Percussion tape

We had another marching show this last weekend - down in Gilroy. The weather was nice to us early in the day, so we were able to practice without getting rained on, but it didn't last. Soon after we got to Gilroy that afternoon it started raining, and it was on and off for the rest of the night.

Rain is arguably better than snow for the performers, but it still sucks for the instruments. Almost every percussion item doesn't react well to water: drum heads, drum shells, mallet keys, yarn mallet heads, felt mallet heads, etc. - so we spent a good portion of our time avoiding rain and drying off the instruments when all else failed. The show went pretty well though, and we certainly had our best performance of the year. Playing in the rain can be really fun, and I think the kids figured that out during the show. Once you realize that, even though it's pretty miserable, you can't do anything about it - all of a sudden you can have more fun than you would for a regular performance. Weird but true.

I spent a good chunk of Sunday listening to the percussion tape from the performance, trying to see what things we can improve. Marching bands get an overall score for their performance, which is made up of parts such as music, general effect, and what I really care about - percussion. Since I don't really take drum lessons any more, I take the time to review tapes and try to improve my writing and teaching skills by looking over what things we've done. I started doing this last fall, once I was writing the entire percussion book, so I've got a fall and spring season full of tapes that I can refer back to so I can figure out what did and didn't work. It feels like I can account for things better when they're written down, rather than just looking back and thinking "that was a good/bad show" (which is the most I can really remember of my own high school or drum corps performances). It's kinda nerdy, I guess, but I enjoy it :)