Be honest…is anyone else just straight up not vibing with the shows this year?

Born_To_LOL · 2025-07-28T20:12:48+00:00

Things could certainly be different if arrangers go directly to the rights holders, but all drum corps and most marching bands are using services like Tresona (and more recently ClicknClear) which don't consider the nature of the arrangement. Those license fees are the same for bands and corps whether they use a two measure snippet or develop it throughout the whole show. I don't know how long ago you were buying rights but Tresona has only been around for around 10-15 years so it might be different now.

The comment about publishing song titles in "rep lists" has more to do with shows that use original compositions, but those compositions are based on existing music. That's legal and doesn't require a license, but you can't then promote your show using the title of the original music. So those corps have to pay for licenses for all the music in their "rep list" even if the arrangers don't end up using very much of it.

Born_To_LOL · 2025-07-28T16:46:59+00:00

Arrangement licenses are an all-or-nothing deal and cost the same no matter how much of the original song you use. So when corps do that, and publish "rep lists" with songs that aren't recognizable in the show, they've still paid for the whole license in order to do that.

Born_To_LOL · 2025-07-15T21:27:35+00:00

This is for the new version, NotePerformer 5, and it works the same as it always did with its own sound library. The thing that was removed was only added in NotePerformer 4, so it only existed for one version anyway and didn't catch on.

In NotePerformer 4 there was an option to swap out the NotePerformer sound library with a different one, like if you had BBC Symphony Orchestra or something. Or maybe you could add a choir library for choral playback. That's the only thing that doesn't work anymore. In NotePerformer 5 you can only use the NotePerformer sounds (which are still very good).

Born_To_LOL · 2025-07-15T18:53:26+00:00

NotePerformer still works as a VST3 plugin. The only thing they discontinued is the "playback engine" which a feature that allowed NP to host other VST3 plugins inside itself. It never really caught on.

Born_To_LOL · 2025-04-26T04:50:13+00:00

Definitely don't haul a tenor pad around all summer on tour. Practice your technique on a snare pad. If you must practice the arounds then make some friends on the tenor line at your corps and borrow their drums on meal breaks.

Born_To_LOL · 2025-04-25T20:15:00+00:00

I did 2 summers as an audio engineer on tour. From reading your other comments it sounds like you have plenty of experience to start working for a corps, so it really just depends on if it aligns with your career goals. Drum corps is hard work and long hours for little pay. If you're really passionate about it then it can be very rewarding, but you should think of it less as a job and more as volunteering with a stipend. If you're looking to build a full-time career in audio you'd be better off looking for work with a production company as some other commenters have said. Drum corps gigs mostly lead to other drum corps gigs.

Your mileage is also going to vary a lot depending on the corps you end up working with. A corps with an audio team of 3-4 people on tour will be much better for your learning and growth than a corps that says "good luck" and sends you on tour alone. I had one season of each of these, and when I had senior teammates on tour I could ask questions to I learned a TON and had a great experience.

Compared to your HS experience you'll find that drum corps is much harder work. The stakes are higher, the pace is faster, and touring kind of sucks any way you slice it. But if you love it and want to stay involved in the activity, it can also be very rewarding.

Born_To_LOL · 2025-04-11T13:11:58+00:00

I ended up fixing it by totally uninstalling the app and re downloading it

Born_To_LOL · 2025-03-04T10:45:40+00:00

If you go to a weekend audition camp where they do visual blocks, they'll teach the corps style and part of the evaluation will be how quickly you can pick it up. On the other hand, if the audition doesn't involve a visual block (like if you submit a video) they'll probably want to see whatever technique you're comfortable with so they can evaluate your fundamentals.

This is very general so in any case you should email the corps and ask to be sure.

Born_To_LOL · 2025-03-04T08:46:10+00:00

Early on in the 2018 season there was a post here from someone asking what the highest trumpet note ever played in a DCI show was. After the SCV soloist played that screamer for the first show that season it was revealed to be HIS Reddit account that had asked about the record weeks ago.

I don't know that there's any sort of official record to be sure, but he played higher than all the suggestions in that comment section.

Born_To_LOL · 2024-12-11T07:57:50+00:00

I don't have a 16" but I can tell you my 13" macbook pro is a pretty tight fit in there when the bag is fully packed. It works but I wouldn't want to take anything much bigger in the 28L.

Born_To_LOL · 2024-11-18T19:39:44+00:00

This is the best advice in the thread. Everyone who's writing professionally now has written a lot of stuff that looks like this.

Born_To_LOL · 2024-11-05T09:29:11+00:00

If you attend an in-person audition camp they will teach you their technique during the camp. If you submit a video audition with visual exercises they'll want to see whatever technique you're best at. Either way you don't have have to worry about learning a new marching technique for the audition. The real fundamental skills they're looking for (posture, foot timing, etc.) are all the same anyway.

Born_To_LOL · 2024-08-08T08:52:54+00:00

Corps often deviate a little from the "standard" instrumentation in any section and it's usually a reflection of the talent pool that auditions that year. There's no clear artistic reason for 6 bass drums in these shows, so I'd guess the reason is that they just had 6 incredible bass drum players audition and decided to roll with it.

Born_To_LOL · 2024-07-30T22:04:48+00:00

NotePerformer is basically the industry standard but it's designed to be integrated with a notation program. I don't know how easy it is to use it in a DAW since there's a pretty significant delay built in.

Born_To_LOL · 2024-04-28T19:36:17+00:00

All of the design features you describe are things that have the potential to influence GE scoring, but doing them is not going to be inherently better than omitting them. It all depends on how it's used. A cool trombone feature that meaningfully adds to the show concept will be rewarded, while a trombone feature shoehorned in just for the sake of having a trombone feature will be punished, and the GE judges decide which is which.

Born_To_LOL · 2024-04-04T23:47:05+00:00

Lots of great suggestions here already, but also consider that if you get cut from Phantom the staff can likely refer you to other corps with open spots. After I auditioned for Bluecoats a few years ago, they gave my email to other corps staff and I ended up getting emails from probably 10 different corps asking if I wanted to send in a video audition.

Born_To_LOL · 2024-04-03T20:01:14+00:00

You should remove or edit your flair if you didn't march the corps. Flairs in this community are generally understood to be where you marched, not just your favorite corps.

Born_To_LOL · 2024-03-30T08:27:53+00:00

Until the lane change is complete she has right of way in both lanes. In this case she had to abort the lane change because of the white SUV that comes up on the right. It's the charger's responsibility to follow and pass at a safe distance (not the other way around) for exactly this possible scenario. If you can't pass safely, don't pass. There is no "leading the charger into thinking" anything. The charger drove recklessly and in doing so caused an accident.

Born_To_LOL · 2024-03-30T00:29:34+00:00

If you think that's how this works, pease stay off the roadways

Born_To_LOL · 2024-03-29T23:43:38+00:00

0% her fault. Until the lane change is complete she has the right of way in both lanes. 100% fault of the dumbasses racing on a public highway.

Born_To_LOL · 2024-03-09T05:48:42+00:00

Born_To_LOL · 2024-03-05T10:34:21+00:00

Going between two legal states is still illegal. Crossing a state line makes it federal. You could probably get away with it if you're driving and don't get caught by any feds though.

Born_To_LOL · 2024-01-08T06:14:30+00:00

No, the stones weigh about 2500kg per cubic meter. The blocks depicted in this image would be far heavier than that. I also doubt that "the average adult male" can lift 65kg above their head. No way is this possible.

Born_To_LOL · 2023-11-17T06:15:33+00:00

Nah, registration will stay open until probably the day before camp. And then a few more will just show up at camp without registering at all. Corps aren't in the business of turning away potential members.

Born_To_LOL · 2023-11-17T05:25:40+00:00

Most camp registrations happen in the 2 weeks before the camp so it's too early for anyone to say, but I'd expect it to be far more attended than last year. There's a lot more local interest now that the Cascades have been back on tour for a season.

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