cin4057

Yankee Rebels practice sites are in the Baltimore, Md area. We have members who travel from Philli.and Reading Pa., Northern Va. and the Annapolis area. I personally travel alone and would be more than happy to car pool any new members,as would other corps members. For practices and trips. The corps provides busses for certain distant shows. DCA finals included. But the DCA trip is usually not an overnighter. LOL That counts me out. Our book this year is wonderful. Personnaly I'm really enjoying Larrys arrangements. The Rebels practice about twice a month. Sundays 12:00 pm- 4:00 pm We've cut the parades to maybe 2 a year. Alot of our members are finding it to hard to march. If we could increase our numbers we could possibly fit more parades in but as it stands now... As for overnight trips, we stay in hotels. The smart ones amongst us buddy up, so it's fairly cheap. It costs nothing to join! Just help out selling raffle and lottery tickets. Instruments are provided as well as uniforms. That's a plus in our favor!

Very cool. They did a nice Tiger of San Pedro. One More Time, has always been one of my favorites to. I haven't been too Disney World since it first opened so I never heard of this groups before. Where better to introduce people from all over the world to drum corps than a place like Disney World.

Corps fees differ. But in the long run it's worth every penny. If $ is a problem or time there's always alumni.corps.

In 2004 I spend in the neighborhood of $3500-$4500.Guesstimit. I believe I paid $470.00 in membership dues. And that was between Nov.2003- June 2004. Dues, food, cases and cases of water, gas,a corps jacket, otherstuff. I had to travel almost 4 hours alone to rehearsals. I lived to far away to get involved in fundraising. Even if I couldn't finnish out the year it was the best investment I ever made. An experiance like that is invaluable.

I was driving over the Chesapeak Bay bridge this week and saw a small red car drive past with, 1BADCAB,on the Maryland lisence plate. I tried to catch up to see the round sticker in the back window. It looked like a cabs logo, but he moved on out of my reach. Traffic was heavy. I would have tried harder to catch up but being fermillier with the police HOT zones I didn't drive as fast as I would have normally. Which is like a bat out of hell. LOL In maryland you rarely see a drum corps sticker on a car ,so when it even looks like one, I get a thrill. This place is the biggest drum corps dead zone. I love Maryland but for the fact that drum corps is not as previllent here as it is further north

It's ALL about entertaining the audiance. They are the ones paying for the tickets. They are the ones we need to encourage to come back.The music needs to appeal to all the age groups. From children up to grandparents. If you're going to play a classical piece at least make it a standard piece that the audiance will reccognise. The coolest thing about playing a classical number is in the reproduction of the sound. A classical orchestra is comprised of many different virieties of insterments. Dad said the coolest thing about arranging for drum corps was in being able to successfully reproduce the sound of an orchestra with such a limited number of horns and percussion. My father always stressed that it was more important to entertain the crowd. Appeal to them and they'll keep comming back. Bore them and...you've lost. No matter what the judges say.

Frank has a wonderful way of painting a picture, with words. Those were indeed wonderful bygone days. Back when just about every neighborhood had a drum corps. In the northern eastern seaboard as well as out in the midwest. I look forward to more of Franks installments. Good to go Frank. Keep it up.

I saw their show this year. They were outstanding! Will there be another performance? I'd love to check them out again.

Some music never grows old. After all the years I've heard, Maleguena for instance, I've never grown tired of it. It's a drum corps classic. {In myspace I have a recorded video of Blast in myprofile doing Maleguena. You should check it out.It is so cool! } It seems like there is something missing today. I was born in 1957. In my home, music was a way of life. In the television we were introduced to all forms of music. From the classical orchestrations, swing and jazz, in the cartoons we watched. Ed Sullivan and the other variety shows, Mitch Miller, the innumerable musicals. It was a great time to grow up. Don't get me wrong. There is still good music being produced. BUT it seems that ever since DISCO! LOL It just hasn't been the same. All you oldtimers out there like me, must know what I mean. Most importantly, in respect to what kind of music will capture the audiance and keep them comming back to see more and spread the word to NORMAL people who haven't been introduced to drum corps before. We have to strive to play what they know and will stur them. Excite them. Make'em weep. Make them want to dance in their seats. Get those heads bobbing. Make'em beg for more! The music is all about entertaining them. I vote for keeping alot of the classics alive. I don't want to see them forgotten, 50 years from now. There's a new breed of music arrangers out there now. Buisnessmen. Men who have collage educations who demand a higher price. Not the calliber of men to which I grew up with. Men who devoted their free time to keeping kids out of trouble. Enriching the lives of kids who didn't have anything else. Or devoting time to a senior corps of people who couldn't stop marching after they aged out of jr. corps. The greatest of hobbies. Just ask any of these old timers how much they made. Like the music of drum corps, in the way things are done now in drum corps, something has been lost. Looking at the numbers reguarding how many drum corps, senior and junior there were back then, compared to now, it's rather frightening. I do see a steady incline in our numbers though. North,South,East and West. If we can keep entertaing THE AUDIANCE, we might see drum corps spread like a virus.

Mom and I were shopping up in, York Pa. I believe. I have corps stickers on my car.{Royal Airs/Yanke Rebels/U.S.Marine D&B Corps.} When we returned to the car there was a note on my window. Someone from the Crossmen had written a" hello!" They'd been very excited to see my stickers. It doesn't happen often but it's always a welcome surprise

I've always had a problem with drum majors who are human metranomes. I've always seen the drum line as the ones who keep time. Dad taught me that. I guess I'm prejudice in that I always thought my father,Truman Crawford was the best example in this respect. He had a way of directing, where you could actually see the flow of the music in his every movement. Just ask anyone who was fortunate in being directed by him. I think one of his best tools was his voice. He sang as he directed, while his hands directed the ebb and flow in the volume and dynamics of the piece. He was really quite remarkable. I remember asking Dad about the subject of "the metranome style of directing" once and his reply was that it was the drum lines job to keep timing. That it was the drum majors job to guide the music.Finness it. I learned at my Dads knee. I learned from one of the very best in this field. Being a drum major is an art. It can be quite beautiful if done correctly. And it's not easy! You have to BE the music. You have to project it in your every movement. Your facial expressions.

Great artical Frank! "Entertaining the audiance". That's what it's all about. If they remember your music as they leave the stadium, then you've won. The judges opinions are needed of course for an official score but it's the audiance who buys the tickets year after year. You can't expect the audiance to keep returning if they don't enjoy the programs. Make 'em weep! Make the hairs stand up on their arms! Make them cry out in joy and exhilleration! This is what it's all about. Profoundly touching your audiances. I know how dissapointed I feel when I see a corps perform really well but I just can't get into the music. My eyes start to cross. I yawn.My mind starts to wandering. Who's in the breezeway to chat with? Did I remember to turn off the iron in the hotel room?... Next thing I know the corps done and I'm trying to recall what the heck I just heard. It really leaves me feeling ticked off. Then I scold myself for disrespecting all the hard efforts of the corps members. They worked so hard to play all that band/orchestra stuff. My only concern is in bringing back the audiances. To entertain THEM. Give THEM music that they can UNDERSTAND and RELATE to.

Music Express may not exactly be concidered an alumni corps, but it is made up of drum corps nuts just the same. Rehearsals are located at the Cinniminsen New Jersey sr. high school. Rehearsals are only once or twice a month. We have enough engagements so as not to interfer with our other alumni corps commitments. Actually they usually coincide. (No one mentioned Mass. Brass/ I believe they're an invite only group. The legends. Do I have the name right? Unfortunatly like westshore you only get the chance to see these groups once or twice a year. The music these groups play is off the hook. Real crowd pleasing tunes.) That is soooo mean!

I really enjoyed Star Uniteds performance. I could see right off the bat,that they would be the winners. No offence to the other corps. I enjoyed every performance. Thank you all for a very entertaining mini corps show.

Not sick. I just ach like all get-out. 15 hours of driving in 1 weekend is wreacking havock with my body. My chiropractor has his work cut out for him. When they saw me limping in on wed. they were freaking out. Especially when I bounced out of there prior to DCA finals. LOL I think next year I'll fly.

Sighs I had a bad feeling about my posting on this thread. You just never know how people are going to take your opinion. When I attended the alumni show and finals I was in poor shape. My legs were not working to well and my back hurt from a 7 and a half hour drive. I'm not complaining. It was worth it. When you're in a new place you need the security of having things labeled to make your experiance enjoyable. It was getting dark and it was dissorienting. I should have gotten a ticket after the alumni show or at least found out where to go beforehand. Yes marching into the stadium was difficult for my legs and I'm gonna keep on doing it till they don't work no more.Then I'll get a wheel chair. Nothings gonna stop me from doing what I love the most. As for following the Bridgemen? I thought it was totaly cool! I got to listen to some pretty great arrangements. Thanks for a great show Bridgemen. Hats off. I feel fortunate to play with 2 groups that Larry arranges for.

They didn't take pics of everyone in my corps! wtf?

I've been experiancing drum corps withdrawl since childhood. Even fans get withdrawls. Now I'm not, just a fan, anymore! I may ONLY be in an alumni corps, but I take my responcibility to them very seriously. The same goes for Music Express. I'm having the best time of my life. I see this lull as a time to really kick my rehearsing up a knotch so that next year I'll be even better.

I always look forward to finals. I don't want to offend with my opinion but you asked. LOL We all became so comfortable with the Scranton venue that Paetec was a dismal surprise. IMO Trying to find your way, into the stadium was difficult. Trying to find out where to get a ticket was next to impossible. The people in the audiance were rude in that they talked loudly thru the performances as well as leaving their seats during the show and returning during the show. This is just NOT done. The alumni spectacular was frustrating to sit thru, because of this rudness. I was performing myself but viewed a video tape and the people were just streaming up and down the stands constantly. Right past the camera. The stadium just didn't seem to meet our needs for a successful show. I understand how difficult it is to put on such a big show as the finals but this stadium just isn't up to par. IMO

I'd like to congratulate all of you for all you're hard work this year. Each and every corps is special in their own right. No matter what class you're in. I appreciate all you're hard efforts and sacrifices. I'm looking forward to hearing and seeing you all perform this coming weekend. Most importantly, HAVE FUN ! Don't worry! Negative emotions won't get you anywhere. They're you're enemy! LOL Have a safe trip. Cindy Crawford

I have to work for about 6-7 hours tomorrow. Then it's off for Rochester. I don't imagin I'll get in till about 10:00 pm. Where's the party? Someplace with a hot-tub perchance? It's gonna be a looooong ride. LOL I hurt just thinking about it.

The closer the better. Makes for a more exciting compitition.

If Reggie said it happened then I guess it did. I wasn't there so I couldn't say. I couldn't tell you how many corps Dad taught. He traveled alot. My father loved to make people laugh. He was quite the charector. I guess if I were to pick a moto for my family it would have been,"Never a dull moment".

What a nice thing to say. Dad was one of Maynards biggest fans. Dad would get as excited as a school kid about Maynards music. What I appreciate about Maynard was how much he gave of himself to high school kids. Like my Dad, he and Maynard changed alot of peoples lives.

We should dedicate this years DCA to honor Maynard.