| When I was in high school, I was on the dance team | | | | types of drum: the snare drum, the tenor drum, and |
| and during football season, we worked with the band | | | | the bass drum. The number of each instrument |
| for the halftime show. I remember there was a | | | | depends simply on the size of the band and the |
| running joke about the drum line, the upshot of which | | | | sensibilities of the director. The first instrument, the |
| was that if you did not get out of their way, they | | | | snare, provides the center rhythm of the rum line. |
| would run you over, and you would have no one to | | | | These drums are typically played in unison, possess |
| blame but yourself. In the world of show bands and | | | | high tension heads, and form center of tempo for |
| football halftime entertainment, the members of the | | | | the battery. Next on the list is the tenor drum, which |
| drum line are the bad asses, the bad boys, the ones | | | | actually comes in mounted sets of four to six. |
| with the attitudes. Heck, drum line performers have | | | | Thanks to their varied sizes and tuning, tenor drums |
| such a reputation, there was even a movie made | | | | add pitch variety to a drum line. Number three, the |
| about them. "Drumline," made in 2002, presented a | | | | bass drum, differs from its smaller cousins in that |
| band director who recruited a Harlem street drummer | | | | rather than being played in unison, each instrument is |
| to play at a Southern university-Harlem. Think about | | | | assigned a unique part. These drums produce the |
| it. If you saw a bunch of drum-toting, | | | | deepest sounds in the battery and are the largest on |
| regimented-looking people coming toward you like a | | | | the field. |
| freight train, wouldn't you move? | | | | There is one more instrument usually found in the |
| Drum lines play a crucial role in halftime show | | | | drum line, and this is they cymbals. Although not a |
| performances. They are, after all, the percussion, the | | | | drum, it is perhaps the most dramatic member of the |
| beat by which the entire band measures its music. | | | | battery. Cymbals are typically pairs of crash cymbals |
| Show bands can be big, sometimes as many as 500 | | | | and can be played in a variety of ways, in unison, as |
| people. In order to control that many musicians, the | | | | split parts, or like hi-hats. In addition to being played, |
| performers of the drum line have to be strong | | | | they are sometimes spun and twirled for visual |
| artists. The drum line can actually be divided into two | | | | effect. |
| sections: the battery, which moves around the field, | | | | The next time you watch a halftime show, take a |
| and the pit, which is stationary at the front of the | | | | moment to pay attention to how you hear the |
| field. Because the battery is the portion that most | | | | music. If you find yourself with a sudden urge to bob |
| people associate with the words "drum line," that is | | | | your head and march in time to the rhythm, you can |
| portion I will deal with in this article. | | | | thank the drum line. |
| Drum lines are generally comprised of three different | | | | |