DrumManTx Posted February 16, 2014 Share Posted February 16, 2014 (edited) wrong topic. oops. Edited February 16, 2014 by DrumManTx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quad Aces Posted February 16, 2014 Share Posted February 16, 2014 During HS marching band in mid-80s, saw the PBS broadcast of Finals (1985). Made the connection that they were doing what we were doing, but at a COMPLETELY different level. Loved it ever since. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoveKathyG Posted February 16, 2014 Share Posted February 16, 2014 First realization that there was something called drum corps was my freshmen year band camp when one of the percussion techs for my HS band wore his Phantom Regiment corps jacket at our rehearsal. I'd never heard of drum corps but thought the jacket was pretty dang cool. Later that fall, my band director gave extra credit to anyone who watched the PBS broadcast. That's all it took to get me hooked. The next summer, my band director took a bus full of kids to a local corps competition. I grew up in So Cal, which meant we were always among the first tour stops. In those days, the smaller corps were always recruiting throughout all of what we used to call first tour. I put my name and phone number down on a clip board at the souvie truck of one of the local corps and got a call the next day to come down to their rehearsal site and audition. I am to this day shocked that my parents agreed to let me audition, but my dad schlepped me down there. Four days later, I was on a bus headed to Fresno for the next competition on the calendar. I actually started rehearsing with the corps the day I auditioned and ended up not going home again until the end of the season. My mom grabbed a sleeping bag, packed a bag for me and delivered them to me that night. It didn't dawn on me until the day we were leaving for Fresno that she only packed a few pair of underwear for me. I called her in the morning, and just as the bus was rolling out of the parking lot in the early afternoon she showed up with a JC Penny bag with three packs of boxers. I didn't live down my mommy bringing me my undies for a few weeks. I marched that corps for two seasons, took a summer off when I did a student exchange in Japan one year (where I actually found a really small corps in Kobe to rehearse with...though I never performed with them), and then joined a corps on the east coast the summer after I graduated from high school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted February 16, 2014 Share Posted February 16, 2014 Guy in my HS band asked around if we wanted to join a "Drum Corps" that was trying to get off the ground. OK - first thought was "I don't play drums" as never heard of one. Then later realized I had seen the local Shrines parade corps but had no idea what it was. Was looking for somewhere to play after HS as was going to Community College so sounded OK. Irony was they practiced at my dads American Legion Post 4.5 miles away....... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Land_Surfer Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 I watched the 1987 DCI Finals on PBS. Russian Christmas Music, Appalacian Spring and PR's entire show impressed the hell out of me. However, had synthesizers and ampification been used back then, I wouldn't have given drum corps a second look. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TboneBtonegirl Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 Being a relative newcomer to DCP (though not to music...I've been a student and teacher of music for 46 of my 54 years), I hope this isn't a rehashing of any earlier topic. Being that as it may... I am interested in knowing how each of you who post became involved with Drum and Bugle Corps. For any who answer, please indicate (if you kindly will) any performance-based involvement you have had in the past. Corps and instrument included, I hope. For those of you who have never marched DC, please give your reason for coming to love this wonderful activity. I'm sorry if this doesn't seem pertinent...however, given the relative strife which has permeated some of the boards over the past couple of weeks, I thought a relaxed respite might be in order. Oh...and it might give thought to some who are currently of the "bye...I'm done with all of this" crowd. Sometimes, it doesn't hurt to know why you loved something in the first place. To any who I am offending with this topic...I'm sorry. And that is genuine...believe me. I'll save my story for a later date. I was first introduced to drum corps in 2011. (my sophomore year of high schooland my second year ever playing a wind instument.) My band director at the time had our band go watch the bluecoats rehearse before their first show of the season. The only reason I went was because we had to go or else I wouldn't have gone. We were supposed to had bought tickets for the show later that night but I didnt because at the time I didnt really know what it was, didnt care what it was, and I thought it was lame because they didnt have trombones. I was miserable sitting in those stands in 95° weather watching a group of people just keep doing the same few charts over and over for about 2 hours. I was the first person to leave once we were dismissed. I had wanted to be spending my Friday anywhere else than watching some band do what I had always done. Fast forward to our next band rehearsal where the show was the only thing that everyone was talking about. I felt left out of the whole thing and after practice I went home and searched 'drum corps' on YouTube. After watching a few full shows, I was instantly addicted to the activity. It was from that day on that I knew that I had to be in a corps. I started reading everything I could find about DCI on Google and watching every video I could on YouTube. I attended my first show the next season and was blown away by the sound. I started playing euphonium in my school's concert band that year (junior year) and I picked up on it rather quickly. I eventually learned bits and pieces of different corps shows and fell in love with playing the euphonium. Presently, I'm a senior in high school and I'm saving up in hopes to march my first year of drum corps for the 2015 season. It's funny to look back and realize that a couple of years ago I didnt give a care in the world about sitting in stands watching people perform their shows because they didnt have trombones to learning a new instrument and saving my own money to be in this activity. I've grown to have a passion for drum corps and I'm really excited to be so close to being able to finally experience the whole thing! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ibexpercussion Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 As an upcoming freshman in the marching band, several of the older drumline members, and the drum major, let me tag along to what I thought was a "drumline show." Little did I know what I was really about to see…It was in Centerville, OH, in 1992. Crossmen performed, and after their show was over I told the other people I was with that I was going to march with them one day. They all kind of laughed, and said, "Do you realize how good you have to be to math with a group like that?" To which I did not really know the answer. Several years later when I was in college, I took the trip to Newark, DE, auditioned for tenors, and the rest is history. I have been hooked since that July day back in 1992, and I don't see any real end in sight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trask Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 I'm still of marching age so my story's still going. I first got introduced to drum corps when I watched the Cavaliers in a YouTube clip at my freshman year of high school band camp. We watched the ESPN clip that showed their 2006 program, The Machine, and I was instantly hooked. I told folks I would join them at some point even though I didn't know where they were from. I went all through high school unable to march and I thought I'd never be able to do it. Then I got a lucky break my freshman year of college and was able to take a trip to Legends out of Kalamazoo. Currently gearing up to march with them another round. I don't think I'll ever take that trip to Rosemont because I've found a home in the Mitten state. I may not be joining a world famous championship corps, but I know that the folks sticking around are building one. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 birth. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2muchcoffeeman Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 I may not be joining a world famous championship corps, but I know that the folks sticking around are building one. Major props to you, sir. You are the salt of the activity. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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