Drum Corps United Kingdom

Drum Corps United Kingdom
Drum Corps United Kingdom Main Logo
Type	Drum and Bugle Corps
Location	United Kingdom
Founded	1980
No. of corps	15
Current champions	The Company Performance Ensemble (2016 Open Class), Concord Allstars (2016 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 to September, 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, the Drum Corps United Kingdom Championships. DCUK finals has been held at the Select Security Stadium since 2013.

Open Class

Junior Class

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