Marching percussion
Marching percussion instruments are percussion instruments specially designed to be played while moving. This is achieved by attaching the drum to a special harness worn by the drummer, although not all marching bands use such harnesses and instead use traditional baldrics to sling their drums.
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. These instruments are used by marching bands, corps of drums, drum and bugle corps, fanfare bands, indoor percussion ensembles, and pipe bands. A marching percussion ensemble is frequently known as a "drumline" or "battery."
Breakdown
Drumline
A "drumline," also known as the "battery" or "batterie," is a section of percussion instruments usually played as part of a musical marching ensemble. A drumline can also be a section on their own competing against other drumlines. Marching bands, drum and bugle corps, and indoor percussion ensembles are some examples of groups that include a drumline.The term "drumline" derives from the North American drum & bugle corps activity. In the 1940's 1950's, 60's and 70's, state and national drum & bugle corps championships were sponsored by two Veterans organizations, the American Legion and the VFW. Corps had to submit to Inspections. Inspection Judges would look for dirty or missing uniform parts, damaged equipment, loose threads, badly polished shoes, bad grooming and the like. National Championships were often lost because of infractions discovered by the Inspection Judge. The corps had to stand in line, by section, or in a single line during these Inspections. Thus there was a "horn line," a "flag line," and a "drum line." These terms are still common today in the drum corps activity.
Prior to the late 1970's marching bands had "drum sections" not drum lines. The "drum line" term began to be used by other marching percussion ensembles in the 70's along with the instrumentation used in the drum & bugle corps activity. This includes multi-tenor drums and pitched bass drums with split parts, embellishments like back-sticking and stick tosses, and innovations like mylar drumheads. All of these were developed in and originated in the North American drum & bugle corps activity.
The battery marches on the field in a group as opposed to the stationary front ensemble. The battery usually consists of snare drums, bass drums, tenor drums, and cymbals. In the past, marching timpani were common, as were marching keyboard percussion instruments such as glockenspiels and xylophones. However, due to the addition of the front ensemble, all pitched percussion instruments have since been grounded. A relatively small number of bands, mostly at the collegiate level, continue to field such traditional marching keyboard instruments; however, most bands have phased out their use.
Snare drums
Marching snare drums have high-tension heads made out of Kevlar or PET film. In the past, snares were typically carried with slings. Slings caused the drums to tilt right causing discomfort in the left hand. Due to this discomfort, traditional grip was created.Most modern snare drums have rigid over-the-shoulder harnesses that hold the drum with the playing surface parallel to the ground, which affords the option of performing with matched grip. Even with the option of performing matched grip, most competitive groups opt to use traditional grip. Traditional grip allows for more exciting visuals or tricks which are important in the competitive drumming world.
The center, or head, snare player is usually the ensemble's leader. When rehearsing or performing, the center snare may "tap off" the ensemble, setting the tempo with a solo rhythm.
Musically, the snare drum section has the most rudimentarily challenging "book," or music. The instrument's role is that of the soprano line, typically carrying the melody or the main rhythm of the ensemble.
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 are 13x11 and 14x12 inches. Smaller sizes such as 13x9 have become increasingly popular in recent times with the proliferation of indoor drum lines.
The modern "high tension" snare was developed in response to the higher head tensions made possible with the development of Kevlar and other high strength fibers bonded into the drumhead. High tension drums began and were perfected in the pipe band market and later moved into the marching band and drum corps areas. The bottom side of the drum has a tightly tuned head and synthetic gut or metal snare wires, which are often secured to the drum using a strainer to limit their movement and make the sound more staccato. For outdoor use, a projector or "scoop" - a piece of curved plastic - may be attached to the back of the bottom hoop to help project the sound forward to the audience.
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 head. Second, the snares under the bottom head are made of coiled steel wires, similar to a drum set. 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. 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 is used and usually tuned to very high tension. If the player desires a slightly "softer" feel, then an aramid fiber head may be used. Additionally, 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. 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, it may still be used if a unique timbre is desired. One of the most famous marching bands utilizing this head is the Ohio State University Marching Band, however, recently, they have switched to the more modern high-tension Aramid-fiber heads.
Tenor/quad drums
Marching tenor drums are single-headed tonal drums. Modern tenor configurations usually have four drums and one to two special effect drums known as spocks. The spocks are tuned relatively high and are used to play parts that cut through the ensemble. Tenor players add pitch variety to the drumline with drums of different sizes.Tenor players use matched grip and generally play with mallets with plastic disc-shaped heads, though traditional drumsticks and softer mallets are commonly used to achieve different timbres.
Single tenor drums, also known as flubs, are popular in HBCUs, pipe bands or as starting points for inexperienced drummers and are beaten using soft or hard mallets. Either in the single or the multiple form, these tenors can be mounted on the chest, like bass drums, or horizontally, like traditional snares.
Tenor drums are aptly the tenor voice of the ensemble, as well as one of the most melodic. Tenor drums often have parts that mirror what the winds or front ensemble is playing. Because there is often more than one drum, various visuals can be used when performing drum changes such as "crossovers" or "sweeps".
Marching multiple tenor drums can weigh anywhere between 30 and 45 pounds, depending on the model, and number of drums. This means they are typically the heaviest drums in the drumline.
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 PET film heads are typically used for increased sound projection and durability. They are typically played with wooden- or aluminum-shafted mallets that have disc-shaped heads made of nylon. Mallets with felt or fleece heads, drumsticks, 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 overtones, 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 toms arranged in an arc, often with an additional one or two smaller toms called "gock," "shot," or "spock" drums inside of the arc. Because a full-sized set of tenors with a carrier can exceed 55 pounds smaller and lighter versions of tenors outfitted with 8, 10, 12, and 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 gock 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 spock 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." Tenor drums have often been compared to the Latin percussion timbales, as many musicians, including Tito Puente use a setup similar to modern marching 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.
The 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.
Scottish pipe bands use a single tenor drum as part of their drum corps section. Traditional marching bands and drum corps may also use single tenors, which are double-headed drums much like snare drums but without snares, and only use either mallets or sticks. The Scottish form tenors are played with bigger mallets, while regular single tenors have small mallets, all are covered with felt or cotton. Such drums are used either with the sling mount or shoulder mount. Some show bands such as those at historically black colleges and universities use both single tenors and multi-tenors.