Auto-pilot or Manual during comps?

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dmcoach
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Auto-pilot or Manual during comps?

Post by dmcoach » Fri Oct 01, 2010 7:32 am

Hey guys, it's been pretty quiet here for more than a month, so let's get some topics going.

Now, every school has a different way of running things, and I'm just curious to see as to how all of your different schools do things. There's two main types that I see on the street, "auto-pilot" and "manual".

Here's what I mean by that:

Manual - The drum major(s) assumes most responsibilities the day of the competition as soon as they depart campus. This includes things like, warming up the band, double-checking the grooming for the group, spacing out the parade block, and leading them completely into the competition area.

Auto-pilot - The drum major(s) have lighter duty with the band after leaving campus. They're responsible for some duties, getting themselves (the DM) warmed up and ready to compete, gathering the band, and passing some instructions to the group. The band director(s) & instructor(s) mainly get the band going, and the drum major(s) are instructed to only give some of the commands to get the band to the competition area.

Disclaimer: neither of these are to be taken as being better than the other. These are just two of the many ways of how drum majors play a part with their respective bands.

:shades:
Bryan Ray
Drum Major Instructor, Parade Advisor
Too many to list

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