With a decent complement of side drummers and our new bass drummer settling in nicely, we’re turning our attention to filling the last spaces in our drums corps – the tenor section.
A good competition tenor drummer tends to play simple patterns that flow around the main bass beat, picking out key melodic lines and augmenting the pipe tune. On top of this they also provide visual flair, with flourishing patterns that help to fill the spaces between the individual tenor parts.
If you’re interested and would like to come to a practice evening then drop us a line via email or you can message us on Facebook.
There’s a lot of crossover with other types of bands, so it doesn’t matter if you don’t have a pipe band background – if you have experience in any kind of marching band, perhaps a samba band, or even a majorette troupe, there are elements that will apply to us.
The key to a great mid-section sound is variety, with multiple tuned drums creating an interweaving melodic line. This basically means that you can never have too many tenor drummers!
For an idea of how some of the very best bands do it, click here. (Unfortunately the tenor sound is quite low and hasn’t been picked up by the mic)
Essex Caledonian Pipe Band 