Drumline IS a Sport
Don’t tell me otherwise because a lot of work goes into making these performances as great as they are. Reflecting on the performances provided in the prep work of drumline educator, Hamilton Allen.
At my high school, many of my friends were in band. They had formations, but their performances consisted of only playing music, so there wasn’t choreography or visual projectors. Our school didn’t have much money to allot to many of the programs, so they made the best with what they got and fundraised a lot. Towards my junior year, they brought back the drumline, but the group wasn’t nearly as big as the groups in the video. There were about 10 people total that did drumline, but they did place in some of the competitions they did. What was most interesting was that my friend was the only female in our drumline, but she fostered such a close relationship with the others. I wasn’t able to see their performances due to my busy schedule, so the videos provided in the assignment were the first performances I’ve seen of a drum line.
This first video was very interesting because of the costumes that the performers wore and the amount of movement that took place. There were a lot of formations which is often hard to coordinate with so many people. I thought that it was interesting how they used the projector to portray a character and add more to the context behind the concept of the performance. I find that it was interesting and a visually stunning performance because everything was timed just right. I definitely enjoyed the performance because it uses so many artistic, acoustic and visual aspects to make up an eye-catching performance. Although I do appreciate the aesthetic, I also wasn’t entirely sure what the story was behind “Igor’s Riot,” so I didn’t connect to it as much.
This next video was one that I could definitely relate to more because I know some of the songs that they used. I appreciated the fact that there was a general distinction between men and women in the concept and that it was reflected in the music that was being played. From sweet and love-filled music for the women of Venus to the swaggy and tough music for the men of Mars, I found that the performance was interesting. I appreciated the medley of songs and their intermixing because it definitely added more to the performance. I thought that there was more storytelling here, and it made it easier for me to understand the concept more. Just the idea of showing two worlds and mixing them into one AND expressing this idea through music was very well done and a very clever idea.
The final video I definitely focused more on the music because I could hear it more clearly in this video. With this simpler style, it made me pay more attention to the music. I felt that the performers were REALLY in sync as I couldn’t hear any “echoing sounds.” It was a nice and clean performance that really showcased their skill as a group in order to have great timing and sync well with each other. They also seemed to be going hard at it, looking at their faces and expressions. Very intense, very focused. I appreciate this style because it’s simple yet effective. It also astounds me just how fast they go at it in playing. It seems very difficult to me to be able to perform that quickly while keeping in tempo and strength with the other performers.
My favorite of the three would definitely be the “Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus” video because it was the one that I could most relate to and understand from a conceptual perspective. I appreciated that there was more storytelling and performance. There was also a lot of care in detail such as the change in the arm sleeves to be appropriate for the world that were in. I found that the contrast between “female” and “male” and the inevitable intermixing of the two to be very interesting, especially from a musical perspective. There was a lot more choreography (which is my weakness if you didn’t already know from my obsession with Kpop) and focus on concept while the music really complemented and meshed well with it. The concept didn’t really take away from the musical performance because the actions and choreography were very simple which to me makes it so that the music and playing are the main spotlight. It just helps reel the audience in more when they understand and see visuals that compliment the musicians and their work.
