For the better part of the past 15 years, percussion has kept me the busiest outside of school and work. I've always found it a good release and a relaxing activity.

After starting on drum set when I was about 13, my interest in the activity was never overwhelming until I began participating in marching percussion my second year of high school. I've only pieced together recently why this aspect of percussion so attracted me. When done well, drum & bugle corps and marching band shows are true art forms, combining expert music with complicated show design and intricate, fast-paced drill. When you consider the military history of the activity and the way this still carries through to the methodology of learning and instruction, I think you have a product destined to be top quality. Art and music taught and performed with a military intensity? WOW! It's a seeming paradox, but that's what makes it so interesting...to me, at least.

In high school, I first participated in only concert band and jazz band. Freshmen were not allowed in marching band at that point. I didn't mind, though, as I would've chosen to stay in my fall hockey league, anyway. After meeting some people through the year, I did decide to join the next year. Put simply, this became the main interest in my life. I really took to the notion of "perfection" that the activity pervades. I played snare drum my three years in band. I honestly carried my sticks with me all day through school and would play on my leg through down periods of classes (how'd I get away with THAT?). Truth is, we were never that good. I really didn't understand us(or me) in context to the universe of marching percussion until I went to some drum & bugle corps camps and saw what some other folks could do. That blew my mind and it made me redouble my efforts to get at least somewhere near that level.

My next step was Syracuse University's drum line. I played snare in marching band for 4 years. To put it bluntly, I wasn't a fan of the organization when I got there. More than anything percussively, I look back at my SU marching band experience as especially positive because it gave me hands-on experience at influencing long-term organization change. From just about day one, I was figuring out how to help make the SU drum line a better place for serious musicians, and how to increase national recognition and respect. The drum line experience shifted from one that improved my hands and playing abilities to one that improved my head and organizational skills. Working primarily with fellow musician, advisor, and good friend DJ Montalbano, most goals were achieved. We put a long-term plan into action, spent countless hours strategizing and positioning ourselves, both internally within the organization and externally, and worked day and night to make it happen. I'm not going to delve into the statistics and trends that back this up, but it suffices to say that our work certainly paid dividends in the form of increased membership, higher quality, and greater national recognition. Through grad school, I instructed the line and I served as a consultant and instructor last season.

While in college, I did participate in some other percussion-related activities. I played extra percussion in a few bands. This was a ton of fun. It gave me a chance to just lay back and play. No real intense prep was required, which was a nice change from marching perc. I also played drum set for the basketball band at SU for 2 years. I never liked that too much. Playing set was no longer my forte and it stressed me out. One summer during school, I stayed in Syracuse and performed with the Syracuse Brigadiers Drum & Bugle Corps. While it's not the intense, junior corps experience (paying thousands, living on busses, practicing for 15 hours/day, and traveling the country to compete), it was honestly a tremendous experience. Performing with and competing against world class musicians was great fun, as stressful as it seemed at the time.

I still try to stay as involved with the percussion world as possible. The winter of 1999, I helped instruct the Rochester Patriots Indoor Percussion Ensemble. After taking the summer off from the business, I worked with SU in the Fall of 2000. Frankly, I think I made a mistake. They have an immense amount of talent but are steamrolling downhill from a "program" perspective so fast that I basically wasted my time. I have come to realize that there is no reasoning with the powers that be there and that maintaining a high level program is not in their agenda. On to better things I suppose... In 2000, I played again. I managed to shake off three years of rust enough to make the bass line of the Brigadiers. The corps was just great, winning the DCA championship with a record 98. something. In all my years of drumming, I had never won anything so this was a great experience. Now, I'm relaxing again. I'm sure I'll turn up somewhere in the business...but not this week! I look forward to learning the college and high school scene in the Atlanta area to see what opportunities might be waiting.