Drum Corps has been referred to by a few descriptions, "Extreme marching band", "Professional marching band","The NBA or NFL of Marching Band" and most recently "Marching Music's Major Leagues".

It's true, drum corps does very much resemble marching band; there are, of course, certain key differences. But before we talk about what drum corps isn't, let's talk about what it is.

Modern junior drum and bugle corps ("drum corps" for short) are independent youth organizations made up of up to 150 14- to 22-year-olds who spend the summer rehearsing and performing an 11-minute show in which they play a variety of horns or percussion instruments, or spin flags, rifles, sabers, and other implements, all while marching around a football field.

Now for those key differences; there are no woodwinds (clarinets, flutes, etc.) in drum corps, and a few of the brass instruments are constructed slightly differently from those you'd see on a local football field on a Friday night in the fall.

The intensity level is much higher in drum corps, and the difficulty level of the shows often times is much higher.
Then, too, there's the commitment: Drum corps members spend three to four weeks in everyday rehearsals and eight weeks on tour, doing nothing but drum corps, day in and day out. They even pay for this privilege!

Members generally have to pass an often-rigorous and selective audition process to be admitted to membership to a specific corps. And finally -- and importantly -- drum corps are, with a few exceptions, not affiliated with a school or university.

This means, that every member in a drum corps wants to be there and is committed to the experience.

World, Open and International

As a youth activity, the world of competitive drum and bugle corps is an intense, choreographed musical experience staged on football stadium fields by students achieving high levels of excellence in performance. Through the drum and bugle corps experience, young people develop life skills including self-discipline, teamwork and leadership.

Organized into three competitive classes, each drum corps is unique in how its management, educational staff and members approach the drum corps experience.

World Class corps can have up to 150 members. Students in World Class corps are primarily college-age with some high school involvement. Most corps from this class follow an intensive tour schedule, traveling more than 10,000 miles over the course of the summer while performing at more than 35 sanctioned events.

The criteria to earn World Class status incorporates a combination of aspects that include organizational stability, strength of program, number of participants, touring capabilities and financial stability. A participation review process is managed by a committee of independent individuals. They perform exhaustive evaluations of corps petitioning for World Class status after which a recommendation is presented to the DCI Board of Directors for a decision.

Open Class corps have a minimum of 30 members up to a maximum of 150. Most Open Class corps will follow an abbreviated tour schedule compared to World Class corps with memberships made up of a mixture of high school and some college-aged students.

The criteria to earn Open Class status involves a combination of factors that include organizational stability, strength of program, number of participants, travel capabilities, and financial stability. An evaluation process assists new or re-emerging corps petitioning for Open Class status after which a recommendation is presented to the Open Class Advisory Committee for approval.

International Class is comprised of corps from outside North America. Often traveling long distances to perform as part of the annual Summer Music Games Tour, in this class, corps are allowed to follow their own country’s organizational guidelines. If they choose to recognize Drum Corps International rules, they are allowed to compete for the Open Class title.

DCI rules state that members must be 21 or younger on June 1 in order to be eligible to march; those that have passed this age limit are said to have "aged out." But members can be as young as they are capable to handle the demand.

Generally Open Class corps are organized on a purely regional, part-time basis, so that these groups rehearse at a local site two or three times a week and do shows only on the weekend. This is a good option for kids who can't commit to a summer away from work, summer school, etc., and allows a corps the hassle of spending eight weeks away from their home base. It bears noting, though, that the experience of marching drum corps is equally valuable regardless of the division or touring schedule of the group. Or, in other words, it's not where you march, it's that you march.

The elements of drum corps

Drum corps members come in three forms: Brass, percussion and color guard. Within the brass line, there are five different instruments: The trumpet (soprano voice), the mellophone (alto voice), the baritone (tenor/baritone voice), the euphonium (baritone voice), and the contrabass (bass voice). The deeper the voice, the larger the instrument, so that the trumpet weighs in at about five or six pounds, versus the contra, which can run as heavy as 30 pounds (it's often compared to carrying a Buick on one shoulder).

The percussion section consists of two subsections, the back battery (commonly known as a "drum line") and the front ensemble or pit percussion. The back battery is made up of the snare drums; tenor drums, also known as quads, made up of four to six small pitched drums; and bass drums, which are pitched and, accordingly, come in several sizes.

Just about anything is game in the front ensemble, but generally the instrumentation includes all the keyboard percussion -- marimba and xylophone, which have wood or synthetic bars, and vibraphone and bells, which have metal bars -- along with the timpani, concert snare drum, concert bass drum, concert toms, chimes, temple blocks, gongs, a variety of cymbals, any ethnic drums, and any number of small instruments such as triangle, tambourine, whip crack -- and the list goes on and on. The front ensemble is staged off the main field, just off the front sideline in a designated box, and the players don't march.

The color guard enhances the visual presentation on the field by spinning flags, rifles and sabers. This tradition goes back to the wartime roots of drum and bugle corps, when a rifleman would literally guard the colors during battle. Modern color guard rifles and sabers are constructed especially for the process of spinning on the field, rather than for dismembering people! Color guards also engage in dance, body work, and all manner of theatrics to help illustrate the music.

In addition to the brass, percussion and color guard, one to three drum majors direct the corps on the field and help direct day-to-day logistics and communications between the members and the staff.

On the road again

The process of embarking on a season with a drum and bugle corps begins in November, when most corps hold their first audition camps over the Thanksgiving weekend. By then the corps' design staff -- the heads of each section, or caption, of the drum corps -- has been hard at work creating next year's show, deciding on a theme and music for that theme, and choosing on an instructional program to fit the requirements of that year's program. Audition camps, even for those who don't get chosen for membership, are an educational experience. The selection process is finished for most corps by early in the new year, and the corps spends the rest of its winter and spring camps learning music and refining the program. Most corps begin learning drill by the last few spring camps, and by the time the corps move in around Memorial Day weekend, the process of putting together the show is in full swing.

A corps spends late May and early June rehearsing eight to 12 hours a day, training at a corps' home base. This period is generally referred to as "everyday's," "move-ins" or "spring training," and during these three to four weeks, the members review and refine the exercises and basics they will utilize throughout the summer tour, and finish learning the field show. The corps may also learn additional tunes for parades or standstill performances such as encores. This time also gives the members a chance to get to know each other better.

By mid-June, the members load up the equipment truck, hop on the bus and embark on the eight-week summer tour. "Tour" is the competition phase of the season, in which most corps are in a new city every day or so, and play shows almost every night. In a typical show day schedule, the corps will wake up around 8, rehearse for a few hours, shower and pack up, play a show, and then drive all night to the next rehearsal or show site. On days the corps doesn't play a show, the group rehearses all day, logging as many as eight or 10 hours on the field. Corps also schedule performances, including parades and standstill (non-marching) shows, other than DCI-sponsored competitions. Most groups also give several educational clinics each summer. The corps will also occasionally schedule free time in which members can do their laundry, shop for toiletries and other essentials, or just hang out.

Members usually get at least half their sleep on the bus during the nightly drives; the rest comes in "floor time" on the gym floor at the next housing site. Members shower in locker rooms and eat meals prepared by volunteer cooks in the corps' cook truck, a semi-trailer outfitted to resemble an industrial-size kitchen. Tour is the longest phase of the summer, lasting until DCI Championships at the end of the season.

The corps travels in a large convoy that usually includes several coach buses, two semis (the equipment truck and the kitchen trailer), a box truck that hauls the souvenir trailer, and a smaller van for running daily errands. Most groups log approximately 6,500 to 12,000 miles in the course of tour.

Getting a corps down the road is expensive; many of the World Class groups have budgets that range from $500,000 up to $2 million, where Open Class corps budgets range from $100,000 to $500,000. While members do pay anywhere from $650 to $2,500 in membership dues and camp fees, this generally covers less than 30 percent of the cost per member of keeping the corps afloat. Souvenir sales and paid performances add a bit to the bankrolls, but most corps rely on fundraising efforts and private donations to close the gap. Since members not only pay dues but also lose the ability to work during the summer months, keeping member costs low is of genuine concern to drum corps directors.

The circus is coming to town!

In addition to a hefty checkbook, it also takes the proverbial cast of thousands to keep a corps going. Aside from the 135 members, most corps have two to four administrative staff, eight or nine drivers, four to eight other volunteers, and anywhere from 15 to 30 instructional staff. By the end of the season and the push to Championships, many corps end up with in excess of 180 people on tour.

The administrative staff, which includes the corps director, tour director, and their assistants on the road and in the home office, coordinates day-to-day operations of the corps, including dealing with finances, arranging housing, managing the cook truck and driving staff, and running daily errands such as airport pickups, grocery shopping and hospital trips.

Volunteers are an essential part of a corps' daily operations. They not only perform a number of essential functions on tour, from driving all night and cooking 150 people four meals a day to maintaining corps vehicles, fitting and repairing uniforms, and caring for medical needs, but also provide a caring shoulder and open arms to members who are away from home and their parents for months at a time.

And you pay to do this?

Drum corps is not solely an activity of learning to march and play. Members get to travel across the country, are exposed to a many different people who come from different backgrounds and have different habits, tastes and personalities. Drum corps veterans learn a great deal about teamwork and dealing with different types of people. They're also expected to be responsible for themselves to a large degree, so they have to learn time management and money management. And of course, working hard on a football field in all kinds of weather for several hours a day teaches a many lessons having to do with discipline, perseverance, working towards a goal, etc. It's these lessons that members take with them long after they can no longer march.

Ask 150 drum corps members why they love drum corps, and you'll probably get 150 different answers. Many will talk about their friends in the corps, the rewards of hard work, or the getting to escape from "real life."

For most people, though, the real thrill comes from putting on the uniform and performing every night for a screaming crowd of hundreds or thousands. The opportunity to perform is the reward for all the hard work during the day, and just getting to march a show can make up for all manner of evils that go on during the rehearsal day. The entire drum corps experience is a massively rewarding one, and the shared bonds of having survived a summer tends to bind any two people in the activity together in a way that is hard for onlookers to understand. It's an activity that inspires passion -- some would say obsession -- in its followers and fans, and brings people back to it over and over again.