JUNE = DRUM CORPS

That's right...

hot weather + parking lot + a sense of urgency = drum corps in June.

We're plugging away at the show, and it's going well. We're not finished, but we don't freak out about things like that at Bush. Some other drum corps are finished with their shows, but we're taking our time to do it right the first time. Plus, the show is pretty hard...and we're trying to plug people in as we go along. The goal is to not have to make any major changes once we get into the competition season (something we've had to do many of the years that I've been here)...so that's good.

I like the show so far. It's a good mixture of fast and slow, loud and soft, etc, etc. That's not to say that it's a show of opposites. Quite the contrary. Everything in the show compliments each other very well. The various elements appear to be well coordinated, although that's difficult to tell at this early stage. This year is so entirely different than most of my 12, mostly due to the new design team, so it's nice to have that freshness injected into things...and from a learning standpoint, I have a lot to draw from and a lot to learn from. As an arranger and a show designer myself, every year I try to learn what TO do and what NOT to do from the team at Bush, and it's worked out pretty well. I'm enjoying the new perspectives, and I'm learning plenty about the good, the bad, and the ugly of show design.

The guard is going to be good. They're chatty, but it's all the energy and excitement bubbling over. They truly seem to enjoy being there and doing this...so I try to not go crazy with the "Shhhh!" and "Be Quiet!" all the time. I want to get to know them, though. I spend so much time with the percussion and brass sections that I don't get to know the guard until later in the season. By that point, they probably just think I'm some jerk who yells a lot. I'd like to change that this year and get to know them earlier so they can think I'm not so much of a jerk who yells a lot...and then maybe they'll keep it down on the field. :)

The battery is really improved from last year. I was very happy when Bob Cizmarik was hired to run the line this year. We're friends from working together at Upper Darby, and I knew that his philosophy and way of doing things would go over well at Bush...after a transition period, of course. Well, it appears that the transition is nearly complete, and Bob has really started to make the Bush percussion section his own. He's passionate and he works fast...and he expects his members to be awake, alert, and on fire during rehearsal. Is there anything wrong with that? :) I guess it helps that most of the line is new this year, because there's not that usual push-back you get from vets held-over from a previous drum staff. It also means that we have 20 or 30 some odd percussionists who come from all different walks of life and all kinds of different programs who have this raging red-head imposing his will upon them. It's fun to watch, because instead of pushing back, the line really is trying for him and is making huge strides. They drum like men and women, and that's encouraging. They're not afraid of the drum. They're not afraid at all...they just drum. THAT is what it's all about.

There just isn't a place in drum corps for fear. Nerves? Okay. Butterflies in the tummy before a performance? Sure...absolutely. This activity is run on adrenaline, preparation, heart, and aggression. You have to live on the edge in drum corps. You have to push it. Drum corps is fun when everyone TRUSTS everyone else around them...everyone knows that if I play as LOUD as I can, that the dudes and dude-ettes next to me are going to do the same damn thing. If I'm told to break character here and rock out...even though I might feel a little silly, everyone else is selling it 100%. If I'm going to attack a tripplet roll played up to my eyeballs, I know that all my brothers and sisters are going to be subdividing with me and it's going to be clean...it HAS to be clean.

Fear + drum corps = last place. Trust me. I know.

So, anyway...it's nice to see the Bush percussion section starting to trust each other and just play drums and march around. The pit is going through a little bit of a transition that put them in a funk for a minute and a half, but they're coming out of it and really starting to hit their stride as well. Rock on.

The brass is going to be better than last year. Yes, last year's brass line won brass by a large margin, and won field brass by one of the largest spreads in the recorded history of the sub caption in ALL drum corps, not just DCA. They're going to be better. The book is harder, but the technique is what makes them what they are. It doesn't get a whole lot better than the program we have at the Bushwackers. With June comes hot weather and long days, and with this often comes drama. It never fails, and I've never heard of a drum corps that hasn't been bit with the drama bug. There are a lot of new people this year who need to learn how to be Bushwackers, and that will come. Some vets would like to see that happen now rather than later, but it's always a process. Everything is a process, and we all grow together BECAUSE of the process. If everyone walked through the doors knowing what it was to be a Bushwacker and how to act like a Bushwacker, and what is expected of a Bushwacker...then would it mean anything to be a Bushwacker? Anyone can wear the uniform and learn the show and call themselves Bushwackers...but it's going through the tribulations of the winter months wondering who is in and who is out, the arduous days of the early summer when you're putting the whole thing together and the occasional baritone player sleeps through his alarm, the bus breakdowns, the lack of showers before shows on only the hottest days of the summer, the lack of sleep, the frustration of wanting to be finished learning and onto cleaning, etc, etc, etc...it's ALL of these things that bond us together, these shared experiences and memories that are forever etched in our minds. For better or for worse, we're all here to kick ass and enjoy drum corps.

Perspective.

With all of that being said, I'm excited about getting on with the show this weekend. I'm excited that we've been picking up new members every single weekend. I'm excited to meet the new people who will show up this weekend. I'm excited to compete, and I'm excited to see how the summer plays out. "Live every day as if it is your last"...because this could very well be my last season as a Bushwacker, and I will not go quiet into that dark night.

I'm not saying I'm leaving...just that you never know what might be around the next corner.

The biggest thing, at this point in the season as the drum major...and really any pre-season (band, corps, whatever)...is developing trust. My members need to trust that no matter what happens on the field, that I am a rock and that I am right. They need to know that if everything crumbles around them, they just need to look up at the podium and I will put them on my shoulders and lead them. It's very difficult to explain how a drum major can hold an ensemble together. Sure, I could get into the physics of holding an ensemble together (speed of light vs. speed of sound, etc), but when push comes to shove and you have 8 tempos out on that field...you as a drum major just have to have it in you to pull it back together...to WILL it back together...to use your eyes to grab their attention, to throw down a pattern with a force that says "I AM YOUR DRUM MAJOR. I AM RIGHT."

Now normally, I don't believe that. There are many schools of thought regarding field conducting, and the one that I subscribe to is that the drum line (as long as they are the obvious pulse pocket on the field), is the true conductor. They are the engine, and the major is a reflection of that...in perfect synchronization with it. Sometimes the major is with the sound of the line, sometimes the major's hands are with the feet of the line...drill depending. All in all, I feel that the drum major and the center snare need to be best buds. They need to exist as one on the field. The rest of the ensemble watches the major and/or listens to the battery, depending on where they are in the drill. It usually works.

In the event of a major ensemble tear, however...the drum major is LAW. He/she has to be, especially if they are good.

All of this takes trust and understanding. We have so many new people this year that it's going to take time to develop that. We have respect...TONS of respect, but not enough trust yet. It'll come. I love this process. One day very soon it will click, and we'll all assume our roles...instead of being 120 individuals worrying about our dots and work/music, we'll be ONE.

Drum corps is the ultimate team sport.

44 brass + 28 battery + 12 pit + 36 guard = ONE

Rant, rant, rant, blah, blah, blah. We're getting into part 3 this weekend, and I can't wait. It'll be VERY strange to conduct, and the "drill" is going to be a lot of neat staging and character type stuff. I hope it works out, because this number is going to be cool. The drum stuff alone is absolutely ridiculous. Ralph Hardimon really went bonkers writing this one.