Indoor percussion ensemble
Encyclopedia
An indoor percussion ensemble or indoor drumline consists of the marching percussion
(or battery) and front ensemble (or pit) sections of a marching band
or drum corps
. The only exceptions are in concert divisions (e.g. Percussion Scholastic Concert Open ) where the marching line is absent and the ensemble consists entirely of a pit. Indoor Percussion marries elements of music performance, marching, and theater; thus, the activity is often referred to as percussion theater. Although most indoor percussion ensembles are affiliated with high schools, there are also many independent groups that draw participants from a large area. Independent groups typically start rehearsing in October and groups associated with high schools start after marching band season ends in November or December, and the season culminates with WGI World Championships in April. It is sometimes called Winter Percussion due to the season in which it mostly occurs.
s and gymnasium
s as percussion ensembles looked for ways to maintain their skills during the winter months when performing outdoors on football
fields was not practical. Following in the footsteps of indoor guard
ensembles, indoor percussion ensembles arrange music and motion appropriate for a more intimate setting. The activity is enjoyed throughout the United States
and Japan
, as Winter Guard International
(WGI) provides many regional and national opportunities to compete. Percussion ensembles first appeared in WGI shows in 1992, and the theatrics, sets, and music selection has advanced throughout the activity's history. There are many organizations unaffiliated with WGI that hold smaller regional shows.
Competitive groups are held to specific times and judged on criteria that change every season as technology and creativity blossom. These ensembles compete, but traditionally, the musical sport
is treated as a place to grow together as a community, learn new techniques, and enjoy the work done by peers from across the country and locally.
Competition became international when Color Guard Netherlands (CGN) introduced Indoor Percussion in Europe. In 2008 CGN hosted the very first WGI Regional for Percussion outside of North-America.
themes, popular music
, classical music, and more. Instrumentation is anything that would or could be used under the percussion category of any musical group, including: snare drum
s, tenor drum
s or quads, bass drum
s, cymbal
s, xylophone
s, marimba
s, vibraphone
s, tambourine
s, chime
s, timpani
, drum kit
s, and other similar instruments. Electronic instrument
s such as guitar
s, bass guitars, theremin
s, and synthesizer
s are also allowed - however, no prerecorded music may be played. Spoken word via microphone or a recording on a sampler is used on occasion as well. Unconventional instruments such as trash cans, barrels, pipes, brooms, and other things that make percussive sounds are sometimes used.
Sets must also be designed to function within the space provided. If a performance is in a gym, the materials must be able to enter the gym. If the performance is in a stadium type gym, then doors and openings are easier to access.
There are strict rules on the area sets can be placed on and the time a group is allowed to set them up. Violations of these rules result in score deductions.
At first, indoor percussion ensembles wore traditional marching band uniforms. As shows and concepts increased in detail, uniforms were left behind, and theatrical costume
s took their place. Uniforms could be as simple as jeans and t-shirts for a rendition of West Side Story or as complicated as special jumpsuits with chains and feathers to portray a show like Cirque Du Soleil
, though many groups use more modern uniforms.
, have attempted to make their outdoor field shows more intimate and theatrical like indoor percussion shows. The Cadets have taken ideas pioneered indoors to the field, such as the "Gods of Quads" tenor feature by Ponderosa High School from Colorado, and "drum speak" feature originally developed by the Mission Viejo High School Mission Viejo, California
indoor percussion ensemble.
with Indoor Percussion Ensembles, sometimes referred to as Winter Marching Ensembles, most notably the Aimachi Ensemble based out of Japan.
Marching percussion
Marching percussion instruments are specially designed to be played while moving. This is achieved by attaching the drum to a special harness worn by the drummer. The drums are designed and tuned for maximum articulation and projection of sound, as marching activities are almost always outdoors or...
(or battery) and front ensemble (or pit) sections of a marching band
Marching band
Marching band is a physical activity in which a group of instrumental musicians generally perform outdoors and incorporate some type of marching with their musical performance. Instrumentation typically includes brass, woodwinds, and percussion instruments...
or drum corps
Drum and bugle corps (modern)
A drum and bugle corps, also known as a drum corps, is a musical marching unit consisting of brass instruments, percussion instruments, and color guard. Typically operating as independent non-profit organizations, drum corps perform in competitions, parades, festivals, and other civic functions...
. The only exceptions are in concert divisions (e.g. Percussion Scholastic Concert Open ) where the marching line is absent and the ensemble consists entirely of a pit. Indoor Percussion marries elements of music performance, marching, and theater; thus, the activity is often referred to as percussion theater. Although most indoor percussion ensembles are affiliated with high schools, there are also many independent groups that draw participants from a large area. Independent groups typically start rehearsing in October and groups associated with high schools start after marching band season ends in November or December, and the season culminates with WGI World Championships in April. It is sometimes called Winter Percussion due to the season in which it mostly occurs.
History
Indoor percussion (Drumline) began in 1976 at the Rocori High School in Cold Spring Minnesota, pioneered by Dick Rausch. Over the past 30 years, marching percussion has advanced and moved into auditoriumAuditorium
An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances at venues such as theatres. For movie theaters, the number of auditoriums is expressed as the number of screens.- Etymology :...
s and gymnasium
Gym
The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, that mean a locality for both physical and intellectual education of young men...
s as percussion ensembles looked for ways to maintain their skills during the winter months when performing outdoors on football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
fields was not practical. Following in the footsteps of indoor guard
Color guard
In the military of the United States and other militaries, the color guard carries the National Color and other flags appropriate to its position in the chain of command. Typically these include a unit flag and a departmental flag...
ensembles, indoor percussion ensembles arrange music and motion appropriate for a more intimate setting. The activity is enjoyed throughout the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, as Winter Guard International
Winter Guard International
Spawning from the organization Drum Corps International , Winter Guard International was founded in 1977. WGI is a visual performing arts organization that hosts regional and national competitions for color guard and indoor percussion ensembles. Contests are held in the U.S...
(WGI) provides many regional and national opportunities to compete. Percussion ensembles first appeared in WGI shows in 1992, and the theatrics, sets, and music selection has advanced throughout the activity's history. There are many organizations unaffiliated with WGI that hold smaller regional shows.
Competitive groups are held to specific times and judged on criteria that change every season as technology and creativity blossom. These ensembles compete, but traditionally, the musical sport
Sport
A Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree...
is treated as a place to grow together as a community, learn new techniques, and enjoy the work done by peers from across the country and locally.
Competition became international when Color Guard Netherlands (CGN) introduced Indoor Percussion in Europe. In 2008 CGN hosted the very first WGI Regional for Percussion outside of North-America.
Music
Music is arranged based on original works, as well as recreations of movieFilm
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
themes, popular music
Popular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
, classical music, and more. Instrumentation is anything that would or could be used under the percussion category of any musical group, including: snare drum
Snare drum
The snare drum or side drum is a melodic percussion instrument with strands of snares made of curled metal wire, metal cable, plastic cable, or gut cords stretched across the drumhead, typically the bottom. Pipe and tabor and some military snare drums often have a second set of snares on the bottom...
s, tenor drum
Tenor drum
A tenor drum is a cylindrical drum that is higher pitched than a bass drum.In a symphony orchestra's percussion section, a tenor drum is a low-pitched drum, similar in size to a field snare, but without snares and played with soft mallets or hard sticks. Under various names, the drum has been used...
s or quads, bass drum
Bass drum
Bass drums are percussion instruments that can vary in size and are used in several musical genres. Three major types of bass drums can be distinguished. The type usually seen or heard in orchestral, ensemble or concert band music is the orchestral, or concert bass drum . It is the largest drum of...
s, cymbal
Cymbal
Cymbals are a common percussion instrument. Cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys; see cymbal making for a discussion of their manufacture. The greater majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs sound a...
s, xylophone
Xylophone
The xylophone is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets...
s, marimba
Marimba
The marimba is a musical instrument in the percussion family. It consists of a set of wooden keys or bars with resonators. The bars are struck with mallets to produce musical tones. The keys are arranged as those of a piano, with the accidentals raised vertically and overlapping the natural keys ...
s, vibraphone
Vibraphone
The vibraphone, sometimes called the vibraharp or simply the vibes, is a musical instrument in the struck idiophone subfamily of the percussion family....
s, tambourine
Tambourine
The tambourine or marine is a musical instrument of the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zils". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though some variants may not have a head at all....
s, chime
Tubular bell
Tubular bells are musical instruments in the percussion family. Each bell is a metal tube, 30–38 mm in diameter, tuned by altering its length. Its standard range is from C4-F5, though many professional instruments reach G5 . Tubular bells are often replaced by studio chimes, which are a smaller...
s, timpani
Timpani
Timpani, or kettledrums, are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum, they consist of a skin called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally made of copper. They are played by striking the head with a specialized drum stick called a timpani stick or timpani mallet...
, drum kit
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
s, and other similar instruments. Electronic instrument
Electronic musical instrument
An electronic musical instrument is a musical instrument that produces its sounds using electronics. Such an instrument sounds by outputting an electrical audio signal that ultimately drives a loudspeaker....
s such as guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
s, bass guitars, theremin
Theremin
The theremin , originally known as the aetherphone/etherophone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox is an early electronic musical instrument controlled without discernible physical contact from the player. It is named after its Russian inventor, Professor Léon Theremin, who patented the device...
s, and synthesizer
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
s are also allowed - however, no prerecorded music may be played. Spoken word via microphone or a recording on a sampler is used on occasion as well. Unconventional instruments such as trash cans, barrels, pipes, brooms, and other things that make percussive sounds are sometimes used.
Marching
A notable difference with marching in indoor percussion is the more frequent use of toe-down marching. Marching within indoor percussion is much more fluid in contrast with corps style marching and is much more group dependent due to the lack of yard lines. Rather than relying on yard lines to guide placement, the marcher is required to 'dress' to the others, meaning to use the other marchers as a reference point and keep with formation using peripheral vision. Some indoor ensembles even incorporate basic dance moves into their shows for a more dramatic effect.Concert
Concert ensembles perform using only pit instruments, removing the marching element from the show. A drumset is often incorporated into the pit to make up for the lack of battery instruments. These indoor groups have come under hard fire in the last couple of years as to whether they should stay in the WGI circuit. In The Netherlands not only Concert groups can compete, also standstill drumlines can compete in the Standstill Class.Set designs
Depending on the financial situation and the creativity of the design team, sets can be created to help the audience engage the performance to a greater depth. Painted floor coverings and backdrops are used to portray a story as the group performs the music in and around the props. Most upper level groups have large nylon-vinyl tarps that cover an entire gym floor.Sets must also be designed to function within the space provided. If a performance is in a gym, the materials must be able to enter the gym. If the performance is in a stadium type gym, then doors and openings are easier to access.
There are strict rules on the area sets can be placed on and the time a group is allowed to set them up. Violations of these rules result in score deductions.
Uniforms
Costume
The term costume can refer to wardrobe and dress in general, or to the distinctive style of dress of a particular people, class, or period. Costume may also refer to the artistic arrangement of accessories in a picture, statue, poem, or play, appropriate to the time, place, or other circumstances...
s took their place. Uniforms could be as simple as jeans and t-shirts for a rendition of West Side Story or as complicated as special jumpsuits with chains and feathers to portray a show like Cirque Du Soleil
Cirque du Soleil
Cirque du Soleil , is a Canadian entertainment company, self-described as a "dramatic mix of circus arts and street entertainment." Based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul in 1984 by two former street performers, Guy...
, though many groups use more modern uniforms.
Influence on drum corps
Some drum corps, most notably The CadetsThe Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps
The Cadets are a Drum Corps International World Class drum and bugle corps based in Allentown, Pennsylvania...
, have attempted to make their outdoor field shows more intimate and theatrical like indoor percussion shows. The Cadets have taken ideas pioneered indoors to the field, such as the "Gods of Quads" tenor feature by Ponderosa High School from Colorado, and "drum speak" feature originally developed by the Mission Viejo High School Mission Viejo, California
Mission Viejo, California
Mission Viejo is a city located in southern Orange County, California, U.S. in the Saddleback Valley. Mission Viejo is considered one of the largest master-planned communities ever built under a single project in the United States, and is rivaled only by Highlands Ranch, Colorado, in its size...
indoor percussion ensemble.
Winter Marching Ensembles
A more recent development in the Indoor Percussion Ensemble genre has been the introduction of mixed-group ensembles, combining Winter guardWinter guard
Winter guard is an indoor color guard activity, derived from marching band or drum & bugle corps. Unlike traditional color guard, winter guard is performed indoors, usually in a gymnasium or an indoor arena...
with Indoor Percussion Ensembles, sometimes referred to as Winter Marching Ensembles, most notably the Aimachi Ensemble based out of Japan.
Indoor Drumline Circuits
- WGI (Winter Guard International)
- IPE (Indoor Percussion Europe)
- IPA (Indiana Percussion Association)
- AIA (Atlantic Indoor Association)
- RMPA (Rocky Mountain Percussion Association)
- MEPA (Mid-East Performance Association: Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana)
- OIPA (Ohio Indoor Performance Association)
- SCGC (Southeastern Color Guard Circuit)
- PASIC (Marching Festival)
- ADLA (American Drumline Association)
- MPA (Minnesota Percussion Association)
- KIDA (Keystone Indoor Drill Association)
- SCPA (Southern California Percussion Alliance)
- MCGC (Michigan Color Guard Circuit)
- NYSPC (New York State Percussion Circuit)
- MCCGA (Mid Continental Color Guard Association)
- FFCC (Florida Federation of Color Guards Circuit)
- TCGC (Texas Color Guard Circuit)
- TRWEA (Three Rivers Winter Ensemble Association
- NESBA (New England Scholastic Band Association)
- MAPS (Mid-Atlantic Percussion Society)
- SAPA (Southern Association For Performance Arts)
- CWEA (Carolina Winter Ensemble Association)
- CGN (Color Guard Netherlands)
- GCGC {Gulf Coast Guard and Percussion Circuit)
- CCGC (California Color Guard Circuit)
- PPAACC (Pep & Pageantry Arts Association of Central California)
- WGPO (Winter Guard and Percussion of Oklahoma)
- CIPA (Carolina Indoor Performance Association)
- USSBA (US Scholastic Band Association)
- NCBA (Northern California Band Association)
- MIA (Mississippi Indoor Association)
- UWDA (Utah Winter Drumline Association)
External links
- http://www.northcoastacademy.org (NorthCoast Academy Percussion Ensemble)
- http://www.evolutionindoor.org (Evolution Indoor Percussion, Northern Illinois' ONLY Independent World Class Indoor Drumline)
- http://www.redlinepercussion.org (Redline Percussion)
- http://www.insightpercussion.page.tl (Insight Percussion Theater, Louisiana's only Independent Open Ensemble)
- A Comprehensive List of Marching Percussion Ensembles
- TOB Info (Tournament of Bands for Tournament Indoor Association)
- PercussionMedia - Huge archive of percussion, drumline, and WGI videos
- Incognito Independent Drumline (Incognito is based in Southern California)
- Norristown Indoor Percussion Ensemble (An example of a High School World-Class Indoor Percussion Ensemble)
- Penn State Indoor Drumline (Penn State University's Indoor Drumline)
- Breakthrough Indoor Percussion (WGAZ & WGI Independent Open Indoor Drumline from the Phoenix, AZ metro-area)
- Dark Sky Percussion (independent percussion ensemble from Scottsdale, Arizona)
- Perc Up! (Perc Up! Percussion Music Education Resource, Clinics and Showcase)
- http://www.indianapercussion.org (IPA - Indiana Percussion Association)
- http://www.wgi.org (WGI - Winter Guard International)
- http://www.cwea.us (CWEA- Carolina Winter Ensemble Associtaion)
- (CVGPC- Central Valley Guard and Percussion Circuit)