“…When the audience and the performers pass off energy back and forth, that is what makes all the work we put into this activity worth it.” says Senior Cameron Olson, a section leader in West’s marching band, specifically the percussion section. Chances are, any student at West has seen the school’s marching band at football games or state sendoffs, but most don’t know all the work that goes into this amazing activity.
The Joliet West Marching Band is composed of about 150 members, split into numerous sections. One of the more fascinating sections is percussion, which consists of 22 members who are furthermore split into pit and battery. Battery being drums and pit being marimba and things like that. So, what makes percussion so different from the rest of the band?
One big difference is they don’t blow on their instruments like the brass and woodwind sections. Both sections of percussion are very difficult in different ways. Junior and section leader Dylan Trainor says, “Battery and drumming is much more physically intensive than the wind instruments,” and this is on account of their having to perform with very heavy drums. Pit is also quite difficult, despite being the only section that doesn’t march. “Without needing to learn marching techniques, we have the hardest music out of all the sections,” says Olson.
It’s not just students vital to percussion success, but also the techs. Sophomore Aaliyah Zepeda says, “The techs – who are like volunteer teachers basically – have been super helpful and made it a lot nicer environment.” Trainor agrees with her thoughts, saying, “In years past, we’ve struggled to maintain a steady system of instructors for percussion, and this year we’ve had really good ones that have been sticking around.” These terrific techs have been a big part of why this season has been so rewarding for the section.
But what other rewards will the season bring as they’ve recently started competing? The goal of multiple section leaders is to win Best Percussion at their final competition this season, at ISU. Olsen says, “With enough effort and the cards being played right, I hope we can win the ‘Best Percussion’ caption award at competitions.” It may be difficult to show support on that journey, but students can always give them some Tiger Pride at all of West’s home football games!
Overall, Percussion is a tight-knit community of students who love the activity they’re in and this can be heard firsthand from section leader and Junior, Sofia Mancilla, “We all get to practice and do an activity we love together as a group, which is honestly the best!”