The smell of Drum Corps

[tubamann]

Diesel Fumes-Nothing like the sweet aroma of the exhaust of an 8v-71 Detriot Diesel..

Aged wood. I remember using a broom the other day. As I worked, the handle brushed close to my nose. The smell of the wood of the handle reminded me exactly of the smell of the interior of Sprit's old EQ truck..Grime mixed with old wood..ahhh!

Cut Grass--for sure.

The smell of an overused men's room at a high school..Still nasty..!

[Triple Forte]

It's been 11 years since I aged out with but the other day I was at my sons baseball game and it they had just mowed and water the fields and the smell of wet grass in the cold breeze reminded me of those early mornings on tour walking out to the field to practice.

What triggers your memories of the day?

Since most of the years I have been following drum corps has been from the "fans" perspective I will give you two that get me going every season.

1. When approaching a stadium for a drum corps show, the sound of a hornline and drumline warming up in the distance. That gets me going....(Especially the echo of a big brass chord)

2. Seeing a hornline on the field at practice from a distance. Just the look of all that shinny silver brass with near-perfect horn angles is cool....

[Disco Pete]

About diesel exhaust... I swear, the exhaust smells different when it's hot and humid than when it's cold and dry. In hot and humid weather I'm taken back to my Drum Corps days, but the cold and dry variety sends me to my days helping out with my sister's winterguard.

Valve oil sends me back, because in the non-Drum Corps world I'm a drummer. So I've always associated valve oil with Drum Corps. Same with silver polish.

Bus potties, 'nuff said.

Summer rain. I always think back to standing out in the field in pouring rain. If there's no lightning, we keep practicing!

Dry laundry detergent. I use liquid at home, but I used to use powder on the road (Note to rookies: POWDER IS BEST! If it leaks, you just shake the clothes off)

[Lisa T]

Pretty much anytime I get on a charterbus. It doesn't matter if its a 1 hour drive or 10 drive I go right to sleep. Its kind of second nature. Bus = Sleep.

[fourouttheforty]

Bus air conditioning, anyone?

Last week (before winter's second coming), I was walking to my apartment from campus one night and it must have been 70 degrees and it felt exactly like it does in the downtime after shows when everyone's out of uniform waiting for the time to get on the bus. Weird memory, but ohhh did that bring me back.

[Pins]

Crusty uniforms and garment bags

Whatever else is hiding in the garment bags after tour

Febreeze

It's funny; I really hate the smell of Febreeze, probably because I know exactly what it's trying to hide.

I never marched, so my observations are mainly post-tour.

[Periphery]

I already posted my strongest smell trigger.

How about feelings (of the tactile sort)?

For me, well, here goes:

The Hutchinson Sky Ryders owned four very nice looking 1968 GMC motor coaches. However, they were just the worst things possible beneath the pretty paint jobs.

The most common shortcoming with DCI tour busses at that time was a lack of AC. We also had no bathrooms. Our busses had caught fire, broken down, got pushed, got impounded by various state agencies and "condemned" etc. In the DCI of the early to middle 1980s this was the norm for corps-owned rolling stock.

So, for me as well as for thousands of others that marched during that era, I can tell you that there are other sensations that cause DCI to come flooding back into the front of the mind, mostly associated with riding busses.

For me, personally, whenever I am on a chartered bus for my job with the symphony, I end up getting very sleepy from the sound of the engine and the gentle swaying motion of the coach.

Also, whenever I ride in a car on a hot summer's day, AC off, window down, wind pouring through the inside of the vehicle, I close my eyes and can very nearly hear the sounds of our bus, the voices, the music, the drumming on the seats, the PA/CB announcements, the snoring. If I am in the back seat and can fall asleep I have semi-waking dreams of my friends. When I awaken I have the urge to urinate and to eat food from Hardee's or Big Boy, etc.

Diesel fumes, a hot, dry wind, a slowly swaying vehicle, the sounds of a large engine . . . all of these things make me long for the old days of my youth when I was lucky enough to march in a touring drum and bugle corps.

[Triple Forte]

I already posted my strongest smell trigger.

How about feelings (of the tactile sort)?

For me, well, here goes:

The Hutchinson Sky Ryders owned four very nice looking 1968 GMC motor coaches. However, they were just the worst things possible beneath the pretty paint jobs.

The most common shortcoming with DCI tour busses at that time was a lack of AC. We also had no bathrooms. Our busses had caught fire, broken down, got pushed, got impounded by various state agencies and "condemned" etc. In the DCI of the early to middle 1980s this was the norm for corps-owned rolling stock.

So, for me as well as for thousands of others that marched during that era, I can tell you that there are other sensations that cause DCI to come flooding back into the front of the mind, mostly associated with riding busses.

For me, personally, whenever I am on a chartered bus for my job with the symphony, I end up getting very sleepy from the sound of the engine and the gentle swaying motion of the coach.

Also, whenever I ride in a car on a hot summer's day, AC off, window down, wind pouring through the inside of the vehicle, I close my eyes and can very nearly hear the sounds of our bus, the voices, the music, the drumming on the seats, the PA/CB announcements, the snoring. If I am in the back seat and can fall asleep I have semi-waking dreams of my friends. When I awaken I have the urge to urinate and to eat food from Hardee's or Big Boy, etc.

Diesel fumes, a hot, dry wind, a slowly swaying vehicle, the sounds of a large engine . . . all of these things make me long for the old days of my youth when I was lucky enough to march in a touring drum and bugle corps.

I remember seeing the Sky Ryders in Bloomfield NJ in 1987. I walked by the buses and one of the destination signs read "Pure Hell"......I got quite a laugh from that..

[divaxdani]

okay, like everyone else on here, def deisel.

and my library on campus reminds me of some bathrooms // gyms on tour - that old musty smell.

and since im a guard gal, that new uniform smell. i dont know how to describe it, but its def recognizable. hahaha