantuan effort to make it into a drum corps first try, I think I should get a better idea of the sort of experience drum corps actually is. So here I am. Anyone want to help? There's not really much in the way of marching bands over here, I can only find one within 30 km of me, so any info on marching in general would be helpful too.