r/drumline

Hey Y'all! I am a director at a school, and I have a smaller kiddo who will be learning the quints (tenor drums, quads, whatever you want to call them - my students have always said quints since before I got there). The student is so excited, and I want to give them some advice to make her successful. She is a very small kid, probably 5' 2" and 90 lbs and we have Yamaha Field Corps Tenor Drums (8400, I think) with Randall May Harnesses. She is an incredibly dedicated kid, lifts weights, and is athletic, but I still worry about the heavy weight of the drums. Any ideas on how to help her build up the back strength, how to handle the drums, or harness adjustments? I am not able to get any other drums, and this is the best kid to put on the Tenors, so I just want advice on how to help her be successful! Thank you!!

I've seen some groups tape them to just the shoulder, but some tape them to the fulcrum, and even tape the butt as well. How does the amount of tape affect the feel of the sticks?

I haven’t played tenors since 2023, only really playing drumset since. I’m trying out for an NFL drumline next month and wanted to rebuild my chops before the audition. I know obviously to learn their exercises/ cadences. But I’m looking for some more fundamental stuff to get back to where I was before. Think exercises like SCV basic strokes, sweep and scrape exercises etc

My snare audition for drumline is at 8:00AM (ugh) this Saturday!

What are your favorite routines/things that you find helpful right before an audition?

https://preview.redd.it/d840b5alul0h1.png?width=1012&format=png&auto=webp&s=2b73c1e38279306bc1d137ad2f5bfd211f037391

Assume its in 4/4. What are they called, how do you play these specific examples and how would you play them if those slants were on quarter notes/Crotchets?

I know many will make fun of me but I am a current junior in high school. I’m wondering whether I should get better at mallet percussion. Despite having a bell kit for a couple years, I SUCK at reading. The only things I’m good at is basic scales.

In a marching sense, I’ve only played bass and snare. I’m confident in rhythm sight reading and check patterns but battery is definitely my strong suit. For concert band, I typically play snare, bass, or hand percussion. Is it a good idea to start learning mallets if I have only have thoughts about snare in college? I want primarily focus on marching and don’t want to join concert.

TL;DR
Should I learn mallets if I only want to march snare in college?

Hi all, I’m going into my senior year of marching band for my university after two previous years on drumline (cymbals and snare) and a year of Sousa, and I wanted to play bass drum. I went through all the auditions wanting to be on bass one because that’s my favorite drum (I like playing rolls and the whole culture of bass one being chop heavy), and I didn’t well in the audition, but the instructor point blank told me that despite having the chops to play that drum, he wasn’t going to give me the spot because the other girl who has never marched in drumline before (only FE experience) wanted to play bass and she wouldn’t be able to support marching bass 4 (of 6), and that he can just write heavier parts for me specifically if I wanted it. Am I wrong to feel cheated based on that. If I’m wrong please tell me, I just wanted to know if this is common at all.

Main question: what is better, a very good bass 5 player and a mediocre bass 2 player, or a mediocre bass 5 player and a very good bass 2 player.

For background I am a rising senior and section leader. I played bass 1 and 3 my freshman outdoor and indoor season, and bass 2 all of sophomore and junior outdoor and indoor.

I wanna finish off my high school season with a fun drum like bass 5.

Hopefully a director or tech would be able to answer this: what do you look for in a bassline?
*Mainly for marching band*

I'm a high schooler and I have drumline right after school some days. I need a backpack that can carry heavy loads without ripping at the seams like my previous backpack.

I have an offworld invader v3 hybrid

2 pairs of sticks

a small Chromebook

a few folders and notebooks

charger

pens

computer mouse

and lunchbox.

If there is any backpack out there that could accommodate for all of these items, in one bag, let me know. A specific pocket or section for lunch and sometimes dinner would be nice, but as long as there is enough space for food, it'll work.