Here is the band camp chapter (finally)!! Sorry about the delay...I went out of town for a week for spring break. Anyway, I worked for a while on this one, so I hope I did band camp justice.
This story has exceeded all of my expectations…I thought that it would do decently, but the reviews have gotten to eighty, and, not including this one, that's thirteen reviews per chapter!
Thank you guys so much! I'm glad that you like this story enough to review it to this extent.
…please don't stop :p
Anyway, I present the band camp chapter.
Enjoy!
Band camp: (Banned-camp) The most anticipated (hated) week/two weeks (eternity) that always takes place during summer vacation (of course). More commonly known as boot camp.
Rookie Camp:
A week or so before the actual band camp begins, some bands have a "rookie" camp, which is designed to teach new band students marching fundamentals without scaring them enough to make them want to quit (the marching instructors save that for band camp).
Rookie camp is usually overseen by the drum majors and marching instructor, with squad leaders and captains helping out. The head director makes the occasional cameo, but he/she is usually working in the nice, cool band room.
The rookies learn how to march in time--actually, allow me to rephrase that. The instructors attempt to teach the rookies how to march in time. For some reason, a lot of them seem to forget how to do so in the time between rookie camp and band camp. They also learn the basics of marching: the roll/high step, the touch and go, forwards marching, backwards marching, and standing at attention. For the rookies, standing at attention is a form of torture. The drum majors, on the other hand, derive a sort of sadistic pleasure from watching all of the freshmen suffer.
Not all bands have a rookie camp. Some prefer to teach the new band members the fundamentals on the first few days of band camp. Others have a rookie camp and still over the basics during band camp, just to "refresh" the memories of the upperclassmen (who, coincidentally, need their memories refreshed).
Band Camp:
Whether you go away for it or have to show up at your band room at the crack of dawn every day, band camp is a summertime nightmare for every marching band student (or at least those with the slightest sense of self-preservation).
During this time, you will be forced to endure intense heat (anywhere from 80 to boiling), humidity, pain, suffering, pain and suffering, fatigue, sore lips, sore muscles in general, and a lot more exercise than you are used to (unless you play a sport).
In a lot of schools, there are rules about the max heat the band can be practicing in. In order to get around this, the director simply ignores it (or lies when someone asks). On the rare occasion that the band director actually decides that it is too hot to practice, the entire band retreats to the shade and relative cool of the school, or wherever they are staying for band camp; however, the time spent out of the sun is always used "constructively."
Music rehearsals, anyone?
Most of band camp is spent outside, on the practice field. Usually, four to five hours (could be more, could be less for your band) are devoted to doing something marching related, be it fundamentals, putting sets on the field, running through a set "one more time," marking time, or standing at attention.
If only more time could be devoted to water breaks…
When you are outside that much, you will get sunburned. It doesn't matter if you claim to be "one of those people who doesn't burn."
You will get burned.
I promise.
The best advice that can be offered to the new band members is to wear lots of sunscreen (actually, COAT yourself with it). If you don't like sunscreen, at least wear a hat.
If you do like sunscreen, wear a hat.
It helps.
Also, you need to drink water at every opportunity you get. Dehydration equals bad (they'll practically force feed you the water so that kids won't be dropping like flies).
Most of band camp consists of a crash course in the sets of that year's show. It's as if the band directors play games with themselves to see how much the band will march that day. "How much of the opener can we learn in one day?" or, "Let's see if we can have the whole opener on the field by Friday!" tend to be two of their favorites.
Some of band camp is also spent on learning the music. The motto of every band director on the face of the earth is similar to the following: you must memorize your music correctly, otherwise you'll be playing it wrong all season.
...how many times have you heard that in your life?
My guess is quite a bit.
Whether you're at an actual camp, or just at your school, a lot of your time is spent socializing with your section; music rehearsals, fundamentals, and even some of your free time are very section-oriented. You learn your part to the music as a section (well, duh), you are usually oriented around your section in the show, and you sit next to them in the music rehearsals.
You end up either loving them, or wanting to kill them.
In the end, you even act like them (I don't remember swearing before I joined band…). Or, you could spend ten minutes plotting the untimely demise of your section leader (I seem to recall something with a spiked pit….)
Another feature of band camp is rookie night/day/week. It is basically a period of time in which minor hazing is allowed; for some bands, it tends to be a year-round unimportant ordeal.
All bands, no matter where they are, are seniority oriented; seniors are first to get on the bus, first to get their uniforms, first to get their food, first in flight (I'm not ripping off slogans, I promise! …it's not mine) first to get music, etc.
Upperclassmen can tell underclassmen what to do (marching and music wise, at least). I pity the freshmen/sophomore who tells the junior/senior that they were out of step (even though sometimes the upperclassmen is wrong...). It just isn't done, unless they are really screwing up.
Anyway, rookie whatever (night/week/year) is a time for the upperclassmen to have even more seniority.
A lot of the time they just get to boss around the rookies more than usual; sometimes they get to dress them up, or make them perform a skit in the auditorium.
If your school is one that does the dress-up, beware…the veterans of the band can be veeeeeeery creative. Saxophone and baritone guys could be cavorting about in dresses, and you just might see the drumline rookies gamboling around wearing girl shorts.
Blackmail pictures all around!!
Band camp is also a time to weed out the lazy and uncaring, which are pretty much the same people. It's always amazing how many lazy people actually survive band camp…you want to stab them with your instrument and bury them in a landfill, but you can't because then there would be a hole in the drill.
Points to the people who try, though.
Band camp is always entertaining. You have the rookies--the innocents--who look foward to band camp, who are excited by the very word (err...words); however, they will learn.
Then you have the veterans, the returning band members, the survivors. They look upon band camp warily; it's fun (band geeks will be band geeks), but they know the effort that goes into it as well.
Nonetheless, many a marching band student has been sitting around doing nothing mid spring and randomly wished for band camp. Come July/August, however, they probably look back and wonder what the heck they were thinking.
That about wraps it up for band camp. It is hated, despised, and, at the same time, it is tolerated, maybe even liked. It brings the band together (usually in some sort of vendetta against the authority figures), and prepares the band for the upcoming season.
Nevertheless, it still sucks.
This one time, at band camp:
-The trombones sang the ballad and then started stripping (for skit night...)
-Half of the drill for the closer had to be re-written because nobody could march it
-The drumline got section of the day (I think the earth stopped spinning)
-The sprinklers came on (not really, but wouldn't that be awesome?!
-The brass had sectionals standing up in the auditorium (that has no air conditioning) while the woodwinds got to sit down in the nice, cool band room.
-The marching instructor went without shoes to tan his feet.
-All of the assistant directors looked like raccoons because they got sunburned so badly (they were wearing sunglasses...)
-The trombones caused bruises and headaches through their lack of depth perception (then again, what else is new)
-The water line broke and managed to inflate a good bit of the field (giant bubble of grass, anyone?)
One last thing...people saying "this one time at band camp..." annoy me sometimes.
Among band people, it's fine.
We think it's funny.
We get it.
But when every non-band person has to say it to you, you tend to get annoyed. It's not funny when they say it.
It's just not funny.
Another chapter come and gone...I'm so proud! The next chapter shall be...(drum roll, please)...(I said drum roll!)...(oh. The drumline are out of commission due to a taser incident)...(okay, no drum roll. Glissando!)...Competitions!!
