As a freshman, Allison Zink said she was intimidated when she first auditioned for a spot in the Marching 110’s drum line.
“The whole band strives to be perfect all of the time,” Zink, who plays cymbals, said.
November is International Drum Month, and, on top of school work and regular band practices, the Ohio University’s Marching 110’s drum line goes the extra mile to make sure the backbone of any song, the beat, is strong and steady.
Before becoming part of the drum line, hopeful members spend one or two Saturdays in April participating in clinics and auditions. Joshua Boyer, the assistant director of the Marching 110, said anywhere from 25 to 30 people audition for a position within the drum line, but about only 5 to 12 students make it. The number of new members depends on how many percussionists are returning to the band. When auditioning, Boyer recommends people try out every instrument — snare drum, bass drum, cymbals and middles, which are broken down to tenor drums and timbales — in order to increase their chances of being accepted.
“We recommend to the students that they try out on all of them just because they may be a good percussionist and have a good sense of time and rhythm and technique,” he said. “If they just go out for snare drum, it’s possible that we might have every snare drum returning and there’s no space for a new member.”
When Zink auditioned, she said she only auditioned for a cymbal part because that is what she played throughout her high school career and the instrument she enjoyed the most.
“I think cymbals have the most fun. We goof off and we get to dance in the front and we are kind of front and center all of the time,” she said. “We get to do a lot of cool visuals.”
After auditioning in the spring, new members try out for what role they will play in the marching shows, Boyer said.
“The spring audition determines if you’re in the band,” he said. “In the fall, we have another audition that determines if they’re on the field as a performer (for) halftime or pre-game or an alternate.”
In the percussion section, there are 16 performers for the pregame show, 24 for the halftime show and, this year, there are six alternates who fill in when one of the performers cannot be at a performance, Boyer said. Any member of the band who excels in marching fundamentals can still participate in pregame by carrying one of the Mid-American Conference flags.
Because the drum line has to learn a lot of material for performances — such as cadences, a piece of music only played by the percussion section, and stand cheers — the section has an extra practice on Tuesdays.
“They’ve got a lot of repertoire that’s really important for them to have clean,” Boyer said. “If someone doesn’t know their part, they can’t just stand there and not play because it’s visual — it’s going to be very obvious.”
Zink, who is studying nursing, said it can be hard to balance all of the practices and a demanding course load, but added that it keeps her on her toes.
“I think the drum line is special because we really put a lot of time in outside of practice,” Zink said. “We have to meet one-on-one a lot with our section to get stuff down. If the drumline doesn’t know the part, the (rest) of the band has a hard time if we don’t know our stuff. I think I really admire the dedication our drum line has to get stuff done.”
As section leader, Brandon Cassill, who plays the snare drum, is responsible for providing the music to the rest of the percussionists. He added that the composition of the percussion music sets the drumline apart from the rest of the band.
“We actually write our own music for everything,” Cassill, a senior studying music education, said. “I definitely think that is something special to us.”
After the rest of the band’s part is composed, Richard Suk, the director of the Marching 110, provides Cassill with the score. Cassill and trusted upperclassmen in the percussion section then construct the drum line part to go along with the what the rest of the band is playing.
Cassill said the drum line is a “tight-knit” group of people who enjoy spending time with each other, and when it comes to playing their parts, the section excels at assuming responsibility and focusing on what needs to be done.
“We are definitely very focused when we are behind our instruments and when we are on the field,” Cassill said. “(We are) just a very talented group of people, in my opinion, that definitely knows when to flip a switch that when we are on the field we are working hard and when we’re off the field, it’s OK to crack a joke.”
Even though Zink is only one of five girls in the percussion section, she said she feels close to everyone on the drum line.
“We’re literally like a big family,” she said. “Everyone looks out for each other and everyone is there for each other all the time. If we ever need something, I feel like I can go to anyone, guy or girl, on the line.”
