Yes, I agree Rich. It seems like a strange way to participate in the drum corps activity. All they ever (seemingly) see is their own corps.

I liked Steve Kas' comment about it being a "two year internship in music and dance." I think that is a true description. I know many band directors get their first jobs based on membership in drum corps, especially in those states that are highly competitive in marching bands.

Who would have ever thought that drum corps would be helpful on a resume?

And the corps are really set up to function one year at a time, then everything starts over again for the following year. I don't think many people march more than two or three years at the most, as opposed to those of us who were nuts enough to do it for 8, 9, or 10 years in the past.

What did you do in the Corps? Snare; Drum Major; Drum Instructor/Arranger

What years were you a Corps member? 1970-73; 78-79

The programs are for kids who are serious about music/band. During last Saturday's show they ran interviews with the Blue Devils kids on the stadium "jumbotron". One kid is a bass drummer this season but last season he marched the Blue Devils as a tuba player. That is very different from the old drum corps.

You're right, back then there was no way anyone from the horn line wanted to ever be a drummer. Especially BASS DRUM???

What did you do in the Corps? baritone and Drum Major

What years were you a Corps member? 1968-1972

You're close, Steve. Nobody from the horn line COULD be in the drum line. And the fact that person could only make bass drum proves my point...

What did you do in the Corps? Snare; Drum Major; Drum Instructor/Arranger

What years were you a Corps member? 1970-73; 78-79

The way I see it the kid wasn't good enough to make the brass line and took a demotion to the drumline. Of course the ideal corps is 60 horns and a bass drum so the kid might be on to something.

I mentioned earlier that the Freelancers alumni played a concert exhibition last week with 30 horns and one drummer with a trap setup that was a fantastic sound. Also on the Blue Devils studio recording of their last song--"Wives and Lovers"--sounds like the have someone playing a trap setup and the marching drums didn't play. The effect (including keyboard/piano and B-flat horns) is a sound identical to Stan Kenton's jazz orchestra. They didn't use a trap set in their field show though.

Re: the Blue Devil who switched to the drum line...

1. I think that the switch probably had NOTHING to do with failing to make the cut for the brass line. He is probably a music major who wanted to get experience in the drum line. That isn't a bad idea .. even as a bass drummer (which, these days, is NOT an easy task), he'd see HOW the instruction and arranging is done.

2. While some brass players like to think that the drum line isn't important, the drums do provide musical enhancement to the charts (and the basic beat). Besides, without the drums, the corps is just a BUGLE corps.

3. The use of a drum set isn't a real requirement to get the sounds they want. Blessed Sacrament showed that way back in 1963 when they formed a drum set using standard marching equipment. It was very successful. In fact, many corps used their drum lines very creatively to get "non-military" percussion sounds .. jazz, swing, Latin, etc. Again, BS was VERY good at that.

4. The use of "pit" percussion in today's drum corps is really silly. It adds a LOT to the expense and doesn't (usually) add that much. Keyboards and tympani are designed for indoor use and aren't very effective outdoors.

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What did you do in the Corps? drummer; quartermaster 1964-66, ass't drum instructor 1964-70

What years were you a Corps member? 1958 -1963

Nobody ever said they were marching in a "Bugle Corps"...

What did you do in the Corps? Snare; Drum Major; Drum Instructor/Arranger

What years were you a Corps member? 1970-73; 78-79

One of my wife's friends lives in Wisconsin (near Janesville). She attended the DCI show held in Whitewater recently.

She told us that she really liked the corps .. especially the PROPS!

Yikes.

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What did you do in the Corps? drummer; quartermaster 1964-66, ass't drum instructor 1964-70

What years were you a Corps member? 1958 -1963

Whoa Mr. Shreffler! I take umbrage at your comment regarding a horn player not being able to play drums! While I don't necessarily disagree I sense an implication that it would be no problem the other way around! Bob, I know you're a music guy and would be able to play the instrument. But march a drill while playing it? I think you'd go into a panic attack and get lost as soon as you got more than 5 yards away from the 50!

What did you do in the Corps? Soprano

What years were you a Corps member? 1974-1981

Jim Fetty speaks the truth when referring to the 50 yard line..."But march a drill while playing it? I think you'd go into a panic attack and get lost as soon as you got more than 5 yards away from the 50! "
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Back in the "old days", when drums were carried using drum slings and not the new "carriers", drummers really couldn't move around as much as other members. Hence, we tended to "hug" the 50 yard line like an old friend. Our "marching skills" were normally quite limited.

Of course, now the drum lines race around like anyone else .. mostly doing that ugly sidestepping "crab walk". It doesn't matter much either, since their drumming is fairly simple stuff ... not the difficult rudimental drumming of old.

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What did you do in the Corps? drummer; quartermaster 1964-66, ass't drum instructor 1964-70

What years were you a Corps member? 1958 -1963

I agree with Jim Fetty. In the 60s the drummers who knew how to march were the non-rudimental bass drums and the cymbal players.

In DCI all the drumming is done in the pit. Marching drummers are just an extension of the dancers. I see them being replaced with Woodwinds and Strings in the Pit as advocated by George Hopkins.

Dr. Fetty,

Guilty as charged! I LOVED the 50-yard line! In fact, the only time I strayed from it was one move in the closer in 1980 - and it scared me to death! If we had an odd number of snares in a season, I was on the 50. If it was an even number, I was one step to the right.

And I could never march the way these guys do, but as Dave says, they aren't playing anything of much difficulty while doing it.

Maybe that's why I liked being Drum Major - I NEVER had to leave the 50-yard line!

What did you do in the Corps? Snare; Drum Major; Drum Instructor/Arranger

What years were you a Corps member? 1970-73; 78-79

As the 2011 drum corps season winds down, I was thinking about how different drum corps is now from the "old days" .. and also how there are still similarities.

1. Rich Biver reminded us of some realities: after all these weeks of long road trips, grueling practices, hot sticky weather, sleeping on gymnasium floors, etc. (actually, most of us didn't have WEEKS of long road trips)

2. It is still fun to march, play and thrill the crowds. Have pride in your performance.

3. Steve Kas noted that the new drum corps is a "two year internship in music and dance." Many band directors get their first jobs based on membership in drum corps, especially in those states that are highly competitive in marching bands. (Who would have ever thought that drum corps would be helpful on a resume? ... and what do you SAY?)

4. Bob Shreffler reminded us that corps are really set up to function one year at a time, then everything starts over again for the following year. In fact, after DCI Finals, most drum corps don't really EXIST again until they are reborn the next Spring.

5. It seems that most people march don't more than two or three years at the most, as opposed to those of us who were nuts enough to do it for 8, 9, or 10 years in the past.

6. Sadly, MOST drum corps have virtually NOTHING to do with any community at all. Even many "Open" class corps are like that. It does seems that the Blue Devils and Santa Clara Vanguard have real community programs which allow local kids to do something other than DCI tours.

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What did you do in the Corps? drummer; quartermaster 1964-66, ass't drum instructor 1964-70

What years were you a Corps member? 1958 -1963

1. I've seen some features on the Blue Devils site about kids in various positions. One kid is a Contra/Tuba player, another color guard member, another who was demoted from the Blue Devils horn line to bass drum and a young woman who is a snare drummer (she said Blue Devils hadn't had a woman playing snare since 1984). Anyway most of them say they have marched for six or seven seasons for one organization--the Blue Devils. Of course they started in the C or B corps. So not everyone flips from one corps to another each season.

2. The Tuba player is a local kid who went to the local junior college as a music major and joins the Marines as a member of one of their bands after the season ends.

3. When I consider I saw my first DCI contest in 1975 and only nationals in 1976 (36 years ago), I'd say that going back to the 1950s and 1960s is no longer the "old days" but maybe pre-historic. At least from the perspective of those who marched in early DCI and are now on the other side of 50 years old.

4. I had to be in Indianapolis last Thursday and Friday for business and don't envy anyone who's going there. After dealing with Bay Area weather that's been in the high 60s during the day and low 50s at night I felt like I was serving a few days in purgatory. Indy has had about 30 days straight of 100 degree weather. Good idea to have the event in an indoor stadium although the sound is probably like playing inside a gym.

I don't think many kids flip from corps to corps anymore - in fact, that's probably less common than it used to be. I think they just only march a couple of years now, in most cases.

You can only be "demoted" within the drum line (ie snare to tenors); to be moved from any other section to the drum line is an honor afforded very few lucky individuals.

And I'm sure the performing aspect is still the same, and it's what I miss most - putting on the uniform and going out there in front of people! One difference now is that most every show is what Nationals used to be to us - larger crowds in larger venues. I don't think there are very many "local" shows held in high school stadiums these days.

What did you do in the Corps? Snare; Drum Major; Drum Instructor/Arranger

What years were you a Corps member? 1970-73; 78-79

John, thanks for reminding us that we marched in PRE-HISTORIC times! Caveman drum corps!

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What did you do in the Corps? drummer; quartermaster 1964-66, ass't drum instructor 1964-70

What years were you a Corps member? 1958 -1963