Off the Field: Indoor Drumline Returns to Competition as Champs

Republic’s indoor drumline won the Mid-Continent Color Guard Association Scholastic B division championship last month, capping its first competitive season in years with a first-place finish at the MCCGA finals March 27.

The group — drawn entirely from the school’s percussion section — performed a roughly five-minute show combining music, marching, and choreography inside a gymnasium, a
format that director Cori Fincher said places a heavier premium on performance than marching band does.

“Students play five-ish minutes of music while marching, but with an increased emphasis on performance, with more choreography and lots of facial expressions,” Fincher said.

Drummer Daniel Buchanan said the physical act of playing is only part of what judges evaluate.

“In indoor drumline, one of the most important aspects is being able to truly perform during your show,” Buchanan said. “That does not just mean what you are playing and your marching. That also includes what emotions your face is portraying. During different parts of our show, the music we are playing is conveying a different mood, and sometimes the music by itself is not able to fully convey that. That is why it is important to have your face help convey what the music can’t do by itself.”

The five-minute show was the product of weeks of rehearsal. The group met two to three times per week, with after-school sessions running about three and a half hours, some Friday morning rehearsals beginning at 6 a.m., and Saturday rehearsals running four to six hours.

“Even though we had all of that rehearsal time,” Buchanan said, “it still only adds up to a show that is only 5 minutes long, which is why some people do not realize the hours we put in behind the scenes.”

One physical challenge awaited the group at every competition: moving the tarp. Each indoor drumline group brings its own floor covering, and Republic’s weighed roughly 500 pounds.

“The tarp is extremely heavy and difficult to deal with, especially when you only have around 12 people carrying it,” Buchanan said. After each performance, with no time to fold it, the group had to hoist the tarp onto their shoulders and carry it out of the gym — while still holding their drums. “That might sound easy to some people, but it is the most physical part of indoor drumline for sure.”

Drummer Eric Travis said the logistics of fitting indoor drumline into a regular school schedule added another layer of difficulty. Because there is no separate percussion class, members also participate in band during the school day, juggling large and small ensemble preparation alongside their indoor work. “Due to the fact that we need a gym for rehearsal, the times we had to actually practice were fairly limited,” Travis said.

Republic had not competed as an indoor drumline for many years, and that was an important aspect of the season for Travis.

“Being able to help establish a new generation of indoor drumline here at Republic has given me the opportunity to continue playing the instrument that I love,” he said, “as well as giving the students that come after me the ability to do the same.”