The voice recorders of the DCE judging team did not get through customs without a hitch on Saturday. On their journey from Britain to Germany, the recorders were searched for drugs thoroughly by customs staff Birmingham airport.
 
Drum Corps Europe's voice recorders have been travelling quite a bit this summer, due to the large number of DCE certified contests in Europe. Although the organisation has made a large investment and now has approximately 150 recorders, it is still a logistics operation to ensure that a set of recorders is available for every contest.
 
Judge Mark Bassett, who travelled to the German Open with a set of recorders on Saturday, was surprised when customs officers at Birmingham Airport took an unusual interest in the 40 voice recorders that they found in his luggage. The customs staff found this suspicious, and all recorders were subsequently taken in and were thoroughly searched for the presence of drugs, one by one.
 
When it appeared that there were no drugs hidden in the devices, the DCE judge was allowed to resume his trip to Germany and the comments of the judges could be recorded that evening as usual.