What's happening, fellow Bandhead percussionists?First of all, I wish everyone here on bandhead.org, those outside this site and CRABs everywhere a very productive marching season thus far, especially the drumlines. Speaking as a percussionist, as I wrote on The5thQuarter.com, we are always working hard to give everyone our high-powered, high-quality, high-caliber part of any halftime show at any football game, be it a drum feature, a funk train or otherwise.With that being said, I've came to a thought of putting together my first BH topc in 3-parts regarding the drumline and giving ideas for it to improve.This part of the topic was something I thought of a few years ago while reading a certain thread on The SWACPage Forum about how JSU's War 'N' Thunder came about as an elite line back in the day--if you were drum captain, what would you do if you decided on making pivotal changes in your line in order to not only help it become a powerful ensemble, but also maintain as much tradition as possible? Would you rebuild it from the ground up or would you keep what you have, add on and/or take away some things that you think will hinder it?Secondly, I've heard a lot of stories about how some people have been deaf to extreme loudness in almost every situation--a concert gig, a party/dance or in this case being close to drums being played at loud volumes. Of course a lot of us like things loud and with that extra bottom in regards to bass drums, but if you care enough about your hearing, ear protection is the only solution to keep you from going deaf in the long run. We all know this for a fact. The question, though, is whether it helps or hinders the drumline as well. On a particular sidenote, ear protection not only helps with preventing hearing loss, but as far as playing clean is concerned it can also help a subsection maintain an accurate and precise sound as possible while you play...Last, but certainly not the least, when it comes to writing and arranging cadences for your drumline, what are the many things that inspire you to think of a certain theme for a cadence? Is it the line's history? Some new drums? What about a certain someone, place or thing? Also, if things go well when it comes to bringing your cadence(s) to the forefront of the line, be it a drum captain or percussion instructor, how long would it take for your line to learn a cadence? Speaking of sequence/series cadences, how long would take for you and your line to learn those?Folk, I think it's about that time we put our thinking caps on. Your thoughts, right here...

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