Tap, tap, tap, tap.
With his drumsticks, sophomore Mason Hammonds sets the tempo, and the drumline begins the cadence for the band to march into the stands.
“I think [being on drumline] is cool because we get to play the cadences and stuff,” Mason said. “We get to play our own little tunes by ourselves.”
When Mason steps out on the field, playing the drum isn’t the only thing he has to focus on. By setting the tempo, he and other members of the drumline, perform a different but just as important role in the band.

“We don’t really have to worry about playing different pitches unlike the others,” Mason said. “It’s really more just rhythms for us.”
Mason is one of three snare drummers, along with freshman Eadon Pree and freshman Jamie King. The snare drum is the lightest and smallest of the drums in the drumline.

There’s also the tenor drum, played by freshman Aubrey Sexson and senior Timothy Overlock, and the bass drum with its drummers sophomore Cade Simmons, senior Eddie Tank, junior Brendan Sexton, freshman Peyton Glover, and junior Damon Whiseant.

The drum line doesn’t just establish the tempo for the band — they also march differently. It’s a technique called crabbing.
Since the drums always have to be facing the audience, drummers have to march sideways, staying on their toes and march with one foot over the other foot.
“We’re on our toes most of the time,” Aubrey said. “I have almost tripped and fallen many times while marching I lost count.”
Marching around with a drum can be physically draining. Not only is the marching pattern different from the rest of the band, the drums they carry are heavy; tenors getting up to 29 pounds in weight.

“It hurts your back and shoulders a lot,” Aubrey said. “It takes a lot of practice to get used to it.”
On top of the weight, drummers have to actually play their instrument — memorizing rhythms, keeping time, and for tenor, playing multiple drums.
“When one hand is doing one rhythm, and your other hand is answering a different rhythm, you kind of have to separate them in your mind,” Timothy said.
Between stand cadences and roll-offs for the kickoffs in football, the drumline has extra responsiblities at football games.
“The cadences are really fun,” Cade said. “I get to hit my drum really hard.”

While marching with and playing the drum may be difficult, Timothy believes that anyone can easily get on the drumline with a little help.
“People always say they want to do drumline, and I think if you actually want to, then do it,” Timothy said. “If someone ever wanted to jump on, all they have to do is come up to me and ask. [I could] give you lessons for two weeks, and you could easily join drumline by next year. It’s really all about effort.”
It’s Friday night and Aubrey prepares to march into the stadium alongside the rest of her drummers.
As her gut turns in anticipation, she runs through the show in her head. She’s been learning this show since summer, everything leading up to this moment. Her tenor drum weighs on her shoulders.

She looks up at Deanna on the drum major stand and knew it was time.
Her feet cross with every step as she precisely hits each set.
She drops her sticks down to her sides at the end of her preformance, proudly, knowing she just completed one of her best runs of the show.