The beating heart of Samo's marching band

Aliza AbarbanelStaff WriterEntering the Drumline room is like entering a secret club. Drummers sprawl across the floor, finding space between Congo drums and practice pads. They sit in circles complaining about difficult pieces of music and throw out phrases like “six triplet” and “pit” in a lively stream of chatter. Everyone has to work to be heard above the constant noise; kids bang on the walls, on their chests or on practice pads that are sometimes being used by three musicians at once. There is a tangible feeling of camaraderie and shared passion for music.“What sets us apart is the fact that the drums we play are so different from all the other instruments in the band — visually and audibly," senior percussion captain Jack Cramer said. "We also have a lot of extra rehearsals away from the band because it takes a lot of specialized training and practice for any drumline to play cleanly. We're part of the band but we're also sort of our own separate entity, as we often perform on our own without the band.”Drumline has no late start; they come to school at 7:12 on Wednesdays to enable maximum practice time. Drumline — along with the rest of the marching band — also has some Saturday practices that can go on for hours, in addition to competitions that typically take up the entire day and go well into the night. However, these long hours of practices have led to an incredibly unified group of musicians and friends.“It’s worth the extra time, because the extra time we put in results in extra closeness,” junior cymbal player Caitlin Brady said. “We are so much more closely knit because we’re a smaller group."“When I first joined, I felt really shy, I didn’t say anything,” freshman bass drummer Ben Canales said, as a chorus of fellow drummers chiming in interrupted him, “Yeah, you said nothing!” “Now,” he said with a wry grin, “I’m really loud and I talk to everybody.”Canales joined Drumline as a freshman bass drum player, and as time progressed, he became more and more involved in the experience. Now that the fall season is almost over, he’s looking towards the future.“Right now, I play bass drum, but I’m auditioning to play tenor drum for indoor Drumline next week. Hopefully, I’ll have the chance to switch,” Canales said.If his audition goes as planned, he'll be leaving the bass drums behind to play a new instrument, and achieve a new position in drumline. With the current numbers of five cymbal players, four snare drummers, two tenor drummers and five bass drummers, there are many seniors who will be leaving new spots behind.He breaks into discussion on this topic, animatedly gesturing with a drumstick for emphasis; however, the room quickly empties out once practice begins. The cymbal players slip on biking gloves, a precaution against “really nasty calluses,” and gaps are filled in their formation until everybody is in their place.This sequence of movement and noise is routine, just one rehearsal in the long lineup of Drumline practices. At Samo, Drumline plays the tricky role of being a group within a larger group. As a smaller section of marching band, they perform as a smaller ensemble at games and have extra practices.It’s quiet out on the basketball courts, and the wind whips around the group of students, holding their positions in an orderly line. Their static stances are broken by flurries of movement, casually spinning drumsticks or tapping out syncopated beats on jean-clad legs. Then, an explosion of movement and sound.Tentative beats are quickly replaced by vibrating booms, each note sharp and sure. What begins as a quiet drumming on a snare drum escalates as tenor drums, cymbals and bass drums join in. Before long, the entire Samo Drumline is playing.Everything moves like a well-oiled machine. The cymbals are rubbed together, pushed outward and swept in close to muffle sound. The tenor drummers focus, their arms moving like octopi dancing across the drums. Drumsticks are shuffled and slid down the snare drums as the bass drums steadily keep the rhythm. Arms move out, darting like a snake strike as the set progresses until the end is almost at hand.Steady beating progresses into flashy choreography, the snare drummers saluting the audience with their drumsticks in the last few measures. Tension and tempo builds into a final, massive note, and then every drummer throws out their arms from their body, thrusting their shoulders in a final gesture. Their stance challenges their currently invisible opponents, daring them to do their best as the sounds of the drums bounce off the gym walls and echo into the night.aabarbanel@thesamohi.com