Drumline

From CNUpedia, an IEEE Innovation.

The CNU Drumline debuted in the fall of 2004 with the start of the Marching Captains. Section leader for the drumline in 2004 was Mike Moore, a sophomore tenor player. Being the first year, they had a humble start playing music that wouldn't scare many middle schoolers, but an instructor change at mid-season was the new beginning that the drumline needed. Ammon Young, formerly a Drum Corps tenor player, and experienced instructor came aboard.

With the first season under their belts, the second season got underway with much less hassle. Traditions had been established, and leaders starting to form from the group. Leading the second season were Mike Moore Drumline Captain, Ross Anderson Snare Section Leader, Ryan Brooks Bassline Captain, Chris Smith Tenor Section Leader, and Mandy Collins Pit Section Leader. With a larger line, and larger band, the drumline was off to a successful start. Instead of "stock" music supplied by the arranger, the drumline's music was written by Ammon Young, leading to a much greater challenge for the players. New freshman talent was promising, and the group bonded on the weekends at the "Drumline House" in Port Warwick.

After a successful season, an indoor drumline was rumored to be happening for the spring of 2006. After a long period of indecision, it was decided that an indoor drumline would strengthen the overall marching program at CNU, and would be a great opportunity for the players. Ammon wrote a show called Nature Boy which was first publicly shown at CNU for a campus open house. On the same day it was taken into competition at Western Branch High School in Chesapeake, VA. The drumline had not put any movement into the show and still scored surprisingly well in that performance. It was a promising start to the indoor season, and on March 25th the drumline would perform again in Dale City, VA. After adding movement into the show in a matter of 3 rehearsals the drumline performed again. Being the only drumline in a competing division makes it very difficult to benchmark against the other drumlines, but nonetheless it was a great start for the ensemble.

The next spring (2007), the boys were under new instruction from a fellow named Scott Ammon, not to be confused with the previous instructor Ammon Young. This was a big change in the instructing personnel of the CNU Drumline. Scott Ammon has been teaching privately at CNU and will also be taking over the percussion ensemble for CNU. The drumline show was announced to be called Virus. It was a dark show that was purchased and modified to fit the skill level of the members of the CNU drumline. There were 4 performances last spring, including the AIA finals in Raleigh, North Carolina. There were two drumlines in the same category as the CNU Drumline at the finals competition, offering a bit of a challenge to the drumline. Nonetheless, the CNU Drumline took first place and the gold medal in the Independent A class at the finals.

In the fall of 2007, after new members were introduced and placed onto the drumline and pit, the CNU Drumline got underway learning the Marching Captain's new show. Instructor Ammon Young, after taking the last spring off from teaching the drumline returned once more to instruct the drumline with Scott Ammon assisting and former drumline captain Mike Moore returning to assist the pit and drumline as well. The theme was cartoons, with the marching band playing "Meet the Jetsons," "Family Guy," "King of the Hill," and a song inspired by Looney Tunes featuring several of the pieces of classical music used in various Looney Tunes cartoons. The marching band and the drumline performed at all of the home football games, two high school exhibitions, and at the Richmond Holiday Parade.

With the fall 2007 season complete, the drumline is heading into the Winter/Spring 2008 indoor season. The drumline now faced competition from several other groups including InnoVAtion, JMU Drumline, and Dominion Storm. The show's song had been annouced as "Starfish" which was a step up in difficulty from the previous year's show "Virus." After try-outs and placements, the indoor line was made up of three snares, two tenors, four bass drums, three cymbals, one xylophone, one marimba, one mallet kat(electric mallet instrument), two vibraphones, one electric guitar, and one electric bass. Ammon Young, Scott Ammon, and Mike Moore all returned as instructors for the indoor season. The drumline has officially entitled their show "Splash."

With only finals left to go, the Drumline's scores have so far been:

Broad Run High School(2/16/08): 68.9
Powhatan High School(WGI Regional - 2/23/08 - finals score): 71.2
Fauquier High School(3/01/08): 77.8
Thomas Edison High School(3/29/08): 83.0

With every competition came an improvement, and now, the only thing left to do is to perform at finals. The CNU Drumline is working hard and we will soon see what the results of their work is!

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