By Laura Hou
Drums are known to be the oldest instrument of mankind, dating back to 6000 BC. They were built when humans first learned to keep rhythm. Music is so important in life. It has no language, no shape nor form, and yet, it can be interpreted in so many ways. That’s what’s magical about it. It is an expression without words. Each instrument tells a different story. A violin weeps about the past, a guitar sings about the present, and a drum beats with the drummer’s heart. It is a chorus of notes and it speaks directly to the soul.
Drums are known to be the oldest instrument of mankind, dating back to 6000 BC. They were built when humans first learned to keep rhythm. Music is so important in life. It has no language, no shape nor form, and yet, it can be interpreted in so many ways. That’s what’s magical about it. It is an expression without words. Each instrument tells a different story. A violin weeps about the past, a guitar sings about the present, and a drum beats with the drummer’s heart. It is a chorus of notes and it speaks directly to the soul.
The Collingwood Drum Corps calls themselves the battery of a full drum team. They are what powers the music that is made. They are consisted of snare drums, tenor drums, and bass drums. They play either marching or stationary. They started out for the purpose of plain fun. “We just wanted to hit stuff.” Said Mr. Smith. The team came together wanting to play drums and relax, after all, who doesn’t enjoy playing the drums once in a while? But after they performed in assembly last year in May and got so much support, they continued for the support of school spirit and sports teams. Not only do they want to support the school, the Drum Corps also want the teas to be a learning tool for musicians to fine tune their percussion skills. When the club started, Mr. Smith was able to borrow and rent the needed instruments from schools and stores for the first show they did in May. The Canadian Drum Line association was kind enough to lend the Drum Corps a few instruments.
For every student that is in the Drum Corps, they weren’t just a band kid anymore. Suddenly they transformed into rock stars. That’s what’s so great about music, it brings people together and builds self-esteem. For some of the students, they took on a leadership role for the Drum Corps. If there is something to work towards, it makes all the hard work worth it. Seeing the reactions on the audience faces was incredible.
Unlike other types of instruments, drums are a very different type of expression of music. Music is more than just enjoyment or relaxation, it is a catharsis of love, joy or sadness. Any other types of instruments are melodious. Only drums can give the listener a different kind of experience. It can be described as the heartbeat of earth or the thunder from the skies. The sound of drums can be used in any type of music, it is almost moldable. The sound of a single drum is a lone star in the night sky, its lights not enough to light around it. A drumline, on the other hand, is the stars, the moon and the galaxies combined together. It gives enough light to illuminate the universe. Drums tell a story. Just like dance, they express to the others any emotions the player wants to tell.
The Drum Corps start practice at 3:30 on Thursdays exactly, it is just like any other drum teams. Disciplined and organized. “It’s like a military training.” Stated Mr. Smith. They would start the practice with a warm up for fifteen minutes, very much like drills. After warm ups, they would run through some pieces and learn something new. A third of their practice is warm –ups and techniques, another a third of the practice is learning new music, and the final a third is marching.
The Drums Corps has already done a collaboration with the Senior Jazz Band and the film department. They also hope to work together with the dance crew as well to create a piece of performance. They have entered to the CBC Music Class challenge, which is a Canada wide music competition. Their next performance is going to be on December 7th during the basketball tournament. So, good luck to the Drums Corps!
For every student that is in the Drum Corps, they weren’t just a band kid anymore. Suddenly they transformed into rock stars. That’s what’s so great about music, it brings people together and builds self-esteem. For some of the students, they took on a leadership role for the Drum Corps. If there is something to work towards, it makes all the hard work worth it. Seeing the reactions on the audience faces was incredible.
Unlike other types of instruments, drums are a very different type of expression of music. Music is more than just enjoyment or relaxation, it is a catharsis of love, joy or sadness. Any other types of instruments are melodious. Only drums can give the listener a different kind of experience. It can be described as the heartbeat of earth or the thunder from the skies. The sound of drums can be used in any type of music, it is almost moldable. The sound of a single drum is a lone star in the night sky, its lights not enough to light around it. A drumline, on the other hand, is the stars, the moon and the galaxies combined together. It gives enough light to illuminate the universe. Drums tell a story. Just like dance, they express to the others any emotions the player wants to tell.
The Drum Corps start practice at 3:30 on Thursdays exactly, it is just like any other drum teams. Disciplined and organized. “It’s like a military training.” Stated Mr. Smith. They would start the practice with a warm up for fifteen minutes, very much like drills. After warm ups, they would run through some pieces and learn something new. A third of their practice is warm –ups and techniques, another a third of the practice is learning new music, and the final a third is marching.
The Drums Corps has already done a collaboration with the Senior Jazz Band and the film department. They also hope to work together with the dance crew as well to create a piece of performance. They have entered to the CBC Music Class challenge, which is a Canada wide music competition. Their next performance is going to be on December 7th during the basketball tournament. So, good luck to the Drums Corps!
In September, we opened up a school-wide competition to design the Collingwood Cavaliers Drum Corps uniform. The competition was open to all students, staff and alumni and we received a very large number of design concepts. Once the deadline passed, I narrowed down the submissions to a final 7 based on the following criterion: submission quality, appropriateness, coolness and practicality. These 7 submissions were then submitted to a panel consisting of staff and students members from various departments to decide on a final 3 submissions to put forward to the school. The school was presented with the opportunity to vote digitally over a period of 24 hours and by 3:00PM on Friday, the winners (Helen and Tiffany) were decided by a narrow vote!
- Corey Smith
- Corey Smith