Welcome to The Drum Corps Oral History Project
Click here to fill out the initial interest form
Hello to all!
As most of you know Drum Corps, for better and worse, is changing as it always has throughout the years. The history of our activity is for the most part not written down but held as an oral tradition that is passed down from generation to generation. The Drum Corps Oral History Project is here to record and archive that history in a manner that it will be available to both the general public and researchers who come after.
Your support and participation is greatly wanted as you are a part of the long story of the activity and deserve to have your story preserved as part of this archive. Once a persons interview has been concluded the audio will be transcribed and made searchable in the Projects collection. Before entry into the collection each interviewee will have the chance to review and approve the video and transcript for accuracy and one last chance to redact anything you want to out of it.
Anyone who has had any part in the activity, members, staff, volunteers, Judges, People who sold horns and drums, anything, even if it was just for a day. We are looking to gather a wide range of viewpoints and experiences from each and every aspect of the activity. We want both details and vibes, stuff that show recordings, score recaps, drill pages, sheet music can’t tell us.
We want to hear of course about the good times, but also the bad times, the times everything didn’t go right. This is all part of our history and deserves to be documented.
If you feel that you want to help preserve the history of our activity and donate your story please fill out the interest from at this link. We will contact you to get the process started towards your donation. If you just want to support the project please follow the link to our Patreon where we’ll have some inside info and exclusive status updates along with other benefits as we ramp up the project. An example of this would be access to trivia nights and other community events.
For right now this is starting small, interviews will be conducted over zoom but the growth plan has us one day spinning off from Lookaround.miami to become a 501c3 not for profit with a traveling studio that will be at shows to expand our reach and preserve as much of our shared history as possible.
The Drum Corps Oral History Projects mission is to RECORD, DOCUMENT, and PRESERVE the history of the Drum Corps Activity through its unique oral history tradition, while working with other groups to add a deeper context to its story.
So we ask you to please help us preserve our history for generations to come and donate your story.
Click here to fill out the initial interest form
If you wish to support us monetarily please visit the lookaround.miami pateron
For additional questions and to reach out to the project please email dcohp@lookaround.miami
FAQ
What is the purpose of oral history?
The purpose of Oral History is to fill in the blanks. There’s only so much the written record can tell us, this area of the practice of history tries to get to the whole story from the people who were there. Using recorded interviews and comparing it with the written record and the recollection of others we are able to create a deeper and more complete picture of the area of study.
Who Can Participate?
Whomever wishes to, we are looking for participation from all levels of the activity from Marchers, Staff, Parents, Volunteers. If you’ve been around Drum Corps for any amount of time you have a story we want to hear and preserve.
What Would An Interview Cover?
Whatever you feel comfortable donating to us. Everything is on the table in terms of what you want to talk about. Drove buses for 30 years. We might spend an hour talking about that and how they changed over the time. Brass player who marched through an instrument rule change happened, how was that first year of it? Show designer? Let's go through how your influences changed over time, shoes you desired and how they changed. Heck want to get the whole design team together? We’re down.
Who will see my interview?
It’s the project's goal to have a publicly available searchable collection. People will be able to search the transcripts through various search criteria. An example of this would be inputting the search terms 1975, Phantom Regiment, Allentown show and getting links to every interview containing information about the 1975 Allentown show that mentions the Phantom Regiment or is from someone attached to them. Consider this like the exhibits in the public part of the museum
There will also be a restricted version of the collection available to verified researchers only, our proverbial backroom, they will have access to all available information. Due to what might be the sensitive nature of some of the stories donated to the archive we want to make sure it can’t be used to harass or in any way traumatize the interviewee so there will be a process set up to vet and verify people who wish to use the archive for academic research. This will be akin to getting a researcher card to access a special collection. Safeguards will also be in place to check who accessed what and when just in case.
Can I do my interview and not make it public?
Yes, you can be interviewed for the archive and request that it not be used for any public facing activities (videos, podcasts etc…) We understand there can be stuff that is both important for the preservation of history and also one might not want for public consumption. At several parts of the process you will be asked if you want your interview in the publicly searchable database or if you wish to have it only accessible by verified researchers.
Who owns the rights to the results of the interview?
We will own the rights to the video and transcript and unless requested will have the right to use them in various public facing activities as mentioned above. As for the content of the interview, it’s your story, you own those rights.
Are you partnered with any of the other historical groups?
As of right now no, but we are open to partnering and if finances allow supporting other historical groups in our quest to preserve our history.
How can I help beside being interviewed?
We’re going to need folks to help transcribe interviews until we get in a position that we can pay for that to be done professionally. But the biggest help right now beside supporting us through our Patreon would be to get your friends and family involved and have them fill out the interest form. The larger the pool of interviewees we have the better chance we have of getting funding from other sources. You can also join the facebook group and we will expand into other social media platforms.
Where will the archives be kept?
For right now the archives will be kept at lookaround.miami, it’s a website already owned by one of our founders and has the storage space to make it possible to store all the data from video and audio files. As we grow we plan to get our own site and/or partner with another Historical Group to house the archives. At the end of the day we hope to make the archive as open and accessible as possible.
Do I have to do my interview alone?
No, we are open to groups of people being interviewed at the same time. Sometimes the whole story only comes out when it’s bounced around a few folks. An example of this might be a bass line being interviewed at the same time.
What happens if I admit to something illegal/ accuse someone else of something illegal?
Know that we are researchers not lawyers so there is no privilege for these interviews, if you wish for something to be redacted then we will require a warrant before we give up any of that footage, transcripts or contact information.
Will you give my contact information to anyone outside the project?
We will never sell or use your data for profit or commercial purposes, this is an academic project, you will be given the option to allow researchers to reach out to you if they are looking for more info. If someone is looking to connect with you, we will act as middle man and contact you to allow the release of the information to only those you authorize.
An Example of this is if you mention a person in an interview and mention you’d wish you kept in contact, next that person sees the interview and contacts us looking to get in contact with you. we will go ahead and reach out to you with the request and follow your lead. You want to send them a link to your Facebook or TikTok? We’ll pass that along, you wish not to, we'll deny the request.
How long will information requested to be redacted or held be kept as such?
Information may be held outside of public view for as long as requested up to the departure of the interviewee from this earth.
What Kind Of Research Could Be Done With This Archive?
Researchers could use the interviews to see patterns and give context in topics like trends in music education, population boom and decline, communications, logistics, school shower quality, we can’t even conceive of what this project might yield.
So once again, please check out the initial interest form at the link here
And if you are inspired to help preserve the history of the activity to the level of financial support please visit the Lookaround.miami Patreon.
For additional questions and to reach out to the project please email dcohp@lookaround.miami