This is a guest post by Courtney Brandt;  author of the books The Line, A Fine Line, and Keeping In Line

If you would have told 14-year-old Courtney Brandt how much drum line would impact and ultimately change her life, she probably would have laughed in your face. Entering high school, I was an oboist (that’s right, a woodwind player). I knew I wanted to stay with my friends who were all joining the high school marching band. One problem. My particular instrument was not of the marching variety. Now, as you probably are not aware, most oboists choose to play flute and remain safely with their woodwind kindred. Not me. I heard the drum line on our 8th grade “field trip” to the marching section of the stands one night in the fall and somehow knew I was destined for the group. I could read notes better than a lot of 8th grade drummers, and after announcing my decision to join the Line, was plonked in the Pit. That day, I began a four-year relationship with the Brookwood High School percussion section and unknowingly set in motion the foundation for a series of novels which would introduce me to a number of amazing and talented people.

But freshman Courtney had no idea what she was in store for… She had no clue the friends, crushes, heartaches, victories, losses, highs, lows, discipline and lessons that drum line was going to provide. She just liked the sound of it all – the cadences, the rudiments, the loudness of everything.

As the school year started, I realized I loved being a part of something so unique and competitive. In a high school where my graduating class numbered over six hundred students, being one of three girls in my grade on the Line, I felt like I had something a little different than everyone else. In a place where you’re constantly trying to find your identity, drum line gave me a place to start. In my first semester as a member of the drum line, there were other changes. My vocabulary saw a strong influx of new expletives. I made additional friends and saw different sides of old ones. There was a place to sit in the lunch room, inside jokes, and attractive upperclassmen to chat with. When indoor season came around, the Line went to PASIC and placed in the top five. I was proud, confident, and part of something bigger than myself.

By the end of my sophomore year, no longer content to be on the sidelines in the front line, I basically swore to myself that I was going to make the Battery or die trying. From the last home game to the day of auditions, I practiced daily. This lesson was one of the most fundamental I learned, and still use every day. At fifteen, after putting a lot of hard work into something, I met my goal – and was awarded 2nd bass. From that moment, on, as clichéd as it sounds, I really felt that if I worked hard enough at anything, I would ultimately see results. No questions. No doubt. And this lesson could apply to everything from a job interview to grad school to publishing a book. Ironically, I think it was being in the section in the first place that gave me the confidence to try for the more competitive part of that same section.

I am not without regrets. Not auditioning for or marching with DCI is the highest on my list. When I interact with readers now, it’s one of the things I am most proud to see and one of the activities I encourage the most. There are very few experiences in today’s world that involve the responsibility, dedication, passion, and discipline that marching a summer with Drum Corps International can teach. Since I can’t go on tour, I now live vicariously through my characters and send them on adventures for a summer.

After my high school career, I hung up my mallets and spent the next few years at college. Near graduation, I decided to apply for film school and called a friend (a senior from when I was a freshman on the Line) and asked him about his experience. I’ll never forget his response. He replied, “It’s funny, because you’ll understand like no one else would. It’s a lot like drum line…”

For the same masters application, I wrote of an audition…the same one I had practiced so hard for a few years previously and the one that would ultimately start my first book. After that, I continued writing. I found a community of other band geeks who supported me and I told them stories of a fictional marching community…not too unlike my experiences. Anyone who marched with me can recognize who relates to whom, but as the series continued and I got more involved with the characters, the created world took on its own identity.

Today, I am usually in disbelief of where drum line has brought me. From where I started to where I am today, and all the people it has put me in contact with, it sometimes seems impossible. And, of course, there’s always the future. I think about that 15 year old girl, drumming in the cold basement and know I can make her proud. It is one of my biggest goals to have one of my books adapted into a film. And believing what I do, I won’t be happy until I accomplish that fact.

I’m excited to see that someone decided to write a novel based on being in drum line.  My time in drumline has shaped who I have become and is one of the most memorable times in my life.  I highly recommend being in drum line to any and all young drummers out there.

When we think of the drum kit, we usually think that all the drums are of the same brand and type.  This would be a good assumption!  A drummer wants to make sure that their drums have the same ‘timbre’ throughout, that even though the sizes differ, the drums tonally match regardless which size is struck.

A similar case can be made for speakers.  You could buy two different brands of speakers, similar in size, with identical specifications as far as watts per channel, impedance, sensitivity, etc.  But when you set them up as a left and right speaker in a stereo setting, they sound different.  Likewise if you mix and match brands of speakers in a surround sound environment, the sound difference can be quite pronounced between speakers.  This has a lot to do with the design of the drivers within the cabinet, the placement of the drivers within the cabinet, the construction quality of the drivers and cabinet, and the like.

The same can be said about drums.  If you have a 10” tom from brand A, say, Ludwig, and then another 10” tom from Tama, even if they have the same type of head and tuned similarly, they would tend to sound different.  Sometimes even if they’re made of the same material, such as maple or birch, they may sound different due to the different manufacturing process of each, thickness of the shell, etc.

So due to the above, for good reasons, drummers tend to stay with one brand of drums for the whole kit.  This doesn’t necessarily include specialty drums, however, such as mini timbales, roto toms, or Tama’s famous Octobans.  These have special sound properties (usually higher pitched) that give more options and melodic possibilities for drummers who want that flexibility.  However, there’s one particular drum in the set that, well, most drummers in the know would rather you ‘leave it alone’.

That drum would be the snare drum.  The title of this article, “Leave That Snare Alone!”, is actually a play on words from an instrumental by Canadian rock power trio Rush called “Leave That Thing Alone”, which I talk about extensively in a drum lesson I produced regarding the single stroke four rudiment ().  Most drummers after they’ve played for a while may gravitate towards a particular sounding snare, and actually may never part with it!  Others hold on to their first snare drum because they got used to that sound.  The rest of the kit could come and go, but the snare stays.

For the longest time, Neil Peart of Rush used one of his original snares, the brand being Slingerland, way up until the Counterparts tour (circa 1993).  He affectionately calls it his “Number One”.  He went through some kit changes through the years, both configuration and brand.   He went from Slingerland to Tama, then to Ludwig, and then for the last 13 years or so he’s been using Drum Workshop.  But his ‘Number One’ he had been using up until the last brand with all the others prior.

The thing about the snare is that it is as individual as the drummers themselves.  For those that can only afford one snare, they try to make it sound as much to their liking as possible, and stick with it.  If they ever buy or trade their drum kit, sometimes they’ll think twice about parting with their snare.

Many times, though, drummers will have multiple snares for different types of music, and these they may keep no matter what brand kit they have.  Because once you have the sound you want, you want to keep it with you.

This is why many drum companies not only will have kits with snare drum included, but will also have their own line of specialty snares to cater to the individuality of their customers.  You can go to the web sites of Tama, Drum Workshop, and Pearl, for example, to see their extensive line of specialty snares to cater to those who are looking for specific features and sounds in a snare, that they may not be getting from the brand of kit they’re currently using.

Such is the specialty of snares that there are drum companies that make only snares.  Two examples are Dunnett Classic Drums, and Longo Drums.  As you examine the product line of these drum companies, you’ll notice the various materials used to make the snares,  be it metals (titanium, brass, bronze, copper, and more) or woods (walnut, maple, cherry, oak, and more).  There is such an assortment of sound from the abundance and availability of the snare drum that you’re bound to find one (or several!) that you’ll absolutely love, and never want to part with.

As an example of one of these snares, Drum Center of Portsmouth, NH has a video on YouTube demonstrating the sound of one of the Dunnett Classic snares, the Stainless Steel 6.5×14”.  It would be a great exercise to listen to the different sounds of as many snares as possible, from as many companies as possible, to discover how versatile and varied this very important drum can sound.

I personally own two snare drums (I plan to add more!).  I have a DW Pacific FS Series 5×14” birch snare (which is part of my 5pc kit of the same make and model), natural to charcoal finish.  I also have a DW Pacific metal snare, 5×13”.  The FS Series snare is adequate and sounds pretty good, but I’ve heard better sounding snares that I would rather have; I’m not that attached to it.  My metal snare is my ‘Number One’, a gift from the Mrs.  It has a higher pitch than the FS snare, which I like because it sounds somewhat like a piccolo snare.  Not too long ago I played a drum cover to a song where I incorporated both snares.  Please check out my cover of the Yes classic “Future Times/Rejoice”, where I use the 13” metal snare on my left for the higher pitched sections of the song, and the main FS snare the rest of the time.  See if you notice the difference!

So as you can see, us drummers are very attached to our snares.  So much so that there are drum companies dedicated to just that drum.  As mentioned, taking a field trip to a music store, or a drum store if you’re lucky to have one close by, is a great idea so as to play around with all the different snares to get a feel for what sounds best to you.  Eventually, you also will become so attached to your snare that you also will be saying, “leave that snare alone!”

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