Drum Corps United Kingdom
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Drum Corps United Kingdom Main Logo | |
| Type | Drum and Bugle Corps |
|---|---|
| Location | United Kingdom |
| Founded | 1980 |
| No. of corps | 16 |
| Current champions | The Company Performance Ensemble (2015 Open Class), The Pacemakers (2015 A Class), Concord Allstars (2015 Junior Class) |
| Website | DCUK.org.uk |
Drum Corps United Kingdom (DCUK) is a governing organization for drum and bugle corps in the United Kingdom. DCUK operates the British drum corps circuit which holds drum and bugle corps competitions for corps across the country. It is part of the national charity - Marching & Performings Arts UK - http://www.mpauk.org.uk
Competitive Corps participate in competitions between the months of June & August, traditionally the British Drum Corps Championships takes place on the weekend before last in September. Competitions occur at sports arenas (i.e. athletic tracks, football or rugby grounds) and are judged by a panel of approved and training volunteer Judges on general effect, visual performance, and musical performance. Every year, each drum corps prepares a single new show, approximately 8–15 minutes in length, and carefully refines this throughout the entire summer year. This focus on a singular show takes advantage of the large amount of time needed to honing and refining a modern drum corps program, with a momentum that continues to build up to the last performance of the season.
Musical composition and instruments
A typical DCUK show revolves around one central theme, for instance Frank Sinatra or Jazz, with songs fitting for the style.
Many Drum Corps performances begin with a Prologue which is usually linked into one of the main tunes that the corps is playing in the show.
The most typical Corps consists of:
Bugles
Soprano Bugles (High Pitched)
Mellophone Bugles (Medium Pitched)
Baritone Bugles (Mid-Low pitch)
Contrabass Bugle (Bass Pitch)
Marching Percussion
Bass Drum
High Tension Snare Drum
Tenor Drums (quads)
Static Percussion
Arrangement of Static Orchestral Percussion instruments for instance:
Visual Members
The visual section of a drum corps is referred to as the Colour Guard, these marching members are there purely for visual decoration. Using flags, wooden sabres and rifles as a norm, however on rare occasions a drum corps show can revolve around the colour guard performance with the use of props.