When you play a drum, when you start out I mean, you learn what are called "rudiments"..They have wierd names like the single stroke roll or the paradiddle..things drummers learn.
When you get to a great college marching band, the "drum line" is the drum section that performs these "rudiments" in dazzling precision. Back in the late 60s when I went to Michigan State and played in the band, the drum section played "rudimentary drumming"...that is they only used these rudiments...all rolls were single stroke for instance...its a minor thing but it was a "thing" to them.
Getting to play the drums in a college marching band (good college marching bands that is) was the hardest thing to do. Maybe one freshman would qualify - the others went to cymbals or bass drum for a couple years before they were ready. Now there are competitions and at State, half an hour before the band marches to the stadium, the "drum line" performs. 5000 or so people gather around with their mouths open.
When you get to a great college marching band, the "drum line" is the drum section that performs these "rudiments" in dazzling precision. Back in the late 60s when I went to Michigan State and played in the band, the drum section played "rudimentary drumming"...that is they only used these rudiments...all rolls were single stroke for instance...its a minor thing but it was a "thing" to them.
Getting to play the drums in a college marching band (good college marching bands that is) was the hardest thing to do. Maybe one freshman would qualify - the others went to cymbals or bass drum for a couple years before they were ready. Now there are competitions and at State, half an hour before the band marches to the stadium, the "drum line" performs. 5000 or so people gather around with their mouths open.