Instruments used in a Drumline

September 11, 2017

A couple of times, you have probably seen and heard a marching band set the drums roiling to the tune of a melodious beat. All you saw were just a set of drums and probably other instruments which you desire to get close to. So, let’s talk about these instruments in a brief- in this article.

Snare Drums

Well, the snare drums got its name from the characteristic ‘snares’ affixed on the drum itself. The snares usually add a snapping sound to the beat produced when the drum is played. This set of drums is usually worn round the waist, and are 12-15 inches in diameter.

Toms-Toms

Toms-Toms [which are also called Tenor Drums] share some similarity with ‘snares’, just that they do not have bottom head [which is a distinctive feature in snare] and they appear to be relatively smaller than the snare drums. Most times, toms are set in a group of four- a quad with each drum tuned to a particular pitch.

Bass Drums

The Bass Drums are the biggest of the entire drum set played in a drumline – they usually have a diameter of about 40.64cm - 81.28cm- and are strapped up onto the chest. A characteristic feature of the bass drum is the presence of drum head on its sides. They are normally played with mallets.

Cymbals

A drumline is not always all about drums- the cymbals can also form an integral part of it (drumline).  The very kind of cymbals used, are the Crash cymbals which typically feature leather straps that serve handling purpose. The crash cymbals come in varying sizes with each size having its unique tone.

 

---

Also in News