Drum and Bugle Corps International. DCI

[Funcoot]

[img]http://www.centervilleband.org/soaring_sounds/ss26_2005/ss26_images/DCI%20(reflex%20blue).jpg[/img]
Drum and Bugle Corps International is the nonprofit organization governing modern day junior Drum and Bugle Corps. DCI showcases some of the most talented marching ensembles from all over North America. Most corps generally perform a summer tour which consists of DCI sanctioned competitions which eventually leads up to DCI World Championships.

Now if you aren't a brass or percussion musician, you might be asking yourself right now.. what is a drum and bugle corps? To be put simply, a drum and bugle corps is a marching unit that consists of brass instruments, percussion instruments, and color guard (yeah, no wood winds, the way it should be).

Participating in a drum corps is easily one of the most intense and competitive activities in the world. [b]World Class DCI corps practice anywhere from 12 to 16 hours a day every day for 3 or 4 weeks.[/b] This amount of practice is necessary for World Class corps to obtain the scores they strive for. The World Championships can we lost by a hundredth of a point.

Drum Corps are far more than marching bands. Their shows tell a story and bring march performance to a whole new level.

[b]Media[/b]
I am unable to find any high quality videos of DCI shows, due to the fact that DCI places strict regulation on showing them. You can find some, but I'll leave that up to you if you really want to.

[u]The Blue Devils Brass Line Warming Up[/u]
Watch this whole video, or skip to 1:06 for the good stuff!
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvay3hbwX4M#t=1m6s[/media]

[u]The Blue Devils Battery Warming Up - The Ditty[/u]
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2QixmwAl5Y&feature=related[/media]

[u]Fan Made DCI Trailer[/u]
A really cool watch to see what some of these corps do visually.
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ju3LWbVuy8Q&feature=related[/media]

[u]Troopers DCI Corps Recruitment Video[/u]
Just to show you what a recruitment video looks like.
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2kPFymVBHc[/media]

[u]The Blue Devils - When a Man Loves a Woman[/u]
Just a short piece they played after a show. Really cool.
[hd]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dau9E7p0ns4&fmt=22[/hd]

Despite me posting all these Blue Devils videos, Teal Sound is actually my favorite corps. Blue Devils are still great though, and for the last time they are not overrated!

[Funcoot]

Aww, am I really the only DCI fan? :(

[bltsponge]

Oh hey, other people here like drum corps! Cool stuff.

I'm a tenor player. I'm marching DCA right now, and plan on auditioning at Blue Stars next season.

edit: By the way, THIS is drum corps: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmOqUkggMmw[/media]

[Funcoot]

[QUOTE=bltsponge;23371799]Oh hey, other people here like drum corps! Cool stuff.

I'm a tenor player. I'm marching DCA right now, and plan on auditioning at Blue Stars next season.

edit: By the way, THIS is drum corps: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmOqUkggMmw[/media][/QUOTE]

Haha the Cadets are pretty cool. Our marching and brass clinician told us a story as a lesson about a Cadet marcher who blew out his knee while transitioning directions wrong. He said you could see it his uniform pants move when it happened.

Also, what corps are you marching for in DCA?

[stupid10er]

I'm going to volunteer with food and stuff with the Cadets in 3 days(I'll be working 10 days). Joy.

[bltsponge]

[QUOTE=Funcoot;23392375]Haha the Cadets are pretty cool. Our marching and brass clinician told us a story as a lesson about a Cadet marcher who blew out his knee while transitioning directions wrong. He said you could see it his uniform pants move when it happened.

Also, what corps are you marching for in DCA?[/QUOTE]

I march with the Hawthonre Caballeros.

[Funcoot]

I'm hoping to march in Alliance, then step up to a DCI corps.

[Himes]

DCI is great. Any predictions for this year? The Bluecoats are coming right up.

[stupid10er]

My opinion:

Blue Devils: Horribly boring show

Blue Coats: Interesting, but horns barely move and play at the same time

Cavaliers: Same as Blue Coats

Cadets: Good show, I got to see a lot of it when I was with them

Madison: Very underrated show, they should be ranked higher

Crossmen: The Guard and Drill is aboslutely horrible

Carolina Crown: Decent show, same boat with Cadets

Phantom: Boring

Blue Knights: Boring

Blue Stars: Could be better a bit, twas ok

I got into a lot of shows for free just by volunteering, so I got to know the shows a bit.

[Himes]

[QUOTE=stupid10er;23695094]My opinion:

Cadets: Good show, I got to see a lot of it when I was with them

[/QUOTE]

Did you march with the Cadets? If so, which instrument?

[stupid10er]

No no no, I didn't march with them. I meant when I volunteered with them, I saw their show many times during practice, and I got into many shows for free because of that.

[Funcoot]

Funny that this thread just got bumped. I JUST got back from the Milton, FL show. Pacific Crest, Troopers, Teal Sound, Cascades, Glassmen, Colts, and The Academy.

I enjoyed all the shows and they were all sounded great.

The Glassmen's show was quite boring to be honest. It sounded great but I lost interest quick. The Troopers, that show was pretty rad, but I saw a lot of errors in the foot work and wonder if they really should have placed 3rd. Troopers are my favorite corps, but I keep it real. The Cascades honestly surprised me. They didn't sound the best, but their show was very entertaining to be ranked 2nd to last.

The Colts performed extremely well!

But, lets go Troopers! I wanna see you guys in the world finals!