I know this is a drumline forum and all, but pretty much all of us are in concert band and have concert band dilemmas that don't really fall into any of the available categories, and they don't really fit in off-topic because they aren't really off topic. Could that happen?

Hmm...It seems like a reasonable suggestion. There shouldn't be anything wrong with a Concert Percussion forum and I think it actually may be useful. I am not in concer band myself, but I'm still gonna agree with you on this one.

Ok, lets try this:

give some examples of concert band dilemmas...then we can decide how relevant they are to this site

Improving buzz rolls, timpani technique, indoor mallet technique. Those are just a few things I could see people needing help on.

The main thing that I was thinking about was the proper technique of playing accessories & toys. Many people just smack a tambourine or hit the triangle anywhere and think it's done, when there are many different techniques in those two alone. And then the different pitches from both of those two instruments. Just the things that are easily overlooked and shouldn't be. They're also things that can transfer over to a pit position on the field. Win-win situation!

I agree with Tory. There's a lot of things that people don't know how to play or even know that it exists. For example, no one else in my school knew what a flexatone was, much less how to play one. Also, people could share experiences about substitute instruments for schools that are financially challenged (such as detuning a conga to make it sound like a log drum or putting a broken double bass string on a cymbal to make it a sizzle cymbal). There's plenty that could go on, as well as dilemmas, brand talk, technique, discussing repetoires or favorite composers. There's really endless possibilites.

I started a new topic suggesting a concert percussion forum without serching first (whoops) so I'll just revive this one.

To those who say that concert percussion can be classified as Pit, you're very mistaken. For starters, concert percussion not only implies percussion ensembles, but also classical music with an orchestra or wind ensemble. The approach, acoustics, and culture of concert percussion is quite different than that of the front ensemble.

My teacher for instance is the principal percussionist for the San Antonio Symphony, and he absolutely despises front ensemble playing because of how kids in marching band take what they learn on the field and try to apply it to concert percussion. They're two different things that should have two different forums.

I don't think you will get very far on drumlines.org. There is a concert sub-forum on www.drumhard.com. while this forum does it's best to promote all facets of percussion, it is clearly intended to emphasize the marching idiom. There are some great discussions at the PAS forums. You'll get feedback from the greats like Neil Grover, Alan Abel and Ney Rosauro. If you are a serious student of the percussion idiom you should try and become a member of PAS.

Gabe

Ok, since most of the above rant is aimed at me, I will break this down for you. When I mentioned percussion ensemble it was an example and was by no means meant to encompass all of concert percussion. I am sure that very few people would have taken that statement to mean that (but apparently you did). Concert percussion and marching front ensembles are different animals, but you are playing the same instruments. That is why I said you could cover concert under the pit forum. I never said the approach, acoustics, and culture were the same and I never will. I also never said you couldn't ask your concert related questions...I just said use the pit forum since they are similiar instead of creating a completely new forum.

Do I agree that marching and concert percussion should have separate forums? Yes, of course. However the name of this site is DRUMLINES.ORG not PERCUSSION.ORG. This site is dedicated to marching percussion and more than likely it will stay that way. As mentioned, there are plenty of other places to get your concert percussion fix, without trying to change the approach, acoustics, and culture of this site.

I'll admit, that's a pretty solid argument there... What if we just said under the forum description that concert percussion would also go there?

I would have no problem with that, but that decision is not entirely up to me.

I think that would work [near] perfectly.