Masters of the Marching Arts
Devoted to the past, present, and future
of drum and bugle corps and other marching activities
Devoted to the past, present, and future of drum and bugle corps and other marching activities
This Quarter’s Featured Articles
Ka-Ching, Ka-Ching, DCI
Santa Clara Vanguard’s tragic decision not to field a 2023 corps shocked the DCI world. Drum Corps Planet, Twitter, and Facebook exploded with elegies, eulogies, and touching memoirs. One of the common thoughts of the social media: if it happened to SCV, no...
2022 DCI REVIEW
Indianapolis – August 11-13, 2022: Drum Corps is alive and well. From my seat in Row 1 on about the 48-yard line, I turn around and look up to the top row where it meets the rooftop of Lucas Oil Stadium. I nearly need binoculars to see that far. Fans are packed in...
DCI’s 50th
Finally! Another full season, complete with scores, is in the books. I spent Thursday in my local theatre sparingly taking notes on my iPhone and emailing them to myself. "Big, Loud & Live" takes me back to my Boomer days of the live PBS broadcasts which I still...
How ‘Fair’ Is the Judging System?
People who have followed drum corps for decades have seen significant changes in the activity and in the rules and logistics that govern competition. Most people who are passionate about the activity have - at one time or another - expressed strong opinions...
The Good Old Days of Drum Corps…Or Were They?
I was just 14 when I joined drum corps. By 15, I was teaching three drill teams and one drum corps, our feeder corps, the St. Mary's Crusaders. When I was teaching the three drill teams, my Dad used to drive me to practices and drop me off around the corner so nobody...
Keeping the Faith
Every October, Somerville hosts the Honk Festival, a. series of parades and exhibitions featuring, "activist street bands." Others have written in MMA that the marching arts were once all about, ''God and country," and it appears that musical instruments and color...
Winning
I once went out for beers with a friend named Bob, who served as a U.S. Army military policeman in the Vietnam war. He told me that he joined a V.F.W. post after discharge and that some of the World War II vets at the place made him feel as if he were personally...
Innovation and Evolution in Modern Drum Corps – Visual: (Part 4A) Introduction + Rules/Judging
Among the aspects of the drum corps activity that have changed over the past five decades, it could be argued that the visual elements have been the most affected.
Innovation and Evolution in Modern Drum Corps Visual (Part 4B): Attire
For decades it was easy to identify a corps marching into a stadium from a simple glimpse of their uniforms. Until the late 1970s most corps wore uniforms that were a part of their signature. Many were classics worn for decades.
Innovation and Evolution in Modern Drum Corps – Visual (Part 4C): Equipment/Props
Up until the late 1960s, the equipment permitted on the field was quite limited. Other than “legal” musical instruments, color guards carried flags, rifles, and sabers and rarely anything else in terms of equipment or props. If you fast forward to today, the contrast is stunning.
Sponsors
Letters to Aunt Mildred
by Rick Connor
Many years ago, I became friendly with a lady at Mission Drums whose name was Mildred. She was at the show with her two sisters, Phoebe and Henrietta and her brother, Phineas. I found Mildred to be an astute drum corps fan who …
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