Sneauxdog

Ok. Here goes: Carl Palmer Dave Weckl Dom Famularo Mike Mangini Steve Smith Vinnie Colaiuta Virgil Donati Travis Barker Carter Beauford Deen Castronovo Omar Hakim Rod Morgenstein Todd Sucherman I agree that Neil Peart (my fav) wouldn't be the guy...maybe if the snare line rode bikes! JoJo - without a doubt! The only thing about most of these guys is that they would play a lot more "loose". Probably any of the WFD guys could hang...

JoJo is awesome! So much technique, but still has the ability to groove. Don't often see that combination! Not so many people know about him...

Yeah, maybe it was where I was sitting. Generally, the drum volume seemed low (conpared to horns) for all of the corps that performed. There was one corps though (I can't remember which one - they were using Pearl and there were only a couple corps using them) where the drums were considerable higher in the mix. Maybe it's my hearing a bit too. After 30+ years of playing, I've lost quite a bit of my high frequencies (and those snares were tuned pretty high).

I guess that was more my question. And I guess I exaggerated a bit in saying that I couldn't hear the drums. They just got drowned out quite a bit. I could tell that they were playing, but often the drum sound was indistinct because they were much lower in volume than the horns. An interesting note: At that show, the biggest crowd reaction came during the little battery features. People LOVE to hear the drums!

I have a question. I'm going to show my ignorance here, but you have to learn somehow! I went to a DCI show in Lafayette, LA this past summer. I had what I thought were "good" seats (40 yard line - about 15 rows up from the field). Most of the time when the horns were playing, I couldn't hear the battery. I could hear the pit instruments just fine. The horns were just much louder than the drums. Are the battery drummers holding back? Are they told not to play "too loud" and overpower the horns? They certainly weren't doing that! This seemed to be the case for all of the corps that performed. Was I just in the wrong place to hear the battery?

Wow! Just read through this entire thread. A thought: HS bands generally don't have auditions. Anyone who is interested in music can join and march. Very different from DC. Going back to the baseball analogy used earlier, if you consider Little League Baseball (Dixie for us Southerners), the summer season is for anyone who wants to play - no tryouts (like MB). All-star season is for the best players to get together and compete (like DC). There are also elite travel ball teams that play year round - some of these could definitely give a HS team a run for their money (the youth baseball equivalent of a World Class Corps).

THANKS!!

LOL, that pic with the finger sticking straight out does look awkward! I've seen many children grip the sticks that way the first time they pick up a pair. It must be a "natural" grip! ;-)

Hi, I'm a new member from Louisiana. A little bit about me: 44 YO No Drum Corps experience. But I did play trombone in my HS marching band (ducking flying objects...). Also did a little drum majoring with that group. I've been a semi-pro drumset player for over 25 years. Mostly Rock and Metal, but I've done my share of Country and a bit of Jazz. I've got a 12 YO son that is TOTALLY into marching percussion (7th grade), thus my belated interest in Drum Corps (actually, I've been a fan of DCI for a long time). Hope to get lots of good info here. Sneaux Dog

Yes, that is the fulcrum commonly used for the Moeller stroke, originally a military band stroke. Check out these Dave Weckl videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oisX1nhhmeM...feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFZfOLbnBwI He discusses why he switched from the index/thumb grip to the middle/thumb grip. If the links don't work, just search "Weckl Moeller".