Marching percussion

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Marching percussion instruments are specially designed to be played while moving. This is achieved by attaching the drum(s) to a special harness (also called a carrier or rack) worn by the drummer. The drums are designed and tuned for maximum articulation and projection of sound, as marching activities are almost always outdoors or in large interior spaces. Articulation is paramount to producing a "clean" sound from all the drummers in the line. These instruments are used by marching bands, drum and bugle corps, indoor percussion ensembles, and pipe bands. A marching percussion ensemble is frequently known as a drumline.

Contents 1 Snare drums 2 Tenor drums 3 Bass drums 4 Cymbals 5 Front Ensemble 6 Timpani 7 Media 8 External links

[edit] Snare drums

Marching snare drums are deeper in size than snares normally used for orchestral or drum kit purposes. This gives the drum the big, full sound necessary for outdoor use. Standard sizes (listed as diameter x depth) are 13x11 and 14x12 inches. Smaller sizes such as 13x9 have become increasingly popular in recent times with the proliferation of indoor drumlines. Many snare drums utilize a metal suspension ring on the top (or batter) side of the drum, allowing for extremely tight tuning of Kevlar or aramid fiber heads without damaging the shell. The bottom (or resonant) side of the drum has a tightly tuned head and plastic or metal snare wires, which are often taped to the head to limit their movement and make the sound more staccato. For outdoor use, a piece of curved plastic, called a "scoop," may be attached to the back of the bottom hoop to help project the sound forward to the audience. Snare lines vary in size from as few as 2 or 3 drummers in small high school marching bands to as many as 12 or more in very large college marching bands. Lines of 4–5 are common in high school marching bands; 7–10 is most common in drum corps and college marching bands. The lead snare player in a battery is almost universally referred to as the "center snare" and is often the drum captain (leader of the battery and sometimes the front ensemble) and the snare "section leader." The snare drum section is part of the "upper battery", which refers to the snare drums and tenor drums.

Snare drums used in pipe bands are similar in construction to standard marching snare drums, with two key differences. First, the drum has an additional set of snares, directly under the batter (top) head. Second, the snares under the bottom head are made of coiled steel wires, similar to a drumset (as opposed to the synthetic "gut" snares on a corps-style drum). These differences tend to give the pipe drums a "snappier" snare sound, emphasizing the higher frequencies of the drum. Recently, corps-style drums have been produced with steel wire snares underneath the batter head (while remaining the gut snares under the bottom head). These snares are able to be switched on and off separate from the bottom snares, which allows units to use the second snares as a specific effect or as a permanent modification to the sound of the drum.

The head of the snare drum can also be varied to give the drum a different sound. Depending on the music or style that the drumline plays, different brands and types of heads may be used. For maximum volume and stick articulation, a head made of woven Kevlar fibers should be used and tuned to a very high tension. If the player desires a slightly "softer" feel, then an aramid fiber head (such as Remo's Black Max)is a good choice. Finally, if more overtones and the softest head-feel are desired, the player may want to consider a heavy clear head with a center reinforcement dot(such as a Remo Powerstroke 77). This type of head is rarely used today among competitive drumlines, mostly owing to its lack of outdoor projection in comparison with Kevlar, but nonetheless may still be used if a unique timbre is desired.

Sticks used for marching snare drums are almost always very thick and long with large tips when compared with sticks used for drumset or concert percussion. For example, a standard 5A drumstick used for the drum set and orchestral snare drum is about 16 inches in length and .560 inches in diameter. In comparison, a marching snare drum stick will be up to 17 inches long, with a diameter of .725 inches. The size and weight of marching sticks were designed for maximum sound projection in outdoor environments. In the outdoors, sound emanating from a given source will dissipate more quickly, since there is no enclosed space (i.e. walls and ceiling) to reflect it. For that reason, the initial volume of sound produced from the drum must be greater. Because a thicker, longer stick will have greater leverage, it will come down on the drum with greater force and hence produce a louder sound than a small, thin stick. It must be noted, however, that drum companies have recently been designing smaller marching sticks specifically for indoor drumlines, where performances take place in enclosed spaces and volume does not need to be as high.

There are two common types of grips for holding the sticks used to play a marching snare; traditional and matched. When playing matched grip, both of the drummers hands hold the stick in the same way, thus the name "matched grip." The stick is held between the thumb and index finger to form a fulcrum. The rest of the fingers loosely wrap around the rest of the stick. Traditional grip is, of course, the traditional grip for snare drum. Snare drums were traditionally slung around the drummer in a way so that the left side of the drum was tilted much higher than the right side. In order to play in a comfortable position, the drummer flipped his left hand over so that his palm faced upward. The traditional grip involves holding the stick in the left hand between the thumb and index finger and resting the stick on the ring finger. The right hand is held in the same way as matched grip.

[edit] Tenor drums

Modern marching bands and drum corps use multi-tenors, which consist of several single-headed tom-toms played by a single drummer. The bottoms of the shells are open and beveled to project the sound of the drum forward. Double-ply Mylar heads are typically used for increased sound projection and durability. They are typically played with wooden or aluminum mallets that have disc-shaped heads made of nylon. Mallets with felt or fleece heads, drum sticks, drum brushes, and other implements are occasionally used to achieve different timbres. The playing technique used for multi-tenors is somewhat different from that of a snare drum, and more like that of a timpani because the drumhead is struck closer to the edge instead of in the center. This creates a sound with more overtone, as opposed to striking the drumhead in the center, which produces a very short, dull sound with few overtones that is considered undesirable for multi-tenors.

A full-size set of tenors consists of 10, 12, 13, and 14-inch toms arranged in an arc, often with an additional one or two smaller (6 or 8-inch) toms called "gock", "shot", or "spock" drums inside of the arc. Because a full-sized set of tenors with a carrier can exceed 40 pounds, smaller and lighter versions of tenors outfitted with 8, 10, 12, and 13-inch toms are often used by lines with smaller or younger players. All multi-tenors based on the four-drum configuration are called quads despite the fact that there may be a total of five or six drums counting the shot drums. Sets with one gock drum are called quints, and sets with two gock drums are called sextets,"squints", hexes, or sixpacks. To produce different sounds between gock drums with the same diameter, the head type, shell depth, and/or tuning between the two drums may vary. A common name for all multi-tenors is simply, 'Tenors'.

Lines of as few as 1 or 2 tenor drummers are common in high schools and junior high schools. Many large college marching bands have 5 or more. Most drum corps consider 4 or 5 tenors to be optimal.

Modern multi-tenors evolved from horizontally mounted dual single-headed bass drums first used by the Boston Crusaders Drum and Bugle Corps in the late 1960s. Early multi-tenors had shells with a flat bottom. These drums sounded a lot like timpani, so they were called timp-toms. As drum sizes got smaller, more drums began to be added to multi-tenor configurations. The largest sets of multi-tenors had 7 drums and were carried by both the 1977 and 1992 Spirit of Atlanta Drum and Bugle Corps tenor lines. Pipe bands and traditional marching bands and drum corps use single tenors, which are double-headed drums much like snare drums without snares. Some show bands such as those at historically black colleges and universities use both single tenors and multi-tenors.

[edit] Bass drums

Bass drums used by modern ensembles come in a variety of sizes, with a 14 inch "universal" depth, and diameter measured in 2-inch increments from 14 to 32 inches. The heads of these drums are usually made of a smooth white Mylar, which gives a tonality that is mid-way between clear and coated heads. Unlike tenors and snares, bass drums are mounted vertically and played on both heads. Each drummer plays and carries one drum, and a line is created by having several people carry different-sized drums. Such drums are called tonal bass drums. The lowest drum in a line, however, is often tuned to have a low "thump" like a traditional bass drum rather than a tone. The Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps were the first marching unit to use and standardize tonal bass drum tuning. Many groups try to use the largest size bass drummer that is comfortable to carry as the bottom bass drum and the fact that larger people are generally more able to carry a bigger drum for long periods of time.

Unlike snare and tenor players, each bass drummer only plays one segment of the entire bass drum part. This is known as a split part. A unison refers to when all or some bass drummers play together at the same time. Lines can vary in size from as few as 3 players in small high schools to as many as 9 in very large college marching bands. A line of 5 (with individual drum sizes ranging from 14" to 32") is the most common in a drum corps.

Pipe bands and some traditional groups use a single bass drummer, who typically carries the pulse of the group. The drums used by these groups are usually thinner (10 to 12 inches deep as opposed to 14) and larger than tonal bass drums to produce a "thump" rather than a tone. Some traditional groups, however, have adopted the use of tonal bass drums.

Various muffling techniques (sometimes referred to as "treatments") can be used on bass drums to achieve a desired sound. The most common of these involve applying foam weatherstripping, either on the head directly or on the shell of the drum. Some drumhead manufacturers make heads that are "pre-muffled." These heads usually have separate pieces of Mylar or other material which are set into the head's flesh hoop and touch the head to control overtones.

[edit] Cymbals

Cymbals are not played in the same manner as orchestral crash cymbals, as there is a change in the grip of the straps. The hand goes through the hoop and twists, causing the hand to be flat against the bell of the cymbal. – each player carries two cymbals of identical size and crashes them together, in addition to producing other sound effects by striking or rubbing the cymbals together. Cymbal players often perform visuals – movements such as twirls and flips that are eye-pleasing and boost the general effect of the group. There is generally a 1-to-1 or 1-to-2 ratio of cymbal players to snares, as snare drummers sometimes play on the cymbals at some point during the performance, much in the manner that hi-hat cymbals are used on a drum set. The number of cymbal players can vary according to their use. Cymbal parts are often split in the same manner as bass drum parts – each cymbalist plays one component of a larger part. Some drum corps (or less often, marching bands) do not have marching cymbal players at all, instead choosing to march additional hornline or color guard members, or other percussion instruments. In indoor percussion ensembles, the trend seems to be towards keeping or expanding cymbal sections.

[edit] Front Ensemble

Main article: Front ensemble

The front ensemble, commonly called the "pit," after the orchestra pits found in opera and musical theater, consists primarily of orchestral and world percussion instruments grounded on the front sideline of the performance space. Instruments typically found in front ensembles include xylophones, marimbas, vibraphones, tympani, tubular bells, occasionally a full drum kit, and various other keyboards and percussive instruments. Many marching bands also include instruments such as synthesizers and electric bass guitars. Occasionally, to achieve a particular musical or visual effect, the pit may be grounded at some location other than the front sideline.

Before marching band and drum corps circuits allowed large percussion instruments to be grounded, percussionists frequently carried marching versions of various mallet percussion instruments, such as glockenspiels and xylophones, on harnesses.

[edit] Timpani

Marching timpani are rarely used today because standard pedal timpani are used in the front ensemble. They were commonly used when competition circuits required all percussion instruments to be carried. In a timpani line, each player carries one drum, which is equipped with a hand crank for tuning.

[edit] Media

[edit] External links

• Drumline Discussion Board