S. Pearson

To the entire Cabs 2011 Brass line: Thank you for your wonderful demonstration of elegance and class during our finals show warm-up! It was a very warm and memorable moment for the Kilties battery during our first appearance back in DCA Finals!!! We still talked about that moment with you all at last weekends banquet in Racine as "a highlight!". My only regret was not making it to room 711 for the after show party! I'm sure it was also very memorable!!! :) Thanks once again, Scott Pearson (aka "Pearsony") Kilties Percussion Staff

FYI, sorry all 2011 percussion positions are now filled... Yay!

For what it's worth, I carried tenors of many different variations, full deep shell (no cutaway shells), 3-4-5 drum configurations, with covers and scoops and painted scoops for 8 seasons with the Scouts. Until my last season, the drums didn't flip up and we didn't have stands-ever. The hardware was welded steel (until 81') and the shells were all 8-ply. Our 5-drum sets carried during 1979 weighed 60 lbs! However, in defense to those carrying drums today, our body movements were for the most part up n' down the fifty yard line and crab-walking only entered into the picture during the last year or two of my experience. Also, we didn't march backwards until the last few years too. Generally, I still see the health issues today being more related to ankles, knees, hips more than I do the back, simply because of the extreme movements that players today have to do! Crab-walking is terrible for joints! Honestly, I think that this debate about using stands depends on when they'd be used and the skill level of the players. For instance, when learning parts or exercises especially in the early stages of the season, the drums don't really need to be worn. However, when perfecting technique and parts, they should be worn at least for a reasonable period during the rehearsal gradually increasing this time going into the summer season. During the summer, they should be worn most of the time, especially if the players need this workout. My reason is that the shoulders are fixed when wearing the drums. This is generally not as big of an issue with snares, as tenor players have to deal with a significant amount of playing off-center of their body. If the players are inexperienced, they need to wear the drums for at least short periods of time, increasing it as you get closer to summer. It is a different playing experience on stands from wearing. Of course, the call needs to be made if the players health is a concern. Then, at least with stands, you have an option to continue playing. :) (Recently) 4 years ago, I carried quint-tenors for the Scouts Alumni Project which surprisingly my back held up fairly well. We used stands early on only wearing the drums for short periods of time leading up to June, but we wore them from June on for up to 6 hours per day during our rehearsal weekends, because we increased the frequency of wearing the equipment. You can't baby yourself too much or you'll never be strong enough to carry the sets. Especially if you're an older fart like we were. (Note: the 06' tenors played the project off the field too!)

(2 cents here) Honestly, if you're looking for speed, you'd want the pivot to be as close to the center point on the stick. (Better balance) Looking for power, more towards the back of the *stick. (*More stick weight in front of your hands) Think of a Teeter Totter on the playground and how moving the center point (or pivot) to one side or the other makes it more difficult to move the board up and down evenly. You could take this analogy a step further, by visualizing when you have an adult on one side and a medium-sized child on the other-such as when you have a heavier mallet head on certain mallets. You get power, but you tend to sacrifice speed or quickness. Personally, I like speed! Therefore, it really seems to be most efficient having that point between the thumb and index finger, allowing the back fingers (3rd/4th/5th) to react for quick note snaps. I've known players that grip in the back part of their hands. They've had power, but I've discovered that they usually don't have the relative speed to add to it. I agree on keeping all fingers touching the sticks... To me, it looks & feels more in control and most importantly - it's less of a target for hitting on rims, harness parts or other potentially painful impacts. After all, having flesh and bone flapping away out there, just gets in the way sooner or later...

Hey, you forgot the beer holder & wheels on the stand! They were heavy (60lbs), but we didn't think about the weight or mosquitoes or heat... It was all in our minds... (that's what we were told anyway...)

Actually, I based our 1989 design on our 1979/1980 style, but with a flatter arrangement. The sets above were very heavy (60lbs vs BD North tenor sets in 76' were rumored to be about 55lbs), which at mid-season we cut the fronts of the shells off to reduce weight and send more sound forward fortunately! The 6" and 8" drums were arranged this way for two reasons: When doing a single tap run up the drums, you could do it when starting with the left hand. If the drums were reversed, would have been near-impossible The side to side weight ratio was more equal, because the 6" was on the left with the 14", while the 8" was paired with the 13" on the right. (Note: the deeper shells & scoops in those days)

No worries, I won't be there either... My last available sister-in-law is getting married, so I must sacrifice as my better half did for the entire project year... (Weekend for a year... I know not an equal trade-off) Sorry folks... back to the magnificent topic at hand...

I don't have access to actual photos at this point, but here is a quick doodle from my memory & Photoshop for those interested. The orange line is estimated playing zone. Note the flatter the line, the faster and more efficient the playing. Using the 8 along with the 12-13-14, you can simulate quad type parts when or if desired. 'The black line was approximately where the harness mounting occurred. One other thing, our spacers and all mounts were made at the time out of stainless steel, not plastic and aluminum as they are today. (More durable, but also more weight) There were some nice improvements on materials since back then! :) Hope this helps...

Thanks Skydog for the props! Actually the configuration was developed & manufactured by Steve Weekes and myself the year earlier. The idea we were going for a more uniform look with the snareline as snare players were centered with their drum, instead of always playing off to one side or the other in the typical quad design. (Spock exception) The other reason we went with this was that my favorite sounding tenor drum was the 8" drum! It is powerful and carries farther than the 6" and doesn't disappear into the snare sound like the 10" frequency usually does. Note: we dropped the 10" tenor in that formation design. :) Steve and I spent one Saturday afternoon at his machine shop designing the prototype hardware. A week or so later, we used shop assembly tables that were near perfect in layout to drill & assemble the drums (rims removed). We made sure that the angles were as close to perfect from set to set and from drum to drum the rim heights were near-perfect too, which makes it easier to move from drum to drum at higher speeds. We were not trying to change the world with our design that year, we were changing things up a little give everyone in the line a chance to do something a little different. Lesson: if you're going to design your own tenor layout, be sure to have a machinist friend! My 2 cents on Quad design- try to keep the front 2 drums in quad-style formation not too far forward (shallower arch). Observe your own arm movements - keep your arms down with your hands out in front of you as you would play. Note how the forearms pivot off the elbows, you can see how much adjustment the arms have to do (forward/back) as you rotate from side to side (right to left). The flatter the design, the less adjustment each elbow must make to complete the arch. As tempo increases, it becomes more difficult to keep arm perspective while making adjustments the deeper the arch. (Clue: you'll hear more rim clicks or ping sounds as perspective is lost) Side note: I don't post here very often-not my thing lately and time seems so short, but this topic was fun! Well done Kansan...

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Actually I believe 1965 was the first year for the Scouts to play Malagueña... :) (details, eh?) I have to agree Mike, The Thing was amazing and a favorite of mine!

As Cartman once said... (well, sort of...) "Whateva! I can do whateva I wann..."

Due to the poor response to Sousaphone Hero, Activision has halted development of spin-off games Cymbal Hero, Glockenspiel Hero, and Steam Calliope Hero. :)

Govies show is just around the corner, eh? ;) It's on my radar screen...

"If we win... we win together! If we lose... we lose together..." (said subconsciously in a thoughtful dreamy voice while standing on the starting line) I believe was the last thing said in the film... It's been a long time since I remember seeing it!