Day 70

Date: July 23, 2011
Time: 11:57pm (CST)
Playing on iTunes: "Your Hand in Mine" by Explosions in the Sky


Location: San Antonio, TX
Recent Trip: 200 miles

Hello San Antonio!! I'm liking Texas so far. Not hot at all, or maybe I'm just used to the heat...nah...the northeast right now is getting smashed with a heat wave! Texas isn't so bad in the high 90's. We stayed at our baritone tech's high school that he teaches at. All the kids were very welcoming. They made us all these inspirational signs to get us excited for the show that night. Here's one sign that was on the front door of the school to welcome us in:

Today was set up just like every other show day where the pit just rehearsed the entire show so that we could review everything and not break it down too much. I'd thought that I'd show you guys a few thing that go on throughout the day. A couple random things, but very interesting to learn about.


Like the corps day meeting, the staff have a meeting every morning before breakfast to talk about the goals for the kids throughout the day. They also talk about the show the previous day (if there was a show) and make sure everyone is on the same page as far as outcomes, scores, quality of performance, etc. It's a great way for everyone on the staff to get on the same page so everyone knows who is working on what throughout the day so everyone as a corps gets better more efficiently.

Below you see the food truck volunteers. These are the greatest volunteers in the world. The volunteer their early mornings, entire days, and late nights to cook food for the entire corps and staff, as well as themselves. All of them love the corps and are so giving with everything they do. The food here is amazing and they all have a great attitude every time I interact with them. Thank you so much food truck volunteers!!

 I got a package today!! This was my first package of the summer! My dad sent me a care package full of candy and also the Chelmsford Independent (hometown local newspaper) so that I could get caught up on the local happenings. Thank you dad!! I HIGHLY recommend for all parents of kids in drum corps reading this, if you haven't already, send your kid a care package. They'll love it and it will make them as well as yourself happy. I'm sure other pit kids would love to get some candy!! If you have a child in the Cadets and haven't send a letter or package to them on the road, here's the address to send it to and it will get to them (in the format of a letter):

Return Address


                           Youth Education in the Arts
                           The Cadets - Member Mail
                           601 west Hamilton Street
                          Allentown, PA 18101


*CADETS NAME HERE*

Another breakthrough in the visual parts of the show!! If you have seen the show already this year, you may have noticed a line of 4-5 ft tall black screens lining the front of the field. These are for the color guard so the audience is not distracted by their flags along the front side line. It can also be a visual aid for the plot of the show. This year it is for the Cadets. As you see below, our what were black screens, now have pictures of what you would see on the sides of cathedrals and medieval structures. This aids in the visual part of the show because it gives the atmosphere of what you may see on religious buildings hundreds even thousands of years ago. If you see the movie Angels and Demons (where part of our show's music is from), you will see lots of these sculptures on the buildings throughout the movie.

The screens are made of vinyl and get stapled to frames that will stand them upright when the legs are pulled out.

Our show tonight was our second big regional of the year. This was the Southwest Regionals! Here we come Alamo Dome. The big thing about the Alamo Dome is that it was our first dome that the corps would perform in this season so we had to make sure we knew how our music would respond with the echo inside the dome. It actually was not as bad as some people said it would be. It did not distract me too much. As long as you play as you have always played and trust your gut, you will be fine. And we were! We played so well, and the enormous crowd loved our show. The wall of screams and cheers was enough to get the corps energized and excited to play. As you can see the score below, we broke 90!! This is a huge breakthrough because the only place to go now is toward 100. Nobody's perfect, but if we can get as close to 100 as possible, that's what we're aiming for! Getting better everyday!




DCI Southwestern Regionals
1) The Cavaliers 91.050
2) Blue Devils 90.950
3) The Cadets 90.400
4) Carolina Crown 89.550
5) Phantom Regiment 87.400
6) Bluecoats 86.600
7) SC Vanguard 86.150
8) Boston Crusaders 84.550
9) Madison Scouts 83.800
10) Blue Stars 82.900
11) Blue Knights 82.900
12) Spirit of Atlanta 79.050




CPit Spotlight 2011

Mr. Daniel Roberston is a man of poise, perfection, and playfulness. Dan is a 19 year old college student studying computer science at the University of Texas at Austin. Throughout high school, he played pit and snare drum in his high school marching band. He was also part of his high school's symphony band. When attending UT Austin, he joined the symphony band, steel pan ensemble, and choir. Although Dan is the synth player at Cadets, he is an avid drum set player being a part of the Texas All-State Jazz Ensemble for two years straight in 2009 and 2010. But he does use his piano skills when he plays piano frequently at his church. His favorite activity outside of drum corps (and also in his free time during drum corps) is singing. Dan is an amazing singer and loves to sing for the pit!! Dan was a blessing when finding a synth player for the Cadets since we were without one until the last few months of the winter camps. Dan found us through the Cadets Facebook page where they posted about "Specialty Positions Open: Synthesizer with Percussion Experience Preferred". This fit Dan's description perfectly. He contacted Iain Moyer, and a few phone calls later he found himself buying a plane ticket for the next winter camp. Dan is a huge part of the pit as well as the drum corps. He's a lot of fun to have around and a great inspiration.

Thought of the Day: "Live in the present, plan for the future."