Kat's Declassified Drum Corps Survival Guide

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Kat’s Declassified

Drum Corps
Survival Guide:
A Chaotic Collection of Miscellaneous
Miscellany
Disclaimer: I only marched with one organization, so I can only speak to the rules and etiquette
within that organization during the time that I was there. If your staff has expressly told you not
to do something listed here, then defer to them. Nothing in here is a rule, and there’s no one
right way to do drum corps. Take what works and leave what doesn’t.

Packing and Personal Care:


- Everyone has a different idea about exactly what and how much to bring, so this is just a
ballpark
- I would aim for 10-14 days’ worth of rehearsal clothing
- Bring at least 16 days’ worth of socks and underwear. Wet socks are the absolute worst,
and you just never know what kind of jank fields you’ll be on.
- Camping towels will save you a ton of space, and they dry faster than normal ones.
- You will go through two pairs of rehearsal shoes. If there’s going to be one major
investment in terms of rehearsal gear, please let it be good shoes. These are crucial to
preventing lower body injuries. I personally like Brooks, but everyone’s feet are a little
different. Go to somewhere like Dick’s or Fleet Feet and have someone actually look at
your feet and analyze your bone structure and gait so that you get the right shoes. DCI
has also published a list of recommended shoes. https://www.dci.org/news/2021-list-
of-recommended-footwear-for-marching-musicians
- I also recommend insoles. I wear cork hiking insoles that I got from REI, but again,
everyone’s feet are different.
- Alternate your rehearsal shoes daily as opposed to waiting until one pair wears out.
- Don’t bring a cot. Get an air mattress or a camping pad. Trust me, you are not going to
want to fuss with a cot at three in the morning when you roll up to a housing site. I also
didn’t bother with sheets and just used a sleeping bag, but that’s up to personal
preference.
- A sleeping mask and earplugs are your friend.
- Stretch out every night before bed, especially your legs and feet.
- Those Ziploc bags where you roll them to vacuum out the air so your stuff packs down
smaller are your friend. I liked to sort mine by shirts, shorts, socks, etc. so that I could
just grab one of each thing when I was half asleep trying to get my life together. You
should also bring an extra one for your laundry in addition to a mesh laundry bag. I also
had a smaller one where I kept one full set of rehearsal clothes on standby so I’d never
have to think about it.
- Baby wipes are a great multipurpose cleaning solution, bring a pack or two.
- One of those mesh shower caddies that dries quickly is also great to have.
- DEODORANT IS NOT OPTIONAL.
EPL:
- Depending who you ask, this either stands for Eat-Pack-Load or Eat-Panic-Load.
- The more you can do to streamline this process ahead of time, the better. You can “pre-
PL” during breakfast or lunch. Deflate your air mattress as soon as you wake up, leave
the sheets on it when you fold it, stuff your sleeping bag, consolidate as much stuff as
you can. Have your shower stuff set out and ready to go, have a change of clothes
already set out or packed.
- The time they give you for butts-in-seats is the absolute latest you can be on the bus
ready to roll, but the earlier you can get your life together and get going, the better. If
it’s a show EPL, save things like your hair and makeup for the bus ride to the show. I
generally preferred to eat first and then shower and pack up, but every corps has
different guidelines for that, so defer to your staff.
- Your tour job will affect your EPL situation. Some places, you’re assigned a tour job,
other places you get to choose. If you have the choice, and if you know you’ll need more
EPL time, aim for something like paint crew where your job doesn’t take place during
EPL. Things like gym cleaning, bus loading, scaffolding, or props will eat into your EPL
time, so be sure to plan for that.
- An addendum to this: if you know that you don’t function as well on less sleep, don’t
volunteer for paint crew. If you’re not a morning person, don’t volunteer for paint crew.
If you get hangry, don’t volunteer for paint crew.

Show Days:
- When I marched, they had us pack a small bag for show days with your compression
gear, a change of rehearsal clothing, a towel, etc. It was useful to have everything in one
place. To that end, I also had a small bag with everything I needed to do my hair and
makeup, but that will depend on what they want you to do.
- I also kept things like a toothbrush, chewable mouthwash tablets, granola bars, etc. on
standby for show sites.

Rehearsal Stuff:
- SUNSCREEN IS NOT OPTIONAL. I would recommend lotion sunscreen as opposed to
spray because the spray will get on the horns and gum up the works. I think most places
have a rule about this, but I’m not sure.
- Your hat situation will depend on your hair situation, but I personally found the most
success and the least hassle with a visor and a bandana tied on top of it to keep it in
place. Bandanas are generally useful to have around.
- To that end, bring bandanas or neck gaiters or something to put over your face in visual
rehearsal especially if you’re a brass person. Sunburned chops are about the last thing
you want to deal with. Also, swap them out every day at the absolute least because they
will get nasty and light your skin on fire.
- For music rehearsal, get binder clips to keep pages from flying all over the place. Also,
don’t bother with a music stand, just lean your folder on your jug or backpack.
- YOUR FANNY PACK IS YOUR FRIEND! Some places have a rule against fanny packs, but
generally speaking, if you can use one, do. It is the single most life-saving thing in
rehearsal, at least in my experience. I used mine to keep extra pencils, my dot book, a
water cup, extra balloons, valve oil, hair ties, chap stick, etc., and it made life so much
easier to have everything right there.
- Be careful about lip balm in rehearsal. Anything with vitamin E in it can make your skin
more photosensitive, so only use vitamin E at night. Please, please use something with
SPF during the day. I personally prefer the Blistex DCT in the pink container during the
day and the blue container at night. You can also get vitamin E supplements or oil from
Walgreens or whatever and poke a hole in the capsules and put that on your face, it
works pretty well.
- This sounds insane but I promise it works. If your lips are really giving you trouble, mix
equal parts vitamin E oil and hemorrhoid ointment, and put it on overnight.
- Bring Gold Bond powder to help with chafing. Trust.
- If you’re going to the Midwest or the south, bug spray is a very good idea.

Bus Things:
- Don’t put things like pillows in the overhead bays. Just don’t do it.
- A bus box is great for things like snacks, but I also found it useful to have things like
makeup wipes, a toothbrush, glasses cleaner, etc. with me on the bus.
- I used one of those back-of-the-seat stuff organizers to keep everything in its place.
- Generally it’s advised not to bother with pajamas and just sleep in your rehearsal
clothes for the next day, but the bus usually gets cold, so bring some sweatpants and a
hoodie to put on over your clothes and just leave them on the bus unless it’s laundry
day or the housing site is cold.
- Some places will let you bring one of those suction cup shower shelves for the bus
window. I never did, but that’s up to you.
- In terms of organization, I found my pillowcase to be a big help. That’s where I’d put
things like the aforementioned hoodie and sweatpants, a sleeping mask, my phone, etc.
when trying to get my life together to get off the bus.
- Compression socks will help you a lot. Six hours on a bus after a ton of rehearsal means
your feet and knees will swell up and get stiff, so the socks will help keep swelling under
control. Also, get up and stretch at rest stops.
- Don’t go through people’s bus boxes. Just don’t do it. If they have something you want
to trade for, ask. The singular time I really almost got in a fight in all the time I marched
was when someone stole chocolate from my bus box. Don’t do it, it’s not cute.

Laundry Days and Walmart Stops:


- Tide pods are life savers and so are dryer sheets
- If you don’t have a ton of laundry, find someone to double up on a load with to save
quarters and time
- You’ll most likely have at least one Walmart run for stuff like hygiene products or bus
snacks. Also, if you run out of something like body wash, just tell your admin staff and
they’ll run to Walmart during block or something because there’s no way in heck they’ll
just leave you without soap.

Free Days:
- You’ll most likely have at least one free day. Where, I can’t say, because that depends
on your tour schedule, but most corps will have one in San Antonio the day after the
regional.
- Bring an outfit to dress up a little on free days if you’re so inclined, it can help make you
feel like a human again. Put your nice clothes in a Ziploc bag so they don’t smell like all
your rehearsal stuff.
- Don’t get tattoos or piercings on free days, no matter how good of an idea it seems like.
A healing tattoo/piercing is not something you want to deal with on tour, and an
infection is SUPER not something you want to deal with on tour.

Morale Boosters:
- It’s no secret that drum corps is hard, and it’s hard on everyone in different ways. You
will hit a mental and emotional wall at some point, and it will almost certainly happen
more than once. You need ways to keep your spirits up, and those will be different
person to person, but here are some of the ones that helped me a lot.
- You can sharpie motivational quotes on your stuff or on your person, I did both. On my
shoes and fanny pack were two good ones, and also on my backpack and water bottle.
- It can also be good to keep a list of motivational quotes or notes from friends or parents
in your binder where you can flip to them and read them easily.
- Something like a face mask in the shower can help you feel human again if you’re having
a particularly hard day.
- Brass folk, you did not hear this from me if anyone asks, but there were times where a
Jolly Rancher was the only thing standing between me and full-on ugly crying on the
field. Keep one or two in your fanny pack and for the love of god keep track of the
wrapper and throw it away.
- Another thing I liked to keep in my fanny pack was a bottle of lavender oil. Sometimes
it’s nice to just calm yourself down. Although it did break all over my backpack once, so
just be wary of that. At least everything you own will smell nice for the rest of eternity!
- A lot of people try keeping a tour journal. I never succeeded beyond the third week of
spring training, but if that’s something you want to do, it can be fun to look back on the
memories later.
- Take pictures of the dumb things that happen, they’re some of the best memories you’ll
make.
- Remember that you will most likely not hit your wall at the same time as the person
next to you on the field, so understand that even if you’re having a great time, they may
not be and they may take it out on you. It’s not your fault, the stress of drum corps
makes people act differently. Take a breath and keep on trucking.

Miscellaneous/General Advice:
- Allow me to introduce you to the concept of smart-lazy. It will serve you well in drum
corps. I can either sit down for ten minutes now and then rush to block and be frazzled
when I get there, or I can walk there now and sit down for the same amount of time but
be ready to go. Smart-lazy.
- If you have a dot book, write dumb notes to yourself that will make you smile later.
Also, put weird vocals and inside jokes in the show. It’s a memory aid and it’s fun.
- The best advice I have is that what counts is what works. Your drum corps experience
will not be the same as anyone else’s, and so your approach to keeping yourself sane,
learning your show, showering, folding your clothes, and riding the bus will look
different for you than it will for other folks. Follow the rules, of course, but beyond that,
don’t let anyone shame you for things that make your life easier on the road. I packed
an umbrella hat and everyone thought I was a wacko until we got to the Midwest. Drum
corps (and life) is a place where it’s okay to be weird.

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