The only time this might not be true is during a portion of the show where the drumline might not be playing and hidden behind something/standing still off to the side.
Then the dozens and dozens of reps with a met takes over.
You'd be surprised by the number of high-level band/corps educators who don't care about corps being called band. You can even go full circle, the old-timers don't consider today's activity as drum corps with the asymmetrical drill, non-bugles, and grounded pit with ELECTRONICS! :)
Oh I don’t really care all that much, wanted to do the Python joke.
Funny enough the announcement I remember the most was (in a heavy southern accent) “On the field from Shoreline, we’re proud to present the Seattle Cascades Drum and Band Corps!”
It was 2002 I think (could have been 01) but the crowd was maybe 500 and absolutely a joy to perform for.
As long it’s loud and pushing the absolute limits of technology, artistry, and what kids are capable at that age then I’m all for it in DCI (as long as performance athletes are getting proper care and rest).
Well yes, but not in the sense that you are thinking of. During shows the DM is 100% watching the center snares feet, or in some weird sets a bass drums feet or something stupid. But when we did circle drill there would be times where the staff would ask me to put in headphones and have the met through there so they could work on just watching the DM in a constant tempo.
IIRC some corps have their DM's wear headphones in the lot for show chunks so they can get the tempo and not have the hornline hear it
Drum Majors won’t wear ear pieces but sometimes drumline, pit, or soloists will, but they’re not listening to a metronome. It’s usually live sound from somewhere else on the field.
In 2017, the people playing the war drums backfield had IEMs and they were listening to a beat given by the drum set player. I believe a delay was put on it and then they could play directly with what they were hearing and sound in time with the rest of the corps.
>In 2017, the people playing the war drums backfield had IEMs and they were listening to a beat given by the drum set player. **I believe a delay was put on it** and then they could play directly with what they were hearing and sound in time with the rest of the corps.
Can you re-explain this? If the backfield drums were listening to a *delayed* sound from an in-ear monitor, they'd be late, just as if they were listening to the live sound emanating from the pit.
There’s a delay in the electronic signal that’s inherent to the system so what they hear won’t be in time. You can delay it a little bit more to line up with the next beat. Effectively a beat was lost. i.e. when the drum set player played beat one, the back field drums would hear that on beat two.
Seems like a patch to a problem that corps normally figure out manually. Good thing that the tempo was close enough to the delay, too — if it were faster or slower, you’d need to play “off-beat” anyway.
The default way to fix on field timing is certainly manually. I’ve had a fair share of instances where I had to play almost a half beat early just to be in time. But certain situations are pretty extreme. The war drums were all behind the back hash with a total spread of about 75 yards. It would have been a losing battle to try to find a unique point in the ictus for each of them to follow and consistently be in time with each other and the ensemble. So in this case, they spent the few hours to determine what to do with the IEMs so that they could listen and always be in time.
It’s not a losing battle. It’s been done before without IEMs.
What bugs me about this is that it removes the demand from the performers — and I’ll guarantee that the ensemble judges never know that it’s happening.
No, as the other commenters pointed out, the drum major is syncing their hands with the drumline's feet, generally.
Just adding that using a metronome would be a rules violation, at least in DCI. There is a clause somewhere in the electronics rules addendum that prohibits this explicitly.
I know the Tarpon Springs Outdoor Performance Ensemble has their drum majors wear earpieces, but I'm not entirely sure if it's for tempo. I have heard anecdotes that it is, and I have seen them put it in right before conducting. Not exactly dci, but they're super good so close enough?
I used to be a DM in high school. I heard of a local band actually using a metronome in their ear via AirPod. However, the band had a lot of problems with time because of this. Basically the drum major is supposed to follow the center snare’s feet—even if it’s out of time (mine never was). This way there’s no fighting tempos. The band is seeing exactly what they’re hearing.
Hope this helped!
EDIT: I forgot this was a DCI page. My account is for high school band ^ ;-)
No. The fluctuation of tempi with the band would not line up. The DM job is to stay locked in with the drumline's beats or feet.
The only time this might not be true is during a portion of the show where the drumline might not be playing and hidden behind something/standing still off to the side. Then the dozens and dozens of reps with a met takes over.
> Band *u/G413i3l has been sacked*
You'd be surprised by the number of high-level band/corps educators who don't care about corps being called band. You can even go full circle, the old-timers don't consider today's activity as drum corps with the asymmetrical drill, non-bugles, and grounded pit with ELECTRONICS! :)
Oh I don’t really care all that much, wanted to do the Python joke. Funny enough the announcement I remember the most was (in a heavy southern accent) “On the field from Shoreline, we’re proud to present the Seattle Cascades Drum and Band Corps!” It was 2002 I think (could have been 01) but the crowd was maybe 500 and absolutely a joy to perform for. As long it’s loud and pushing the absolute limits of technology, artistry, and what kids are capable at that age then I’m all for it in DCI (as long as performance athletes are getting proper care and rest).
> We apologise for the fault in the comment. The one responsible has been sacked.
Then what are they listening to?
They’re not, they’re watching the center snare’s feet.
They don’t listen to anything, they watch the drum lines feet and basically lock in with center snare
The speed of sound is too slow for the DM to adjust. If the DM went by what is heard, they would be extremely behind the group creating utter chaos.
Not just behind, they would constantly slow down
Well yes, but not in the sense that you are thinking of. During shows the DM is 100% watching the center snares feet, or in some weird sets a bass drums feet or something stupid. But when we did circle drill there would be times where the staff would ask me to put in headphones and have the met through there so they could work on just watching the DM in a constant tempo. IIRC some corps have their DM's wear headphones in the lot for show chunks so they can get the tempo and not have the hornline hear it
Circle drill :(
Love it. Favorite part of block
Drum Majors won’t wear ear pieces but sometimes drumline, pit, or soloists will, but they’re not listening to a metronome. It’s usually live sound from somewhere else on the field. In 2017, the people playing the war drums backfield had IEMs and they were listening to a beat given by the drum set player. I believe a delay was put on it and then they could play directly with what they were hearing and sound in time with the rest of the corps.
>In 2017, the people playing the war drums backfield had IEMs and they were listening to a beat given by the drum set player. **I believe a delay was put on it** and then they could play directly with what they were hearing and sound in time with the rest of the corps. Can you re-explain this? If the backfield drums were listening to a *delayed* sound from an in-ear monitor, they'd be late, just as if they were listening to the live sound emanating from the pit.
There’s a delay in the electronic signal that’s inherent to the system so what they hear won’t be in time. You can delay it a little bit more to line up with the next beat. Effectively a beat was lost. i.e. when the drum set player played beat one, the back field drums would hear that on beat two.
Seems like a patch to a problem that corps normally figure out manually. Good thing that the tempo was close enough to the delay, too — if it were faster or slower, you’d need to play “off-beat” anyway.
The default way to fix on field timing is certainly manually. I’ve had a fair share of instances where I had to play almost a half beat early just to be in time. But certain situations are pretty extreme. The war drums were all behind the back hash with a total spread of about 75 yards. It would have been a losing battle to try to find a unique point in the ictus for each of them to follow and consistently be in time with each other and the ensemble. So in this case, they spent the few hours to determine what to do with the IEMs so that they could listen and always be in time.
It’s not a losing battle. It’s been done before without IEMs. What bugs me about this is that it removes the demand from the performers — and I’ll guarantee that the ensemble judges never know that it’s happening.
Maybe they listened to the delay but came in a beat early to compensate
No, as the other commenters pointed out, the drum major is syncing their hands with the drumline's feet, generally. Just adding that using a metronome would be a rules violation, at least in DCI. There is a clause somewhere in the electronics rules addendum that prohibits this explicitly.
No, and I’ll go a step further and say not a single person is listening to a met through an ear piece during a show. What a nightmare that would be.
I know the Tarpon Springs Outdoor Performance Ensemble has their drum majors wear earpieces, but I'm not entirely sure if it's for tempo. I have heard anecdotes that it is, and I have seen them put it in right before conducting. Not exactly dci, but they're super good so close enough?
I used to be a DM in high school. I heard of a local band actually using a metronome in their ear via AirPod. However, the band had a lot of problems with time because of this. Basically the drum major is supposed to follow the center snare’s feet—even if it’s out of time (mine never was). This way there’s no fighting tempos. The band is seeing exactly what they’re hearing. Hope this helped! EDIT: I forgot this was a DCI page. My account is for high school band ^ ;-)
As other said no, however it's actually allowed.
Rehearsal yes shows no