Here is Casey Brohard preforming his 2005 snare drum championship solo. Enjoy and take note on his incredible control and technique.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzU5HBou2lU

Casey Brohard began studying music in Utah where he won Percussive Arts Society three times, the first time at age 13. In 2000, at age 15, he studied under Dave Dilullo at Santa Clara Vanguard Cadets. The corps placed First in Division 2 and received High drums score of 19.9. After that season he went on to Division 1 with Blue Knights under the instruction of Micah Brusse, Murray Gussack, and Ralph Hardimon. He made the 2002 Concord Blue Devils where he remains to work under the Minds of Micah Brusse, Sean Vega, and Scott Johnson. Casey has also been involved with Riverside Community College winter drumline since 2003. Mr. Brohard also worked at the 2002 Winter Olympics during the opening and closing ceremonies and in the spirit band. He is also involved with BD entertainment and has was seen on MTV with Destiny's Child.

Jeff Queen has been involved with percussion since the age of 10. At the age of 15, Jeff began his drum corps career with the Canton Bluecoats and continued on to March with the Velvet Knights, Santa Clara Vanguard, Blue Knights and the University of North Texas. Jeff was the Drum Corps International Individual and Ensemble Snare Drum Champion in 1994 and 1995 as well as the Percussive Arts Society Individual Snare Drum Champion in 1994 and 1995. Jeff has taught in the drum corps activity for many years, including being the caption head for the Carolina Crown drum and bugle corps from 2003-2004.

Jeff is an original cast member of the Tony and Emmy award winning Broadway Show "BLAST" where he was a solo performer and battery instructor from 1999 - 2003. Jeff has performed on stages across the country and in Europe, including Broadway and London. In addition Jeff has appeared on numerous Television shows including: The Late Show with David Letterman, The Kennedy Center Honors 2000, NBA All-Star Game 2001, BLAST, and The Making of Blast on PBS DVD and Video.

Currently, Jeff lives in Indianapolis, Indiana where he is a full time student at Butler University seeking his bachelor’s degree in Music theory and composition. In addition to his studies, Jeff teaches locally with the world champion Avon High School Drum line and travels the country as an active composer, arranger, judge, clinician, and performer.

Composed Scott Johns for is Lick of the Week program is his hero lick. Like most ScoJo pieces this is not a cake walk by any means. Warm up those chops and hack away because this is sure to give hours of practice.

Indoor drumlines are another very competitive form of drumline. Here is yet another brief overview curtsy of wikipedia of what indoor is all about.

An indoor percussion ensemble or indoor drumline consists of the marching percussion (or battery) and front ensemble (or pit) sections of a marching band or drum corps. The only exceptions are in concert divisions (eg. Percussion Scholastic Concert Open ) where the marching line is absent and the ensemble consists entirely of a pit. Indoor Percussion marries elements of music performance, marching, and theater; thus, the activity is often referred to as percussion theater. Although most indoor percussion ensembles are affiliated with high schools, there are also many independent groups that draw participants from a large area. Independent groups typically start rehearsing in October and groups associated with high schools start after marching band season ends in November or December, and the season culminates with national championships in April. It is sometimes called Winter Percussion due to the season in which it mostly occurs.
(props yet again to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indoor_percussion_ensemble )

Today's Music highlight is Shake Hands with Beef. This piece was composed for use by the Riverside Community College Indoor Drumline. Enjoy this, it is tough to play but will give your hands something to hash out.

The Madison Scouts are possibly the best Drum corps in the freaking world....Okay seriously they are good!

Founded in 1938 in Madison Wisconsin they have shown their drive and integrity on and off the field. The corps is one of two all male corps left today only allowing at the most one girl in the corps at a time for theatrical effect (West Side Story for example.) The Madison Scouts as the name alludes to is of Boy Scout origin and adopts the Fluer de lis as their symbol. All current members are registered the the four lakes council of the boy scouts of america as ventures.

The corps song is You will never walk alone.

In Lacrosse Wisconsin, 1964 the competitive drum corps Blue Stars was founded and proceeded to rock the DCI circuits. The Blue Stars were one of the most successful DCI open class corps in the 1970s, placing second at the inaugural DCI Championships in 1972, and appearing as a DCI Finalist from 1972-1979. The corps was also the Veterans of Foreign Wars National Champion in 1977. After reorganization in the early 1980s, the corps became one of the most consistent corps in Division II/III (now Open Class) history, never placing lower than 5th in the respective division from 1987 to 2005, and winning Division III titles in 1989, 1993, 2001, and 2003. The 2006 season marked the Blue Stars' return to Division I competition.

Drum Corps International is the shining star of drumlines and shows the true talent of the worlds best drummers.

To get you up to speed on what a Drum Corps is here is an article from wikipedia.org concerning DCI

A drum and bugle corps or drum corps is a musical marching unit (similar to a marching band) consisting of brass instruments, percussion instruments, and color guard. The activity originated in the United States and Canada, but has spread to parts of Europe and Asia. Typically operating as independent non-profit organizations, drum corps perform on-field competitions, parades, festivals and other civic functions. The prime age for participation is 14–22, but the activity extends throughout age groups younger and older.

Competitive corps participate in summer touring circuits. Competitions occur on football fields and are judged based upon general effect, visual performance, and musical performance. Every year, each drum corps prepares a single new show, approximately 8–12 minutes in length, and carefully refines this throughout the entire summer tour. This focus on a singular show takes advantage of the large amount of time needed to hone and refine a modern drum corps program, with a momentum that continues to build up toward the last performance of the season. Musical repertoires can vary widely among various groups, including symphonic, jazz, big band, contemporary, rock, wind band, vocal, Broadway, Latin music and many other genres. Highly competitive corps regularly dedicate 8–10 weeks on tour, practicing and performing their program full-time. Less competitive corps have less demanding schedules, allowing members to participate and still have a little free time outside drum corps. Some corps are not competitive at all, serving as education for youths, as alumni corps for adults, or for other traditional civic functions.

(Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drum_and_bugle_corps_(modern) )

I hope this article on DCI broadens your understanding on what this blog is really all about.

Labels: DCI