dancingfrog

Success always boils down to which corps is the most prepared. I marched in a corps that had a very high success rate. I saw and learned first hand what can go on behind the scenes. Wanting a change of venue, I marched with another corps a few years later. I was constantly grilled about why the other corps was so successful. I told them that their whole staff and members need to be on the same page and all have the same goals. A corps can’t keep changing themes several times just before the season opens and also should not predict a corps size that may be unattainable and also be prepared to make any changes necessary that will make the program work. The Buccaneers had a video clip of their corps playing in an auditorium during the winter season. During that time they appeared prepared to accomplish what they had set forth to do in 2008. Why does DCI Corps decide to have the plans for their next season set at the end of summer while other corps still are deciding what their program will be during the spring of their next competitive season? Just by seeing the video of the Buc’s rehearsal, anyone knew that they were doing the right thing to pursue another championship.

One year I marched, we had loose fitting pants, so most of us wore biker shorts so that when we got off the field, we could slip the pants off and still be covered. Both guys and girls could air-out and it also kept our junk from flapping around when we were out on the field. I remember one DCA Corps had their guard in royal blue spandex bottoms and they had all different body types in their guard. Most of them wore boxer shorts, robes or giants t-shirts until they went on the field. After speaking to some of them, they told me that they felt undressed in the spandex bottoms. My friend’s wife marched with the biker shorts under her bottoms because she said that it kept her bulges from showing. After retiring from field corps, I still participate with a community marching band. I found t-shirts in Wal-Mart’s that actually hold perspiration inside and remain dry on the outside. Most of the shirts used to be colored, but last year I found white t-shirts.

It seems that some costume designers for guards use the rule; make sure the costume looks good on your smallest and largest person. Still we see some of the same guards looking good or bad year after year. There is one corps from the Midwest who has one of the best looking uniforms in DCI, yet their guard looks like a cheap community theater production every year. I guess it is all the matter of taste or the lack of it!

My first years in the Empire Statesmen and we were constantly having bus problems. Still we were proud of our busses because we were one of the only all-ages corps with our own busses. I can remember returning from Canada on a July 4th weekend and we had to keep filling the bus with transmission fluid. Although many places were closed we were able to get a case of fluid. We ended up organizing a pit team and had it timed to where we knew that we had to fill the transmission by a specific time and mileage. We continued the process from Watertown, NY to Rochester and our pit team put the last can in that actually lasted to our final destination. Besides the back of the bus catching on fire and the many times that we had to push the busses, I can look back a some of the things that made drum corps memorable.

Gee, why can't we have an All-Aged Troopers in Upstate, New York?!!!!

Not being born years later, so that I could have auditioned for the Troopers. I competed against the Troopers in junior corps and although my corps beat them the first time we met, a few years later they became a powerful drum corps, but auditioning and camps were unheard of back then.

Besides keeping the DCA website up to date, I feel that the DCA Corps should also keep their websites up to date. If you check some of the websites, it seems that the Renegades and Alliance are two of the few corps who seemd to keep drum corps fans in the loop. One would think that more corps would post videos, etc. Up-dating the websites may be a littley more costly, but it would pay off if some of the readers felt that the corps has something to offer.

Magic of Orlando won Class II and also placed in Class I finals at DCI. DCA should do the same thing. Let the score count towards Open and A-Division. If different sheets were used for Open Class and A-Class that could be complicated or if the A-Class corps out-scored at least one Open Class Corps, that could make the difference with scores if the judges are rating the corps against each other instead of their own merit.

At the age of 9, I started out playing alto sax in my elementary school. As young as our band was, we actually marched firemen’s parades. At twelve my neighbor talked my brother (trumpet) to join a feeder corps. Well after his encouragement to attend a drum corps show, we were hooked. Since his feeder corps did not have woodwinds, I learned tenor drums. Back then we had the single type Scotch Tenor Drums and I thought that I adapted quite well. Once I had to play snare in a parade and the crack of the snare actually was frightening to me! After marching that summer, many of our members were graduating to the “varsity” corps. Of the drummers, they only graduated the snare drummers but not the tenors, basses or cymbals. I did not have enough experience on snare. My brother also moved up because he had a few years of trumpet experience. I felt bad because I didn’t move to the competition corps, so I had my brother teach me soprano bugle at home. I did have the ability to read music, which some of the members in the field corps didn’t have. Back then some people actually played by ear! I wanted to march with them so I had the determination to move on to a different avenue in drum corps. While I was learning bugle, the corps called me and wanted me to play cymbals, since their previous cymbal player was switching to bass drum. I played cymbals for several years but would sit in with the brass line in the winter, still helping some of the other members with reading music. Eventually after marching in junior corps, I spun rifle with an all-male rifle line during the winter months. I decided to move on to a local senior corps and with the director knowing who I was; he asked me to play timpani drum, which back then, were lugged around the field. I decided to give my hands a rest and joined the color guard. After removing myself from the world of drum corps, I eventually joined a community marching band. I started a guard with the band and when needed, some of the guard people have filled in on percussion during standstill performances. I knew two sisters who played woodwind in college who both easily switched to brass in DCI and DCA drum corps and one of them also loved guard and did quite well as an instructor. Some of the powerful bands in Japan have woodwinds, but one can hardly hear them with the power of the brass sections. The marching performance world has many opportunities to explore without someone thinking that drum corps needs to add woodwinds to fit their needs.

I can remember when so many corps had their own unique uniforms. Example: Casper Troopers, Stockton Commodores, South Milwaukee Mariners, Bayonne Bridgemen, Racine Kilties, Rockford Phantom Regiment, etc. I think change and progress is great, but does everyone require similar desgings. Many thought that the capped sleeves are so retro, but if you see any old pictures of the Kilts, they had them first. It’s nice to see VK with something original. There are some DCI and DCA corps who have very similar colors and uniforms.

There still are several all-girl corps in Asia and those kids play all the same brass that we have here in the states. Many of the drum corps are from elementary schools. Also some of the tops coed corps in Japan have more girls on brass vs guys. In Asia it is considered a virtue for women to play instruments, so they have many female in their drum corps and bands. I went to Japan one year and saw an all-girl drum corps at a baseball game. They were playing in the stands and must have had 200 girls in the corps. The mellophone section stood up for an ensamble piece and those girls were sick. I could not believe the power and execution.

Alaska had a very good competive color guard who competed at a national level in the 60s. I guess anything is possible.

Rochester Crusaders had a woman contra named Chris who is now a baritone with Empire Statesmen. She was really tough on contra. Cru also had a blonde woman on contra back in the 70s. Empire Statesmen has a woman snare who I think is their snare captain and also there was a woman from Japan who played quads and went on to play quads with SCV. In the 70s the Mets from Quebec had a mostly female drum line and went undefeated a whole season in DCA.

The Cabs of DCA fame have two female contras who honk and when they move out on the field, you better get out of their way. The Lackawanna Melodiers All-Girl Corps had a contra in the 60s named Monica and she won the individuals for contra at the New York Canadian Championships against all guys. You go Monica!

After some near misses at winning a ring or championship in junior and all-aged corps, I finally won the coveted ring one year. The year before that we missed by the slightest amount. Many people in the corps did not have the years in drum corps that I had and felt quite angry that they hadn't reached their goal that year. I for one stuck it out and we won the next year. Now as I look back on everything, the biggest reward and "brass ring" was not the winning, but the experience I had and many friends I made. Some may say that my comments are corny, but that it what I feel that it all boils down to.

I can understand the dilemma drum corps experience obtaining rights for music (cost, etc.). When I sang in a couple of community choirs and was involved in community theater, there were different genres of music which we did not need to obtain rights to use for production, but only had to buy the scores (Gilbert and Sullivan being one of the choices). Although some drum corps people may feel that Gilbert and Sullivan is not worthy of drum corps, there is a wide selection of music available from the two composers, and if a drum corps decided to purchase such music scores, can they change the arrangements and is there other music that drum corps can use where the rights do not need to be purchased?

Rochester Show, July 5th: White Sabers have a well constructed show. Need to clean individual marching and the trumpet section needs work. Mellophones and lower brass carry the music program. Nice to see a larger percussion section this year. As with all the corps, can't wait to see them Labor Day. Crusaders do not have the huge guard of 2007, but the guard still performs well and appear to be enjoying what they are doing. Brass does not have the power of last year, but has command of their book. At times seems quite polished. Drum line commands the field during their drum solo. With some cleaning and adding more dynamics to their brass, will be an entertaining show. I like the Cab's show better this year and nice to see the guard changed their uniforms (from the Star Wars look). Can be a top rated show with some cleaning. Noticed brass players not dressing their forms and some bumping into each other. Tubas over-blew in a couple of spots. The guard is mature and reminds me of the Cadets of Bergen County at times. They will be a contender this year. Syracuse Brigs once again have a well constructed show. The Brass seemed to have a few jitters for their first show. Once again, their guard is in top form, even with a few drops. I expected to see the Brigs with another Blue Devils show this year, but it did not happen. Visually they had a nice show and can't wait to see them later in the year. The Empire Statesmen once again proved to be one of the most entertaining corps, junior or all-aged. They have a much better visual package this year. Percussion took second place to Cabs, but Empire was very close. Although the Cabs also took high brass, makes me wonder if the judges are afraid to award Empire high brass because they are using G-horns and too many "experts" think that you must have B-flat? The Statesmen will find themselves in the top corps at the end of the year, but they need to tighten-up their visuals, coordinate their music program a bit tighter and get the clean-up done with their guard soon instead of at a gradual climb through-out the season like last year. Although their guard has some high-spots, the low-spots are too many. I found that the short flag poles did not work from the stands or they need to change the type of work they are doing with them. Still Empire Statesmen will be the entertainers of the year. David Bruni also won best drum major. He was heads and shoulders over most of the drum majors who sometimes looked like they were just going through the motion. Good Luck this year Empire. The Statesmen and Statesmen's Alumni rocked the house before the finale. I for once loved being entertained by my former corps while sitting in the audience! Wow, what a sound.

I have seen several all-girl corps from Japan that would probably make Open Class Finals at DCI. Many of them are so good that they are scary!

Limit dance to the ballad and have the gaurds throw everything at the audience along with the kitchen sink, like 27th Lancers and Phantom Regiment in the 70s and 80s!

With all the women playing instruments in DCI Corps today, I bet they could put together a hell of an all-girl corps with a 150 of them. I can remember most of the DCA Corps being all-male until the Viet Nam War took away many of the male members and most of the corps went coed.

You Go Sun Devils! Black Gauntlets would look great. They are easy and cheaper to make! Can't wait to see you guys in Rochester.

I can remember when a corps entered the field and people did not find them to their liking, they would leave their seats for a hot dog. I hope that most stadiums still serve hot dogs!

Sorry for the first reply. I have marched in both junior and all-aged corps that placed well. There seemed to be a strong sense of pride in your organization and in entertaining the general audience. Now that I am a paying customer, I can enjoy all different aspects of drum corps presented to the general public. Still I and many others wonder what has become of the activity where everything is controlled by powers to be that are afraid to lay it all on the line and not let things just be the way they are. I marched in exhibitions at DCI Shows on the East Coast where only our General Effect were released. What difference would it had made if we did out-score a DCI Corps. Especially since we were only lucky enough to see them at that particular show.