The Marching Percussion

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how drumming historically has been used as a means of communication and how marching percussion has followed suit. It looks at how marching percussion has evolved in large part from the military drum lines of history; drummers were used during the Revolutionary War and Civil War to keep armies in line and to signal friends. It shows how the marching percussion has evolved from a simple group of military drummers to a group of civilian musicians that pound out orchestral quality music, still communicating to the public, whether in the form of a school's cheer, a warrior's status or cheer, or public message information.

From the Paper:

"The marching percussion can now be found in schools, universities, organizations, federal establishments and still in the military. The formation of the marching percussion has changed from the simplistic 10 man line up of early military times. The most basic marching percussion section now has 5 areas that incorporate the following: snare drums, tenor drums, bass drums, cymbals and a "pit" or area on the sideline with any other related musical fare (Rhythmspice, 1999). The equipment used in marching percussion has also changed with time. The heads of snare drums are typically bulletproof and made of very durable material that is durable, because the plastic head of old used to stretch and cause problems with sound quality (Rhythmspice, 1999)."

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