Although marching band is long gone, its backbone still remains within Albert High School. No doubt about it, drum line is one of students’ last musical extracurricular activities.
      Every year students try out with the hope of being admitted into something that not only takes a lot of practice, but also a considerable amount of natural skill. Winter drum line tryouts were held recently and had some wondering just what it is and what it takes to get in.
      “I haven’t seen the full results yet but I’m excited,”  said junior Ashley Schoonover. “We have so many new people; we have to buy more drums.”
      It’s not every year the drum line is bombarded with so many new recruits. The need to buy new drums is a big deal to these students, especially since a good majority of the drum line is made up of seniors. Many of them worried about what would become of the drum line if other students showed little or no interest.

      Like many other things in ALHS, two examples being the marching band and the previous Robotics team, the drum line could have been terminated. Fortunately, it seems many people got their friends to succumb to peer pressure, resulting in a much appreciated and a much welcomed increase of participants.

      “I was talked into it,” said junior Kim Schiltz. “Memorizing the parts will be difficult but at least I didn’t have to try out, not for the cymbals at least.”
      The winter drum line usually performs at Tiger’s Roar and with the pep band. They practice for about an hour once to twice a week, varying for the complexity of the show. The winter drum line is also used to prepare new members as much as possible for the summer.
      Weeks before the actual tryouts, participants pick up their sheet music for whichever instrument they are hoping to play. Their performance is recorded and then looked over by Tim Stoneking and Ray Stephenson.  Unlike the summer drum line, Mr. Gepson has little say and involvement in the winter. The roster is eventually posted in the Music Suite for everyone else to see.
      “Remember last year’s performance?” queried Mr. Gepson, referencing to the black lighted show of Ice Ice Baby. “Yeah, I had nothing to do with that.”
      The winter and summer drum lines have their differences. One of the most obvious is the performances. The summer consists of parades and trips to places like Valley Fair. One main performance, Tiger’s Roar, takes up most of the winter drum line. Another difference that might have the members tripped up is marching – days of practice are devoted to marching in the summer. Another difference is the lack of Color Guard in the winter.
       “I feel that Color Guard is lesser known because we are left out of winter drum line,” said sophomore, Sami Koppedryer. “If people were more aware of us, we may be taken as an equal part of the drum line and have more people join Color Guard.”
      Even with this setback, Koppedryer admitted she’d never trade in her flag for an instrument.
      “I have just gotten used to my tosses, besides I love it too much.” concluded Koppedryer.
      For the most part, everyone is exuberant about the increase of involvement and interest in drum line. New members couldn’t be more appreciated – heck, who’s gonna argue with new instruments? – and the seniors want nothing more than to keep their beloved extracurricular activity alive.