First off, I'd like to say Hi to this community, I think that you're all great people and really know how to help people out. I've searched many drumline forums and most of them weren't really helpful, nor have people who know what they're talking about.

I play Cymbals on a High School line, entering my 3rd year playing as a senior. I've been the Cymbal Section leader Pretty much since I've picked up my first set, thats because most highschool drumlines around here doesn't have a cymbal line or no one really acknowledges them. Last year, a great friend of mines joined our line and tought me a lot of technique and skill for cymbals, and we pretty much incorporated all of that into the line. We wanted to have a kick-butt line, and wanted to show the other drumlines that we competed against what effect the cymbals have on the drumline. All this went well until some of our members started goofing around at rehearsals and start to talk back to me. The problem still persisted throughout the whole marching Season, and I couldn't prove to my Drum instructor, Band Director, and fellow Drummers what cymbals could be capable of.

This year, We have practically Newbies joining the Cymbal line who think that cymbals is a stupid instrument and think all there is to it is banging the cymbals. I want to prove them wrong, but Really don't know where to start. I believe Chemistry is really important for a great cymbal line, and bad chemistry can really mess things up.

I've seen a lot of DCI videos, SCV, Magic, PDX, and other great platelines that I want to make my line into. Its pretty tough to incorporate all the cool visuals and Split parts to a fresh cymbal line, especially because they don't even have the basics down yet..

Most high schools now are getting rid of the cymbal line because most people do not realize what cymbals are capable of, and our highschool is the only one basically left in the district with a cymbal line, but that might change unless our line makes a huge impact this year.

So in your Opinion, what should I do to sort of persuade my line to enjoy playing cymbals, or to make them think that cymbals isn't just a stupid instrument and a waste of time ?

I'd Appreciate your help, Thanks !!

- Danny

The intensity and precision of a good "drum corps quality" cymbal line are amazing and something worth aspiring to. But really, in my opinion, that's icing on the cake. As with any other instrument, it's about the sound. If your cymbal line makes a positive contribution to the overall sound of the ensemble, there's your reason for having a cymbal line.

The high school I work with currently doesn't have a cymbal line. I'd love to have one, but to do it right takes a lot of instructional time and an instructor who knows what they're doing. Along with ignorance of what plates can do (like you mentioned), this knowledge and time burden is probably a reason why some schools and groups don't field cymbal lines.

When I get around to adding a cymbal line, I'll probably start by investing in the books & videos by Eddie Capps or Jeff Kozol (see links below). While I'm familiar with the basics, I've never marched plates and I could really use these guys' expertise, ideas, and exercises.
http://www.cymbaltechnique101.com/
http://www.americandrum.com/catalog/accessories/video_AHCTMC.html

It would seem that one way to make things interesting for your newbies is to dive into split parts right away. Nobody wants to stand around with a heavy pair of plates, banging quarter notes like a wind-up monkey. Splits don't have to be hard to sound cool. Look at this example exercise from the web site promoting Eddie Capps' book:
http://www.cymbaltechnique101.com/preview3.jpg

I really don't think we're that far apart in opinion. I agree wholeheartedly that uniform technique is crucial. I want everyone to have the same approach to an instrument, primarily for sake of uniform sound. Teaching uniform technique will not only address sound quality from player to player, but conveniently will improve the line visually as well.

I'm sure we both want things to look and sound good. I just happen to place an emphasis on sound over visual, especially with beginners. But visual uniformity is obviously important in marching percussion, so even though I consider it secondary to sound quality, I definitely don't think it's unimportant!

Recently I've checked up on Eddie Capps and Jeff Kozol's instructional videos, and still debating whether I should Purchase one copy or both copies. I know for a fact that they'll both help out our line a lot.

For sure, Visual Uniformity is a must on our drumline and we take time balancing that and Sound, though our drum instructor and our band director do not realize the awful sound our plates make [ To be precise, they're all about 8-10 years old, all with some form of dents and nicks on the edges. Not to mention we destroyed about 2 pairs of sabians last year, all having one huge tear from the rim about 4 inches towards the dome ]

Anywho, thanks for the great tips, Our next rehearsal is this wednesday so i'll try to incorporate some of the ideas about Visual and Sound Uniformity.

I do believe that it takes a good amount of time and effort for a cymbal line to all perfect a unison crash or a crash choke, or have the right angles and the same sound coming from the cymbals. Thats why I make our line practice in front of a large mirror, so I can check the angles, playing, and visual techniques. If we continue to practice this way, I think we can accomplish the basics and have a little time to work on Music before Percussion Camp Starts.

If all else fails, I can always put these newbies through Boot Camp

I'm on the cymbal line at UMass, and the #1 thing that was stressed to us was we have to look uniform. If we don't, then what's the point? Cymbals are the primary "visual" aspect to the drumline, they are big and shiny, and any sort of light that hits it is going to be in the audiences face. This is why it's so hard to have a good quality line in high school. In high school people don't have a good sense of time, and those who do probably aren't playing cymbals. I'd say get them working on split parts but nothing too hard, maybe some hinge chokes or somethin, just so they can think as a line instead of individuals.

Find some videos on youtube of cymbal lines, find some good ones of some really cool visuals and show them. I know that pumps me up, seeing the SCV cymbal line doin some fancy stuff always makes me want to become better. After that I'd concentrate on how everybody holds the cymbals, make everybody look the same, and then work on getting a good sound. It takes time to get a good cymbal line. We had 12 cymbal players on the line last year, (inc. 1 80% deaf kid and a few others who just... well... aren't very good at all) and we got it together. We would spend time together alone working on stuff and just repping it over and over. Chemistry is important, that's how a line starts thinking as a line and less like individuals.

Don't kill them though, let them stretch their arms as needed, obviously. The big thing is you don't want to scare them off, you want vets to come back the next year and make the line even better. It takes more than 1 year to get a good line, it takes a lot of time and practice together to get good, so don't expect everybody to be perfect after a month, or 3, or 5.

My advice to you as the section leader. Set up a good regiment that they can follow. Get some good practice charts, stuff they can all handle and set up how the line should be, so when you're gone they can continue to get better. Think of it as a legacy, because 1 year isn't a whole lot of time to get a good cymbal line together. You start it so it can continue and grow. Get them into it, make them want to play. Especially the young ones who are going to be around for a few more years.

Well when someone doesn't do what they are supposed to, or goofs off we do iron crosses. If you don't know what they are, you start with cymbals at your sides. Then, on beat 1 you lift them above your head, much like the first position of an upspray, so the plates are parallel to your body above your head, arms fully extended. Then on beat 2 move your arms so they are perpendicular to your body (stick arms straight out to your side) on beat 3, flip the cymbals so they are no longer parallel to your body, now the bottom of the cymbals are facing the ground (keep arms fully extended) and on beat 4, move your arms in front of you fully extended, bottom of plates facing the ground. Each move has your arms fully extended, and you have to move the plates in control, and in time with everyone else. If anyone messes up, make em do more. We'll do 50-100+ of them at a time, and if anyone asks are we almost done, just tack on another 5. It gets hard after 35, but maaaan does it make you stronger. And let them know, you wanna goof off that's fine, but expect to have your butts beat. Once you guys know how to play and play well then we can have more fun, but they gotta learn the fundamentals and they gotta know when to be good, etc. Just don't take anything from them. Youre the section leader for a reason. If they want to do their own thing then they hafta wait to be section leader.

When we're warming up with the rest of the drumline, and we don't play the specific warm up what we do is endurance, basically holding out the cymbals in different positions, Set, Port, tings, and we do iron cross, the one that both your arms is extended side-out and hold them there for a period of time. I agree, it does make you a lot stronger, and you get enough strength to hold the plates up during field shows and doing visuals.

I like the idea, sounds like a full endurance training and sort of a team effort, I'll use that technique when I start to notice some slacking in the line or if someone starts complaining about sets during percussion camp.

Btw, when you say flip the cymbal on beat 3, do you mean just turning it 90 degrees so that the cymbal faces downward or actually doing a flip up with arms extended ?