Drum Corps w/o Music Major

College Majors Music Major
1

<p>Hello fellow music lovers. I'm assuming this is the best place to post this, so here it goes.</p>

<p>I'm a junior at a high school with a really solid band program, especially in the competitive marching band season. I absolutely love marching band, I love the power of brass playing, and the hard work and payoff that goes into the shows. I plan to go to an engineering school, hopefully Georgia Tech, as I'm very good in science/math, but do not plan to major in music. I would absolutely love to be an a Drum and Bugle Corps. I see the DCI performances and it just seems like such a step above what I do in marching band.</p>

<p>The main question is, how does the timing of the DCI season fit in with college? how manageable is it come the beginning of the semester? Transportation is no issue with me if that helps, in regards to auditions, etc. Is there anyone who does DCI and not majoring in music here? Thank you in advance.</p>

2

<p>Hello. I’m in a very similar situation as you. I’m a senior hs student who is auditioning and thinking of doing corps this summer before my fresh yr of college. I am going into an engineerig college so I won’t be a music major, except I am very passionate about music nonetheless. </p>

<p>Corps ends in the summer around August 13th and college starts around the end of August to the beginning of September, so that should not be a conflict. The only problem might be that you get a late orientation- I’m hoping I can do my orientation in June or something. Also, there might be a problem with summer band camp for college versus summer tour for corps, yet I talked with the band director at my university and he said for me to just keep in touch and maybe I came join the band in the fall. I hope that helps, let me know if you have any other questions and good luck!</p>

3

<p>It was really awkward for my son. Spring training for DCI started before he graduated high school and the Corp staff put a lot of pressure on him to essentially quit his last week of high school and miss his graduation. That was not acceptable to my family, so he moved into the spring training camp on time (Sat) but came back home Sunday night to complete high school. When he returned, there was some hell to pay for missing 5 days of spring training. Of course that first week there are lots of members who are not there. </p>

<p>Then he had to leave spring training again for a couple of days to go to his college summer orientation (which was required before he could register for classes), again, he caught hell about that even though he had notified them months in advance.</p>

<p>Then the DCI tour didn’t end until after college band camp and after college move in day.</p>

<p>About half of the people who get DCI contracts really enjoy it and do it more than one year, the other half drop out before the season is over or just do one year of it. At many top corps the program isn’t about the students, or the activity, it’s about the egos of the staff. At one point my son had told the corp that he had to miss a monthly weekend practice during the winter to audition as a music major for college and he also had a major recital (600+ people in the audiance) at his precollege music program that didn’t end unto 10pm on Sat - they told him that he they expected him to drive the 4 hours to the training camp after his recietal (which would have put him there after 2am in the morning). Many of the staff members just really don’t care about you as an individual and would prefer to put your life at risk than to miss an hour of practice.</p>

<p>Ever wonder why you NEVER see any corp post a roster of members? It’s because that roster would have to be changed nearly every day. Throughout spring training almost every day there will be people packing their bags to leave and new people who never even auditioned coming in to replace them.</p>

<p>I’m not saying that it is a bad thing, again, many members seem to get a lot out of it, but I do believe that I would wait until after my first year of college to give it a shot. They really don’t try in the least to make the season fit between most high school and college calendars. I believe I might would choose just to do college marching band instead where they pay you - instead of you having to pay thousands of dollars.</p>

4

<p>Just want to pop in and say don’t necessarily take everything that’s been said here for 100% true. </p>

<p>Corps have an expectation level far beyond what most people have seen through the first twenty years of their lives. For perfection? Yes, driving 4 hours after a recital is 100% reasonable. During that week of move-ins you miss, dozens - if not hundreds - of new things will be added to show, and every day you miss is a day or more it takes to catch up, and more days till it’s clean. Yes, every year there are people who can’t handle it. It’s not for everyone, I can tell you that for sure. But the ones who stick with it, and the ones who learn to take the pain and turn it into something amazing, are the ones who will return year after year. </p>

<p>I’m going to be a HS senior next year, and I’m already arguing with my parents over whether or not I have to go to my graduation - my school ends halfway through June, it’s ridiculous. I don’t really care whether I go to graduation or not, but my parents do, so I’ll probably just end up flying home from wherever I march for a day or two, graduate, and then leave again.</p>

<p>I’m curious - what corps did your son march? Obviously it varies from corps to corps, but the staff I know are definitely focused on the member’s health. There’s a line - a fine line - between being pushed over the edge and being the best you can possibly be, and obviously staff sometimes unknowingly push a member over that edge. However, with a few exceptions (Cadets :p) their goal is to keep you healthy and performing.</p>

<p>DO NOT wait until after college to march. If you don’t like it - hey, doesn’t matter when you did it. If you do like it, you will regret wasting a year before your age-out. I still have 5 years left, but it feels far too short sometimes.</p>

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<p>Buranri, I’m glad that you chimed in with your view. It’s always helpful to have more than one viewpoint. from my viewpoint, everything I said is 100% true, and you can’t prove otherwise. You can only offer your opinion.</p>

<p>You may think that it driving 8 hours round trip and ariving at a weekend camp (that has less than 50% attendance anyway) with only 5 hours of training left (they cut loose about noon on Sundays) is reasonable, but not me. It’s totally ludicris. Of course part of the difference is that I as a parent have to pay for that, and you as a student probably arn’t paying for it. We are talking upwards of $200 in gas and wear and tear on a car for an 8 hour roundtrip.</p>

<p>It’s all a matter of what one expects to get out of the experiance, and how that ways out compared to the opportunity cost. Also please make a note that I only suggested not doing drum corps between high school and college. I NEVER suggested waiting until “after college” (most people would be aged out by then). The summer between high school and college is the awkward year where drum corp just doesn’t make any sense. Thats the year where college auditions and applications are going to be conflicting with DCI auditions and monthly weekend practices. </p>

<p>As far as staff focusing on health, I would think that you are correct, that varies from corp to corp. At one of the two corps my son marched with they were borderline neglegent about such. </p>

<p>If your school doesn’t end until mid June, you are going to have a real problem, as move in for spring training is in mid May (I believe the date is May 19th for this year) for most DCI drumcorps. Are they going to let you miss ALL of spring training or ALL of your last month of high school? Again, I am not saying don’t march drum corp, I am just suggesting that if you weighed the value of drumcorp for that transitional year, against the financial costs and opportunity costs, you may find that it’s not a wise decision.</p>

<p>Here are a few of the costs of drumcorp between high school and college:</p>

<p>• $3000-$5000 in financial costs (registration, camp fees, tuition, transportation, purchasing that $75 jacket, hundreds of dollars in supplies, snacks and pocket money, uniform fees, etc)
• Loss of opportunity to go on high school graduation trip
• Loss of opportunity to go on family vacation
• Loss of opportunity to get a head start on college by attending a local community college
• Loss of opportunity to hold a job
• The expense of doing drum corp this year may cost you the opportunity to do it in the future
• You may start college alread behind because you missed college move in and orientation</p>

<p>To answer your questions: he marched in two different world finalist corps. Now I have a question for you. How many years of experiance of marching drum corps do you have, and at what level? Can you share some stories of how it was “so worth it” to miss the end of your high school experiance AND the beggining of your college experiance?</p>

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<p>Always good. And honestly, it really depends on the person - some people love corps, some people find it ridiculous. Both are equally valid.</p>

<p>Once again, depends on what you want from it. Driving 4 hours just for a Sunday? I’ll admit that’s a bit unreasonable, but I’d still do it. Driving 4 hours to spend the Saturday and Sunday with the corps, on the other hand, I’d have no issues with.</p>

<p>Exactly. For some, the cost is entirely worth the experience, while others don’t think so. Everyone’s going to take something different away from their summer. And sorry - I meant waiting until after your first year of college. At that point most people will be what… 19, 20? Meaning you’d only have 2 or 3 years left before you age out. Yeah, it’s an awkward year, but it’s definitely doable.</p>

<p>Ah. Well, yeah - definitely depends what corps you pick. Was it Cavaliers, by any chance? I only ask because I’m planning on auditioning there next year :p</p>

<p>I completely agree. There are many, many reasons not to do drum corps, and all the reasons to march are much less obvious. That said, in my mind the experience is 100% worth it. As I said - it varies. Some (most) believe it’s a waste of time and money, which in some ways it is.</p>

<p>I marched Spokane Thunder 2011. Obviously very different from a finalist, but the experience is mostly the same. I’m also currently a junior, so I haven’t missed anything yet. However, personally I feel like drum corps is more important to me than high school - not the learning, but in terms of the time I spend there. I’d much rather spend a month with my drum corps family than with my high school. College is a different matter, but still doable. I know a lot of band directors will allow you to miss a bit of band camp, considering you are off doing marching band. I’m sure orientation is a pain to miss, but in the long run it’s not <em>that</em> bad.</p>