Newsgroups: rec.arts.marching.drumcorps,rec.answers,news.answers Path: bloom-beacon.mit.edu!grapevine.lcs.mit.edu!olivea!koriel!cs.utexas.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!uchinews!ellis!mjfath From: mjfath@midway.uchicago.edu (Michael J. Fath) Subject: rec.arts.marching.drumcorps FAQ 1/6 General info; DC on-line Message-ID: <1994Apr13.080158.26070@midway.uchicago.edu> Followup-To: rec.arts.marching.drumcorps Summary: Introduction; DCI; drum corps on-line; corps information Keywords: FAQ, drum and bugle corps, Drum Corps International, marching Sender: news@uchinews.uchicago.edu (News System) Reply-To: mjfath@midway.uchicago.edu Organization: University of Chicago -- Academic Information Technologies Date: Wed, 13 Apr 1994 08:01:58 GMT Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.edu Lines: 488 Xref: bloom-beacon.mit.edu rec.arts.marching.drumcorps:11157 rec.answers:4882 news.answers:18024 Archive-name: drumcorps-faq/part1 Last-modified: 1994/02/27 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for rec.arts.marching.drumcorps Part 1 of 6 Introduction; Drum Corps On-line; Cybercorps!; Where to get drum corps information Written by Michael Fath and Donald Chinn. Administered by Michael Fath (mjfath@midway.uchicago.edu) NOTICE: This FAQ is copyright (c) 1994 by Michael Fath and is made available as a service to the drum corps and the Internet community. The FAQ may be distributed freely in printed or electronic form, provided that it is not modified. The FAQ may not be sold in any medium including electronic, CD-ROM, or database, or published in print without the express written permission of the authors. Contact Michael Fath (mjfath@midway.uchicago.edu) if there are any questions. Comments welcome on any aspect of this FAQ. We are especially looking for information on Div. II/III corps, and early drum corps information (VFW and American Legion Championships and pre-DCI corps in general). If you see anything that is inaccurate (such as corps address information or repertoire), please let us know. Table of Contents: 1.0 What is drum corps? 1.0.1 DCI and DCA 1.1 Drum corps on-line 1.1.1 History of drum corps on-line 1.1.2 Rec.arts.marching.drumcorps 1.1.3 Internet-Mail Gateway 1.1.4 FTP site 1.1.5 Archive site 1.1.6 Cybercorps! 1.2 Sources for drum corps information 1.2.1 Drum Corps International 1.2.2 Drum Corps World 1.2.3 other drum corps associations 1.2.4 books 1.2.5 scorelines 1.3 Audio and video recordings 1.3.1 compact discs and cassettes 1.3.2 videos 1.0 What is drum corps? Drum corps is an abbreviation for drum and bugle corps. During the competitive season, corps from all across the US and Canada perform to crowds of up to 35,000. The closest kind of group to a drum corps that is not a drum corps is the marching band, but the performance levels of the top drum corps is in general higher than top marching bands. The music. Drum corps do NOT play Sousa marches or "um-pa- pa" music. The repertoire of modern drum corps consists of classical, jazz, contemporary, and symphonic literature. Broadway musicals are also popular. Some organizations tend to play a single kind of music. For example, the Concord Blue Devils tend to play jazz each year, while the Phantom Regiment plays classical music each year. Gone are the days of sitting on the 50 yardline playing the theme from Rocky and Stars and Stripes Forever (which used to be common in both drum corps and marching bands). The music is arranged by professionals. The brass and percussion instructors are among the best in the country. There are many college music professors involved in the activity. The drill. Drills are also designed by professional artists and choreographers. Smooth curves during delicate passages and sharp angles during aggressive passages accent the presentation of the music. Color and dance also add to the interpretation of the music. The drill and the music are integrated into a whole (unlike many field shows one sees at a typical halftime show) in a constantly moving show. There are three sections of a drum corps: the brass, the percussion, and the color guard. See later questions for descriptions for what are allowed in the brass and percussion sections. The color guard (a misnomer in today's performances) is the group of performers who handle the flags and other props that visually enhance the performance. They typically do quite a bit of dancing and equipment work. Forget about any experiences you've had with high school and college marching bands. Drum corps is a completely different animal, and any music-lover ought to consider seeing a show towards the end of the season. 1.0.1 DCI and DCA There are many organizations devoted to drum and bugles corps world-wide. Many of these are listed below in section 1.2. But the two most important organizations are DCI (Drum Corps International) and DCA (Drum Corps Associates). DCI supervises the junior drum and bugle corps in North America. These are corps that are restricted to members 21 years of age or younger. Most drum and bugle corps in fall into this general catagory. DCI corps march in the DCI circuit which culminates in the DCI World Championships on the third Saturday of August each summer. DCA differs from DCI in a number of respects. DCA corps are often called Senior corps and are open to people of any age. DCA runs its own circuit, too which culminates in the DCA Championships over Labor Day weekend each year. In this FAQ, I have grouped the information on DCA corps together in Section 6. This is because the DCA information is maintained and updated by Martin Cross (crossm@pt.Cyanamid.Com) and this proves to be the simplest way to do it. 1.1 Drum corps on-line 1.1.1 History of drum corps on-line The first on-line newletter about drum corps that I am aware of was called Off-The-Line (The Marching Arts List). It was administered by several people, most recently by DJ Foremsky (df1y+@andrew.cmu.edu). In March of 1992, Michael Fath (mjfath@midway.uchicago.edu) formed an alt newgroup called alt.drumcorps. The success of alt.drumcorps resulted in the demise of Off-The-Line, since most people on the list had access to UseNet and discussion moved there. After nine months of activity, readers of alt.drumcorps decided to hold an RFD and CFV to create a mainstream newsgroup for drumcorps discussion. The vote was run by Phil Earnhardt and Michael Fath and held during November, 1992. The vote was successful and two groups were formed under the hierachy of Rec.arts.marching.*. Rec.arts.marching.drumcorps and Rec.arts.marching.misc were created on UseNet in December, 1992. In it's first year of existence, over 8,000 messages have passed through Rec.arts.marching.drumcorps. 1.1.2 Rec.arts.marching.drumcorps (RAMD) The home for most all drum corps discussion on the InterNet is the Newsgroup Rec.arts.marching.drumcorps. The newsgroup is often abbreviated RAMD. There is a companion Newsgroup called Rec.arts.marching.misc that is devoted to the discussion of other marching arts such as marching bands (college and high school), color guards, and everything else. 1.1.3 Drumcorps mailing list A Drumcorps-Digest mailing list has been created by Mark Baushke (mdb@cisco.com) to allow people without access to UseNet to receive a daily digest of articles that appear in alt.drumcorps or rec.arts.marching.drumcorps and post articles to alt.drumcorps and to rec.arts.marching.drumcorps. If you have administrative requests regarding the digest, please direct them to drumcorps-digest-request@cisco.com as Mark is NOT on the digest mailing list himself. Typical administrative requests should be: - please remove me from the drumpcorps-digest list - please add me to the drumpcorps-digest list - please change my old address to Two addresses have also been created which will post e-mail sent to them to the corresponding newsgroup of: alt-drumcorps@cisco.com (posts to alt.drumcorps) and rec-arts-marching-drumcorps@cisco.com (posts to rec.arts.marching.drumcorps) Any replies you wish to make to newsgroup postings you read in the digest are as simple as sending e-mail to the appropriate address. The digest software runs an NNTP reader client once per day which will read all previously unread articles in the group and package them as a single e-mail message. If there are no new articles, or the news machine is down, then you will not get any articles that day. If you have not seen a digest in more than three days, you might want to send e-mail to the administrivia address to have me look into any problems. 1.1.4 FTP site for drum corps information The most recent version of the FAQ can be found at the anonymous FTP site: charon.mit.edu in the directory /pub/usenet-by-group/rec.arts.marching.drumcorps/ Recently, a new anonymous FTP site has been established by Kelly Hall (hall@bert.cs.byu.edu) for keeping the FAQ, drumcorps GIFs, scores, and other information. The information for this site is: Name: lal.cs.byu.edu IP: 128.187.2.182 login: anonymous password: dir: pub/dci This site can also be reached through the World Wide Web (WWW). The address is http://lal.cs.byu.edu/dci/dci.html Contact Kelly Hall for more information. 1.1.5 Archive site for rec.arts.marching.drumcorps articles An archive site for drum corps articles has not, to my knowledge, been established. If any computer experts would like to help me get one started, please let me know. 1.1.6 Cybercorps by Jeff Butera (jvbutera@math.ncsu.edu) What is this Cybercorps thing? I have been asked this directly (or other fellow RAMDers have fowarded misguided souls to me to ask) more times than I wish to count. So I have created this nice little explanation which I can send to reply to those who ask. I am the "keeper of the list". That's it. My EMAIL is jvbutera@math.ncsu.edu and I am the one you need to talk to "audition". Many people call Cybercorps a "virtual" corps. Yes, we are real! We have a drum major, all the basic instruments covered, and a staff. Does Cybercorps have auditions? Yes. I will accept your EMAIL request to be added to Cybercorps as your audition. To be sucessfully added, there are certain rudiments every member must perform: 1) I need your full name (as you'd like it to appear on something semi-official, like a T-shirt). 2) I need a valid EMAIL address. 3) I need a position (instrument, guard or staff, etc) for you to fill. What can I play/spin/etc? It doesn't matter what you know for an instrument or guard equipment. Heck, people who in reality play horns could be in the guard, and vice-versa. Thus, you aren't limited to a piece of equipment you already know! Pick something you always wish you could do. Do we perform? Heck ya! Well, if you count showing up at various and sundry DCI shows during the hot summer months in a Cybercorps uniform as performing, yes we do. So what does Cybercorps really "do"? My best explanation is that Cybercorps exists for those who have aged out, did not get to march, can't march, or do actually march in a DCI corps, but still want to share an allegiance with other fellow RAMDers. We (the members and staff) basically meet at DCI shows by wearing T-shirts printed each year (well, we're 1 for 1 right now!). That way you can put a face to the names you see flying about on the net every day you read your news. That's it. Want to join? Audition as described above. 1.2 Sources for drum corps information 1.2.1 Drum Corps International The official organization devoted to promoting the junior drum and bugle corps activity in North America is called Drum Corps International (DCI). DCI and its Board of Directors plans the summer performance schedules, coordinates judging, hosts regional competitions, and runs the DCI World Championships during the third week of August every summer. It is roughly analogous to the NCAA for college athletics. DCI was organized in 1972 as a reaction to the "harsh" way the VFW (Veterans of Foreign War) and AL (American Legion) were governing the activity. DCI publishes a bimonthly newsletter called DCI Today. It is a must for any drum corps fan. DCI Today P.O. Box 548, Lombard, IL 60148-0548 1-800-344-2772 or 708-495-9866 Six bi-monthly issues 1st class - $12.00/yr 4th class bulk rate - $6.00 (lifetime subscr. - delivery not guaranteed) 1.2.2 Drum Corps World Drum Corps World (DCW) serves as the only independent publication devoted to the drum and bugle corps activity world-wide. The editor is Steve Vickers, and DCW prides itself on providing nearly complete coverage of drum corps compeitions every summer as well as news during the winter months. The magazine is expensive due to it limited circulation but well worthwhile for the serious drum corps fan. Drum Corps World P.O. Box 8052, Madison, WI 53708-8052 1-800-554-9630 20 issues per year 1st class - $63.00/yr 2nd class - $45.00/yr 1.2.3 Other drum corps associations In addition to DCI, there are many regionals and international drum corps organizations that promote the activity world wide. Here is a complete listing of these organizations. DCA - Drum Corps Associates Michael Petrone, 10 Columbus Drive, Monmouth Beach, NJ 07750 908-222-3835 DCI - Drum Corps International Ellen Palmer, P.O. Box 548, Lombard, IL 60148 708-495-9866 DCI regional organizations: DCE - Drum Corps East Anthony DiCarlo, 246 West Street, South Weymouth, MA 02188 617-331-9500 DCM - Drum Corps Midwest Roman Blenski, 4601 West Holt Avenue, Milwaukee, WI 53220 414-327-2847 DCS - Drum Corps South newly reforned in 1993. DCW - Drum Corps West Tom Hope, 372 Florin Road Suite #303, Sacramento, CA 95832 916-429-9545 Independent regional organizations: DCNY - Drum Corps New York Carl Pynn, P.O. Box 22, Wampsville, NY 13163 315-363-8889/313-363-1230 E-Mass - Eastern Massachusetts Elaine Blinn, 18 Jef Road, Billerica, MA 02821 508-667-2443 GSC - Garden State Circuit Carmen Cirlincione, 249 Crystal Street, North Arlington, NJ 07032 201-998-4222 IAA - Illinois All-American Aurelia Kmiec, 4622 North Kostner Avenue, Chicago, IL 60630 708-725-8235 UDCA - United Drum Corps Association Ralph Parkhill, 523 Montauk Highway, Sayville, NY 11782 516-589-5047 International drum corps associations: DCD - Drum Corps Deutschland Thomas Rohr, Faselwiese 5, 6700 Ludwigshafen/Rh., Germany 0621-664010 DCH - Drum Corps Holland Jos Brusse, Farenheitlaan 29, 1222 LM, Lilversum, Netherlands 011-31-78-164512 DCUK - Drum Corps United Kingdom John Garton c/o The Oliver Hind Club, Edale Road, Sneinton Dale, Nottingham, England NG2 4HT 011-44-602-483200 DCWI - Drum Corps West Indies Junior Ricketts, 375 Pine Street, Brooklyn, NY 11208 718-235-0716 FAMQ - Federation des Association Musicales du Quebec Carol Plante, P.O. Box 1000, Succursale M, Montreal, Quebec, Canada 514-252-3025 ODCA - Ontario Drum Corps Association Lynne Sosnowski, 258 King Street North Suite 12-J, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2J 2Y9 519-746-0042 1.2.4 books Jodeen E. Popp's 1978 book on drum corps is called Competitive Drum Corps. It is a 8 1/2" X 11" paperback book which includes sections on the origins of drum corps and on individual corps' histories. It also includes yearly summaries of the drum corps activity from the 1950's through 1979.It includes two supplements for 1980 and 1981. It can be ordered by writing to Olympic Printing Inc., 83 N. Broadway, Des Plaines, IL 60016 or calling 708-296-3015. I paid $35.00 for mine in 1992. Introducing the Drum and Bugle Corps. There is a book called Introducing the Drum and Bugle Corps. It is a book for young adults and describes a girl's experiences marching with the Diplomat's from Malden, MA. More details will be added on this later. 1.2.5 scorelines Every summer, several of the top 12 drum and bugle corps set up their own individual scoreline to allow drum corps fans to get daily updates on scores. These scorelines are free except for any long distance costs. In addition, DCI has a number 1-900-CAN-DRUM that can also be used for daily score updates. The cost for this call is $1.50/1st min, $0.95 for each additional minute. Here are some of the scoreline phone numbers: DCI Scoreline 1-900-CAN-DRUM Blue Knights 303-730-1765 Cadets of Bergen County 201-384-7088 Cavaliers 312-763-3807 Santa Clara Vanguard 408-727-5591 Star of Indiana 812-323-3770 1.3 Audio and video recordings 1.3.1 compact discs and cassettes DCI sells cassettes and CD's of recent Championship years. For the cassettes, you can order the top 12 corps' performances (3 tapes) or the top 24 corps (6 tapes). The CD's come in either the 2-disc version (top 14 corps) or the 3-disc version (top 21 corps). The 3-disc CD set costs about $50. You can order through the address and phone no. for DCI above. Current prices for CDs - a summary from the NOV/DEC issue of DCI: Phone Number:.......1-800-344-2772 Address:............DCI Merchandising P.O. Box 33059 Northglenn, CO 80234 Payment:............Visa/AMX/Discover/MC/check/M.O. Merchandise: CS-93-XMAS $14.00 Ornaments in Brass Cassette CD-93-XMAS $20.00 Ornaments in Brass CD CAL-01 $10.00 Calendar 1994-95 (18 month calendar) CS-93-2V $24.00 Cassettes (Top 12) CS-93-2VPK $36.00 Cassettes (Top 12) plus Ornaments in Brass CS-93-4V $40.00 Cassettes (Top 24) CS-93-4VPK $52.00 Cassettes (Top 24) plus Ornaments in Brass CD-93-2V $40.00 CD's (Top 14) CD-93-2VPK $58.00 CD's (Top 14) plus Ornaments in Brass CD-93-3V $50.00 CD's (Top 21) CD-93-3VPK $68.00 CD's (Top 21) plus Ornaments in Brass The following is a special Holiday Collection. It is packaged in a 10x13 gloss black album that includes the 1993 Championships and Ornaments in Brass recordings, and the 18 month full color wall calendar. CS-93-HC $60.00 Cassette Tape Holiday Collection CD-93-HC $75.00 CD'S Holiday Collection Individual corps also have recordings of their own corps. The Blue Devils, Santa Clara Vanguard, and Cadets of Bergen County have recordings in one form or another. They may be other corps that do this as well. 1.3.2 videos 800 Video Express is the company that sells videos of all previous championship performances. Any particular years' championship program (top 12 corps) costs $98, and they have all years of DCI. They have other packages, such as a set of tapes that only has performances of the Blue Devils for the past 17 years (substitute "Blue Devils" for your favorite corps). For a complete catalog, contact 800 Video Express. DCI World Championship Video's Phone:.............1-800-848-8433 Address:...........800 Video Express, Inc P.O. Box 142 Palatine, IL 60078 Payment:...........MC/VISA/check Merchandise: $39.00 each Individual performances for any Div II/III or Open class corps (length approximately 15 min.) $98.00 Full finals show of top 12 corps. Two tape package taped from the PBS broadcast. (Over 3 hrs) $175.00 Top 25 performances. This 3-tape package includes the top 25 corps recorded exclusively at Thursday's quarterfinals. This package is available in multiple as well as high camera version. (Over 5 hrs) $98.00 Div. II or III complete performance finals show. 1.3.3 music for wind ensemble Corps play a wide range of music including classical, contempory, jazz, soundtracks, and music for wind ensemble. Original recordings of much of this music can be bought at your local record store. But most music for wind ensemble is not widely available. I have found a good source of music for wind ensemble. They are: West Coast Music Service P.O. Box 3501 North Ft. Myers, FL 33918-3501 813-731-0565 I have ordered a few CDs from them and they have been great. They have almost everything that has been written for wind ensembles available, mostly performed by university bands. CDs I got from them had Cincinnati Concervatory performing Gavorkna Fanfare and Heroes, Lost and Fallen; and Tokyo Kosai Wind Ensemble performing Morning Alleluias. -- MM MM FFFFF Michael J. Fath M M M M F Department of Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology M M M FFF The University of Chicago M M F Chicago, IL 60637 mjfath@midway.uchicago.edu