So, this thing called drum corps (For any of you that are new here, think marching band, take out the woodwinds, put it in the summer, and make it ten times harder) is this ground where not only are thousands of people gaining experience as musicians and athletes, but also as human beings.
A year of drum corps is akin to an entire year of life experience, maybe more, condensed into one spring and summer. A summer of touring the country, be that on a full-time or part-time basis, exposes you to a lot of America, a lot of different people, and lot of things about yourself. Here's some I've found over the years:
1. Accountability.
Your
report time is 8am. Your downbeat time after lunch is at 1pm. You are
to be in halves, at the truck, ready to walk, at 5pm. Your video
assignment is due on Thursday night. the musical changes in the show are
to be memorized and playable for Saturday morning. None of these things
are negotiable. In this activity, one way or another, you will meet
these deadlines. This is for two reasons: One, you'll get chewed out by
your staff if you're even a minute late. Two, you're letting down many
other people if you don't do what you're held responsible to do. So you
will wake up at 4am to be sure to make that 5:30am bus. You will be
ready to walk with your section to warmup at 5pm. And, if you've done
your job with all of those things, you'll perform well at 8:41pm.
2. The real world is very weird. You are also weird. It happens.
You
will wipe yourself down with baby wipes to compensate for not being
able to shower in a public school. You will wear ridiculous rice picker
hats as hype for a show day (and some cool socks, too). You will undress
in a Dunkin Donuts parking lot at 7 in the morning. You will have a
teenager respond "turn down for what?" in response to you engaging the
crowd in your 3rd parade on July 4th. You will have insightful
conversations with your mildly drunk instructor at 1am. Life is weird in
this way, and these strange experiences will become fun stories to tell
your friends for years to come. Don't get too bogged down with all the
strange things you'll see in a summer. It's much easier to just roll
with it and not ask a lot of questions.
3. You need to be excellent. At everything.
A
baseball batter is good if his average is .338, or even more. In drum
corps, you don't have the luxury of such a low success rate. Your
success rate needs to be greater than or equal to that of a goaltender
in soccer or hockey (.97 or more, roughly). Even then, 97% success rate
is not good enough in drum corps. Your success rate, with every rep,
must be 1.000. And you will chase 1.000 tooth and nail. You might get
very, very close, but it will be near impossible. Even with this in
mind, you'll chase perfection. You will chase it even after Finals
night. The chase for excellence, for perfection, bleeds into every part
of your life, well after you hit the end of the show for the last time
and the stadium lights shut off. You'll push to make Dean's List.
You'll push to be respected by your colleagues for your skill at your
work. You'll push for greatness in everything, because after a summer of
drum corps, you know no other way.
4. Family runs far deeper than blood.
A funny thing happens when your spend either every weekend or every day during your summer with others, sweating it out on a field; you get very, very close (literally and metaphorically). One of the magics of drum corps is that it takes a group of otherwise complete strangers from all over the country (or world, for that matter), and asks them to play together as a massive team. This is in no way a small feat. So you work together, day in and day out. As a consequence of this, bonds, strong bonds, form. You gain, in each summer that you march, a family that will stay with you, even when you reconnect years later. No matter the distance in time and space, you can always come together again and pick up exactly where you left off. Drum corps is genuinely an activity like no other. There's a saying in our activity that floats around:
For those who know, no explanation is necessary. For those who don't, no explanation is possible.
