November 22, 2007

Thanksgiving and Drum Corps Auditions

Two things come to mind this time of year: turkey and drum corps auditions. Traditionally, the weekend after Thanksgiving marks the first camps of the upcoming drum corps season. Now I know since many corps have started doing multiple locations for tryouts (read: Texas), and some have started early this month. But for me, it's hard to break tradition. I remember when I was under 21, today meant eating a bunch of food, hitting the practice pad, and then feeling like throwing up realizing that your corp try out was the very next day.

I'm not trying to scare anyone off, in fact the opposite. I would urge everyone to at least attend a camp sometime between the ages of 15 and 21 - even if it is just to get the experience of seeing what it is all about. You never know until you try. Whatever the camp fees, it is worth the experience - just go have fun and be yourself. Meet some new people and learn a new rudiment (or two or three or four...).

You might be saying, "sounds good, but that's just a day away - I'm too late". No, no you're not. Just grab your sticks, get in the car and go. Show up to the camp site with the camp fee and fill out the form. That's all there is to it. To make it easier, go check out the list of corps and their tryout locations, pick one and go:

Drum Corps Audition Sites

If you are not sure where the corps reside, just check out the map:

DCI Corps Map

No excuses. Happy Thanksgiving!!!

- The Drumline Blog Team

Posted by Ryan on 12:26 AM

September 28, 2007

RUMOR MILL: Another Drum Corp Relocating

This time the rumor has it that a certain drum corp is planning to relocate to either Oklahoma or Texas. Sources pinpointed an affiliation with a college, but are waiting for DCI.org to make the announcement sometime in the next week.

I'm not big on rumors and have held off when other items have passed across the desk and eventually came true. If this seems as big as what it is being made out to be, this could be another shocker like Crossmen moving to San Antonio from the East coast. Whether it is a Division I, II, or III corp remains to be seen (or the new specification "Open Class"). As soon as this is solidified with more details, we will do a follow-up.

Posted by Ryan on 12:19 AM

September 04, 2007

DCI Finals on ESPN2 Wednesday Night

The broadcast highlights of the DCI Finals in Pasadena will be aired Wednesday night on ESPN2 starting at 10 p.m. Eastern / 9 p.m. Central time. There will be highlights of every Top 12 corp, but "highlights" include things such as 11 seconds of Glassmen's 11th Place show - 11 seconds folks!!!

That's sad...thousands of hours of rehearsal time preparing that show and the DCI production crew gives those kids 11 seconds. I guess you've got to make room for all those heart-tugging stories, or the "what has this Summer meant to you?" speeches. No offense to those individuals, but there are a 1,000 stories a drum corp Summer that aren't told to the camera...so it better be a pretty important story if it takes longer than 11 seconds. This is a group activity, I would rather see the accomplishments of the group as opposed to an individual.

Not trying to bum people out, watch it, enjoy it, but realize it's primarily a promo piece for the general public. So if you get mad while watching it just remember, it's not geared towards the die-hard drum corp junkie - they want you to buy the $100 DVD to get your fix.

DCI Finals on ESPN2 September 5, 2007

[UPDATE] - It seems they went in performance order, so it was Colts instead of Glassmen that got the short end of the stick (along with Spirit who ended up in 12th both nights). That and the clips of performance order groups 11 and 12 each got exactly 30 second spots of their show - not just 11 seconds.

Posted by Ryan on 11:49 PM

August 09, 2007

DCI Broken Arrow Review

Broken Arrow was the site for a great lineup of corps on July 30th and DrumlineBlog.com was there to take it all in. While normally the end of July hits 100+ temperatures, up to this point Broken Arrow hasn't seen a day of triple digit temperatures all Summer and this day is no different. Low 90s and some storms that stayed just out of range, but cooled things off, provided a decent venue for the show hosted at the home of the 2006 BOA Grand National Champions - Broken Arrow High School. This is a great show for me, because it is quite literally in my backyard.

As I've said before, my drum corp experiences usually do not involve setting up a camera during "8 on a Hand" and sitting there for an hour. True, it might make for some good video, but it's not how it usually takes place for me. Drum corp shows for me are more like a "reunion" of sorts. So while we do have some video, hopefully the story of my night running around and who I talked to will be just as interesting. So without further ado...

So I arrive at the high school around 6 PM....just about the time the Colts are pulling into the parking lot so I take a seat on the curb by the Colts equipment truck and watch them unload. I sit there mainly because the only other corp there at that time was Phantom Regiment and they had been staying there - the rest of the parking lot was empty. As I was sitting there, an old friend named Mike Brandes strolled up to say hi. He marched on the Colts snareline in 98 and 99. That 1999 Colts drumline was probably one of the best they ever had there; go back and check out some scores from that year. They beat a lot of drumlines that Summer.

About that time, Southwind and Blue Stars had pulled in and were unloading their trucks. So we decided to go check out Southwind and see this much improved drumline. We were joined by another Colts snare player named Travis that marched 98 and 2000. We watched the snares warm up in a sub sectional for about 15 minutes and then saw the Colts take off for a remote spot. We decided to follow and found them set up on the other side of an adjoining elementary school.

Standing there in the elementary school parking lot, we watched Tyler Dempsey and crew run the drumline through their warm up routine which started off a little raw, but soon locked in. By that time we had ANOTHER Colts snare player from 2006 walk up to see how the group was playing. Why so many Colts alumni? Well, Oklahoma has had a strong tie with the Colts over the years starting back in 1995 with a tenor player from Ponca City, OK. Since then, there has been an Oklahoma kid on the drumline/front ensemble every year since that 95 season. This year is no exception as Bass 3 is from the Edmond/OKC area and attends OU.

I'm sure other states have the same thing going, but you have to remember that until Memphis Sound came onto the scene the closest drum corp to Oklahoma was a 12 hour drive. I think that says a lot about dedication.

After talking to the cymbal tech for a few minutes I realized that the Colts tenor tech was none other than Mike Apodaca who marched on the Santa Clara Vanguard Tenorline from 1991-1993. I caught up with him after the Colts warm-up and talked to him about the old days, seeing SCV in 91 (my first live drum corps experience), his involvement with the Colts, and what else he is up to.

While the other guys decided to go into the stadium, I decided to look around for other drumlines. At that point, Spirit of JSU was just getting started, Boston Crusaders were cranking drums, and Phantom wasn't going just yet...so I decided to walk up to the stadium gate and check out Colts from the corner.

Remember how I said it was like a reunion? Funny how you run into people at these shows and I just happened to run into some staff members of another corp that I knew (and that shall remain nameless). We talked for a few minutes and they asked if I was going in to see the Colts. I said, "Nah, I don't have a ticket so I'm just gonna listen out here for a few minutes". "Nonsense" said one of the staff members and they handed me an extra staff badge! Whoo, staff member! So I walked right in with them and went up by the press box to check out Colts. It was a solid show that is getting stronger and stronger, and still has some room to push further. I expect to see them in the 8-12 range come DCI Finals Saturday night.

After the Colts performance, I headed back to the lot to see if Phantom Regiment was going and by that point, they were just about ready to get to the drum book. I ran into two of the drum guys from Union High School (Tulsa, OK) and we talked for a few minutes before PR started playing the book.

I was anxious to see them in person after checking out other people's videos on YouTube. Let me just say, they are unreal! Everything, I mean everything has such a high level in the quality of sound department that it is just sick. No slurred phrases at the end of rolls, no fat shots even on level 15 stick heights, just an amazing sense of control. If you are in California this week and can get to the lot in Pasadena, go see them play. It is a treat to see that high of a level of not only ability, but musical maturity.

When Phantom had finished, I started towards Boston Crusaders, but as I got up there, THEY FINISHED TOO! Not five minutes after Phantom! What happened? Turns out Phantom went a little late and Boston was finishing about the time they needed to make it to the gate on time. So unfortunately no video, but their snare tuning sounded great. I got a close look during the tuning session earlier, and from about 20 yards out, they sounded fantastic. Take a look at Vic Firth's DCI 2007 coverage for some great video of Boston.

The last group to go on this night was Madison Scouts. Yes, for the third time this season, I got to see the much-talked-about Scouts program. After watching Phantom Regiment, there is a noticeable difference between the two groups. They are getting better, but after seeing 5 of the Top 6 corps this season (based on latest aggregate scores), they are not up to the level of those groups. Again, not the end of the world, but for all the people saying they can't understand why they aren't getting the points....well, it's because of the playing level of these other groups. I'm not worried about the Scouts, they will bounce back and almost every group has had a dip at some point in their history.

After Scouts, I hung around the trucks looking for staff members from "that corp" that let me borrow the staff badge. I needed to give it back to them before they left, but no one was around the trucks so I headed to the stadium to check out Madison Scouts. I hung around inside the fence from the 5 yard line with Paul Rennick and Boston staff such as Jerry Carpenter talking about "reads" of their respective shows right next to me.

After the Scouts finished their show, I had a sinking feeling in my gut. For some reason I imagined "that corp"'s buses pulling out of the back lot early with me still holding on to that badge! So I headed back at a quick pace and as I turned the corner, sure enough, their buses were pulling out of the parking lot!!! At this point, my brisk pace turned into an all out run to try and catch the staff bus before hitting the main road out of the school. They were a good 500 yards away when I started to run and fortunately for me, they were slowed down by the numerous speed bumps (for once, a useful device in this circumstance). I was able to knock on the window and hand off the badge before being "blacklisted" from the staff for future favors. Whew! I was lucky this time.

After a long evening of a lot of walking and seeing familiar faces, I headed back for THE shortest drive home of the season....12 blocks.

Posted by Ryan on 02:28 AM

July 22, 2007

DCI Denton, TX Review

(Denton, TX) - You better be in shape if you decide to go to a show with me. Why? Well, I usually take in a hybrid show of sorts: half stands, half lots. While the shows are cool, sometimes you want to just see what the drumlines are up to. This just happened to be one of those shows...

So between two lots, my car in a parking lot between them and the stadium right next to that, it made for a lot of trips back and forth and a lot of walking/jogging - two trips to the bus parking lot, three trips to the car, two trips to the stadium, and one trip to the warmup lot. Like I said, lots of walking. So, this isn't going to really be a run down of the "shows" since I didn't see everyone. This was a big contest with nine groups performing, and I missed a large chunk of the shows because I was in the lot taping Bluecoats, Santa Clara Vanguard, and Cavaliers just for you.

So let's just talk drumline warmup. Due to the nature of the venue, there was not a lot of places for the drumlines to warmup, especially since the stadium was isolated off the highway and only one big building between them and the stadium. While I know the corps didn't like the situation, it made it a lot junkies paradise since each group was about 60 yards away from each other. You could see and hear where they were in their warmup and go check out different sections of each. So when you check out the vids and notice one scene has sunlight and another doesn't, you'll know why.

Bluecoats

Watched the bassline sectional warmup because I know one of the two bass techs and wanted to check out his guys. One word: SICK. They are doing some splits that defy anything I've heard in recent history. The drums are gun metal gray sparkle Yamahas with Innovative sticks and Evans drumheads. The bassline is using the MS1 heads which is a normal head without the Evans muffling system. While the typical MS1 is 10mil I know they are testing some new thicknesses (read: thinner) this Summer and look forward to the fruits of their testing for Evans.

The snareline was extremely tight and had a wet snare sound that seems to be very popular these days; no tape on the snare guts, just a small patch of muffling on the bottom snare head (cotton ball size).

Cavaliers

They were last to go, and got such a late start that most of the video was shot in the dark. They are running silver sparkle Yamaha drums with chrome hardware, Innovative sticks, and Remo heads. They are using the new PowerMax bass heads with the overtone ring that allows you to insert foam strips in for muffling. I know for a fact that they are running extra muffling on bass 4 and 5 so take that into consideration if you plan to buy these for your group in the Fall.

There is some really tight interplay between the snares and tenors throughout this video clip. The clarity level is just a tiny notch above Bluecoats and SCV. I love the writing, but I think I'm on the fence when compared to the Bluecoats writing this year. I've never been a listener of Billy Joel's music, but I can get into what they are doing with it here....nice work.

Santa Clara Vanguard

Fantastic! It was nice to see some of the old Vanguard coming through in this group. They played with a relaxed style that reminded me of 2003-2004. All the typical elements are there, solid bassline, nice slightly wet snare sound like the other two, some beefy notes in the tenors and a cymbal line with a definite snap to every move. This is a young group, especially in the snareline with five of the eight just graduating high school. Even so, I will make a prediction right now: if this group sticks together over the next two years they will be competing for a high drum trophy. There I said it! I'll let the vids speak for themselves.

Posted by Ryan on 02:24 AM

DCI Siloam Springs Review

Normally, the Siloam Springs DCI show is a great venue to check out drum corps - flat terrain, lots of shade trees, and a good little stadium. Well, this year they had some field maintenance going on and had to move the show to Fayetteville. How was the change of venue? Well, they have shade trees. No, the stadium is great, the only problem is the school is built on the side of a hill. This made tracking down drumlines an extremely rough process.

More commentary, pictures and videos after the jump...

Being as this was the only show that I could see The Cadets perform, I decided to split my time between the stands and the lot. Unfortunately, the way they did the lineup made for some hard decisions. Instead of going by scores or something rational, the lineup went something like this:

Pioneer
Southwind
Colts
[break]
Cadets
Blue Knights
Madison Scouts

See the problem? I would miss the entire first block to tape Cadets in the lot, and then would miss most of Madison in the lot by watching Cadets - ugh. The other problem that only added to the situation was that the school was on one side of the hill and the stadium was at the bottom of the other side. Needless to say I got my exercise Wednesday night!

Just a quick run down of what I saw, whether in the lot or in the stands, here it is:

Pioneer - I was just getting there when Pioneer was on the field so I'm not going to comment on something I didn't see. I know some guy posted some video of the Pioneer drumline warming up so go check that out on YouTube.

Southwind - I watched them from the corner of the stands, and the one word I can use to describe the drumline at Southwind this year is "HOT". They are playing more notes than some of the Top 6 corps out there and their quality of sound is just night and day from last year. I'm not trying to take anything away from the group last year, but the Music City guys have outdone themselves in preparing for the season. Just about every note was crystal clear even from my bad angle.

I'm not sure why their scores aren't going up more, but I think some of it has to do with some judges not being able to just close their eyes and listen for a minute - they can't get past the name. It seems other judges don't have a problem with it and are scoring them on what they see and hear, but then some judges out there still like to put the name brands up front. I'm not naming any names, but go look at the drum scores and you'll see some dips back and forth between them and the Madison Scouts.

Colts - with new uniforms, bright red sparkle Yamaha drums, and a mostly new drum staff, they seem to have stepped it up their performance as a corp this year. The first half of the show takes some time to evolve, but the second half is fantastic. Open exposed rolls by the snares had a consistent sound from start to finish. The drum book is different from past years and I like the new phrasing I am hearing from the drumline. If they make the opener a little stronger, I think this is a Top 10 show.

Cadets - First, I love their musical program this year, but I can't stand the voice overs. It actually distracts me from enjoying the show. Silence has a role in music and The Cadets just don't seem to understand that this year. Almost every tacet spot in Blue Shades has some wonky voice over like "You can do it" or "That's it!" or "Yeahh!". Give me a break!

Ok, enough of that. The drumline has new Yamaha drums with a brown to gold fade stain that looks amazing up close. As for the drumline they are playing some great stuff. Other than some clarity issues during the drum break tonight, I think its a solid show with some great music and some surprising visual aspects. They are worth seeing if you can get out to a show in the next few weeks.

Blue Knights - a solid show with some great visual bits throughout. The drumline turned a great performance and they have some very nice Pearl drums with what looks like an aqua marine fade stain on the shells. Not my color choice with the cobalt blue, black, and white uniforms, but the drums still look cool by themselves. Great bass splits between one and two and some nice tenor licks filled out the rest of the section. I also noticed they have one of the largest front ensembles I have seen in a drum corp in quite a while.

Madison Scouts - this is the show everyone is talking about - good or bad. Frankly, I like the show, and the intro has a very cool and mysterious feel to it. That said, the rest of the show doesn't live up to the build up provided by the intro - that's just my opinion. It kind of makes you expect more than just a rock-n-roll Rush show. As for the scores this year, I've heard the Scouts weren't entirely happy with the visual/drill book and rewrote it, learned it, and put it in starting around the Atlanta show a few days ago. So, there are still some dirty spots in the drill and it doesn't seem to "pop" as much as other shows probably just because of the newness of the material. I will say there are a few runs in the horns that are not very clear at this point in the season and is uncharacteristic of the Madison Scouts. Looking at the scores, they are moving up quick, but I don't know if it is quick enough. They are racing against time and at this point I speculate that they will fall into the 13-15 range by Finals week.

The drumline and colorguard are holding things together. The drums put in a respectable performance and played strong throughout the show, but there were balance issues in the front ensemble that were caused by the amplification mix being too hot. Normally I wouldn't mention that, but if corps are going to use it, then its part of the review if it hurts or helps the group. We could go into a whole other tangent about drum corp amplification, but this isn't the time. I understand that marimbas are hard to hear outside, but in the amplification game, to me less is more. Several other corps tonight pulled it off, but I didn't even mention their use because it didn't detract from the show.

That's it, look for a few more reviews in the coming week or two as we get closer to Finals in Pasadena. Until next time, keep drumming and go check out a show!

Posted by Ryan on 02:20 AM

July 01, 2007

What is up with the Madison Scouts?

What is going on with the Madison Scouts these days? I know they had some major staff changes this winter, but I didn't think it would be like this! I started seeing the scores come out at the beginning of the season and thought to myself, "must be a slow start, I'm sure they'll pick up speed". But I haven't seen them move up like I thought they would. The kicker that got this post started, was the scores for the June 29, 2007 show in Madison, WI - a home show nonetheless. Here is how it went down:

1. Blue Stars - 71.00
2. Madison Scouts - 65.75
3. Southwind - 64.50
4. etc...

OK, the Scouts got beat by a recently converted Div II corp by 5.25 points at a home show - that just boggles my mind! On top of that, Southwind's percussion section (which I think they are doing a fantastic job), beat Scouts in drums with a 13.7 over a 13.3 - the feeder beating the eater! And that drum score is just not one night, this has been going on all season.

UPDATE: the scores just came in for tonight and at the Mankato, MN show, it looks like Southwind passed up the Madison Scouts with a 66.950 over a 66.20. UNBELIEVABLE. If anyone would like to comment, has seen the show, or has an explanation, please use the contact form using the link above.

Posted by Ryan on 01:49 AM | TrackBack

June 26, 2007

Drum Scores Coming Up

Well, after a nice long vacation sitting on the beach, it's time to get back to work. First things first, the drum score tracker will be up soon. I've got to play catch up on the last week or so, but that should be up later this week. I've also been working on a video review that should interest some people on here. On top of all of that, I've got some surprises in store for the next couple of days so stay tuned!

Posted by Ryan on 12:46 AM

May 30, 2007

Glassmen Drumcam

Wow, May has flown by! I have been extremely busy with getting ready for the upcoming Summer and Fall seasons. And since Summer is almost here, I thought I would get everyone in the mood with a great snareline video I ran across the other day.

This is the 2006 Glassmen drumline performing a run-through during Finals weeks. You get a true sense of the amount of effort it takes to make it through a show (and a good one at that). So lean forward, crank up the speakers and get ready for a taste of what is to come in a few weeks.

Glassmen drumcam during a run through

Posted by Ryan on 09:57 PM

March 21, 2007

The Other Side of the Critique Table

Sometimes, we take for granted things in our lives. Things that just seem to be a part of the every day norm we forget that enriches our experiences in life. In the marching world, we compete at contests and hope to take home the prize, but we sometimes forget about the process that takes place on those contest days. We are concerned about the number, but take for granted the process of how that number is conceived. Stay with me here.

It's like a car: you get in it every day and turn the key. You never think about the hundreds of parts working in conjunction to make that happen, only when the car doesn't start do we take notice.

The same thing seems to happen with judges, we know they are there, but only concern ourselves with the process of how they came up with the number when things don't go our way. Questions come up like, "how could they put Band X over us?" or "were they even watching our show?". Even worse, feeling slightly offended at the critique table when you ask a judge about your show and they ask for you to remind them what your show was about, or some other clue about your group to help jog their memory. "Why are they asking that?!?! Wasn't our show the most unique one on the field today?"

I will be honest, I've had these ideas run through my head over the years in some way, shape or form. I knew judging was hard, but I had no idea how hard until I judged my first contest a couple of weeks ago. I now have a new found respect for the judging community because it is hard work and requires a lot of responsibility from an individual. Not only do you have to watch a show, you have to 1) run a tape 2) take notes and 3) come up with numbers that accurately reflect a group's performance. Not only that, at the end of the performances, you go into a room where people ask for your thoughts about specific details of their show; a show you may have seen three hours and 20 bands ago.

That's a lot of stuff to keep up with throughout the day. So during this WGI season, the upcoming Summer and throughout the Fall, have a little patience with the guys and gals across from you at the critique table. It's harder than it looks.

Posted by Ryan on 10:08 PM

January 30, 2007

DCI Approves 150 Member Limit, Electronics Denied

On Sunday, the DCI Board of Directors reviewed the rule proposals and came to a decision about each one. Among those passed include the percussion judge in the stands until July 4th, extended pre-show warm-up (like BOA), and the biggest being the new 150 member rule going into effect in 2008.

Just a little about the last one - there are definite pros and cons to this 150 member rule...

The pros: more young people get to experience being in a Top 12 corp (a 10% increase), bigger and better both in sound and visual appeal, and it allows corps to better utilize their buses since the new ones now seat 55 per bus (x 3 thats 165 seats). The cons? Harder for the midrange corps (10-17) to fill brass spots because everyone wants to be in a Top 6 corp, midrange corps don't have the new buses so its a moot point for them, and it will possibly open an even wider gap between the elite and those in the midrange.

Now there are a few things that didn't pass, but the biggest news maker is the 10-10 tie for inclusion of electronic instruments that ended in defeat. The purists dodged a bullet this time, but I don't think they'll be as lucky in the future. Me personally? In a world of pop singers and Pro Tools making it where anyone can sound in tune, I would like ONE thing to stay true to the original and not just be another "me too" for technology. Yes, electronics and music are here to stay, but that doesn't mean that everything has to go there.

I think of cars....what happened when automatic transmissions came about? The beauty of shifting gears without all the work, why wouldn't you want it? Did every single car from then on come with an automatic? No. Maybe there's something to the process that connect people to the machine? I think this hold true for the Drum Corp fan too - we see bass guitars in the pit in college bands, synthesizers in the pit of BOA bands, maybe....just maybe people still want to see the muscle car come with a manual transmission. It just always seemed right.

Posted by Ryan on 12:16 AM

January 06, 2007

Welcome to the New Year

Ahh, the new year - welcome to 2007. Time for WGI contests, Drum Corp show announcements, and NAMM. We've got some exciting events planned in the new year to get you through until the WGI season heats up. First off, we'll have someone at NAMM this year checking out the latest from the drum manufacturers. After that, we've got two reviews in the works that will be revealed at a later date.

But first to start off the new year, we've got an announcement about something cool going on with Zildjian. John Ratzenburg's Made in America which airs on the Travel Channel will be doing a show on the Zildjian company. Here are the show times for the coverage on the Travel Channel:

• January 9th @ 9PM EST
• January 10th @ 12AM EST
• January 13th @ 3PM EST

Here's the Z-News Announcement from Zildjian

Posted by Ryan on 11:41 PM

December 19, 2006

Let the Bowls Begin

With the regular season out of the way, it's time for the Bowl games to begin! The first game was played tonight with TCU and Northern Illinois meeting up in San Diego at the Poinsettia Bowl. If you are lucky, you might get a glimpse of the drumlines as ESPN is known for quick shots of the bands. Still no halftime shows, but sometimes you'll get lead ins/outs to commercials.

What does this have to do with this site? Well, we will be down in Ft Worth for the Armed Forces Bowl this weekend and we will chronicle our experiences so you get a taste of what it is like.

For a complete schedule of the upcoming bowl games following the link

Here is the complete of Bowl games and their times.

San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia
Northern Illinois vs. TCU Dec. 19, 8 p.m.
San Diego ESPN2 HD

Pioneer PureVision Las Vegas
BYU vs. Oregon Dec. 21, 8 p.m.
Las Vegas ESPN HD

R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl
Rice vs. Troy Dec. 22, 8 p.m.
New Orleans ESPN2 HD

Papajohns.com Bowl
South Florida vs. East Carolina Dec. 23, 1 p.m.
Birmingham, Ala. ESPN2 HD

New Mexico
New Mexico vs. San Jose State Dec. 23, 4:30 p.m.
Albuquerque, N.M. ESPN HD

Bell Helicopter Armed Forces
Tulsa vs. Utah Dec. 23, 8 p.m.
Fort Worth, Texas ESPN HD

Sheraton Hawaii
Hawaii vs. Arizona State Dec. 24, 8 p.m.
Honolulu ESPN HD

Motor City
Middle Tennessee vs. Central Michigan Dec. 26, 7:30 p.m.
Detroit ESPN HD

Emerald
Florida State vs. UCLA Dec. 27, 8 p.m.
San Francisco ESPN HD

PetroSun Independence
Oklahoma State vs. Alabama Dec. 28, 4:30 p.m.
Shreveport, La. ESPN HD

Pacific Life Holiday
Texas A&M vs. California Dec. 28, 8 p.m.
San Diego ESPN HD

Texas
Rutgers vs. Kansas State Dec. 28, 8 p.m.
Houston NFL Network

Gaylord Hotels Music City
Clemson vs. Kentucky Dec. 29, 1 p.m.
Nashville, Tenn. ESPN HD

Brut Sun
Oregon State vs. Missouri Dec. 29, 2 p.m.
El Paso, Texas CBS

AutoZone Liberty
South Carolina vs. Houston Dec. 29, 4:30 p.m.
Memphis, Tenn. ESPN HD

Insight
Texas Tech vs. Minnesota Dec. 29, 7:30 p.m.
Tempe, Ariz. NFL Network

Champs Sports
Purdue vs. Maryland Dec. 29, 8 p.m.
Orlando, Fla. ESPN HD

Meineke Car Care
Navy vs. Boston College Dec. 30, 1 p.m.
Charlotte, N.C. ESPN HD

Alamo
Texas vs. Iowa Dec. 30, 4:30 p.m.
San Antonio ESPN HD

Chick-fil-A
Georgia vs. Virginia Tech Dec. 30, 8 p.m.
Atlanta ESPN HD

MPC Computers
Miami vs. Nevada Dec. 31, 7:30 p.m.
Boise, Idaho ESPN HD

Outback
Tennessee vs. Penn State Jan. 1, 11 a.m.
Tampa, Fla. ESPN HD

AT&T Cotton
Auburn vs. Nebraska Jan. 1, 11:30 a.m.
Dallas FOX

Toyota Gator
West Virginia vs. Georgia Tech Jan. 1, 1 p.m.
Jacksonville, Fla. CBS

Capital One
Arkansas vs. Wisconsin Jan. 1, 1 p.m.
Orlando, Fla. ABC HD

Rose Bowl presented by Citi
USC vs. Michigan Jan. 1, 5 p.m.
Pasadena, Calif. ABC HD

Tostitos Fiesta
Boise State vs. Oklahoma Jan. 1, 8 p.m.
Glendale, Ariz. FOX

FedEx Orange
Louisville vs. Wake Forest Jan. 2, 8 p.m.
Miami FOX

Allstate Sugar
Notre Dame vs. LSU Jan. 3, 8 p.m.
New Orleans FOX

International
Western Michigan vs. Cincinnati Jan. 6, Noon
Toronto ESPN2 HD

GMAC
Ohio vs. Southern Miss Jan. 7, 8 p.m.
Mobile, Ala. ESPN HD

Tostitos BCS Championship Game
Florida vs. Ohio State Jan. 8, 8 p.m.
Glendale, Ariz. FOX

Posted by Ryan on 11:25 PM

September 22, 2006

Crossmen Move to San Antonio!

Yesterday the Crossmen announced they are moving to San Antonio, Texas. They will still be a part of YEA and the Cadets, but are relying on the strong education programs in Texas to support them with quality players. The new Corp Director is going to be Mark Chambers, head band director at BOA Grand National Finalist Ronald Reagan High School.

In my personal opinion, this is a smart move for the Crossmen. Drum corps are realizing the strength of the music programs in Texas and have started holding mini camps before sending players up North. Crossmen just took it one step further and actually moved there. Why spend $350 on a plane ticket every month to Illinois, Ohio, or New Jersey when someone can drive 4 hours from Dallas to ALL the Div I Crossmen camps? So...I'm placing a prediction right now: the Crossmen will be back in the Top 12 next year.

So hats off to the Crossmen and Mark Chambers! It's a smart move and I look forward to the next corp that decides to follow suit. Who's next?

Posted by Ryan on 02:18 PM

September 05, 2006

DCI 2006 Finals on ESPN2 TONIGHT

Yes, the DCI Finals air tonight on ESPN2 at 8 PM EST. It is a two hour broadcast showing behind-the-scenes segments and portions of the Top 12 shows. While I wish it was the full Top 6 (and portions of the 7-12 shows), I understand the format and am glad it is on ESPN - the long format for us drum corp nuts is shown in the movie theaters. So show some support for the activity and turn your TVs to ESPN2 at 8 PM tonight.

Check out the DCI.org coverage here

Posted by Ryan on 12:19 AM | Comments (0)

August 12, 2006

DCI World Championship Finals Tonight

This is it, the day of Finals. The time to reminisce on the season and relish in your last hours of the summer tour. It all boils down to this: Cavaliers are holding on strong to the GE caption, Blue Devils are close to grabbing the Visual being only a .10 behind Cavaliers in Semis, and Phantom's amazing drumline has kept them in the hunt by tying the Cavaliers in the Music caption.

What does this mean? It means General Effect wins Championships. In a world of strong performances, it's the show design that will ultimately decide a corp's fate. True, you have to perform and be at the top of you game, but at this level, those differences are minute. 40-30-30 is the balance of the sheet and Cavaliers are winning the 40 point caption, if they stay close in the other two, it's a done deal.

Don't get me wrong...I think all three corps are great and have their own unique identity. But I have to say, I like Phantom's music. Notice I said music and not show. Sure the show is nice, but it could be better. With a story such as Faust, you think they would play up the devil theme a little more. More red material, stronger flags, and a uniform change. I'm not sure what it is, but I find it hard to buy into the theme when the corp is wearing white uniforms - too angelic, it's off balance. I say bring back the 1996 PR uniforms with a red sash - too late now.

Speaking of 1996, I see a lot of correlation to 96 - Blue Devils were doing a gangster show just like this year, Phantom was doing a show with strong music just like this year. And here they are again, but sitting in 2nd and 3rd. Why? The Cavaliers have outdone their design teams.

Enough ranting, about design. There is nothing the performers can do except go out there and give it their all. If you want to check it out as it goes down LIVE, click here.

Posted by Ryan on 02:16 AM | Comments (0)

July 14, 2006

Vic Firth DCI Coverage

Vic Firth has once again started up coverage of the summer DCI tour with some video clips of the Blue Devils, The Cadets, Santa Clara Vanguard and Pacific Crest drumlines. All videos are in Quicktime format with high, medium, and low quality versions. In addition, Mark and the rest of the team at Vic Firth seem to add more videos as the summer progresses so check back occasionally.

Vic Firth Salutes DCI 2006

Posted by Ryan on 10:31 AM | Comments (0)

July 02, 2006

It's July, Time to Turn Up the Heat

Well, it seems that all the Div I corps are FINALLY on tour (yes Crossmen, I'm talking about you). Time to mark your calendars for your local shows and make it out to see some great performances. Also, DCI.org has put together a list of corps marching in 4th of July parades. If you are lucky enough to have the chance to go see a corp in a parade, go check them out, especially ones with concerts afterwards. Either way, have a fun and safe 4th of July.

DCI.org Parade Schedule

Posted by Ryan on 02:17 AM | Comments (0)

June 02, 2006

Drumline Parking Lot through YouTube.com

Remember the good 'ol days of drumlineparkinglot.net? I do...in fact, it was about the only place I could find that had video of my corp's drum sectionals during the summer. Granted, it was not too long ago, but it was before everyone and their dog (including DCI) were recording warmups in the parking lot.

So I was pleasantly surprised to find that the guys behind drumlineparkinglot.net were posting their content to YouTube.com. To make it even easier to find, you can see all their content at the following URL:

http://www.youtube.com/user/drumlineparkinglot

I expect to see more added soon as they use to have a ton of content. Long live DrumlineParkingLot.net!

Posted by Ryan on 11:26 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 01, 2006

Trial by Fire

One fried memory chip, one dead web server, one new web host unable to support our needs, and one new server built from the ground up. Yes, this has been our experience in the last two months. It's been hard, but we are back! Fortunately, the end result is a killer new Dell Dual Core web server with RAID mirrored hard drives and a ton of bells and whistles. What this means is a better experience for you (and us), and expanded support in the future. We have had to rebuild part of the database by hand so there might be a wrinkle or two. If you happen to find one, send us a note through the contact form and we'll check it out.

Thanks for your patience!

The Drumlineblog.com team

Posted by Ryan on 01:49 PM

February 02, 2006

NAMM Roundup

So NAMM has come and gone. Maybe you saw some of the new products from Pearl, Yamaha, etc on their websites? While I enjoy checking out new stuff on websites, nothing beats seeing it person. So here are my pictures from the 2006 NAMM show taken by our trustworthy field correspondent...

Zildjian's booth...the two new products related to marching percussion are the new 19" A's and the Zildjian/Bodyglove cymbal bags.

Vic Firth's NAMM booth. Vic Firth announced two things related to marching: new practice pads and redesigned corpmaster timpani mallets.

The Remo booth looked good and that was further enhanced by Mr. Remo being there and talking to people. They released the new PowerMax bass drum head mentioned in a post the other day

Pearl logo

The new contour hinge carrier. Notice the air bulb sandwiched in between the tubes in the middle? That is for the new Comfort Air System located along the backbar.

Contour hinge carrier in the folded position. Notice at the very top of the picture, there is the air hole that inflates the Comfort Air System. Think Reebok Pump shoes from back in the day and you have a good idea how this works.

A closeup of the spec sheet on the contour carrier.

Kudos to Yamaha for the creative booth which was enhanced by this scoreboard which played videos of different groups that use Yamaha products.

This is an interesting pic with a lot of stuff to mention. First, the Madison Scouts display celebrating their longtime partnership with Yamaha. This display had a snare drum from every year since the sFz model (including the prototype year with the black and silver rim). If memory serves me correctly, Yamaha raided the Premier parts bin to put those prototypes together, hence the black rim. Also notice the display on the far left which includes the ultracool drum fade finish produced for Ayala HS. And finally, on the back wall, you can see Yamaha's version of the Randall May tube carrier.

I'm still combing through the pictures so I might have one additional installment if there is enough worth putting on the site. All in all, I'm a little disappointed in the new products released this year for marching percussion. It seems Randall May is the prime innovator right now as the products most touted are the tube carriers, monoposto bass carrier, and the new Acoustic Equalizer for the Yamaha drums.

Posted by Ryan on 01:33 PM | Comments (0)

November 21, 2005

Grand Nationals Picture Redux

I'm not going to give a blow-by-blow of each band because frankly, I didn't get to see too many. It was just the way our schedule worked out (or didn't). So instead, I'm going to show you what I saw, through the pictures I took. Yes, it's probably not what you would normally see unless you've been in a band at Grand Nationals. It kind of gives you an inside look at Finals from the field. So without further ado, I give you the Grand Nationals Picture Redux...

The Owasso Drumline warming up for their QuarterFinals performance. I think it's about 8AM Friday morning.

The Owasso snareline

Extreme close-up during music warm-up

In the RCA Dome airlock waiting to go onto the field

The factory outside the airlock after the performance. Does anyone know what they do there? I've always wondered...

While walking outside the conference side of the facility, a police-escorted file of tanks came rumbling through downtown. They gave out peace signs and saluted as they went by.

When they say you're at a "hotel by the airport" they're not kidding! This is the view out our window.

We had some downtime in our "borrowed" room (more on that later) and got a chance to really clean the drums and polish the cymbals.

Going back over the cymbal logos after three coats of polish

Owasso in Physical Warm-up before Finals

Backfield shot of Owasso marching onto the field for their Finals performance. Man, what a crowd!

Backfield shot of Finals Retreat. RCC's drumline is playing to my right and throwing down some nice licks.

The drumline at the front of the band for Retreat

Again....man, look at that crowd!!!

The drum majors during the awards ceremony

We happen to be standing next to the Carmel staff at the front of the field and I took a picture when they announced them as the winners. Notice Mike McIntosh (Bluecoats Percussion Caption Head) with his head against the wall. I know this was a long time coming for them and a lot of pent up emotions were finally able to come out. Congrats to them and their students.

The Owasso Drumline after Retreat; what a stellar group of young people. I couldn't ask to work with a finer ensemble.

After announcing that the field was Carmel's, the bass drums headed for the airlock.

Loading up the buses outside the conference hall. A little unexpected rain was coming down, but it didn't dampen our spirits.

A close-up of the Grand National Finalist medal. That thing is heavy for its size!

Again, I am proud of the Owasso kids and all of their hard effort this season. They worked efficiently at every practice and never took their eyes off the goal. Congrats to them and every other band member that participated in the 2005 BOA Grand Nationals.

As a side note, I would like to thank some people and companies for their support and kindness: special thanks to Yamaha for their support, extra tickets, and listening to us concerning hardware and offering solutions, and thanks goes to Mark Wessels and the Vic Firth team for the coverage and product support (sticks and mallets). I would also like to thank our new friends at Jackson Academy HS who let us borrow their gigantic room at the conference center. This thing was a massive exhibit hall about a football field wide and three football fields long, plus it had a loading dock and direct access to the warm-up locations. They were kind enough to let us use their space as a staging area before Semis and through Finals - we really appreciate your kindness!

Posted by Ryan on 09:53 PM | Comments (0)

November 13, 2005

WE MADE IT!!!

Mass hysteria ensued as Owasso HS was announced as the last Finalist band. Seeing as some stiff competition remained for that last spot, we expected the worst, but were stunned when they called out our name in the last spot. 2005 Grand National Finalist, unbelievable!!!

Posted by Ryan on 01:35 AM | Comments (3)

November 12, 2005

BOA Grand National Semi-Finals

So it's down to this. They take the Top 30 from two days - which is the top 11 from each day and then the top 8 scores from either day after that to make up the thirty. Owasso made the top 22 (top 11 for our day) and made the fortunate draw of going on number 26. What does that mean? Well, that last eight gets to draw the first four spots and the last four spots. Everyone knows this so if you take away the last four slots from the 30, the last spot for the top 22 is number 26. We couldn't be in a better spot!

The kids are excited and while I would normally like to go early just to get my nerves out of the way, I would make an exception on this one. I am sure I can take the knots in the stomach for 6 hours to give these kids the optimum spot to give them the best opportunity possible to make Finals. We shall see.

Posted by Ryan on 08:14 AM | Comments (0)

November 11, 2005

LIVE from Grand Nationals

Live from Indianapolis!!! We fortunately have wireless access at the hotel, so I will be updating the blog everyday with info and pictures when possible. We (Owasso HS) play at 8:45 AM Friday morning so we have to get out of the hotel and on the road early so this post will be short. From what I have read so far, some great bands played today. There will be even more Friday and I am looking forward to our block which includes Richland, Etiwanda, and LD Bell. Good Luck to everyone!

Posted by Ryan on 01:32 AM | Comments (0)

Pictures from Previous BOA Events

So it's been a wild marching band season so far. We have traveled from Arlington, Texas to St. Louis and a few places in between, during the trips I have managed to snap a few pictures and I thought I would share some of the better ones.

Owasso band unloading at Arlington

Walking onto the field at Arlington

Owasso warm-up

Owasso cymbal line

Retreat at the BOA St. Louis Regional

Awards at BOA St. Louis

Posted by Ryan on 01:16 AM | Comments (1)

October 13, 2005

BOA Arlington This Saturday

Well, the BOA Arlington Regional is almost upon us. We (Owasso) have been practicing hard and the show is really coming together, it just depends on how much the kids get done in the next two days. While it seems most of the Texas bands are cleaning (except for maybe Reagan), we are still putting on the finishing touches to the show.

Does this make me nervous? Usually not, but if you haven't seen the lineup for Arlington, it looks more like a Super Regional lineup rather than a normal Regional. Westfield, LD Bell, Reagan, Winston Churchill, Owasso and a host of other groups all vying for a Finals spot. Just the final block of the afternoon is enough to make a midlevel band sweat:

Haltom H.S., TX 2:45
Richland H.S., TX 3:00
Georgetown H.S., TX 3:15
Owasso H.S., OK 3:30
Winston Churchill H.S., TX 3:45
Brazoswood H.S., TX 4:00
Putnam City H.S., OK 4:15
L.D. Bell H.S., TX 4:30

I have one word for that final block: bloodbath. There's a strong possibility that half of the Finalists will come from that last block.

Posted by Ryan on 02:21 PM | Comments (2)

September 30, 2005

HS Competitions & BOA

So tomorrow is October 1st - the start of the busiest month of the year for HS marching band competitions. Besides local contests, BOA has two contests slated for tomorrow: BOA La Joya and BOA Houston, both in Texas. Unfortunately, Hurricane Rita has caused a handful of groups to pull out of the Houston event, but the show will go on as planned. Due to the circumstances, some minor exceptions have been made to help bands meet the minimum requirements to perform at the BOA Houston event such as 5 minute show minimums as opposed to the usual 7 minutes.

Locally, the Owasso Invitational is tomorrow - 22 bands from 4 states, and 12 of those are 6A bands (editor's note: 6A is equal to 5A in Texas or AAA in BOA terms). Also, a few BOA bands will be in attendance which include Broken Arrow, Union, Collinsville, and Owasso (in exhibition). Also of note, is O'Fallon Township from Illinois who is driving down to the Owasso contest. As usual, we've got a killer panel of judges and I look forward to what they have to say.

Posted by Ryan on 04:11 PM | Comments (2)

August 08, 2005

Pittsburg, Kansas Review

Pittsburg, Kansas was the stage for the first meeting between the Cavaliers and the Blue Devils. Having only been back for a few days, the Blue Devils are ready to show American audiences what European has been treated to for the past few weeks. Where is Blue Devils' show in regards to the competition? Are they tweaking a polished show or are they trying to fill in the holes? Have they been on track to stay with the competition while out of the country? Here's a first hand account of the evening and what took place...

The evening started with a solid performance from Pioneer which was seen from the tunnel so I won't comment on their show. Their strong showing set the stage for a great evening of drum corps as the Colts were next to hit the field. The corp from Dubuque had a great concept and music to back it up, but had some front-to-back phasing issues with the pit. The colorguard turned in a respectable performance as they have been doing all summer. I like their version of Estancia and they score points for having a drum book that blends well with the horn book. Smart writing, the pieces just need to come together to complete the package.

Capital Regiment was on next...there show was about Time and they have this gigantic sun dial that gets moved around constantly during the show. The same two people pushed it around the entire time, and I kept sitting there wondering if they had to pay the corps fees to push a prop around all Summer? Is that mean for me to say? I'm just curious....as for the drumline they have definitely stepped it up in the past two years and showed that last year was not a fluke. The drumline plays so well that it makes the hornline sound small. The case of something being so good that it makes the others pieces look out of place. Good and bad I guess.

The Blue Knights followed suit and displayed a clean show. It seemed flat in places and I respect them for their precision, but I have had a hard time in the past getting "into" their shows. The drumline really set themselves apart from the previous drumlines tonight by having some of the thickest rolls of the night. Their unique color of blue on their drum shells this year throws me off. I can't decide if it is a blue-green or a green-blue - it's not your normal dark blue (or black) you're use to seeing on their drums.

Glassmen were next and the drumline had a great show, but I wasn't impressed with the music arranging and thought some of the style choices for the music was a little odd, yet the drumline handled their end very well. Nice musical colors with the added Remo TSS drums mounted to the front of the snares, and bassline had some killer runs in the show. Like last year they've got a drum shell color that changes based on the light. Though this year's is a blue instead of the copper. Even close up, the color changes from an almost black to a midnight blue with some colors in between. Definitely pimp, but not over-the-top gold teeth pimp, very tasteful.

Blue Devils were next and WOW, what a hard show. The drum book is esoteric and very demanding, passing rolls around the drums, dynamics moving the sound all over the place, and some tough drill to top it off. If they can smooth out the kinks, I say top 3 drum finish, but it's a gamble with other groups like Cadets, Phantom and Bluecoats playing at such a high level. I'm afraid the Europe trip has hurt their potential to stay with the upper echelon - I would say a top 5 finish, but no closer than 3rd...too much ground to make up at this point.

The Cavaliers finished out the evening with a great show that looks polished. The drum book has the familiar sound of previous years and I guess it works well for them. The middle tune about the Chicago fire was well constructed. The closer was great, but seemed long in the tooth, as it kept ramping up more and more.

The Cavaliers ended up winning the night as their show is currently at a more mature stage. I think the European tour has hurt the Blue Devils and I think it would be hard to push yourself as you don't see much competition - it's like taking a month off to do standstills. Can Blue Devils push hard enough to catch up? At this point, I'm not sure. I think if they would have come back in mid-early July they would of had a better chance. I guess we'll see as more scores start to come in.

Posted by Ryan on 10:22 PM | Comments (0)

July 16, 2005

New Feature: DCI Drumline Tracker

If you'll notice in the navigation bar above, there is a new item in the list called "Scores". Clicking this link will send you to the DCI Drumline Tracker page. This page takes every Division I drum corp's drum scores since June 17th and spits them out in a Flash-based chart. From this you can see judging patterns, downtime, and improvements after rehearsal days, then compare your favorite groups against the competition.

Drumline Tracker

Posted by Ryan on 10:16 PM | Comments (0)

July 14, 2005

Welcome to Drumlineblog.com v2.0

To help celebrate our 1st Birthday, we thought it would be appropriate to get a little makeover. So we moved some stuff off the sidebar and onto the new navigation bar. Plus we added some "other" items...more about those later.

Posted by Ryan on 07:59 AM | Comments (0)

July 01, 2005

DrumlineBlog.com turns 1

Well one year ago today, we started down this path and it has been a fun ride so far. We look forward to providing even more coverage this year with the July shows coming up and a busy marching band season in the Fall. As a gift to everyone, we have some surprises coming in the next couple of days that we are very excited about. So stay tuned...

Posted by Ryan on 07:36 AM

June 17, 2005

Drum Corps 2005: Day 1

The 2005 drum corp season officially begins today with the first contests slated in Minnesota, Illinois and Pennsylvania. The West coast drum corps have their first contests this weekend so by Monday you should have numbers on most of the corps. Click the link below if you need a preshow "warm-up"...

Posted by Ryan on 07:39 AM | Comments (0)

April 12, 2005

Santa Clara Vanguard unveils new Uniform

Santa Clara Vanguard has changed their uniforms for the 2005 season. The new uniforms are a great nod to the classic Vanguard while keeping the current trend of a tapered silhouette. This seems to go well with their current trend of doing "classic" SCV shows since it looks like they will be doing Russian Christmas Music in 2005.

The biggest change from the previous uniform is the switch from green being a primary element, to it just being an accent color. The green is used in piping around the baldric and on the gauntlets (both are white). While white pants have replaced the previous green. Purists can take a big sigh of relief as the green felt Aussie hat is still in play - good move SCV.

More information and a sizable pic are available after the jump.

Vanguard Unveils New Uniform for 2005

Posted by Ryan on 10:59 PM | Comments (0)

December 25, 2004

Merry Christmas

and Happy Holidays! Thanks to our readers for helping us get this blog started. We are looking forward to the New Year - we will be checking out what is new at the NAMM Winter Show in January and we will be following the corps as they get ready for the summer. Stay tuned for an even better year as we pick up steam towards the summer.

Posted by Ryan on 07:15 PM

November 06, 2004

BOA Grand Nationals are underway

Grand Nationals in Indianapolis, IN started this morning at the RCA Dome. Over 90 bands have chosen to compete at the event from all across America - from New York to California, and Michigan to Florida.

http://www.bands.org/public/forums/gncoverage/

Here is the schedule of bands for Thursday and Friday:

Thursday Schedule
School	Time
Nicholas County H.S., KY	10:45
West Claremont Local School District, OH	11:00
Chesaning Union H.S., MI	11:15
Grayson County H.S., KY	11:30
Western Brown H.S., OH	11:45
Kings H.S., OH	12:00
Springboro H.S., OH	12:15
Victor J. Andrew H.S., IL	12:30
Tuscola H.S., NC	12:45
Norton H.S., OH	1:00
Center Grove H.S., IN	1:15
Clayton H.S., NC	1:30
Meade County H.S., KY	2:00
Lake Central H.S., IN	2:15
Davenport Central H.S., IA	2:30
Greeneview H.S., OH	2:45
Tippecanoe H.S., OH	3:00
Indian Hill H.S., OH	3:15
Farmington Harrison H.S., MI	3:30
Fairborn H.S., OH	3:45
Cumberland County H.S., KY	4:00
Lafayette H.S., KY	4:15
Louisville Male H.S., KY	4:30
Lake Park H.S., IL	4:45
Bellbrook H.S., OH	5:30
Carlisle H.S., OH	5:45
Milford H.S., OH	6:00
Centerville H.S., OH	6:15
Brentwood H.S., TN	6:30
Eastern H.S., KY	6:45
Lawrence Central H.S., IN	7:00
Marian Catholic H.S., IL	7:15
Boone County H.S., KY	7:30
F.J. Reitz H.S., IN	7:45
Carmel H.S., IN	8:00
Francis Howell North H.S., MO	8:15
Chippewa H.S., OH	8:45
Montague H.S., MI	9:00
Carroll H.S., OH	9:15
Jackson Academy, MS	9:30
Lakeland H.S., MI	9:45
Clinton-Massie H.S., OH	10:00
Arlington H.S., NY	10:15
Warren Central H.S., IN	10:30
West Johnston H.S., NC	10:45
Jenison H.S., MI	11:00
Boiling Springs H.S., SC	11:15
Friday Schedule
School	Time
Lone Oak H.S., KY	7:45
Decatur Central H.S., IN	8:00
Loveland H.S., CO	8:15
Bellevue West H.S., NE	8:30
Kennesaw Mountain H.S., GA	8:45
Stephen F. Austin H.S., TX	9:00
The Woodlands H.S., TX	9:15
Ayala H.S., CA	9:30
West Carteret H.S., NC	9:45
George Washington H.S., VA	10:00
Webster H.S., NY	10:15
Cary H.S., NC	10:30
Cordova H.S., TN	11:00
Collins Hill H.S., GA	11:15
Westminster H.S., MD	11:30
Elizabeth Forward H.S., PA	11:45
Waynesville H.S., OH	12:00
Waterford H.S., OH	12:15
Ben Davis H.S., IN	12:30
Lincoln Community H.S., IL	12:45
Grandville H.S., MI	1:00
Firestone H.S., OH	1:15
Campbell County H.S., KY	1:30
Marietta H.S., OH	1:45
Avon H.S., IN	2:30
Herscher H.S., IL	2:45
Ooltewah H.S., TN	3:00
Avon H.S., OH	3:15
Lebanon H.S., OH	3:30
Godwin Heights H.S., MI	3:45
Milford H.S., MI	4:00
Normal West H.S., IL	4:15
Plymouth-Canton Ed. Park, MI	4:30
Durand Area H.S., MI	4:45
Limestone Community H.S., IL	5:00
Portage Central H.S., MI	5:30
Mt. Juliet H.S., TN	5:45
Castle H.S., IN	6:00
Clinton H.S., TN	6:15
Cicero-North Syracuse H.S., NY	6:30
Central Crossing H.S., OH	6:45
Wayne County H.S., KY	7:00
Northmont H.S., OH	7:15
Hart County H.S., KY	7:30
Bassett H.S., VA	7:45
Norwell H.S., IN	8:00

Posted by Ryan on 01:23 AM | Comments (0)

November 05, 2004

BOA Regionals

Congratulations to all BOA Regional Champions this year. With three different Super Regionals, it was a busy and hard-fought year. To recognize their accomplishments on the field, below is a list of the Regionals and the respective winners.

Louisville - Lawrence Central HS, IN
Massillon - Harrison HS, GA
Pontiac - Centerville HS, OH
Murfreesboro - Paul Laurence Dunbar HS, KY
Youngstown - Kiski Area HS, PA
Hunstville - Stephen F. Austin HS, TX
Piscataway - King Philip Regional HS, MA
Arlington - LD Bell HS, TX
La Joya - Winston Churchill HS, TX
St Louis - LD Bell HS, TX
St Petersburg - Tarpon Springs HS, FL
Las Vegas - Upland HS, CA
Atlanta - Centerville HS, OH
Indianapolis - Lawrence Central HS, IN
San Antonio - Ronald Reagan HS, TX

Posted by Ryan on 01:08 AM | Comments (0)

September 22, 2004

DCI Board of Directors Pass Major Changes

This past weekend the DCI Board of Directors had a weekend meeting to discuss two major issues: parity and financial stability. What came out of the meeting was the elimination of "Retreats" at Tour Events, elimination of judge critique, and the biggest: elimination of CAPTION AWARDS at DCI Finals.

That means their will no longer be a crowned drum champion, no high brass, nothing. You will still know the high scores, but no awards or acknowledgment will be given.

I personally find this counterproductive the the pursuit of excellence in the drum corp community - especially for the percussion sections. This smells of the BOA judging system...the DCI board believes that "the caption awards diluted the overall team effort of what a corps brings to the competition". The next thing you know, they won't even announce placements anymore (like BOA last year), just the champion. Though BOA to its credit has decided to retract that decision and will now announce the placements (but not scores).

Though not as big of a deal, the elimination of retreat is really disheartening to me. Some of my fondest memories in drum corp were standing on the field and hearing all the corp hornlines play the America/O Canada melody each night. It reminded me that the time living this experience was short and each time I heard it, another day had passed. Now that is gone.

I understand making changes for financial reasons, but eliminating retreat so corps can get on the road quicker? Comon! Anyone who has been in the parking lot after a show knows that is when the corps get to mingle, practice solo/ensemble pieces, make runs to the convenience store, or catch up with friends at their home shows. Another memory quite possibly gone forever.

Read the Meeting notes

Posted by Ryan on 04:41 PM | Comments (1)

August 23, 2004

High School Marching Band Season

August heat and the smell of yellow school bus diesel fumes mean one thing: high school marching band is upon us. As a kid, I grew up less than a mile from the local high school football stadium, so even if I wasn't in the band at the time I could see the glow of the stadium lights and hear the echo of the drum cadences. I can still close my eyes and remember standing in my driveway taking it all in - the sight, sounds and smells of Friday night football.

Posted by Ryan on 01:53 PM | Comments (1)

July 14, 2004

Drum Corp at it's Best

Went to the local show last week. It was a great lineup - Cavaliers, Troopers, Bluecoats, Magic of Orlando, Southwind, Capital Regiment. Cavaliers put on a clinic and tons of people went and checked out the corp warmups in the parking lot before the show. Here's a quick rundown of each corp...

Bluecoats blew me away with their show which I usually don't get in to much. I think I was most intrigued by the addition of Mike McIntosh to the staff. You can definitely hear the "Cavie sound" in the drumline book.

Troopers can drum! Even though the hornline is small, the drumline looks like it was transplanted from a Top 12 corp. They with out a doubt out drummed some of the bigger corps.

Magic of Orlando surprised me in that I thought the momentum from last year would keep them rolling, but it looks like they have hit the reality of being a Division I corp again. nice show, just needs some cleaning....the snare sound was real wet - that could have been some of it.

Southwind - sporting new uniforms (yea, no more yellow!), they have a solid show. It will be a great package when it is cleaned up, just dirty for this time of year. After seeing them for the past three years, I have high expectations for this drumline. At this point it just doesn't seem as strong as previous years.

Capital Regiment - what a surprise! I can't believe they were digging in the ranks of Div II/III just a couple of years ago. I expect to see them break into the Top 12 someday soon.

Cavaliers have another stellar product for 2004. Is it as good as 2000 or 2003? Hard to tell at this point and I hate to make a judgment halfway through the season. I'll just say that the Cavaliers seem to put the ideas out first and then clean it. So first impressions of newly added material is that they are dirty. Are they dirty? In certain places, yes. Most exposed is the drum break with question and answer snare rolls from the split snareline. It seems to be hit and miss, but I wonder if some of the problem is the direction they are facing (backwards at an angle) and the use of projectors. I'm sure they'll figure out a solution soon enough (if not already).

   

Posted by Ryan on 12:05 PM | Comments (0)

July 01, 2004

And so it begins...

Welcome to Day 1 of the Drumline Blog. The grand plan is to make this a portal for all things related to drumlines. Be it News relating from drum corps to BOA bands, reviews of products, or discussion of techniques, we are going to hit it all. I look forward to providing not only myself, but everyone else an outlet to discover the latest involving the world of marching percussion.

Posted by Ryan on 09:16 AM | Comments (0)