Do corps choose a Veteran over a better player/marcher?

[JayM]

holding on to ones vets is one way for a corps to survive in the long run. Drum Corps is a swirl of free agency with wonder players traipsing their way through the assorted corps looking for a ring. The realization that one or two individuals are not the solution to ascendacy is a valid judgement. For corps out of the top four. Comitted vets are more valuable to the stability and longevity of the corps, and also become valued alumni.

While each year there may be a few members in top corps who've marched elsewhere, in my experience the majority of the members end up marching at least two, if not three or four (and in some cases 5 or 6) years with their one and only corps. Committed vets are valuable to EVERY corps. The last of the three baritone lines I marched in had probably about 8 guys with prior corps experience, but we still struggled for a while until everyone caught on to the new (to them) philosophies.

I was the veteran of a top 3 corps and I was unexpectedly cut in April....at the end of camp right before I was getting ready to leave!...I was replaced with the brother of a former drum major. It was sort of out of the blue.

I think I know about your situation, and I'm not totally surprised that it happened given the circumstances.

I do! The University of Texas at Arlington! UTA Marching Band performs a full 10:30 minute corps style marching show as featured exhibition at band contests throughout the state and country every year. Check it out.

http://www.uta.edu/music/band/mbsounds.html

And as a bonus, featuring a new band director every year, just so you don't get bored.

[bedford]

Did we ever find out whether this person marched elsewhere or not?

If not, I guess the decision reached by BC may not have been the wrong one.

[L1STEN2311]

in my experience, a huge part of a drum corps "audition" is a personality audition... that's another aspect to think about. completely outside of the playing/ marching aspect, the have to like you. regardless of how well you play/ move, if they (members/ staff) can't stand you, you probably wont be there.

[JBBrass]

***THIS POST DOES NOT REPRESENT THE THOUGHTS/OPINIONS OF THE BLUECOATS ORGANIZATION***

Allow me to add some inside perspective as someone who marched Bluecoats in 04, 05 and 07. The Bluecoats do indeed re-audition their vets, and it's definitely not just empty talk. Vets have been cut every time I've auditioned. Some of them were multi-year vets.

I don't think this ever sets much of a mutiny or bad vibe withtin the group when a vet is cut. I think almost all of the members are devoted to winning/excellence and understand that they need the members in the group that will help acheive that goal. It's always sad to see someone go, but in the end the more important goal is that of the group and the group suceeding.

In your original post you said the mello tech was from U of Houston. The mello tech that year, Ryan, was actually from Akron. Unless you are talking about a visual tech of some sort but I still can't think of who that would be. And personally I don't think any of the U of H Bluecoats wouldn't deserve a spot on the line. They are all incredibly strong marchers and players and I really don't think they were undeserving recipients of spots simply because they knew someone.

I also don't think the talent vs. loyalty argument really holds true to this situation either. I think both are factors when considering candidates for an audition. And truly there are hundreds of different talents and character traits that are looked for when auditioning for a corps. How well someone can play "audition etude #1" makes up only one skill out of hundreds that you draw from every day in a drum corps. The audition process is really just a small snapshot of someone's abilities. It's not a perfect science. You could've been incredible at skills that you might use during move-ins, but didn't do well on skills displayed during camp. In the end I think the staff are looking for people to prove they deserve a spot in the line. If they didn't give you a spot they probably weren't convinced.

Also for those nay-sayers who say that the reason Bluecoats placed 7th in because they lacked in talent, might I remind them that the Bluecoats were serious contenders for both brass and drum titles. The hornline also went a large part of July winning brass, sometimes by substantial margins. Those are some of the most individual-talent-based captions.

Ding Ding Ding Ding. We have a winner.

You know what else is a good way to get more consideration from a top corps? By having other corps experience. I remember hearing some fact about BD last year (or '06 or something) that they had a ton of "rookies" to BD in their hornline, but only a handful in the line had no prior corps experience. Top corps love to see that you've been through a summer or two on another level and have shown the ability to survive the physical and mental drain of a summer of corps.

You can teach a less talented kid to play or march. You can't teach someone how to stay engaged, focused, and on task during a whole summer of corps. That's why so many corps take kids with experience.

Rookies are somewhat of an unknown in drum corps. Someone can be great at camps but bomb out during move-ins. Again this has to do with camps only showing a margin of the skills used during the summer. Vets have already shown (good or bad) what they can do during a summer situation. It's hard to make the case for taking a risk on a rookie when you have someone you know can do the job.

People from other corps also look a lot better than somone with no drum corps experience at all. The staff knows that this person has already done a summer on tour, has gotten through it and knows what it's like. They also probably have a pretty good idea of what a corps like the Bluecoats will be like and are ready and up for the challenge. This takes some of the unknowns out of the situation. Alex, the Bluecoats trumpet soloist in 04-06 actually tried out in 03 and was cut. He marched a year at Patriots and auditioned again and made it. I think it makes a big difference in an audition if the person has drum corps experience somewhere before trying out.

Hope my perspective cleared up some of the questions regarding auditions.

***AGAIN, THIS POST DOES NOT REPRESENT THE THOUGHTS/OPINIONS OF THE BLUECOATS ORGANIZATION***

[luvs me sum mello!]

And as a bonus, featuring a new band director every year, just so you don't get bored.

The latest one has rumors of sticking around. Apparently what they had for 11 years with Clements was out of the ordinary.

[mn trumpter guy]

***THIS POST DOES NOT REPRESENT THE THOUGHTS/OPINIONS OF THE BLUECOATS ORGANIZATION***

truly there are hundreds of different talents and character traits that are looked for when auditioning for a corps. How well someone can play "audition etude #1" makes up only one skill out of hundreds that you draw from every day in a drum corps. The audition process is really just a small snapshot of someone's abilities. It's not a perfect science. You could've been incredible at skills that you might use during move-ins, but didn't do well on skills displayed during camp. In the end I think the staff are looking for people to prove they deserve a spot in the line.

Also for those nay-sayers who say that the reason Bluecoats placed 7th in because they lacked in talent, might I remind them that the Bluecoats were serious contenders for both brass and drum titles. The hornline also went a large part of July winning brass, sometimes by substantial margins. Those are some of the most individual-talent-based captions.

I think it makes a big difference in an audition if the person has drum corps experience somewhere before trying out.

***AGAIN, THIS POST DOES NOT REPRESENT THE THOUGHTS/OPINIONS OF THE BLUECOATS ORGANIZATION***

(sorry for the editing, but your post was really long, so I shortened it to the parts I deal with)

I would have to agree- audition camps really don't show well what a person can or cannot do. At the corps I march with (the Blue Stars), we are focusing much on certain aspects and the staff is admitting that certain parts of the activity are being put off till move ins. What skills are shown at camp is part luck, and part statistics; the wider range of skills you are asked to demonstrate, the closer the staff is to knowing how "good" you actually are.

I would also have to say that having proven that you can march the whole summer is important; however this does not necessarily mean that you have to have marched with the corps you are auditioning at. Before my first season, I went to my band director, who marched Phantom in the 80's, saying that I wanted to audition there. He told me that, despite my skill as a marcher and player, I would probably be cut simply because I had not marched before.

This would imply that there are really 3 general 'categories': Reliability in terms of ability to march the whole summer, ability, and Devotion to the corps (Vet-ness). I would bet that the first two are looked at more than the third, but one of my instructors recently made an interesting analogy:

He was talking about talent vs. devotion, and using the movie "Miracle" to do so; his exact phrase was "The kids on the U.S. team had no business being on the same ice as the Russians, but they were so devoted that they worked hard enough to get the job done in that one game"

It's not perfect, but it gets the message across: The more a person cares for the organization, and especially the people around him/her, the harder they will push themselves to excel.

Edited March 2, 2008 by mn trumpter guy