What was behind our national championship drum line?
Thank You Joe Marrella
PART ONE
The place was the high school in Wilmington where Blue Rock hosted their own drum corps contest.
Blue Rock put on an non-judged exhibition as the host corps always did at that time in drum corps.
Of course, I watched them carefully for a variety of reasons. Ted Sciara was always respectful to me when I was in Vasella. He saw our talent and would often engage me.I also knew some of the BR drummers from a distance.
After the show, I was approached by one of Blue Rock’s snare drummers, who was a fan of Vasella's Snare Line … among many!
He asked what I thought of their (BR) drum line?
It’s here in the next ONE MINUTE that my life and Blue Rock’s history changed.
I remember vividly the conflict in my head…be POLITE or Tell the TRUTH. At that time, I was BRASH, ARROGANT &
certainly an Highly OPINIONATED young guy.
I decided to tell the truth (As I knew it to be) …I replied…”What the F—k did you guys do all winter”
I knew the comment was accurate, even if it was not kind! One sentence …just one sentence!
A few days latter, I got a call to come to practice to speak to Ted.
It was the call that changed my life and hopefully added to BR’s image, reputation and list of accomplishments over the next 6 years.
PART TWO
I came to BLUE ROCK with all my experiences, my goals and my Drumming Idols.
I was a snare drummer in a line that was as precise and proficient as any in the activity. I promise you that is not an exaggeration. Our drum quartet beat any and all competition from everywhere in the country…everywhere!
During our tenure, our drum line won dozens of high drum awards as well as being in the top three at VFW NATIONALS by just 2 tenths. Ted knew our reputation as well as his drummers did.
John Flowers was the judge when we won the National Open Drum Quartet Championship by points. Eric Perilloux was the judge when our Drum Quartet won again at the Skyliners Individual Competition. Yes, we also won the Drum Quartet portion by points, but in addition, we received a second large trophy for having the highest total score that day out of 95 individual contestants from every single category. ..(Two judges that were known everywhere as tough and very knowledgeable adjudicators)
This was my foundation! This was my tolerance level. I compared everything I heard at practice to that pure sound in my head from Vasella.
Regarding drumming idols, in my opinion, there was only one in our section of the country…BLESSED SACRAMENT! To me they were Drum Corps Royalty…(They became the White Whale)
When NEW JERSEY STATES was on the horizon I set our sights on beating BS in DRUMS. If my memory is accurate,
BR had not beaten them before.
Another concept I truly believed in was that “SAME BEHAVIOR = SAME RESULTS!
Previously, BR went to Wildwood the morning before the State Championship. I wanted to change that arrangement…(Change that Behavior) …I wanted to go down the night before, practice in the park, get up, practice after a good night sleep than go out and beat Blessed Sacrament in drums.
Somehow the drummers backed my idea and we met at the park, drummed for a few hours, got up Saturday, practiced again …then BEAT BLESSED SACRAMENT IN DRUMS…
IT WAS THE TURNING POINT FOR ANY AND ALL IDEAS I SUGGESTED IN THE FUTURE!
PART THREE
I Remember vividly looking at the big clock in the far end zone, it read…9:31pm…August 20, 1971. Then I heard the starting gun, the sound of which echoed loudly throughout the entire stadium. I had been so close before to the Drum Trophy at the VFW National Championship in Detroit a few years earlier.
.2…two tenths of a point. (The irony that night was we dropped two sticks and they deducted it off the drum score sheet at that time)
Prior to the finals at VFW in Dallas, I made a decision that we would fine tune some special moments in our very challenging drum book. There could be more credit for the use of dynamics and its expert control in the VFW DRUM SHEET.
Because our drummers trusted me and I them, I added a few new moments that would be challenging dynamically, yet they would stand out even more than they had all season. (We had yet to lose a full drum show all season, at Prelims our Monster solo was omitted due to the time constraints)
The 8 snares would be the largest snare line to compete under the “Tick” system in decades or at any time I could remember (Generally, changing drum parts before a National Championship competition is extremely rare!)
But, I wasn’t going to lose by a couple of tenths again!
I never set out to change the configuration of percussion ensembles in drum corps & bands. I promise you that if we were 7th instead of First…no one would have copied our approach.
I had a vision and thought I knew the techniques to accomplish it. It worked because of the BLUE ROCK players and the confidence they had in me.
That night, we beat our chief competitor, Boston, by our biggest spread in months. Yet, we had never faced SANTA CLARA VANGUARDS until Dallas.
Yes, we won high drums at the VFW National Championship with SCV second. SCV went on to win many Championships in a row and it was an extreme honor to be in their elite category that one night August 20, 1971.
One final tidbit…it was the same date as my father’s birthday. He was the Director of Vasella and Vasella was the sole reason I was able to accomplish the honors, the Championships and be elected to several Halls of Fame in our beloved Drum Corps Activity!
The place was the high school in Wilmington where Blue Rock hosted their own drum corps contest.
Blue Rock put on an non-judged exhibition as the host corps always did at that time in drum corps.
Of course, I watched them carefully for a variety of reasons. Ted Sciara was always respectful to me when I was in Vasella. He saw our talent and would often engage me.I also knew some of the BR drummers from a distance.
After the show, I was approached by one of Blue Rock’s snare drummers, who was a fan of Vasella's Snare Line … among many!
He asked what I thought of their (BR) drum line?
It’s here in the next ONE MINUTE that my life and Blue Rock’s history changed.
I remember vividly the conflict in my head…be POLITE or Tell the TRUTH. At that time, I was BRASH, ARROGANT &
certainly an Highly OPINIONATED young guy.
I decided to tell the truth (As I knew it to be) …I replied…”What the F—k did you guys do all winter”
I knew the comment was accurate, even if it was not kind! One sentence …just one sentence!
A few days latter, I got a call to come to practice to speak to Ted.
It was the call that changed my life and hopefully added to BR’s image, reputation and list of accomplishments over the next 6 years.
PART TWO
I came to BLUE ROCK with all my experiences, my goals and my Drumming Idols.
I was a snare drummer in a line that was as precise and proficient as any in the activity. I promise you that is not an exaggeration. Our drum quartet beat any and all competition from everywhere in the country…everywhere!
During our tenure, our drum line won dozens of high drum awards as well as being in the top three at VFW NATIONALS by just 2 tenths. Ted knew our reputation as well as his drummers did.
John Flowers was the judge when we won the National Open Drum Quartet Championship by points. Eric Perilloux was the judge when our Drum Quartet won again at the Skyliners Individual Competition. Yes, we also won the Drum Quartet portion by points, but in addition, we received a second large trophy for having the highest total score that day out of 95 individual contestants from every single category. ..(Two judges that were known everywhere as tough and very knowledgeable adjudicators)
This was my foundation! This was my tolerance level. I compared everything I heard at practice to that pure sound in my head from Vasella.
Regarding drumming idols, in my opinion, there was only one in our section of the country…BLESSED SACRAMENT! To me they were Drum Corps Royalty…(They became the White Whale)
When NEW JERSEY STATES was on the horizon I set our sights on beating BS in DRUMS. If my memory is accurate,
BR had not beaten them before.
Another concept I truly believed in was that “SAME BEHAVIOR = SAME RESULTS!
Previously, BR went to Wildwood the morning before the State Championship. I wanted to change that arrangement…(Change that Behavior) …I wanted to go down the night before, practice in the park, get up, practice after a good night sleep than go out and beat Blessed Sacrament in drums.
Somehow the drummers backed my idea and we met at the park, drummed for a few hours, got up Saturday, practiced again …then BEAT BLESSED SACRAMENT IN DRUMS…
IT WAS THE TURNING POINT FOR ANY AND ALL IDEAS I SUGGESTED IN THE FUTURE!
PART THREE
I Remember vividly looking at the big clock in the far end zone, it read…9:31pm…August 20, 1971. Then I heard the starting gun, the sound of which echoed loudly throughout the entire stadium. I had been so close before to the Drum Trophy at the VFW National Championship in Detroit a few years earlier.
.2…two tenths of a point. (The irony that night was we dropped two sticks and they deducted it off the drum score sheet at that time)
Prior to the finals at VFW in Dallas, I made a decision that we would fine tune some special moments in our very challenging drum book. There could be more credit for the use of dynamics and its expert control in the VFW DRUM SHEET.
Because our drummers trusted me and I them, I added a few new moments that would be challenging dynamically, yet they would stand out even more than they had all season. (We had yet to lose a full drum show all season, at Prelims our Monster solo was omitted due to the time constraints)
The 8 snares would be the largest snare line to compete under the “Tick” system in decades or at any time I could remember (Generally, changing drum parts before a National Championship competition is extremely rare!)
But, I wasn’t going to lose by a couple of tenths again!
I never set out to change the configuration of percussion ensembles in drum corps & bands. I promise you that if we were 7th instead of First…no one would have copied our approach.
I had a vision and thought I knew the techniques to accomplish it. It worked because of the BLUE ROCK players and the confidence they had in me.
That night, we beat our chief competitor, Boston, by our biggest spread in months. Yet, we had never faced SANTA CLARA VANGUARDS until Dallas.
Yes, we won high drums at the VFW National Championship with SCV second. SCV went on to win many Championships in a row and it was an extreme honor to be in their elite category that one night August 20, 1971.
One final tidbit…it was the same date as my father’s birthday. He was the Director of Vasella and Vasella was the sole reason I was able to accomplish the honors, the Championships and be elected to several Halls of Fame in our beloved Drum Corps Activity!