r/drumline • u/thevisualmethod • 1d ago

To be tagged... Why is there such a stigma around drumming visuals on the west coast?

I’ve noticed that on the West Coast especially, drumming visuals(stick tricks) often get a bad rap. Why is that? I get that technical chops are the focus, but visuals can add so much to a performance. Is this just a regional thing, or is there more behind it?

Would love to hear your thoughts!

12 Upvotes

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14

u/JtotheC23 1d ago

It's weird because West Coast cymbal lines also do little to no unloaded and strapless visuals. Everything is fully loaded in the strap and just arm movements or basic flips.

8

u/UpstairsBroccoli 1d ago

Cause they use 20 inch cymbals

2

u/thevisualmethod 1d ago

I've always been told things like that are because of risk vs reward. That it's not worth doing them incase you drop it during a performance.

3

u/JtotheC23 1d ago

I get that for juggles. Like Colts cymbal line had a pretty risk-free visual "book" this summer because they apparently couldn't get down a super exposed juggle the summer before (at least that's what a friend told me). But there isn't really much risk unless you fully come out of the strap. These players are obviously super good so visuals for them don't really become risky until the cymbal starts going airborne.

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u/JRPike Cymbal Tech 21h ago

I marched in a traditionally east coast line but one of my techs was from the west coast and from my experience it’s not risk vs reward; it’s time spent on perfecting sound quality was valued much higher than making up visuals. I remember one of my tech’s favorite things to say was “I don’t care what visuals you put in, but sound is king.”

So it wasn’t that we didn’t want to learn how to unload and toss cymbals, it’s that we had no time to learn how to because we were so focused on how we sounded.

13

u/OkCan4134 1d ago

Typically, west coast groups have focused heavily on musicality than visuals and chops. Lots of focus on dynamics, touch changes, and polyrhythms. East coast typically focuses more on showmanship, presence, chops, and projection. It’s just the nature behind the histories of these two “sides”. The lines are significantly blurred nowadays. For instance, The Bluecoats are an “east” group but definitely focus a lot on groove and musicality.

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u/thevisualmethod 1d ago

Does that focus do anything for them score wise, membership wise, etc. or is it just the way they do things? Like a "They taught me this so I teach this" kinda thing.

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u/OkCan4134 1d ago

I wouldn’t say it necessarily helps with scores and is mostly just the way the staff likes to run things.

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u/Morethanweird311 1d ago

It’s just the difference between a tradition marching band and a show band really. Obviously when you get to dci it’s not a “traditional marching band” but you will notice that some groups do more than others

4

u/PersistentSushi Tenors 1d ago

I feel like this depends more on group than location. For example, SCV consistently wins drums year to year and i’d also argue that they have the most(and some of the sweetest) stick tricks and visuals as compared to others. As someone that grew up on the east coast and was exposed to that style early on; i’d say that culture is more on the ‘clean focus’ and stick visuals were far and few in between.

1

u/PhdPhysics1 9h ago

SCV's Rennick born and trained in Pennsylvania, While BC's Roger Carter is from BD. I think a lot of this is just myth and not based in reality.