Our jazz director in community college was a Peurto Rican trumpet player named Juan Peña. He would tell us (in his heavy accent) If you want to be good, you practice 2 hours a day. If you want to be great, you practice 4 hours a day. If you want to unzeep your paints and peez on everybody's heads, you practice 8 hours a day!!! Great advice 😂
HS band director here. Learned something new today - rotating rims when changing heads. Never thought of it... I'm a one man show, rural school. No drum tech, or drum arranger. I am both, and everything else. So every "pro tip" counts. Thanks for the video Eric, and keep the high quality content coming!
Man I played hs drum line and have been on a trap kit for 25 years. Rotating the rims. Is a great way to make them drums last a lot longer and they seem to be more consistent too.
Literally just did my first drum audition for high school. Didn't get the position that I wanted, but I am inspired to practice more based on the tips I got and your awesome skills and educational(as well as funny) videos
@@stowjoker342 ye I'm cool with a few of the drumline I just barley talk to them since I'm always quiet lmao but hopefully band camp isn't gonna be strange as this year's yk
2:25 On May 26, during the Sacramento Mandarins move-in, I saw the Drum Tech holding up each drumstick to his ear, and tapping them, separating the highest pitch sticks onto a stack to save for finals. I took a photo and sent it to Eric, saying that I never knew drummers used their drumsticks to clean their ears 😜. Too funny!!! 😂😂
Hey Eric, we at Avon High school follow all of this list very well and usually do most of them quicker than you said as in getting new drums. We are getting new drums year because its been about 5 years and we change heads every month or 2. We tune drums weekly and make sure all equipment is good to play and go. We also have 8 snares and 6 teners and 6 bass and 5 flubs (Can't forget the best drum of all - Steven) this year plus the whole pit. For indoor its 5 snares and 4 teners and 6 bass but we at Avon apperiate you in all you videos. Good luck on shaving your beard.
I actually got to see Avon preform in indoor and you guys were amazing. Honestly you guys help inspire me and my group to keep on pushing to get better. It is kind of hard for my group though since only half of us are technically percussionist and we always have a lot of new people and a couple of vets. For indoor we had 4 basses, 3 snares, and 2 tenors but marching band last year we had 2 snares and 3 basses. We also have a couple of schools combined to make our group which is fun but can sometimes be difficult at times to get in enough practice.
Even though I can't really drum very well to save my life, I really enjoy watching your videos. It's awesome learning about the drumming world. I always found the battery to be the most exciting part of any marching ensemble.
Awesome video (as always) but I’d like to add to the tuning part of drum maintenance. PLEASE PITCH MATCH THE DRUMS. It’s always so infuriating to see drumlines where the drums all have different wacky pitches. Just try your best to get all the snares sounding the same. And make sure the tenors are all tuned to the same note! Even being just a half step off can be quite noticeable! One more thing: when re-taping the sticks, peel off the old tape in the place where you’re re-taping. If you don’t the sticks can get very heavy and lose articulation. Also, re-tape the sticks frequently, even if you don’t think they need it. When I got to high school the bass drum sticks hadn’t been re-taped (or replaced) for YEARS. I ended up redoing all of them and they were COVERED with a bunch of black, nasty sludge from the adhesive. DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE GOOD STICK TAPE. It makes the line look overall cleaner as well! Good luck with all of your drumline ventures!
Thanks for making this video, I was just put on as a percussion section leader and this has helped immensely. Even though some of these tips are obvious, it is still a great reminder.
Hello EMCproductions I am 15 years old and in drum line when i get older i want to Make my own Drum line camp to continue my drum line Dream i want to be a good teacher and start out my camp in a building that nobody uses anymore When i came across this video it helps me learn the basics thank you For posting this This will help me
Love this man! I just started teaching drum line in 2009 and had to learn a lot fast but to have someone with the same passion and know how is dope! Keep up the great work
Same thing but I’m a sophomore on my first year of tenors. I’ve been experimenting and trying to find where to adjust my harness to cause my hip bones have gotten so bruised, and my back and shoulders is a whole different problem lol but I love it
@@tenor_man1308 same, it’s been pretty fun noticing how it’s getting easier and easier to carry and march with throughout the season but it’s still tough to get through some 3-4 hour rehearsals
@@tenor_man1308 yeah a couple weeks ago we had a rehearsal that was almost all just box drill and running laps when people (a few freshmen basses that haven’t learned much of their music) messed up and my upper legs muscles were sore for at least 2 weeks after.
I wish this video existed a few years ago😅. My percussion teacher was absolutely awful in high school, and unfortunately didn’t teach me anything since I wasn’t already super good. (Was the type of teacher that only focused on the already outstanding students) This video is such a big help now though! I don’t play in marching band anymore, but all of it is still great stuff to learn and can be applied to me playing my drumset. Thanks 💜 You’re a great teacher!
In my band we didn’t have a Drumline instructor so we played matched grip and now we are getting one so hopefully they let us play traditional because I love playing traditional
Something bass drum specific I have sometimes noticed: the grip tends to be a bit different than playing snare. Instead of placing your fulcrum 1/3-1/4 from the back of the mallet, place your pinky at the at the back end of the mallet, form your grip from there, and your fulcrum ends up wherever it ends up. The VF sticks at least are designed to be held this way, with a bit of a fatter end.
I dis what I could on most of these, but the one thing that would have helped the most, for my drumline at least, was have an instructor. My band director was a wonderful, knowledgeable, and experienced woman but she knew very little about percussion. The did what she could but we couldn't afford a proper drum instructor so my line suffered with little instruction and support and had st settle for simple stock arrangements or have to make something up. Part of that was because some people on my line didn't care and/or couldn't play anything more complicated. But it makes me sad to think how great and for far we could have went if we had the funds to hire a dedicated drum instructor who could stay for longer than one week during band camp
My school has almost zero funding, and my teacher spends almost all of it on a pre written show and drill, so both of our tenors we're missing head 1 for nearly a year. Our bass Drums haven't had new heads in over a decade, and no sticks or mallets are provided, even for bass Drums. So while this isn't gonna be easy, the tips are great
For sticks and tape management, usually we just have 2 pairs for practicing and 2 for shows, and the old ones get replaced every season so they are always in good condition. It is a pretty good system as your show sticks won't be in that bad of shape unless the drum writer put 200 rim shots in the music.
These are great tips, sadly my school was too broke to be able to do any of these, all of the drums that were there hadn’t been replaced in 10-15 years
I wanna add from personal experience get stands annually I say this because today I had to use a very old tenor stand from a Yamaha on my pearl tenors and yea they didn’t fit on the one side so I ratchet strapped the back bar to the stand somehow it’s more sturdy than the normal tenor stand you would use
I would add consistent bass drum playing positions across the drums. Also, I know it is petty but a good sticks out and in just makes a line look sharp. Details matter.
Stick heights are going to be different everywhere, but I think for educating high school drumlines, it’s best to teach more “realistic heights” like 12” being 12” because a lot of high school bands aren’t going to be able to play over a drumline playing extremely beefy heights
I have a question. How do you feel if a percussion instructor is hired but for both the drumline AND the front ensemble? Wouldn’t it be better to hire 2 separate instructors?
I have had large staffs (one snare tech, one tenor tech, one bass tech and two FE techs and me [arranger, caption head]) medium staffs, (one tech for snare & tenor, one bass, one FE) Me & a FE tech and Just me. More is always better IF everyone acknowledges there is just one HMFIC. Band directors are notorious for putting the least experienced kids on Bass Drums (which IMHO. is the hardest marching instrument to play) I always say your band is only as good as your worst bass drummer, so I spend a lot of time working with them and making sure the part is something that they can realistic play.
Thanks for these tips I’m currently in drumline as a freshman and winter percussion just started. Your videos gave me the confidence to re tape ten bass drum mallets that needed it there are still more 🥲
I started teaching percussion at a new school 3 years ago. And I'm not going to lie, they were kind of terrible. Every single thing you've mentioned in this video to not do, they did lol. I knew it was going to be a long haul to turn this Ensemble around to get them to a point where they can do some really cool things with music. And in that time I switched their snare drums to matched grip, I just didn't have the time to invest in teaching the snare players traditional grip, when I still had to teach the entire ensemble proper matched grip. And it took 3 years, but we're finally at the point where most of the Ensemble is interested in doing indoor, is practicing a lot on their own, and attending auditions. So I think next fall we're going to do traditional grip. Tldr; walking into a percussion section that made every single mistake, it took 3 years to completely turn the program around.
We just got Mapex drums and they are so much better than the pearls we had, not because of the brand, but those Pearls were early 90s. Though i got luck freshman year indoor and played the one drum from 2016 because the one it replaced was terrible and not round
Funny you mentioned the last one, my former high school band had its ENTIRE DRUM LINE QUIT!!! I’m so embarrassed and I’m a trombone player. In 2022 the band lacked a drum line so they put the one remaining drum player on a drum set on the field and no one could hear him… smh.
Sigh .. I wish I had this video back in my hs drumline days .. But , Hey ! Appreciate the vid bro .. It's helping me out to become a better drummer / choppa 😂 .
Tip #19B Actually listen and respect your drum instructor, even if they are young. Chances are, you hired them because they know more about percussion than you do.
Hey I want to try to join my high school drum line but it’s going to be my first time in a drum line so what Do I do. I want to play tenor but I never played them
Hey EMC I have a question. What should I do about my harness getting in the way of my crossovers on tenor? I’ve tried to adjust it a few time but I just don’t know what else I can do. I have a pearl harness so I’m not sure what I should do.
My drumline i’m just a student leader so i don’t carry any weight with me compared to our drum corps drumline tech but i wish we could’ve had new people in our section, A for them to have a chance, B to move people out of bass drum into other parts yet still keep the size of the bass section intact, C next year when we lose over half the drumline they have to rebuild everything as they will have 1 snare, 1 bass, and 1 tenor, we need people to join so that they can atleast go back to 2-4-1 and but then all the bass drums will be newbies
Hey, for your next drums are never animated correctly video, there is this game called Rogue Company, and they just added a drumming emote. I’d like to see this in the next video
Hey EMC,I have been watching you since the sixth grade and I am about to be a freshman and I made the drumline. Im gonna play tenors so i wondered if you have any tips for a beginner tenor?
SCV won drum trophies using matched grip on snare lines back in the day. Also the #1 thing you can do to make your drum line not suck which wasn’t mentioned: WORK OUT
@@ItsABOUTflamTIME no, it’s not enough of a workout by itself. When you March, you are only training very specific muscles. And when you only train very specific muscles and then neglect the rest of your body, you wind up creating other, bigger issues which take much more effort to resolve.
The first is what annoys me the most. My director wants tenors to be at the same height a snare is at when it's definitely not supposed to be there. So at band camp he always moves my drums way up to an uncomfortable height, then I just adjust it back down to where it needs to be within the next couple days or so
it's crazy how my band program has been using the same marching drums for almost 22 years; all the equipment is falling apart, they still refuse to get new drums but hey were getting our 5th new set of chimes in roughly the past 15 years
Stock Marching bass drum heads aren’t bad. They work just as well as the other ones. Snares, definitely get rid of the stock heads. Snare stick heads are usually not Kevlar. Tenors, you should get rid of the stock heads. Tenor is usually not double ply. The only outlier for the tenors is the Mapex tenors which use Remo Pinstripe heads for the stock heads.
My school has three drum techs, and no battery. Only front ensemble. Also we don’t have a drum major this year. We are about fifty in size, so we really could have a drum line.
I was fortunate to have control of the drum line at my school the guys and gals learned very quickly I was so proud of them I then went on to get a music scholarship at U of A unfortunately I screwed up and didn't stay I played at 2 games and messed the rest of my life up only true regret I have is not staying in school I truly wish I could have had a teacher on that level I passed every teacher I had I never got to do that in college it was my dream to play at that school I should have made it my dream to learn at that school instead. If u are still in school please take me and my name serious it's truly a Rabid-Path stay in school don't be afraid to chase dreams but make sure to enjoy yourself and never stop learning the day u feel u know it all is the day u stop improving and start heading to a path that is Rabid don't be like me... U are our future
When I was in high school, we marched military style, but all the other schools in our district was corp style. We were also the only one that used mylar heads because it fit the sound of the music better. In my last year they switched to Kevlar, but on the old drums. We kept them tuned loose, both for the sound and so we didn't risk breaking the drum itself. I think now they upgraded the drums as well, but still tune loose for a more traditional sound.
i prefer it too, the kevlar souns like a pratice pad lol , but i guess there's a good argument to be made to hear every detail of your stick technique, it does bring out the highs in certain way
Tip #15- This is something that always intrigued me. Universally, people interpret "Sticks reaching vertical" to be 15 inches, but if you actually measured it you'd be well over 20 inches, maybe even reaching 25. Just think about it. The stick itself is 17 inches long, plus the butt of the stick is a whole 5 or so inches above the head. So why does everyone call it 15 inches?
My assumption is it came from using a "3 inch" based system. 3-6-9-12-15 (sometimes even starting with 1.5). I don't know who started that idea, but it sure is widespread...
I broke 7 bass drum mallets my freshman year of drum line and after mallet 6 I stoped getting new mallets and then I broke my last mallet on the last parade.
@@RobTovar I was using the right size mallet for bottom bass but the cadence had a lot of rim clicks and i played as loud as I could. It was so hype and it is now the school record 7 broken mallets in one year.
Question about #19) you know anyone in CT looking for a gig? I want to hire someone and I’ve got budget for it…so far I’ve struck out. Reached out to my network, local DCI corps, posted to The Wgi job board…I’m not sure what to do
Check with Hurricanes (DCA corps in Shelton)… there are quite a few solid high school lines there, see if any of them have recent grads who are looking
Do you have any other tips?
I was wondering, what is the ideal height for tenors?
Our jazz director in community college was a Peurto Rican trumpet player named Juan Peña. He would tell us (in his heavy accent)
If you want to be good, you practice 2 hours a day.
If you want to be great, you practice 4 hours a day.
If you want to unzeep your paints and peez on everybody's heads, you practice 8 hours a day!!!
Great advice 😂
Practice as quietly as possible. It'll be easier to go louder, later, than softer. Helps with the #1 complaint: no control!
@@awhybrew99 I actually need to do this, just got out of rehearsal, was told I need to play lower and quieter
This is convenient my first drum line practice of the summer is today
HS band director here. Learned something new today - rotating rims when changing heads. Never thought of it... I'm a one man show, rural school. No drum tech, or drum arranger. I am both, and everything else. So every "pro tip" counts. Thanks for the video Eric, and keep the high quality content coming!
Man I played hs drum line and have been on a trap kit for 25 years. Rotating the rims. Is a great way to make them drums last a lot longer and they seem to be more consistent too.
The biggest joke at my drumline is pp=1". When we were first told this as freshman, we couldn't stop laughing
Lol (first)
My drumline instructor says p means shutup so we made posters saying p means shutup with his face on it.
That took me a second to understand lol
glad the concept stuck with ya!
?
6:31 im saving this when i need to tune a drum
As a tenor player, I can confirm that our arch enemy is the door
just got on tenors for this season and you are so right
Doors make me want to die
Wait till you find out about Stairs
good day to be a snare i guess
@@metalvz-ic7xg fr
drumset player for a highschool marching band here, although these are more battery centric, a lot were helpful for me, so thank you!
Literally just did my first drum audition for high school. Didn't get the position that I wanted, but I am inspired to practice more based on the tips I got and your awesome skills and educational(as well as funny) videos
don’t give up! my freshman year i marched cymbals and then with tons of practice i made the snare line. i was motivated to be better and it payed off.
Ye I feel your pain I didn't get to be on tenors for matching season instead I was put on bass drum
@@xuzumaki2726 Base is not bad especially if you get really tight with the rest of the bases. Be crazy. If all 5 of you are crazy no one can say shit.
@@stowjoker342 ye I'm cool with a few of the drumline I just barley talk to them since I'm always quiet lmao but hopefully band camp isn't gonna be strange as this year's yk
@@cecevle I got shoved in pit cause I was woorse than them, I’m gonna work my ass of and hopefully make it next year
2:25 On May 26, during the Sacramento Mandarins move-in, I saw the Drum Tech holding up each drumstick to his ear, and tapping them, separating the highest pitch sticks onto a stack to save for finals. I took a photo and sent it to Eric, saying that I never knew drummers used their drumsticks to clean their ears 😜. Too funny!!! 😂😂
Hey Eric, we at Avon High school follow all of this list very well and usually do most of them quicker than you said as in getting new drums. We are getting new drums year because its been about 5 years and we change heads every month or 2. We tune drums weekly and make sure all equipment is good to play and go. We also have 8 snares and 6 teners and 6 bass and 5 flubs (Can't forget the best drum of all - Steven) this year plus the whole pit. For indoor its 5 snares and 4 teners and 6 bass but we at Avon apperiate you in all you videos. Good luck on shaving your beard.
I actually got to see Avon preform in indoor and you guys were amazing. Honestly you guys help inspire me and my group to keep on pushing to get better. It is kind of hard for my group though since only half of us are technically percussionist and we always have a lot of new people and a couple of vets. For indoor we had 4 basses, 3 snares, and 2 tenors but marching band last year we had 2 snares and 3 basses. We also have a couple of schools combined to make our group which is fun but can sometimes be difficult at times to get in enough practice.
Rich ahh school
Even though I can't really drum very well to save my life, I really enjoy watching your videos. It's awesome learning about the drumming world. I always found the battery to be the most exciting part of any marching ensemble.
Great tips. When practicing at home, play in front of a mirror and you can also put some tape on the mirror to mark heights
Awesome video (as always) but I’d like to add to the tuning part of drum maintenance. PLEASE PITCH MATCH THE DRUMS. It’s always so infuriating to see drumlines where the drums all have different wacky pitches. Just try your best to get all the snares sounding the same. And make sure the tenors are all tuned to the same note! Even being just a half step off can be quite noticeable!
One more thing: when re-taping the sticks, peel off the old tape in the place where you’re re-taping. If you don’t the sticks can get very heavy and lose articulation. Also, re-tape the sticks frequently, even if you don’t think they need it. When I got to high school the bass drum sticks hadn’t been re-taped (or replaced) for YEARS. I ended up redoing all of them and they were COVERED with a bunch of black, nasty sludge from the adhesive. DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE GOOD STICK TAPE. It makes the line look overall cleaner as well!
Good luck with all of your drumline ventures!
Thanks for making this video, I was just put on as a percussion section leader and this has helped immensely. Even though some of these tips are obvious, it is still a great reminder.
Hello EMCproductions I am 15 years old and in drum line when i get older i want to Make my own Drum line camp to continue my drum line Dream i want to be a good teacher and start out my camp in a building that nobody uses anymore When i came across this video it helps me learn the basics thank you For posting this This will help me
Love this man! I just started teaching drum line in 2009 and had to learn a lot fast but to have someone with the same passion and know how is dope! Keep up the great work
Im starting drumline for my freshman year of highschool and I got the tenors so this is perfect for me especially since you play a lot of tenors
Bro what I’m a freshman tenor too and I’m so nervous for band camp😭
@@bagelloverr nah I bet it’ll be fun
I like that you are giving advise not just for the drummers but for the coaches itself. Nice one.
I made tenors as a freshman in my high school, and everything hurts right now. I am so excited to try out for drum corps!
Same thing but I’m a sophomore on my first year of tenors. I’ve been experimenting and trying to find where to adjust my harness to cause my hip bones have gotten so bruised, and my back and shoulders is a whole different problem lol but I love it
@@musicalwarrior9079 I got muscles from this stuff
@@tenor_man1308 same, it’s been pretty fun noticing how it’s getting easier and easier to carry and march with throughout the season but it’s still tough to get through some 3-4 hour rehearsals
@@musicalwarrior9079 Do you have to do box drills and all that stuff? My drumline instructor makes us work so hard my legs give out
@@tenor_man1308 yeah a couple weeks ago we had a rehearsal that was almost all just box drill and running laps when people (a few freshmen basses that haven’t learned much of their music) messed up and my upper legs muscles were sore for at least 2 weeks after.
I wish this video existed a few years ago😅. My percussion teacher was absolutely awful in high school, and unfortunately didn’t teach me anything since I wasn’t already super good. (Was the type of teacher that only focused on the already outstanding students)
This video is such a big help now though! I don’t play in marching band anymore, but all of it is still great stuff to learn and can be applied to me playing my drumset. Thanks 💜
You’re a great teacher!
In my band we didn’t have a Drumline instructor so we played matched grip and now we are getting one so hopefully they let us play traditional because I love playing traditional
Something bass drum specific I have sometimes noticed: the grip tends to be a bit different than playing snare. Instead of placing your fulcrum 1/3-1/4 from the back of the mallet, place your pinky at the at the back end of the mallet, form your grip from there, and your fulcrum ends up wherever it ends up. The VF sticks at least are designed to be held this way, with a bit of a fatter end.
I dis what I could on most of these, but the one thing that would have helped the most, for my drumline at least, was have an instructor. My band director was a wonderful, knowledgeable, and experienced woman but she knew very little about percussion. The did what she could but we couldn't afford a proper drum instructor so my line suffered with little instruction and support and had st settle for simple stock arrangements or have to make something up. Part of that was because some people on my line didn't care and/or couldn't play anything more complicated. But it makes me sad to think how great and for far we could have went if we had the funds to hire a dedicated drum instructor who could stay for longer than one week during band camp
My school has almost zero funding, and my teacher spends almost all of it on a pre written show and drill, so both of our tenors we're missing head 1 for nearly a year. Our bass Drums haven't had new heads in over a decade, and no sticks or mallets are provided, even for bass Drums. So while this isn't gonna be easy, the tips are great
I had never thought about having a second set of bass drum mallets in case I dropped one, and now I'm surprised it was never a problem 😳
For sticks and tape management, usually we just have 2 pairs for practicing and 2 for shows, and the old ones get replaced every season so they are always in good condition. It is a pretty good system as your show sticks won't be in that bad of shape unless the drum writer put 200 rim shots in the music.
These are great tips, sadly my school was too broke to be able to do any of these, all of the drums that were there hadn’t been replaced in 10-15 years
I like how you decided to do degrees for stick heights instead of inches.
I wanna add from personal experience get stands annually I say this because today I had to use a very old tenor stand from a Yamaha on my pearl tenors and yea they didn’t fit on the one side so I ratchet strapped the back bar to the stand somehow it’s more sturdy than the normal tenor stand you would use
My school band’s marching percussion equipment have a few drums that are over 25 yrs old particularly are marching bass drums.
I would add consistent bass drum playing positions across the drums. Also, I know it is petty but a good sticks out and in just makes a line look sharp. Details matter.
Stick heights are going to be different everywhere, but I think for educating high school drumlines, it’s best to teach more “realistic heights” like 12” being 12” because a lot of high school bands aren’t going to be able to play over a drumline playing extremely beefy heights
I have a question. How do you feel if a percussion instructor is hired but for both the drumline AND the front ensemble? Wouldn’t it be better to hire 2 separate instructors?
Yes, it's def better to have 2 separate instructors. But having 1 instructor is infinitely better than 0 instructors lol
My uncle was asked to tech for both pit and drums..... thankfully he said no and he's instructing my drumline now
How much money do the schools around your area have? Only the biggest schools here would have a pit and DL tech.
@@palibakufun its a pretty wealthy area, my schools 6A open, so big school too
I have had large staffs (one snare tech, one tenor tech, one bass tech and two FE techs and me [arranger, caption head]) medium staffs, (one tech for snare & tenor, one bass, one FE) Me & a FE tech and Just me. More is always better IF everyone acknowledges there is just one HMFIC. Band directors are notorious for putting the least experienced kids on Bass Drums (which IMHO. is the hardest marching instrument to play) I always say your band is only as good as your worst bass drummer, so I spend a lot of time working with them and making sure the part is something that they can realistic play.
Thanks for these tips I’m currently in drumline as a freshman and winter percussion just started. Your videos gave me the confidence to re tape ten bass drum mallets that needed it there are still more 🥲
I started teaching percussion at a new school 3 years ago. And I'm not going to lie, they were kind of terrible. Every single thing you've mentioned in this video to not do, they did lol.
I knew it was going to be a long haul to turn this Ensemble around to get them to a point where they can do some really cool things with music.
And in that time I switched their snare drums to matched grip, I just didn't have the time to invest in teaching the snare players traditional grip, when I still had to teach the entire ensemble proper matched grip.
And it took 3 years, but we're finally at the point where most of the Ensemble is interested in doing indoor, is practicing a lot on their own, and attending auditions.
So I think next fall we're going to do traditional grip.
Tldr; walking into a percussion section that made every single mistake, it took 3 years to completely turn the program around.
We just got Mapex drums and they are so much better than the pearls we had, not because of the brand, but those Pearls were early 90s. Though i got luck freshman year indoor and played the one drum from 2016 because the one it replaced was terrible and not round
Funny you mentioned the last one, my former high school band had its ENTIRE DRUM LINE QUIT!!! I’m so embarrassed and I’m a trombone player. In 2022 the band lacked a drum line so they put the one remaining drum player on a drum set on the field and no one could hear him… smh.
My high school snare head is 4 years old and the drum itself is 12. Hopefully we are getting new stuff next year though.
Hi!! Emergency!! How do we fix the flaccid tenors?!? And what tuning do we use for 8-10-13-14 tenors or whatever the high school size is?
Sigh .. I wish I had this video back in my hs drumline days .. But , Hey ! Appreciate the vid bro .. It's helping me out to become a better drummer / choppa 😂 .
Yeah - Drum keys on keyrings, I've saved a couple of local bands at a Gigs, having mine on me.
Tip #19B
Actually listen and respect your drum instructor, even if they are young. Chances are, you hired them because they know more about percussion than you do.
Facts! Our instructor last year was a college student and he still did a great job!
Hey I want to try to join my high school drum line but it’s going to be my first time in a drum line so what Do I do. I want to play tenor but I never played them
to see the pitch of the sticks, you can also set the tip of it in your ear, and tap it with your finger with the hand holding it
That's what I was talking about above, with the Sacramento Mandarins checking their entire inventory of sticks during move-in ...
@@RedDogMamaHD I didn't know the Mandarins did that, just that my schools drum coach says its the best way
How crazy would it be if his #1 EMC video was his 69th video of growing out his beard
Hey EMC I have a question. What should I do about my harness getting in the way of my crossovers on tenor? I’ve tried to adjust it a few time but I just don’t know what else I can do. I have a pearl harness so I’m not sure what I should do.
1. Adjust the backbar so the drums are farther away from you
2. Lower the Drums a bit
3. Use shorter sticks (shortys or quadbales)
@@EMCproductions billy clubs anyone?
My drumline i’m just a student leader so i don’t carry any weight with me compared to our drum corps drumline tech but i wish we could’ve had new people in our section, A for them to have a chance, B to move people out of bass drum into other parts yet still keep the size of the bass section intact, C next year when we lose over half the drumline they have to rebuild everything as they will have 1 snare, 1 bass, and 1 tenor, we need people to join so that they can atleast go back to 2-4-1 and but then all the bass drums will be newbies
Bro I just joined drum line camp on Monday thanks so much and
Not gonna lie I've broken and retaped the same stick multiple times and I plan on doing it until it's dust
Hey, for your next drums are never animated correctly video, there is this game called Rogue Company, and they just added a drumming emote. I’d like to see this in the next video
Hey EMC,I have been watching you since the sixth grade and I am about to be a freshman and I made the drumline. Im gonna play tenors so i wondered if you have any tips for a beginner tenor?
SCV won drum trophies using matched grip on snare lines back in the day. Also the #1 thing you can do to make your drum line not suck which wasn’t mentioned: WORK OUT
Marching isn't enough workout by itself? Our workout was plus drill! One heck of a workout too, at 180-200bpm. You only get 8 counts to rest. lol
Yeah and Dartmouth HS does pretty well playing matched.
@@ItsABOUTflamTIME no, it’s not enough of a workout by itself. When you March, you are only training very specific muscles. And when you only train very specific muscles and then neglect the rest of your body, you wind up creating other, bigger issues which take much more effort to resolve.
it's kidna crazy to me to see that the moeller technique isn't widely abused for loud playing instead anyway lol
What about stick heights for accents and taps? Like if I was playing a measure in forte how high would the accents be?
Accents at F, taps at p. Assume all non-accents are at p unless otherwise notated.
The first is what annoys me the most. My director wants tenors to be at the same height a snare is at when it's definitely not supposed to be there. So at band camp he always moves my drums way up to an uncomfortable height, then I just adjust it back down to where it needs to be within the next couple days or so
5:35 Hey I know that guy
it's crazy how my band program has been using the same marching drums for almost 22 years; all the equipment is falling apart, they still refuse to get new drums but hey were getting our 5th new set of chimes in roughly the past 15 years
Stock Marching bass drum heads aren’t bad. They work just as well as the other ones. Snares, definitely get rid of the stock heads. Snare stick heads are usually not Kevlar. Tenors, you should get rid of the stock heads. Tenor is usually not double ply. The only outlier for the tenors is the Mapex tenors which use Remo Pinstripe heads for the stock heads.
I know nothing about percussion, but I like the sound of mylar heads.
Good morning!
thank you for what you do! great video!
Is there a video or anything on how to adjust your tenors? Mine are tilted away and it’s very frustrating
2:49 walking do be kinda pricy
My school has three drum techs, and no battery. Only front ensemble. Also we don’t have a drum major this year. We are about fifty in size, so we really could have a drum line.
That is going to be tough to keep the band playing together. Good luck.
My 40 year old bass drum is really liking this fuide
I've always hit my head above my ear to test the pitches of sticks... people in music stores have laughed at me.
Why would you check the pitch of sticks in a music store? Isn't that just to see if the sticks are broken?
@@mutex1024 Because sticks can come broken. Or mismatched pitches
We had a set of floppy tenors last year. Blue pill jokes were abundant
oh shit! thanks for reminding me. I broke my bass drum head and I gotta replace it today. Also, I have the same Pearl tuning key.
I NEED those emc sig sticks saw during #11
I recommend using Plasty Dip for grip. Just spray that stuff on the butt end of the sticks.
I was fortunate to have control of the drum line at my school the guys and gals learned very quickly I was so proud of them I then went on to get a music scholarship at U of A unfortunately I screwed up and didn't stay I played at 2 games and messed the rest of my life up only true regret I have is not staying in school I truly wish I could have had a teacher on that level I passed every teacher I had I never got to do that in college it was my dream to play at that school I should have made it my dream to learn at that school instead. If u are still in school please take me and my name serious it's truly a Rabid-Path stay in school don't be afraid to chase dreams but make sure to enjoy yourself and never stop learning the day u feel u know it all is the day u stop improving and start heading to a path that is Rabid don't be like me... U are our future
I play Tenor drums 👀
Ngl not in high yet but I hope I can stay on the tenors and not get put on cymbals or bells and stuff
I actually really love the sound of mylar heads on snare drums, they sound more like drums and less like tables.
When I was in high school, we marched military style, but all the other schools in our district was corp style. We were also the only one that used mylar heads because it fit the sound of the music better. In my last year they switched to Kevlar, but on the old drums. We kept them tuned loose, both for the sound and so we didn't risk breaking the drum itself. I think now they upgraded the drums as well, but still tune loose for a more traditional sound.
i prefer it too, the kevlar souns like a pratice pad lol , but i guess there's a good argument to be made to hear every detail of your stick technique, it does bring out the highs in certain way
How did he get that tenor on the pearl harness in the beginning
Tip #15- This is something that always intrigued me. Universally, people interpret "Sticks reaching vertical" to be 15 inches, but if you actually measured it you'd be well over 20 inches, maybe even reaching 25. Just think about it. The stick itself is 17 inches long, plus the butt of the stick is a whole 5 or so inches above the head. So why does everyone call it 15 inches?
My assumption is it came from using a "3 inch" based system. 3-6-9-12-15 (sometimes even starting with 1.5). I don't know who started that idea, but it sure is widespread...
@@TheMokeleMbembe Marty Hurley maybe. He use to preach it like a religion at PR.
Bro I watch your videos all the time, but your thumbnail looks exactly like one of the high schools band room in my county💀
I play drums can i still tape my sticks or will that affect my drum sound?
Love the vids pls keep up the good work
Our drumline went from insane award winning to complete trash can banging in 1 year
My high schools drums had been in storage since the 80’s and my tenors split in half after a parade before photos
1:42 - I LITERALLY almost threw up.
Fun fact those black sticks w
Heads used
Snare 1 Evens G1 Clear
snare 2:Remo pinstripe clear
Snare 3: Evans lvl 360
8:13 emc signature stick????
I totally agree with the 3 6 9 crap, hated that all matching , it never was “accurate”
The way my band room is in this background of his video
Have any tips on how to afford new marching sticks?
What type is your stick drum 7a or 5A
I love you emc
Only 5k to go! Let's go!
I broke 7 bass drum mallets my freshman year of drum line and after mallet 6 I stoped getting new mallets and then I broke my last mallet on the last parade.
Sounds expensive! I suspect you were using the wrong mallet size. I would also evaluate your technique.
@@RobTovar I was using the right size mallet for bottom bass but the cadence had a lot of rim clicks and i played as loud as I could. It was so hype and it is now the school record 7 broken mallets in one year.
i heard that you almost came to teach at my school
Can you do a video on Greenfield Centrals Marching Band Show from 2019. The Music of The Night
Can u do a tip video for mallets?
Question about #19) you know anyone in CT looking for a gig? I want to hire someone and I’ve got budget for it…so far I’ve struck out. Reached out to my network, local DCI corps, posted to The Wgi job board…I’m not sure what to do
Check with Hurricanes (DCA corps in Shelton)… there are quite a few solid high school lines there, see if any of them have recent grads who are looking
What is the size of you sticks
I check to see it sticks are dead by dropping them lightly tip first onto a hard surface like a tile floor or concrete.
My high school has had the same heads for years
Adjustment. The. Harnesses 😊
Yo Eric, are we gonna see you on the new season of AGT?!
My school is weird, we use mylar heads and dont have a tenor line. Even though our band is big and has plenty of money.
The budget for my high school is really low so it is hard to change the heads every year
A lot of these are fueled by money, and I’m from a small school, where band is a afterthought.