Why are corps so dirty the first few weeks of tour?

[soccerguy315]

Perc2100, thank you for the insight into the activity we call drum corps. As someone about to dive into a season of world class drum corps, with only one fall season of marching under the belt, I really appreciate knowing what to expect.

Part of me now wants to aim for physical exhaustion at the end of every day, so I can acclimatise for drum corps. Am I being silly?

IMO the biggest thing you can do to get ready is be in shape. Make sure you can jog a couple miles, and if you play a heavier instrument, the sooner you start building your muscle endurance for standing at attention / hornsup (or with the drum on), the better.

Try to take it in small sections... don't think about the "omg, 4 weeks of 12 hours of rehearsal each day, I'm going to die." Just think of it as "now I am doing this" and then when you move to something else, now you are doing that. After awhile, the rehearsal block will be over, and after 3 blocks, the day will be over. Once you get on tour, the time starts to fly by, with a lot of shorter rehearsals on show days, and suddenly you are at the first regional, then boom boom boom and it's finals week, you have your last performance, and then everyone gets on a plane and goes their own way. I echo fsubone's thoughts that when you get the chance, step back and appreciate what's going on. Make sure you talk to people when you get the chance, like during meals and before lights out. You will be with these people 24 hours a day for 3 months, and a bunch of them will probably turn into very long term friends. Some days you will be in a lot of pain / very sore... realize that this is normal and you are not the only one going through that.

[charlie1223]

With 3 full weeks of pre tour, and several weekend long camps I would think that corps would be pretty clean... I look at the marching band I marched with, we would be relatively clean about a month into rehearsals, and we would only practice 4 times a week for 3 hours. Are corps just pretty dirty because their programs are so intense, or what? I just think that if my band was given 3 full weeks of rehearsal we would be ridiculously clean to the point of almost perfection. I know our programs arent as difficult, but we had harder programs than anyone else in my state did, so what do you think???

Is this a troll? Cuz if its a troll I'm not going to answer. But if it is not a troll then I'll answer.

-If you are of the age to march drum corps then march drum corps and figure out how easy is to learn a drum corps show in 4 weeks.

-How dirty do you think drum corps are when they first appear on the field in June? compared to say your highschool marching band they are probably way cleaner. But compared to the drum corps in August its really dirty. The show is just way harder, the music is harder, the drill is harder. It has nothing more to do than that. There is a lot of detail that goes into a drum corps show that even the best highschool marching band programs don't have.

I mean if your meaning to suggest that your highschool marching band is somehow better than a top 12 drum corps then... I mean... C'mon... lol that's just silly! :P

[wcmello09]

Scouts don't do breathing blocks, eh?

I don't know anything about that...

My anonymity has been compromised!

[Catan]

Only kind of silly. After the first week or two, your body is in full drum corps mode, and you can go for days, you don't even notice the exhaustion or pain anymore, you just do your gig, and go. What happens around you is kind of a blur. You just get up in the morning, practice, do the show, change, get on the bus, and go to bed. Repeat as necessary. It's something that goes by quick, so always remember to take a moment and soak it all in. If you're in a sectional, or some other section is getting worked with, take a quick second and really notice who's around you, and what you're doing. You really can notice and experience all the amazing stuff going on in a corps.

This is very true. Your body eventually gets to the point where it acclimatizes to the routine. The first 2 weeks of spring training, I was pretty much sore from head to toe (and in a lot of pain at times), but by the last week of all days I didn't even think about the physical part anymore, it was all mental. I experienced stronger feelings of frustration, anger, elation, and exhilaration during drum corps than any other time in my life.

[BOBSMYTH]

P.S. Under certain circumstances (when is the age cutoff again?) you can march at age 22, so you should look into that as well.

Here is a link from DCI that talks about the current age out rule: http://www.dci.org/news/view.cfm?news_id=5...fc-5bd5b56c3276

According to this story, it depends on when your birthday falls.

[DCISuperfan]

While there are many posts in reply to you, I'll try my best not to be redundant or condescending.

Drum corps is an activity that employs many aspects that have to be experienced in order to truly understand/appreciate. It's easy to look at a rehearsal schedule, or a performance, but those are really small aspects of a drum corps season. Often times the pre-tour camps are built around not only learning a show, but "conditioning" the members for the summer. Members learn:

* music for the competitive show

* music for non-competitive performances (parades, stand-stills and/or encores)

* drill/visual of the show

But more importantly, that pre-tour time also acclimates the members for the rigors of tour life. The members have to get used to the intense conditioning needed to rehearse every day, they have to get their chops used to playing insane amounts of time. I'm a percussionist and while we need to get our chops in shape to be able to play for hours and hours at a time, brass players literally need to build their lip muscles and stomach muscles so they can not only play through an 8 hour rehearsal but also have a stellar show without sounding winded or lacking energy.

Not only that, but there are a ton of practical aspects members need to "learn." Getting used to the tempos of rehearsal, learning the instruction methods/philosophies of the Caption Heads (i.e. how members are expected to learn drill in a visual block: it sounds easy, but each Caption Head typically does their thing in a very methodical way that is fairly unique), etc.

There's also a mental adjustment needed. Literally one week a member is living the comparably easy life of a student with a 7:30-2:30 day, and the next week the member is working at probably the most physically draining schedule of their lives. They're also living away from home, without the comforts of their own personal "space" (living room, private room & bathroom, etc), no snacking when you want to, very little say on what you're eating for meals, being at the mercy of instructional staff when it comes to getting a break, being away from family/loved ones (I was actually engaged both years I marched and just being away from my fiancee' was a ROUGH adjustment for me). Plus there is getting used to the personalities of your fellow members and staff, lack of sleep (I would bet the average sleep patterns of a corps member during the school year is significantly different than on tour), lack of control as far as doing what you want/when you want, etc. It's a HUGE lifestyle change that might be easy for some, but very difficult for others.

And none of that really takes into account the mental state members are in the first few weeks of pre-tour while their brains are being crammed with so much knowledge and are expected to not only remember every little detail of 12 minutes of music and roughly 200 pages of drill but to execute them all perfectly. It's not a cooky coincidence that most corps have to fill holes during pre-tour: people can't handle the stress and rigors of tour and have to bail.

Oh, and the music is incredibly hard (probably substantially harder than any school or community music group/band that a member is coming from) and the drill is fast and furious. Even the most seasoned vets take time to get comfortable with a show, and in the meantime they are almost over-thinking things in order to not make a critical error (and worrying about dodging rookies who miss their dots/forms while maybe coming at you at 210 bpm). It's almost crazy what is asked of members!

Thank you for that reply. I have not thought of the activity and the rigors of it to that degree before, and your insight has helped me to understand more fully. I appreciate your well thought out and objective post!

[kauliflower]

Boy oh boy am I glad to hear I won't be fighting my body for months! Thanks for the advice everyone. I know what you mean by taking in the experience.. being fast-tracked at RCC has meant I really don't remember much of the season at all. I also just went out and ran my 2 miles :) I guess I should make that a habit. Am I going to be in trouble if I took 18.5 minutes to run that? Also, I don't think the mello counts as a heavier instrument. True?

[wcmello09]

Boy oh boy am I glad to hear I won't be fighting my body for months! Thanks for the advice everyone. I know what you mean by taking in the experience.. being fast-tracked at RCC has meant I really don't remember much of the season at all. I also just went out and ran my 2 miles :) I guess I should make that a habit. Am I going to be in trouble if I took 18.5 minutes to run that? Also, I don't think the mello counts as a heavier instrument. True?

people come from all kinds of physical backgrounds, cross country to the exact opposite, and in the end, they're all able to perform at a high level. it doesnt hurt to be in decent shape. even if you are, you're going to hurt.

mellophone is heavier than trumpet but not a heavier instrument. all instruments eventually put strain on your back tho and your back will start to hurt. its just baris and euphs are allowed to complain...

[soccerguy315]

Boy oh boy am I glad to hear I won't be fighting my body for months! Thanks for the advice everyone. I know what you mean by taking in the experience.. being fast-tracked at RCC has meant I really don't remember much of the season at all. I also just went out and ran my 2 miles :) I guess I should make that a habit. Am I going to be in trouble if I took 18.5 minutes to run that? Also, I don't think the mello counts as a heavier instrument. True?

you should probably work on getting your time down, but there is plenty of time. If you can jog the whole time at that pace now you are ahead of some people (and way ahead of where I am now, 3 years removed from corps... lol/ugh). Some corps will cut people who can't hack the morning jogs during winter camps. Wherever you are trying out, they will probably have some time guidelines for you to aim for. My corps wanted 8 minute miles.

you should be good with the mello =)

[CrownStarr]

Part of me now wants to aim for physical exhaustion at the end of every day, so I can acclimatise for drum corps. Am I being silly?

Only a little bit silly. Being in shape will definitely help you a lot when spring training hits, but it's not just about the actual physical work you're doing. The thing about spring training is that it never ends. You rehearse for 12 agonizing hours, you collapse in your bed, sore and exhausted, and you wake up 7 hours later to do the exact same thing all over again, seven days a week. Getting more fit is a fantastic idea, don't get me wrong, but you'll never be able to prepare yourself for the endurance and psychological side of drum corps.

Try to take it in small sections... don't think about the "omg, 4 weeks of 12 hours of rehearsal each day, I'm going to die." Just think of it as "now I am doing this" and then when you move to something else, now you are doing that. After awhile, the rehearsal block will be over, and after 3 blocks, the day will be over.

This is really, really good advice. Let me tell you a secret tip: don't bring a watch to rehearsal. If you bring a watch, you're going to check it. If you check it, you'll be disheartened at how much time is still left in the block, and the rest of the block will be that much worse; plus, I guarantee you'll check it again and just make it even worse. I think that mastering the art of simply not caring what time it is is one of the secrets to making drum corps easy, or at least easier. The earlier you can develop that habit, the better.

Hell, you don't even need to read the schedule for the day in much detail, unless you're at a home show and want to meet someone during a meal or that sort of thing. The way I try to treat drum corps is very simple.

Step 1: Go to rehearsal.

Step 2: Rehearse until they tell you to stop.

Step 3: Eat and/or sleep until the next block begins.

Step 4: Return to Step 1.

It might seem like it would make it worse to lose track of time during rehearsal, but trust me, it makes it so much better.

Edited November 22, 2010 by CrownStarr