The Hidden World of Competition Drum Corps

When most high school and college kids think of a fun summer, they think of a trip to the beach, visiting family, and maybe working a summer job; but for a small demographic of students, the ideal summer is one spent rehearsing on a football field for twelve hours a day and sleeping overnight on a gym floor. Running around in the sweltering heat while carrying a metal instrument or flag might not seem appealing for some. These performers are participating in one of the most desired activities by marching band members. These performers go from coast to coast training for Drum Corps International.

Modern drum and bugle corps is an activity closely related to marching band. Performers with brass and percussion instruments, along with a color guard, put on an 8-12 minute long show on a football field. What began as an activity heavily influenced by military drum and bugle corps has transformed into an enterprise with its own very distinct style. DCI-style shows blend music from many genres while incorporating large-scale props and electronic instruments into their field work. There are three types of corps that compete each DCI season: world class, open class, and all-age. Each corps level has a different audition process, difficulty level, and age requirement. After a member is accepted into a DCI corp, they will attend “camp,” a weeks-long sleepaway camp generally held at a high school where members will learn music, drill, and guard choreography. After camp has ended, the corp will go on “tour,” traveling the country to perform their show until championships. During these performances, the bands will be put into a competition category with other bands in their class and scored on a scale of 1-100. The higher the score, the better the performance.

There are currently four active corps hailing from New Jersey. Members of these corps come from all over the country, but many are based in New Jersey, such as Emmett Simon. Emmett Simon, a mallet percussion player from Columbia High School, is returning to DCI for his second season. Last year, he played in the front ensemble with the Raiders, an Open Class corp with headquarters in Princeton. Emmett joined the Raiders after a friend told him about the opportunity, and when he tried it himself, he absolutely loved it. Emmett says to him the best part of drum corps is being able to “make incredible growth in skill in such a short time…you can’t do that in most other environments.” Emmett says the fast-paced environment is helped by the fact that “everyone comes to drum corps with the intention of working hard, and that’s not quite the same as with high school marching band.” While the fourteen hour rehearsal days may seem daunting to some people, it s not all work and no play. The corps members participate in bonding activities, eat meals together, and spend off days hanging out at the beach or buying everything they can get their hands on at Buc-ee’s. Additionally, the members love every second of what they do. The musicians and guard members are all there because they have a shared love for the marching arts, and their passion is shown every time they step onto the field. 

Despite having almost 6,000 members who march every season, DCI has never reached the popularity levels of other activities in the same vein. However, in the digital age, DCI has become more accessible to the masses. Most recordings of DCI shows are available on the FloSports website, and quite a few are uploaded to YouTube. However, getting connected to the corps in person has also become exponentially easier in recent years. Many corps participate in competitions in and around New Jersey, such as the Drum Corps Grand Prix (July 12th in Clifton, NJ) and the DCI Eastern Classic (August 1st in Allentown, PA). Getting to know more about DCI is especially easy at Hackettstown, as our band director Mr. Freeman marched with both the Cadets and the Caballeros. The hidden world of competition drum corps is rich, layered, and one worth exploring.