If you have been near either of the gyms of the high school between the hours of 6 and 9 sometime in the last few weeks, you have probably heard the Winter Drum Line practicing their show, entitled “The Industrial Jungle”. The show requires the members of the drum line to not only march and play, but to push around and play on giant fences and old water heaters as well. Though the music and visual aspects of the show are important, the portrayal of the show is equally important. When the music is happy, each percussionist should act pleasant. When the music starts to take a more intense turn, the facial expressions of each member must be solemn, angry even, to make sure that the point is made, and the judges also base their score on how the theme is depicted.

This weekend marked the beginning of the group’s competition season, even though they have been practicing together since before Christmas break. On Saturday, the group had a three hour practice starting bright and early at 8 AM, and then packed up all of their equipment and headed south to Muncie Central High School. They were the first performance of the Class A drum lines, starting at 5 PM. The performance was solid, and all of the members were satisfied with a score of 76.15, a fourth place finish. However, the group is not stopping their pursuit of excellence. The next few weeks will be spent advancing the visual aspects of their show, as well as the musical aspects. This dedicated group of students has already worked incredibly hard on achieving a product they are proud of, and though they are proud of their performance on Saturday.  The season isn’t over yet, and the ensemble plans on making every second count.