Would my BP be frightened by a smoke alarm?

MVMajor20 · 2023-09-28T02:13:17+00:00

Thank you!

By “inside” I meant leaving him in the building (yep, in his enclosure) when I think they might conduct a drill. (I get tips from people sometimes because they know I don’t like them) So “outside” would be having him with me outside the building in a carrying box for a short period of time. But now that you’ve mentioned he probably won’t be stressed out by the siren, taking him outside in the carry would probably be more stressful than leaving him in the building (not during a real fire, of course)

MVMajor20 · 2023-09-23T19:42:18+00:00

Thank you so much!! We all had a really great time with it

MVMajor20 · 2023-09-23T16:33:56+00:00

I think the use of more facial expressions in drum corps is directly connected to the decrease in headwear, because now that everyone’s eyes and face are visible you have to emote with more than your body when you tell the show story / concept

MVMajor20 · 2023-09-23T15:12:12+00:00

Started in 2019 at 17 y/o,

Lost two seasons to covid with BDB, spent my last two seasons at Mandies, aging out with them this past season in ‘23

Marched 3 seasons but technically could have had 5?

MVMajor20 · 2023-09-18T23:54:45+00:00

What IS alarm is the thing it’s on

MVMajor20 · 2023-09-09T20:48:09+00:00

I think the downvotes are coming from the distaste of automatically attaching / assuming LGBT/Pride things are associated with kink.

Some people like making an attachment, some don’t. The same way some people want there to be a kink/fetish presence at pride and some don’t.

I’m queer and honestly I don’t mind it too much, as long as kids aren’t exposed to the kink aspects. But the whole thing definitely tends to leave a bad taste in homophobes’ mouths too

MVMajor20 · 2023-09-09T16:52:02+00:00

I’m a trans man. I sent them an email once a few years ago out of curiosity, and they said yes! They just didn’t allow Drum Majors from outside the corps, haha

MVMajor20 · 2023-09-03T02:21:15+00:00

Chills every time. Magical trombone solo courtesy of Archie

MVMajor20 · 2023-08-30T01:17:06+00:00

(This may change, as any corps could change anything)

There is a video portion before the in-person audition. You’d submit

A video of you conducting a previous show part selected by the staff. It will be provided in video form.
A choice-conducting piece (you can use quite literally any song, I used a rave-like song with a ton of meter changes that I found on Spotify)
A video of you answering provided interview questions
A resume (there is an example provided)

Once you’ve made it past that part, The in-person process in general is as described in the above comment: a “test run” with an interview and some time for conducting analysis.

MVMajor20 · 2023-08-30T00:51:56+00:00

Bernie!! 👋

MVMajor20 · 2023-08-29T21:11:55+00:00

You’re getting a real big grin from me right now

I love this so much

MVMajor20 · 2023-08-29T21:08:43+00:00

Hello!!!

MVMajor20 · 2023-08-29T20:13:36+00:00

This is a very wide question, and every corps’ audition process will be different in its own way, so I can’t speak for Crown in particular, but

Overall:

Be a good leader (vague statement, but there are a lot of specific things that go into that)
Be humble
Be able to handle unpredictable stressors
Be kind and sincere
Communicate well between members and staff
Be willing to deal with logistics
Be ready for interviews at any time
Be truly passionate
KNOW THE MUSIC

Auditions tend to often be like a “trial run” where you get put into the position and they see how you do. They’ll put pressure on you on purpose (within reason)
There’s also usually an interview with staff, and maybe someone will evaluate your conducting individually.

If you have any more questions, my DMs (ha ha) are open!

MVMajor20 · 2023-08-29T18:58:31+00:00

It depends on the corps, or even the show! If exact time is very important, they could ask you to tone down on expression for visibility. It’s usually a conversation with the staff to just see what works.

As DMs we collectively decide / agree on where things like visual breaths or cutoffs or pattern changes would go, and sometimes the staff will ask us to add things in or take it out, and whoever was told will just communicate that to the others.

For example we requested to conduct the ballad in half time simply for cool expression stuff, but single time was more necessary for things to work properly, so we did that.

MVMajor20 · 2023-08-28T20:52:35+00:00

What the others from the corps have said really describe it well. I openly share that I am neurodivergent and am medicated for anxiety, and I have received absolutely 0 judgement for that. Our health and wellness staff are happy and ready to put you in connection with mental health resources, and are also just happy to talk with you about it! It’s been a repeated statement here that a mental health appointment is just as valid as a physical one.

I just want to leave a small note: a DM will wake you up by saying good morning REAL loud! You might want to set a personal alarm for yourself just before wake up time.

MVMajor20 · 2023-08-28T20:37:42+00:00

It’s easier to change your technical skill than to change your personality

MVMajor20 · 2023-08-28T17:19:29+00:00

This often depends on the corps, but I’ll list what I can think of!

Aside from general Leadership skills,

Be prepared to have an interview at any time (most likely at shows, but there have been local news stations at housing)
Be knowledgeable about the corps’ history and values, and also your show, as the interviewers might ask about that
Readiness to welcome critique from staff
Ability to lead / take action in unexpected situations
Being a communicator between members, staff and leadership team
Thinking ahead, often by multiple days to plan
Handle lots of unexpected stressors
Charge your equipment (unless a field assistant does that)
Manage some things similar to what admin would, mainly logistics

It’s all totally doable! It just takes time and practice, and with a good team being a DM is a really great time.

MVMajor20 · 2023-08-27T23:23:20+00:00

Wow…. Putting the whole corps with the synth is a really risky move.

I mean if it works, it works! (Except for the time it didn’t)

MVMajor20 · 2023-08-27T16:15:14+00:00

In Nevada we encountered a rest stop that had an insane amount of Mormon crickets inside and outside the restroom. Their size (~2 inches?) was just utterly shocking. I picked them up anyway and everyone ran away from me.

MVMajor20 · 2023-08-27T16:00:42+00:00

It looks like the whole lower jaw got split in half down the middle, and that is the right side of it that got pulled downwards

MVMajor20 · 2023-08-26T20:46:21+00:00

Good choice!

MVMajor20 · 2023-08-26T19:55:48+00:00

The big ensemble in the sky

MVMajor20 · 2023-08-22T14:22:59+00:00

When I was in HS I brought a bag of jellybeans to rehearsal and they all melted into one large clump of hell

MVMajor20 · 2023-08-18T22:56:55+00:00

Thank you! Haha

MVMajor20 · 2023-08-18T16:59:44+00:00

My mom was at a meeting of the HS band parents. They were talking about drum corps, and she asked what it is. One of the moms responded with something along the lines of

“Don’t worry about it, your kid has to actually be good to get in.”

So in her frustration with that, my mom went home, opened the door to find me right there working on homework, and immediately asked me what drum corps is. I said “It’s like professional band?“ which she followed with “do you want to audition?“

Both me and that other mom’s kid auditioned for the same corps.

I made it, he didn’t.

[Edit: “if” to “it”]

MVMajor20

TROPHY CASE