Drum Corps Never Stop

Rain or Shine . . . All of the Time

"It's not just about producing a winning corps. We want to see music educaiton improve as well as the activity of drum corps as a whole."

-Marck McGahey, brass instructor for the Cavaliers

The trophies have been put in the display case, the horns have been oiled and packed away, and the uniforms have been sent to the dry cleaners. Drum Corps International competition may be over for the season, but that doesn't mean drum corps staff and instructors are kicking back and taking it easy. There is a surprising amount of work in the months between the championship performance in August and the first show of the new season.

"The work for next year is actually beginning before the current season has ended," says Mike McIntosh, percussion caption head for the Cavaliers of Rosemont, Illinois. "Preparing for a new season of drum corps involves many months of planning, and you always need to be thinking ahead." He says the key is to stay organized throughout the summer months. "In the off-season I'm continually checking e-mail, but otherwise I try not to think about it because some downtime is good. But by the time November rolls around, I'll start getting the bug again," he laughs.

Brett Kuhn, a member of the Cavaliers' percussion staff since 1984, agrees. "Off-season, I always listen to new music," he says. "There's also some reflection time, looking back on what we did the year before, and what we'd like to do differently. We'll try to find new directions to go in, things we haven't done before, and think about how to zig when everyone else wants to zag. Off-season is about learning, and trying to get better."

For Jim Yakas, percussion director with the Madison Scouts of Madison, Wisconsin, improvement is a primary goal. "The first thing we do toward the end of the season is critique ourselves and make a list of areas where we as instructors could improve," he says. "We ask the kids to do that as well." Yakas also avoids thinking about the upcoming season for a short while, to keep his mind fresh. However, he's never very far from drum corps. "I'll generally listen to as much music as I possibly can," he says. "As in most forms of creativity, some of the best inspiration comes when you're doing something else. I get some of my best ideas from non-drum-corps sources."

The off-season routine is similar for brass instructors, according to Dean Musson, corps director and brass caption head for the Crossmen of Newark, Delaware. "Mostly it involves listening to new music, and getting ideas," says Musson, who is currently a doctoral candidate at the University of Kansas. "Working with ensembles at the university helps get my head out of DCI for a short while and keeps me fresh."

Mark McGahey works with the Cavaliers' horn line, and like many instructors, he also has other responsibilities. "After the DCI season I go straight into teaching high school band," says McGahey. "The chance for burnout is always
there, but I've learned to do more organization during the weeks of downtime, so that I'm not scrambling when the corps starts up again in the fall. Aside from that, getting away from it for a few weeks is definitely important."

McGahey's colleague David Bertman is the Cavaliers' brass caption head, and also one of the directors of bands at the University of Houston. He agrees that brass instruction is year-round for many instructors. "I never really stop teaching," says Bertman. "As a music educator, it's a full-time responsibility, and one of the most important things is to use the in-between time to evaluate the system, evaluate yourself, think about what was successful over the summer and why, and then get ready for those first creative meetings and camps."

Kuhn says the Cavaliers' complete creative team will have their first face-to-face meetings during the second week of November. "We all get together for a weekend, play tons of music, talk about concepts and ideas, and see if we can agree upon a particular concept for the show."

For the Scouts, that conceptual process continues throughout the year. "Within any season we actually have three to five show concepts we're working on for upcoming seasons," says Yakas. "Right after finals are over, the design team starts constant e-mail communication, sharing source materials, music files, and visual designs, narrowing them down to firmer ideas."

How long before the corps staff agrees on a concrete plan varies on the complexity of what they want to do. "Sometimes it's a month after the meetings, sometimes it takes a little longer," says Kuhn. "The Cavaliers have been focusing on completely original shows, so we're actually producing totally new charts. The time frame for that is much different."

The Cavaliers' percussion staff has been together for several years, and McIntosh says the established trust definitely helps planning go smoothly. "It streamlines the process because many things go unspoken." He adds that similar to the horn line, drum line staff members are all percussion specialists and band directors. He, for example, is percussion coordinator for the Carmel-Clay School District in Carmel, Indiana, while Kuhn teaches percussion at Chicago's Prospect High School. "We're all professionals, so we all bring good ideas to the table," says McIntosh. "The collective marching band involvement between corps seasons also helps keep our ears tuned, percussively speaking, and we find that many of the ideas and techniques can cross-pollinate from the Cavaliers to younger kids in high school, and vice versa, in summer when we're planning for the new show."

Summer is also when the Cavaliers' staff assembles a technique book containing excerpts and required audition information. "The kids picked up the book during last season, and have had all fall to get ready for the auditions," says McIntosh. He adds that the Cavaliers' support staff works hard to make sure information gets out to the kids. "We also do a lot of networking in the summer, and we make sure we're very open to talk to anyone. Summer is all about recruiting."

Like the Scouts and other corps, the Cavaliers also have a Web site where they post audition notices and informational questionnaires. From the responses, McIntosh can send out a blanket statement concerning what will be expected at the audition. "Auditionees will typically be required to play most of the exercises from the technique book, and an audition piece which is usually an excerpt from the previous year's show," he explains.

Tom Aungst, percussion caption head and arranger for the Cadets of Bergen County, New Jersey, agrees that summer and fall are largely audition prep time. "The Cadets are part of a larger organization called Youth Education in the Arts (YEA!), which runs a large marching band circuit during the fall months involving much of our staff," says Aungst. "That helps us stay sharp. We try to meet twice a month, even if it's just via phone, and talk about the upcoming season."

George Hopkins, Cadets corps director, is also program coordinator for the Cadets and the Crossmen, under the umbrella of YEA! He chuckles when asked about the off-season. "Here at YEA! there's no rest for the weary," he says. "This year the marching band season came to a close on November 19, and the corps kicked in November 22. So preparation for the 2003 drum corps season really needs to happen throughout the whole of 2002."

The Cadets "officially" start up in late November, but Aungst says tryouts for the corps are in early December. Prospective members receive an audition packet when they register. "They have to prepare a short solo, and play all 40 rudiments for snare drum," says Aungst. "Mallet players will prepare a solo and exercises to demonstrate facility. We also ask them to play warm-ups. At the first camp, we'll evaluate them individually and decide who to pick."

The high level of enthusiasm makes the process even more complicated, with youths coming in from around the world. "They come from England, Japan, and Holland, and these kids are flying to every camp," comments Aungst. "One high school junior from California came to all eight camps last year. Imagine the devotion of a 17-year-old to be climbing on a plane eight times."

The eagerness translates into a lot of hopefuls. "These past couple of years, the numbers have been pretty crazy," says the Cavaliers' Kuhn. "It's hard work, but it's amazing to see the amount of interest from kids all over the world. We don't advertise, per se-we don't have to. These kids know about drum corps, and it's all word of mouth. They've seen it, and they're keen to be a part of the excitement."

Excitement is equally high among young brass players who want to become members of a corps. Dean Musson says the Crossmen's first camp, combined with the Cadets, fielded more than 300 hopefuls. "Obviously, going into something on this scale requires a lot of preparation," he says. "I spend a good deal of time editing and re-editing the horn technique book for the tryouts, making sure to include specifics from the upcoming show to make the book relevant from a technical standpoint."

"We also anticipate large numbers at our camps," says Bertman of the Cavaliers. "We get calls from students almost constantly, asking us how they can be a part of the horn line." Adds McGahey, "Often at our first camp we'll have as many as 300 kids, and it takes a lot of organization to make sure not only that we assess them accurately, but that they also come away thinking they've gotten something useful from the experience."

Since corps members come from all over, rehearsals take place at camps held at regular times throughout the season. The Cavaliers will generally have a meeting in late October, bringing various design elements to the table. The full staff then meets at the first camp, usually over Thanksgiving weekend in Rosemont. "And that's where the real work starts," says McGahey.

"That first day is a long one," McIntosh adds with a sigh. "For the percussion staff it means an all-day, 10-hour masterclass starting with how to hold the sticks, leading up to the most advanced techniques the drum line used the previous summer. Saturday will be a full audition from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. We'll see everyone individually and give them a several-minute lesson. Then we whittle the line down from there. By Sunday morning we'll split the group into three separate drum lines, eventually filing down to one."

McIntosh stresses that it's important for all the kids to get individual attention. "They're paying a lot of money to get here, and they deserve nothing less," he says. "But they know they also have to meet the criteria to be selected."

Kuhn says November and December are the two fundamental audition camps. "We sift down from there, and the final cuts for percussion will be made in the January camp. Sometimes we have to stretch it one further, but it depends on how close the kids are competitively." Even previous members are required to audition every year for spots in the corps, and competition is tough. "Odds are good, though, for a kid who has already marched with us for a year or more and has had the training and discipline for a complete year. It's very rare that he or she won't make it back in," he says.

For the Cadets, the first camp involves some trial and error. "A finished product, if you want to call it that, usually takes most of the winter to get together," says Aungst. "At the first camp we'll pass out some music, and then add more at each camp. Sometimes we have changes as well, so it may take us all eight camps to get all the music out."

Though the first camp is just the beginning, Hopkins says it's the point for him where all the preparation really pays off. "The mental energy you get from 300 excited young men and women, all interested in drum corps, their joy and enthusiasm, is where the privilege of life as a YEA! administrator becomes reinforced."

Drill rehearsals usually start in early April, with the first draft of the final show finished in early June. "But it's very much a work in progress," stresses Aungst, "and it will take us pretty much the entire season to iron out kinks and get things the way we want them to be."

Workable music is also a primary winter goal for the Cavaliers. "We usually try to have at least some of the music by the December camp, if possible," says Kuhn. "Our music is totally original, so it takes longer to develop than it would with pre-existing music. It's not just a case of arranging music for the group."

Regardless of individual approach, staff members of the various corps agree that it's all about working together toward a common goal.
"I'd say the thing that really makes us work well together is our sense of teamwork," says Kuhn. "The Cavaliers' creative team is going on our fourth year together, and we've built up a lot of trust. If a drill person decides they need a few more counts because they have a visual idea, for instance, then we'll create a few more bars of music to make that happen. We're not afraid to try new things."

Typically in a drum corps, the drill gets created around the music, but Kuhn says the Cavaliers will readily experiment with designing music to make the drill work. "It's a holistic approach, trying to look at the whole program rather than the individual sections. Working together seamlessly is what really helps produce a winning corps," says Kuhn.

The instructors' collective experience translates well beyond the confines of their own corps, and the Cavaliers' brass staff is currently involved in conducting clinics to share their knowledge with corps instructors in various parts of the country. "We do conference calls with nearly 50 other corps and discuss ideas about things that have worked for us," says McGahey. "It's not just about producing a winning corps. As a high school band director, I want to see music education in general improve, and part of that is to improve the activity of drum corps as a whole for the kids involved by sharing successful ideas between different corps."

Bertman says the drum corps activity has allowed him opportunities to contribute his own experience as an educator in conducting, evaluating sounds, and conceptual thought. In return, he's been able to personally help raise the brass performance to a new level. "It comes down to having the mutual trust of a terrific, close-knit team, with the shared vision of making the activity the best it can possibly be," says Bertman.

That takes care of the musical side. But what about the purely logistical aspects of getting a drum corps, all those kids and all that equipment, on the road? That falls to someone like Christine Higgins, operations manager for both the Cadets and Crossmen at YEA!-and her list of duties is positively exhausting.

"My job consists of all those things that most people don't think about when they go see a show," says Higgins. "I spend the in-between times preparing, so I can ensure that all the little details will be taken care of, from corps housing, staff travel arrangements, keeping members up to date, and hiring all the drivers, to rounding up volunteers to travel with us all summer long." In other words, making sure everyone has everything they could possibly need to have a successful season.

A good staff will get the job done, but they need the right equipment to do it. The Cadets' Aungst says reliable equipment that can go the distance is a prime requirement.

"Last year was our first on all-Yamaha percussion," he recalls. "Other equipment lost sound and tone by mid-season, because drums take a lot of punishment from weather and transport. It was amazing how good the Yamaha snares sounded, though, and the Yamaha people were terrific about getting things to us when we needed them."

Aungst stresses that the benefits go both ways. "It's a back-and-forth thing because Yamaha relies on us and our experience to help develop products," he says. "For instance, I like a deeper sound on the tenor, so Yamaha customized a set of tenors for us. From that, they decided to go with a new tenor, with a warmer sound, that they're going to sell. They always send us new stuff, and we put it to the test. It's a really strong relationship, and it continues to strengthen over the entire season."