Sigma Alpha Iota

PAN PIPES Winter 2020 7 DRUM CORPS R ecently, I was asked why I spent so much time and money in my early young adult life on an experience that had literally nothing to do with my dream career. is question usually takes me by surprise for a number of reasons. For one, having meaningful experiences outside of your intended career path, especially when you are young and without truly adult responsibilities, is always worth it. You gain so much more from experiences which require you to go outside of your comfort zone than you do from staying in your own thought bubble. I also see my drum corps experience as a large part of the reason for my successes as a bassoonist. When I am asked this question, it's usually from someone who has not had the experience of performing in front of thousands of people over the course of a two-month tour, all while sleeping on air mattresses and a tour bus. ose of us who are both DCI alumni and pursuing degrees in music easily see the connection between the two; it's not something one can ever fully explain in a one-sentence answer. It took me almost six years aer marching my last drum corps show to see its effects and be able to articulate it in writing. I marched two years on the flag line in the Bluecoats Drum & Bugle Corps based out of Canton, OH. ey are a non-profit organization who gives an unmatched experience to around 150 members every summer. When I got my member contract during anksgiving Break of my senior year of high school, I was elated. I did not expect to make it. I was from a comparatively small band program, had limited dance training, and I had never done anything remotely close to the audition choreography. But the staff saw something in me that I still struggle to see in myself--talent paired with a hard work ethic--and gave 17-year-old, #1-Bluecoats- Fan Brittany a contract at my first drum corps audition camp ever. You see, I had wanted to march with the Bluecoats ever since I first saw them in 2007, when I was a mere 13 years old. eir inventiveness and persistent willingness to push the limits of possibility in the marching arts is something that has transcended their entire existence and it is this trademark that drew me to them in the first place. Going to my first audition camp, I was literally meeting my heroes--and then I became one of them. Getting that contract and signing it was my first taste of realizing a dream. at singular experience taught me dreams are absolutely achievable if you want it bad enough, if you work hard enough, and listen to the advice and tough love of your instructors. Realizing this first dream made me willing to go chase another one, and it's because of this first dream I'm only 18 months away from being Dr. Brittany Giles. roughout a drum corps season, you're in rehearsal anywhere between four and twelve hours of the day, for three months, perfecting an 11-minute show. Averaging eight hours a day for three months out of the summer, corps across the country allocate roughly 65 hours of rehearsal per minute of their show every summer. It doesn't always work like this in actuality, but for the color guard, almost all of those hours are spent in a block repeating and perfecting each individual beat of the show, receiving feedback from instructors on how to be more in sync with your colleagues. If this doesn't sound exactly like what a classical musician does on a daily basis, I don't know what does. Replicating the intense environment of what it feels to be productive in a practice room is one of the biggest lessons drum corps taught me. To be productive and see physical CORPS continued on page 8 How Drum Corps Made Me a Better Bassoonist Brittany Giles performing in the flag line of the Bluecoats Drum & Bugle Corps

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