2018 WGI Independent Percussion Auditions

Welcome back to the Chops blog. Audition season for indoor percussion is upon us and many of you may be considering marching in an Independent percussion ensemble this winter. Indoor percussion, although a relatively young activity, has become very popular, both locally and nationally, over the past 10-15 years. Over this time, many “Independent” ensembles have been started to give percussionists the opportunity to continue performing after they graduate from high school. It also gives those whose high schools do not have a performing ensemble, an opportunity to join and experience the thrill of performing in an indoor percussion ensemble. For those of you not familiar with this, there are “Scholastic” and “Independent” classifications in indoor percussion. Here is the class description from the WGI website:

2017 College Marching Band Preview

Welcome back to the Chops blog! Today we’d like to take the chance to preview the new college football season and several of our local collegiate marching bands.

If you are a fan of the marching arts, it’s hard to beat Indiana. Between drum corps during the summer, marching band in the fall, and winter guard and percussion during the winter and spring, there’s rarely a break between marching seasons. However, it’s easy to forget that there are many great college marching bands in the state.

Pageantry Innovations Demo Sale

Hello everyone!  Our friends at Pageantry Innovations are having a “demo” sale on some gear that was used by several DCI groups this past season.  We thought you’d be interested in taking a look through the list to satisfy some of your needs for this fall.

Please take a look at the list below and contact us if you’d like to get more information.

(Click the image above for a printable list)

DCI Wrap-up

We had a great time at the DCI World Championships last week! Thanks to everyone who stopped by our booth. We had a great time catching up with many of you, and hope you had a great time watching the incredible performances throughout the weekend.  Congratulations to The Blue Devils on their 18th world championship title, and to the amazing Santa Clara Vanguard percussion section for winning high percussion!

Thank you to Vic Firth and Zildjian for teaming with us on the display booth.  Make sure to visit their websites to keep up with the latest trends in sticks, mallets and cymbals for marching season!

Vic Firth.com

Zildjian.com

Congratulations to all performers, staff members and volunteers on a great drum corps season!

For official scores, be sure to visit the DCI score page.

August 2017 News At Chops

DCI 2017 Activities Guide

DCI 2017 Activities Guide

We’re busy gearing up for the Drum Corps International (DCI) World Championships, held right here this week in Indianapolis!  It takes place at Lucas Oil Stadium and surrounding areas.  The competition inside Lucas Oil stadium isn’t the only thing to see.  There are many events throughout the week, most of which are free and open to the public!

Here’s our basic guide to help you take in some of the action.