By DJ Corchin
Posted September 16, 2011
If God exists, I think this is what it sounded like when he decided to create today's
modern teenager. "Ok, here's the plan. When a kid gets between 13-18 years old, I
don't care, you choose, let's make them start to smell different, design their face using
pointillism, make them hairier, and then, now go with me on this, just to see what
happens, let's send some of them to band camp." BTW, unfortunately, God is also a
percussionist.
June 26th, Day 1
Dear Diary,
I'm in heaven. I don't mean like angels and clouds heaven, more like all I can eat
KitKats and Taco Bell heaven. I am prepared as I could be. The mini-fridge my mom
brought in was definitely worth it for the next 5 days. It's stocked with so much Dew I
barely had room for the jello. I've got my Newsies hat, 8 t-shirt and vest combos, and I
just hooked up my silent brass mute to my iPad so I can play my cornet with fart
sounds. And today...I saw her.
I never thought I'd meet another person who loves World of Warcraft AND the history of
bridge architecture. She's a flute player but I can forgive her for that. LOL. Her name
was Brynn. Oh beautiful, beautiful Brynn. She had the hair of Goldilocks, the eyes of
Amy Adams, and the body of Starbuck from the new version of Gallactica. Perfect. As
she and I departed to separate dorms before auditions, I whispered in her ear
confessions of my feelings, letting her know I loved her with all my heart. It was love at
first sight some might say, but I say I've always loved her, in my dreams and dreams of
my dreams. As she was leaving she said something to me but I couldn't hear it due
some random drum line practicing in the middle of the hallway. I can only imagine what
sweet response she had for me. Awesome.
June 27, Day 2
Dear Diary,
I had a meeting with the camp director today who told me I needed to stay away from
Brynn. I guess she told the director that she told me to stay away but I kept calling her
room asking if she knew the number for a good private teacher in her area. But it
doesn't matter, I met my true love. Even truer than the last truism. It's music. I'm going
to commit myself to music this week and hone my craft with the skill of the masters
before me. Awesome.
June 28, Day 3
Dear Diary,
Holy cow Beth is soooooooo hotttt! I didn't know horn players came that hot! I think
she looked at me during the slow section at letter B but I can't be sure. I'm going to
write her a note and see if she'll meet me by the stone stairs. Awesome.
June 29, Day 4
Had an amazing day in rehearsal today. I met the composer of The Lord Of The Rings
Symphony. It's not the music to the movies, but for wind ensemble. Can't believe some
dork asked him if he also did the music to the movies. Idiot. LMFAO. The composer
has perfect pitch. I wish I had perfect pitch...and telekinesis. Oh BTW, Beth dumped
me. It's cool. Awesome.
June 30, Day 5
I am so sad today is the last day. I have had so much fun this week and made
friendships I will keep forever. I've already added 674 friends on Facebook, 120 of
which accepted. My Tumblr is being followed by 42 people now also. Pretty cool.
Anyways, I'm glad I got to come here this week. Mom made me and said Dad would
have wanted me to go. The past month has been the hardest of my life with him gone.
It's hard to believe Dad won't be there this season pushing out the pit. But I think Mom
was right. Dad really got me. Sometimes at school I feel like I'm part of a small group
that no one understands. Here, people get me. And that's awesome.
When it comes to Band Camp, I have split personalities (well I'm sure it's debatable if I
have them JUST when it comes to Band Camp). On one hand, I think they're the most
hilarious thing to be invented in the universe. Yes, even aliens have a joke or two about
it (The Vulcan ones aren't that funny). But on the other hand, it's the most serious thing
I've encountered in my life.
So let's get band-nerd-technical for a moment. There are two types of band camps.
The overnight version and the at-your-own-school version. Both are equally important,
fun, and awkward. I don't believe you're doing band camp justice if you only discuss
one, as some kids only experience the other and might feel left out. And the last thing
I'd want to do is have a band nerd feel like the odd one out :)
Overnight band camp. Legendary jokes have been created at these venues. Jokes are
jokes for a reason. I'm not going to try to deny my nerdish cultural heritage by ignoring
the antics of my ancestors. I can't say (publicly) I'm proud of the mischief they
produced, but I will say that because of them, band camp has a certain "character" that
is always fun to talk about. The thing I love the most about band camp, today and when
I was a camper, (there it is, my first "back in my day" statement, I think I just threw up in
my mouth a bit. OK think younger thoughts...Justin Bieber, Glee, Twitter, Twitter,
Twitter....What? Twitter's old now? Are you frick'n kidding me?! ) is the cultural petri
dish it is. I've met kids from all over the world, from all walks of life. Kids from a big city,
small rural community, Earth, New York, kids that are rich, poor, straight, gay, mac, pc.
One thing that surprises me the most though, is how many times band camp is the first
time some kids have been outside their own home town. The courage that some of
these students need to have to come to a new place, meet strange (I use that term
loosely) people, and attempt to make music with them is astounding. Musically,
sometimes they find out how good they really are. Sometimes they find out how much
work they really have to do. (If you've ever been first chair in your own school, only to
find out that you're oh...say 13th when you get together with more of your kind, I'm sure
you realize that can be a shock to one's ego. Especially trumpet players. They tend to
be sensitive about stupid stuff. And sometimes stupid about sensitive stuff.) I believe
that many kids have an "ah ha" moment at these types of overnight camps, when they
realize that they need to move into another level of maturity. It can be as simple as they
are no longer the big fish in a small pond, but more like a small fish in a huge ocean...a
large disgusting adolescent ocean, full of embarrassment, hormones, and fear that they
suddenly may not know everything. (That's right you can count on band camp to
knock'm down a peg.) But more often than not, they rise to the occasion and begin to
look at their lives differently. I've had parents come back to a band camp for a second
year to drop off their child only to say, "She came back a different person last year." I
truly believe at this type of band camp, many kids realize they aren't alone in their
corner of the world.
Most of these overnight camps are not just about music, but about leadership,
teamwork, and life education. I've seen lives literally saved and friendships made that
span over boundaries not normally crossed close to home. I strongly recommend
sending students to these types of camps at least once. It can be the safest
environment out there for them to experience a sense of independence, while building a
larger sense of community. Deep huh?...my apologies, I'll get back to booger jokes and
inappropriate noises soon.
Now we come to the other type of band camp. The kind that is with your own band, at
your own school, run by your own director. Sometimes by themselves, sometimes by a
staff of 20+. This is the week(s) where the band begins the journey of creating the most
magnificent piece of performance art ever to grace the eyes of the human soul.
Sometimes to the sounds of perfect melodies over striking ostinatos, sometimes to The
Safety Dance. Either way, it will bring a tear to your eye.
"Band Camp Week" can be even more challenging than venturing away from home to
bond with complete strangers. These people know your history, your mistakes, they
know you pooped your pants in 7th....I mean 1st grade, and even worse, they don't go
away when the week is over. This week can make or break a year. I believe that this
time is truly when you see the strength of the individuals in the group. At an overnight
camp, it's easy to be a "leader" for a week. It's even easier to lie about how you really
act at home. (OK OK, I don't really volunteer at a nursing home once a week because I
just want to "give back" to the community.) Every year I volunteer at an overnight camp
I get asked, "Do you come here to escape who you really are, or do you come here to
be who you really are?" The thing I like about this question is that the answer is different
depending on if the person answering it likes who they really are. (Yeah, even deeper
huh? Lose yourself in my moral ambiguity and love it.) But in this case, I'll use the
question to demonstrate a point. The band camp week at your own school is something
where you have to be who you really are, and that needs to be you at your best.
Younger Freshman, you need to have courage to jump in and figure it out, to ask
questions and find the right balance of challenging the status quo, while respecting
other's experience levels. Upperclassmen, you have to show maturity beyond your
years, and realize it's not about you, or just a perfect score, or even the music.
Although all those things are important, it's about people. What are you doing to make
people better. Can you put aside your own personal ego to boost someone else's?
The band is only as good as the amount it gives.
What does that mean? It means your choices that week matter, and it matters that
those choices are good ones. I dare you to spend the entire week making
someone
else better. Double-quadruple dog dare.
Band Camp will continue to live in our hearts as our guilty little pleasure. I've even had
someone make fun of me for going to band camp only to find out they went the previous
year. (I may or may not have stuffed a filet-o-fish in their tuba bell on the bus ride to a
contest.) But Band Camps are a great place to take a self-inventory, grow up a bit, and
truly learn what it means to be part of a diverse world. You never know when that one
week, will be the week life makes sense. Or it just might be the week you learn to chew
with your mouth closed. Baby steps ;)
About the Author: DJ Corchin
is author of the celebrated humorously inspiring book, Band Nerds Poetry From The 13th Chair Trombone Player (bandnerdspoetry.com). He was a featured performer in the first
national Broadway tour of the Tony and Emmy award winning show, BLAST! where he was best known as the "unicycling trombonist." His other children's books including Sam & The Jungle Band, You Got A Boogie, and the I Feel... series were published to rave reviews.
A pop recording artist out of Chicago and former high school band director, he continues to be involved in marching bands and music education through speaking events, competitions, and organizations such as Music for All.
Mr. Corchin welcomes your comments via email.
For more of his work please visit www.djcorchin.com. Mr. Corchin is an independent contributor so his views and opinions do not necessarily represent those of Marching.com.
Text by DJ Corchin. Trombone illustration by Dan Dougherty.
Copyright 2011 Marching.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published or redistributed without permission.
Recent Headlines:
2018 Tournament of Roses Bandfest Photos |
Prep Your Body for Marching Season |
Marching Band Music Arrangers |
Marching.com on Facebook |
Marching.com on Twitter |
Marching.com on Pinterest
Marching.com on Facebook |
Twitter | Pinterest
