I want to introduce you guys to DCI (Drum Corps International). If you have never done marching band, you may not appreciate what I'm about to show you, but perhaps it's worth looking at anyway.

DCI is a competitive circuit of brass and percussion only marching bands (called corps). Those groups at the top level of competition here have no equal anywhere in the US and perhaps the world in difficulty of show. Students in college and high school participate, and it's a summer program.

Students generally try out in November, and those that make it begin training early the next year. When school it out, they move into dorms at a university for an intensive camp to learn their show. After 3-4 weeks of training, the students begin travelling and competing with their show all over the US. All through the summer they compete, and spend their days continuing to practice the show. At the end of the summer in August, the DCI world championships are held at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Sometimes you can find that competition on ESPN2, although it wasn't on last year.

Typical schedule of a corps during their traveling season goes something like this:

Get up, eat breakfast.
Practice till noon.
Eat lunch.
Practice till 5 pm
Eat dinner.
Compete in a show.
Sleep on bus and travel to next location.

Because of the sheer amount of time practicing, and the selective nature of the tryouts, some of the corps reach levels of performance that cannot be matched by any high school or college marching band. For every minute my own marching band gets to practice, for example, a typical high level corp gets an hour. Students who make it into these programs become some of the most proficent musicians in the country when they leave.

Here's a you tube video of one of the corps performing. Good quality videos are sometimes difficult to come by for corps because many of them sell DVDs to raise money and protect their copywrights fairly rigidly. This particular youtube video is from the DCI Finals DVD, and there's no telling how long it will remain on youtube before it's taken down.

This particular corps came in second place last August. Because of the size of the show, it's split into two different youtube videos.





Any of you ever do a corps, or compete in a competitive high school marching band? In Indiana and Texas especially, the level of competition is incredibly tough.

*edit* I forgot to mention-- if this looks even remotely interesting to you, youtube just doesn't do it justice. You really should go see a live show. You can find a schedule of events around the country at the dci website, www.dci.org .

DCI is THE SHIT! My wife is a music teacher and we hit DCI every time they are even close to where we are

Look up the name Mel Straton from the Blue Devils. He was my band instructor in High School. 5 DCI rings. I have two friends who have kids in Blue Devil B corp. Luckily we get to see a few of the corps right before they head to DCI. I'll be there again this year for sure!

I love me some marching bands. Something about the working in unison that gives me goosebumps. But I haven't seen anything like that before. That was fucking amazing.

You should go to a DCI show. You can not get close to what they are doing on any video (well, except for the IMAX DCI shows, that comes close). You get several hours of outstanding performances. You get the passion and get to see all of the little things that the camera misses.

This isn't like going to college football game and watching the halftime shows, these guys take that type of performance to amazing levels. They are the precision of the (Texas A&M) Aggie Band but take highly complex songs and marching arrangement to a whole new level. Oh, and it is done by kids aged 13-22.

I can't say enough good things about DCI.

Listen to krby. It's hard to even describe. It's marching band, but not like anything you've seen before. The videos don't even come close to doing it justice.

These kids go through a gruelling schedule unlike anything else in their lives. Last year, there were 35 openings for spots in the Cavaliers (one of the best corps), and 650 kids showed up to just ONE of the two different tryout weekends they had.

If you make it, beginning in the spring you have a few Saturdays of rehearsals. When school gets out, you move into a dorm at a university somewhere for 3-4 weeks and work on your show for 12 hours a day, 7 days a week. After camp is over, you start traveling, with the general schedule I outlined above. It all ends with the championships in Indy.

I have taken my band kids to watch performances before, but what always amazes me most as a teacher is their rehearsals. I took 15 kids to just watch a rehearsal for 3 hours once two years ago. The discipline is unbelievable. 250 kids in the corps we watched (the Blue Devils)-- for 3 hours they are 100% focused. Students stand in their formations at attention in silence. They play a 15 second section, then RUN bad to their original spots to do it again. Instructors are lined up all across the field giving instruction and relaying it via radio up to the tower. At the tower is 5-6 instructors getting this information and passing it on to the head director with the microphone. He gives quick precise instructions, and they move without question, without blinking. It's as disciplined as a military operation-- but with kids too young to be in the military. Water breaks are 2 minutes long at most-- students run off the field, grab their drinks for a swallow, then run back to their spots.

If you've ever tried working with 250 high school / college kids in an outdoor setting with large noise-making instruments before, you may appreciate how amazing this all was.

For 3 hours.

I'm bumping this thread, as I am very excited that I just got word that I am going to get to go watch the DCI finals August 13th from a luxury booth, thanks to some free tickets.

Two years since this original thread, and I am still completely blown away by DCI every time I go see them. There isn't really anything else like it.

DCI is amazing. We go when we have a chance.

Small hijack:

Frib, my daughter will be a freshman this coming school year. She is in band (has been for three years, this past year was All-Region & All-District clarinet). Anyhow, she tried out for competition band (all must try out) and she made the competition band.

Here is the kicker: She does not want to be in the competition band, not as a freshman. She was reacting to the news as if someone ran over her cat. Is that a common issue?

I sent a calm and sensible email to the directors explaining the situation and asked that they contact either me or my wife. I did get a call this am and the director will allow her to stay in the Jaguar band (the big perform at the game band).

I imagine that she is simply nervous about the extra work competition band probably involves. Remember this is also her first year in high school... everything is new, and if she is like most freshmen she is very concerned about where she is going to fit in socially-- so much so that it nearly overshadows everything else.

So yeah-- tons of stress and this is I assume a big commitment. She would be fine either way, and if it's all too much for her waiting year is fine too. I wouldn't worry about it too much-- let her do as she wishes, I guess would be my first thought.

As for, "is it common?".... hard for me to say. Retention of freshmen at the beginning of marching band is a small problem for me as well. They come to a few days, or see the schedule and what it requires, and some wig out before giving it a chance. I have a few every year. I try to encourage them to give it a shot, and usually those that do end up liking it.

And btw, your post implies a fairly large school, with a large program. I have very little qualification to speak about how such programs handle these kinds of things. I work at a small school (400 students) with a relatively small band (55 students). We don't have separate "competition" and "noncompetition" bands... everyone competes. Its a totally different situation.

yes, it is a large High School, in the largest classification in Texas. The "Jaguar Band" this year is around 350-370 performers. I am not saying that bigger is better or holding any bias one way or anther as each have their strengths and benefits.

I got a call today that she had to be excused from morning rehearsal as she had a breakout of hives due to the stress. This was before she talked to the lead director as to the decision for her to move to the Jaguar Band. I haven't talked to her yet today, but I hope she is in better spirits.

And yes, they are doing "two-a-days" in band. They have a practice in the morning and in the late afternoon. They started this past Monday and will go through the start of school in two weeks. I tease my son that the band is practicing longer and harder in the heat than his football team.

In previous years we did 9 hour days for two weeks before school starts. This year I spread it out to three weeks but lowered the hours per day, so we are doing 3-5 hours a day for three weeks.

When school starts we do 1 hour on Monday, Wednesday, Fridays, and 3 hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Saturdays we rehearse for 2 hours before competitions.

Yes, it is more practice than our football team in the heat, but on the other hand we aren't running like they do, so it is difficult to compare.