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If the success and interest seen at the Skyliners' Open House this weekend is any indication, the 2014 DCA Season is going to be exciting for this legendary drum corps!! More than 100 performers (almost 110!) actively participated – playing brass, battery, cymbals and pit percussion with more than 20 color guard performers practicing. If you LOVE TO PERFORM AND ENTERTAIN and want to be part of a high velocity, intensity-packed brass and percussion-driven marching program, the Skyliners Drum & Bugle Corps is the place for you! The Skyliners Drum & Bugle Corps’ next rehearsal will take place: Date/Time: November 30th, 2013 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 P.M. Location: Wyoming Valley West High School 150 Wadham Street, Plymouth, PA 18651 Directions: http://www.mapquest.com/places/wyoming-valley-west-hs-plymouth-pa-2216650/ Keep up-to-date with us via our website, http://www.Sky2014.org or the new Skyliners Drum & Bugle Corps Facebook Page at https://www.facebook.com/skylinersdbc. For more information, email Larry Carbonell at info@skylinersdbc.org.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 2, 2013. If you LOVE TO PERFORM AND ENTERTAIN and want to be part of a high velocity, intensity-packed brass and percussion-driven marching program, the Skyliners Drum & Bugle Corps is the place for you! The Skyliners Drum & Bugle Corps’ Open House will take place: Date/Time: November 23rd, 2013 12:00 – 6:00 P.M. Location: Wyoming Valley West High School 150 Wadham Street, Plymouth, PA 18651 Directions: http://www.mapquest.com/places/wyoming-valley-west-hs-plymouth-pa-2216650/ We are very excited about the extraordinary team that we have put together for the Skyliners’ return to the field of competition for the 2014 season. The Skyliners relocated to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania area, and most of our instructional staff live and teach locally. The Skyliners’ 2014 Brass Arranger is Rob Stein. Percussion Arranger/Caption Head is Eric Boylan, with Ashley Eden as Front Ensemble Technician, and Brendan Carter as Bass Drum Technician. Adam Burdett is the Skyliners’ Visual Designer. Scott Carey and Mark Murphy have joined the Skyliners as Brass Technicians. Skyliners Director Larry Carbonell will be coordinating the brass caption. Skyliners’ Show Coordinator is Bob Fizette. View our Staff Bios at http://www.skylinersdbc.org/Staff-Admin.html. We invite you to be a part of something exciting that is new and old, and help bring this celebrated drum corps back into the field of competition. No stock charts, more affordable dues than other corps, and an after school/work and weekend experience you will not forget! Keep up-to-date with us via our website, http://www.Sky2014.org or the new Skyliners Drum & Bugle Corps Facebook Page at https://www.facebook.com/skylinersdbc. For more information, email Larry Carbonell at info@skylinersdbc.org.

I've been to a few marching band competitions over the past three Saturdays. Among the 30-odd ensembles competing at those events were two groups that had no drum major and two groups that had no battery. (One group had neither drum major nor battery.) What surprised me was that at the most recent show, one of the latter type, a marching band without any marching percussion, won best percussion. Would that be possible in drum corps? Are there similar surprising outcomes that a corps might pull off if they were exceptional? Could a group win best music with no percussion? Or with no brass? (Or with no synthesizer?) Best general effect without marching? Best percussion without a pit? Best visual without guard? Etc. (The band in question also featured a lot of pretentious narration--really bad stuff, lots of synthesizer, some nifty lighting effects in the pit, and a bassoon soloist perched on a ladder. That soloist, though sadly miked, was pretty good. And I thought they marched some unusual and difficult drill excellently: that was the one category where I picked them to win; naturally they did not.)

I'm in my third year marching top bass at my high school's marching band, and because of my worsening scoliosis, I'm moving to the pit next year to play rack percussion. I'm hoping that this year off will benefit and strengthen my back so that I can come back after high school to march bass for Minnesota Brass and then hopefully DCI. But if this doesn't work out, I would definitely consider auditioning for rack/timpani/drum set for drum corps. Any advice from past or current rack/timpani/drum set players in the drum corps circuit? What are auditions like and how do they differ from the keyboard mallet auditions in the pit? Thanks so much! I was going to put this post in percussion, but I felt like it would be viewed more widely in this forum.

Directors and staff - As the winter season is soon upon us, many of you may be looking for an effective and affordable visual package to compliment your music arrangements. I have had the pleasure of writing for ensembles of all sizes and abilities, and the design is always tailored to emphasize each group's needs and goals. With years of award-winning experience in the marching arts -- including performance, instruction, music arrangement and show design in WGI, BOA, DCI, DCA and a number of state circuits -- I hope you will consider me as you put the pieces of your show together. Some examples of my work can be found at http://ampelmann.yolasite.com Please feel free to contact me with any questions! Cheers, -Brad, Con Moto Design bradleyjharris1@gmail.com