Face to Face v.s. YouTube

[DWilliams]

Just a general question with some points/reasons requested:

What are the advantages/disadvantages of appearing at a camp audition against the disadvantages/advantages of sending in a YouTube audition if permitted?

Thanks in advance!

[DarkHorner]

You get to meet the staff, and the staff gets to meet you. Often times, it is not talent or the audition that nails you a spot but your work ethic and commitment. Obviously, you have to be decently good, but any corps is going to want to evaluate you over time. Usually the actual 'audition' evaluation does not take place during the audition but during the 3 day camp. They will get to see how you adapt to their marching style, how you play within an ensemble, how effectively you adjust to any comments made, etc.

If you have NO OTHER OPTION then send in a video. Otherwise, it is in any potential member's best interest to go to the camp.

[THEdevilYOUknow]

Well I've noticed that many corps who do offer video auditions will usually not offer a contract until an actual in person audition is done. Or at least preference is given to those who actually come to the camp.

[actucker]

Consider this. What is the difference between meeting someone online, and meeting someone in person? Drum corps aren't just looking for players and marchers. They are concerned about the 150 people they have to cram together for 24 hours a day for almost 3 months. They're evaluating your character, your personality, your work ethic, your rehearsal etiquette, and many other things that go beyond what you can show in a video.

The video audition is more a screening than an actual audition in my experience. At the end of the day, you're going to want to meet that online friend in person before that relationship progresses past a certain level.

[cfirwin3]

I have never known a corps to sign a member based on a specific, single audition... recorded or otherwise. Usually nobody gets an offer of a spot until late in the second camp (after they have come back a second time)... and the vast majority of members signed are offered spots 3, 4 or 5 camps into the process (this includes the veterans).

Maybe things are different now (we didn't have video audition options to speak of 15 years ago)... but I doubt it. My guess is that a video from someone distant may get them an invitation to attend a camp or get them an easy rejection without wasting a bunch of time and money. In many cases, the members who are signed are the ones that keep coming back... even though everybody else is being offered spots around them, they keep coming back and doing the work. That's who the corps want (you have to be able to play and march too... playing is more important, marching can be taught fairly quickly).

[CrownLeadSop]

Improvement from camp to camp is a big part of the evaluation process. Obviously, if a ringer blows the doors down on a tape, he's like to get a "call-back," but many won't contract him until they see him in person and evaluate marching + playing.

[garfield]

You get to meet the staff, and the staff gets to meet you. Often times, it is not talent or the audition that nails you a spot but your work ethic and commitment. Obviously, you have to be decently good, but any corps is going to want to evaluate you over time. Usually the actual 'audition' evaluation does not take place during the audition but during the 3 day camp. They will get to see how you adapt to their marching style, how you play within an ensemble, how effectively you adjust to any comments made, etc.

If you have NO OTHER OPTION then send in a video. Otherwise, it is in any potential member's best interest to go to the camp.

I've heard this so many times! Yes, you've got to have chops on your instrument, but understanding "the life", having slept on gym floors and packed on buses, and not complaining about being homesick when you're three weeks in are usually the tie-breakers, not chops.