hey all,
as a non-US resident, i’m just wondering what band camp is really like? Is it something like what we see in Glee? Fame? American Pie : Band Camp?
Anybody can share? 
I played the trumpet and freshman year bandcamp was one of the most miserable experiences of my life. Not only was it ridiculously hot marching around for eight hours in the full sun of August but to add insult to injury about twice a day some senior would grab the mouthpiece out of my instrument and then stomp it into the ground.
This became affectionaley know as “taking a core sample”. It’s popularity spread widely and soon even the sax and trombone lines were participating.
First sax leader was BRUTAL. If we missed one step she came over and read us the riot act, DURING a song. Some guys actually got slapped.
The only good thing about this was that I wasn’t the kid who kept getting pantsed. Poor guy must not have had a SINGLE pair of shorts with a tie-string in 'em. One time they grabbed his shorts AND his underwear (accidentally, I’m sure) and pulled. I felt bad for the kid that time.
Let’s see, what else… wedgies, front wedgies, atomic wedgies, wet willies, itching powder, pepper juice or “icy hot” on your mouthpiece. If it’s juvenile and has ever been part of a hazing ritual chances are it was done to us.
None of the girls EVER did anything x-rated with their flutes. D@mmit.
I’ve ever seen Glee, so you tell me if TV imitates life…
Was she hot? 
As a matter of fact she was. 
Also, noogies and dead-legs. (I’m assuming everyone knows what those are.) The trombone players liked to smack us in the back of the head with their slides as they marched by, too.
There was one particularly nasty move where a senior smacked the bell of your trumpet while playing. This jammed the mouthpiece into your face which left your lips spraying blood into your intrument for the rest of the day.
No retaliation of any form was tolerated either. They’d gang up on you in the bathroom during break.
I guess all this behavior “builds character” as my father used to say.
FWIW, this isn’t the type of “band camp” I was talking about. Lots of colleges like to do that kind of crap to the suckers who sign up for marching band – I had to do so my first year in college, but missed most of the hazing garbage because I was bigger than them – but I was talking about a different thing altogether.
CM, “band camps” – like the one Ms. Hannigan famously references – are summer camps for band kids. Some of them are designed for local kids who drive in (or are dropped off by parents each day), but the larger camps include dormitories and last up to a month. Students play in various ensembles, take private lessons, and take classes in subjects that aren’t always offered in smaller schools, like advanced theory.
The camp I mentioned in the podcast was for high school-age kids and was offered by West Texas State University, which is now (I discovered when I went to Google it today) called West Texas A&M University.
Here’s a link to their current offering where you can read about what it is and how it works.
Though I’m sure a lot has changed since I last attended in the summer of 1988, the photos on the site do show facilities that look familiar. I wonder if all the music stands on the main stage still have “WTSU STAGE: Don’t even think of removing this stand from the stage area!” stenciled on 'em.
Anyway, you get the idea. When I was in high school I generally attended three or four of these camps each summer. And yes, I attended Space Camp in Huntsville, too. Four times.
LOL, you went to one of those silly band camps where they encourage creativity and nurture talent, didn’t you? Pansy! 
I guess I shouldn’t make it sound so negative to someone asking for some perspective…
We played some music too. 
Ditto to what Chuck said. I spent a week in band camp at UNCG. We stayed in the student dorms, ate in their cafeteria and spent pretty much all day in rehearsal or private lessons. The best part of it was finding another MST fan and walking down to the Ben & Jerry’s on Tate Street every night.
Marching band practice was a whole different animal. A week walking the football field in the blistering August sun with 100% humidity. Thank goodness I only had to carry xylophone mallets.
I went to Orchestra camp! It was at East Texas State University, and lasted for a week. I think I went 3 or 4 summers in a row, if I remember correctly. I had a blast! We thought we were so cool, getting to stay in the dorms, eat in the college cafeteria, and stay up late. We practiced all week, and then the last day our parents came out for a concert. Good times.
Sounds like my idea of fun! Does the Musicians Institute in Boston have something similar for working adults?
There you have it folks! It’s A&M not S&M heheh…
Sean, are you reading this? They said that band chick was hot!