to be a JAMMitor

[WDW4Ever]

Does anyone out there know what it takes to become a JAMMitor? I've wanted to be one for so long, and now that I'm a junior in HS, I really need to start thinking about it. Would being on the school drumline help? I'm sure it would but I don't know.

[hgraber]

I have absolutely no clue what it takes to become a JAMMitor, but if you have a Myspace account (who doesn't) there's a group called Walt Disney World Cast Members. There are a lot of cast members on there from the entertainment side, so I bet you could get some good information.

[WDW4Ever]

I actually just got off of myspace and nobody out there knows of anyone, either. If anybody, and I mean ANYBODY kows of anything, please let me know

[MainStreet, USA]

WDW4Ever, if you find anything out, be sure to let me know too! By the way, what do you play in drumline? I played snare all four years and was captain when I was a senior. Man, how I miss competition season!

Occasionally I will see notices on Disney's website advertising special positions (not regular CM positions, but to fill the roles of specific performers, characters, etc). I've seen them looking for dancers and stunt performers and acrobats and musicians and inline skater (that last one was for when they used to have the Tarzan Rocks show with the skating monkeys), but I haven't noticed them looking for any Jammitors before. If I couldn't get in as a Jammitor, I'd also be game to take over the job of the snare drummer in the Main Street Philharmonic if it was offered.

[MickeyspalJim]

I don't even know what a Jammitor is. Boy am I out of touch.

[tankerboy]

Take drum lessons, join a drum corp ( dci.org), get really good and audition.

Simple as that. :-)

[MainStreet, USA]

If only DCI really was as simple as that... I would have loved to have gone DCI if I had the chance after high school, but even with as good as I was, I wasn't good enough to even seriously consider auditioning for a corps. I did know a few people from my school who did make it into the Cadets... one for forward percussion (pit), and one for guard - both of whom were amazing at what they did.

I've watched the Jammitors enough times to know however that nothing they play is really all that overly complex or difficult... nothing really all that DCI like. Just some rout memorization and a little flair and you've got the part. It's just a matter of knowing where and when to audition, and then being able to at least do a halfway decent job of the audition piece I would think.

[tankerboy]

Yeah, I was just kidding about it being simple. Of course if you know about DCI then you know you can only be a certain age before your chance is gone forever (unless you found a DCA corp you could hook up with) I really don't know how to get into the Jammitors but I have spoken to them before and they did have corp experience under their belt. If you are in EPCOT again confront them about it or try a letter to Disney corp ( casting?) and hope it ends up in their hands...and they respond. They are castmembers so I would expect them to respond. After all, castmembers at WDW have a legendary reputation to uphold.

Always follow your dreams and good luck!!

[MainStreet, USA]

Yeah, the DCI age-out rule is kind of a bummer. I'm 23 now, and therefore my shot at it has long since passed. (Besides... I'm way out of practice seeing as I haven't played regularly since high school). But then again, it has its perks too. Have you ever seen the show 'Blast!'? That came about as a result of a bunch of DCI performers (from the Star of Indiana is I remember correctly) who were aging-out but not quite ready to stop performing and give up doing what they loved, and who went on to create that stunning masterpiece.

DCA is an ok alternative, but it just doesn't really compare in my opinion. Our battery percussion instructor in high school was former DCA. He played bass drum for the Connecticut Hurricanes some years back. He says he enjoyed it, but at the same time, he wouldn't hesitate to tell you where his real interest lay - with his all time favorite drum corps, DCI's Santa Clara Vanguard.

[tankerboy]

Yes. I have seen Blast and loved it! But then again...I love that stuff so loving it was only natural.

I was at the SE DCI championships a week or so ago and the corps have some really good shows this yeay. Blue Devils drum line is super tight! My favorites are Cavaliers, Vangard, Phantom Regiment, Carolina Crown (always puts on very clever shows) and Blue Devils. Not neseccarily in that order though.

Some day when I retire I'd like to pick a corp, volunteer, and follow them around all summer.

[ToddBreakey]

Ok, now that we have gone completely off topic into one of my favorite things to do and watch, here is a link for those of us who can't make it to Pasadena for the DCI World Finals. Drum Corps International :: Marching Music's Major League The DCI Quarter Finals will be shown LIVE at several theaters around the country. I REALLY want to go to this but it is on Thursday Aug 9 at 7PM local and is 5 and a half hours long. So it will be ending at midnight.

I had the oppurtunity to attend a couple of camps with the Crossmen back when they were in Wilkes Barre PA. Back then they were practicing on the grounds of a mental instution!!! It truly seperates the men from the boys. I had a spot on the bass line until I couldn't come up with the funding. Even back in 1989 it was prohibitively expensive.

A couple of years after that (1995 to be exact) I got to go to the finals when they were at the Orange Bowl in MCO. If you haven't been, and like Marching Music, you HAVE to go sometime. I plan on attending sometime after they relocate the finals to Indianapolis. Even if the shows are mediocre, you have to attend to see the encore after the awards ceremony. All 12 Final Corps play America the Beautiful directed by the Drum Major from the winning Corps. VERY MOVING!!!!

My favorite Corps, in no particular order, The Crossmen, Phantom, The Devils, SCV and the Caviliers.