Indoor Percussion Q&A
By Gianna Vetrano and Jose Vargas Hernandez
Did you know that Nottingham has an Indoor Percussion Unit? Fact. Much like the fall Marching Unit, the Indoor team performs in competitions against other schools in the United States Bands Scholastic Championships. Competitions are held on Saturdays at New Jersey high schools in the spring. The Northstar Indoor Percussion Unit has been competing since 2018. 1)What got you interested in indoor percussion? Garrett Gonzalez - I came to the high school for 8th grade orientation and drumline came into the cafeteria playing for all of us there. I had never seen or knew about the idea of playing drums while moving and so I was sparked by that first encounter. Evan Vistoso - I was invited to join during my sophomore year so my first experience was with keyboard. Going further back, I got into drumming when I was a freshman and I’ve always wanted to march on the drumline so this is my opportunity to do that. Jose Vargas - I have been learning little by little about playing drums for a long time. During my freshman year they invited me to try to be part of the team but I turned it down, and before starting my Junior year I wanted to give it a try and I loved it. Nick Mohring - What got me interested to join indoor was that after my first season of marching band had finished up, I heard that our drumline instructor at the time was starting up an indoor percussion ensemble for the school that was going to start during the winter so I took up the opportunity and signed up. And since then it’s been a blast being part of the group these last 4 years playing with my friends. |
2) What are your biggest challenges?
Garrett Gonzalez - my biggest challenge in indoor is being a mentor. Up until this year I followed my peers a grade above me in drumline but as a senior I had to take that leadership role more than before.
Evan Vistoso - Biggest challenge is getting everyone to think with a similar mindset and exude the same level of enthusiasm and focus as one another.
Jose Vargas - I feel like my biggest challenge is to be able to explain and help the others at least what I know about drums, also trying to get everyone to stay focused and push themselves to do their part.
Nick Mohring - The biggest challenge I face is being able to be a good leader/role model even though I still feel like I’m the person I was back in the past because I’ve been looking up to people who were older than me and had more experience, but now since they’re gone and I'm a senior in their shoes, I had to step up a bit and become more of a leader.
3) How do you feel going into competitions?
Garrett Gonzalez - When going into competitions I feel joyful. Of course the nerves are there but because we are there as a group who have worked on our performance for months practicing it all comes down to this performance where we show the crowd how good we can be.
Evan Vistoso - My emotions depend on how well rehearsals have gone leading up to the comp. Usually we’re all nervous beforehand but once we start we just let the adrenaline take over and let the enjoyment drive us.
Jose Vargas - Going to the competitions is a very fun experience, at least when our performance turn is over, because I am usually very nervous and stressed about the possibility of doing something wrong, after that happens it is a very nice moment that is enjoyed with the group.
Nick Mohring - For most of all of the competitions, I feel excited and grateful that we have the chance to go up against other talented bands to show what we're made of and to show all of the hard work that we put in leading up to our performance. I do feel nervous though before every one of our performances but I know in the end we’ll do the best we can and that’s all that matters.
4) What is the biggest difference between indoor percussion and marching band?
Garrett Gonzalez - the biggest difference between indoor and marching band is the instruments. Indoor consists mainly of the percussion instruments while marching band consists of percussion, woodwind, and brass instruments.
Evan Vistoso - Biggest difference visually is the lack of horns and woodwinds. But internally the biggest change is the area of focus. Because there is no melody played by a wind instrument it’s up to drums and mallets to set tones, emotions, and ideas during the show. The whole body gets involved and it becomes a mental exercise for viewers.
Jose Vargas - The most notorious differences are the work space since in Indoor band the basketball courts are usually used, which are smaller than those that are usually used for the marching band, which are the football ones. Another noticeable difference is that in Indoor band it is based more on the rhythmic part since most of the instruments are percussion.
Nick Mohring - Some of the differences between the environment of marching band compared to indoor percussion are that the space that we perform on is shrunken down a bit (football field replaced with basketball court) so that makes the marching aspect of indoor percussion a little different. Another difference is that the ensemble is mainly based on the percussion section (drumline and pit) so it's up to us to tell the theme of our show
5) Do you plan on continuing to perform in the future?
Garrett Gonzalez - I do plan on continuing performing in college. I also want to do split-screen videos similar to that of popular YouTubers doing covers and original compositions by me with the instruments in an indoor percussion ensemble.
Evan Vistoso - As much as I would like to, I don’t believe I’ll have any time in my schedule to continue to perform with an indoor percussion group outside of Nottingham.
Jose Vargas - I would like to continue learning and doing these shows, but I doubt very much that I will be able to do it when I enter college since I will focus more on other things and leave music as a hobby aside.
Nick Mohring - Yeah I do plan on continuing performing into the future after I graduate high school because music and drumming is my passion and that’s something I want to pursue once I get into college. I eventually want to try and transfer into a top music school (Berklee, Manhattan, Julliard, etc…) if I can and major in Performance (all styles) and maybe minor in Sound Tech/Engineering
How long have you been the advisor for indoor percussion?
Ms. Miller - This is my first year working with the indoor percussion program at Nottingham!
What got you interested in indoor?
Ms. Miller - I have played drums/percussion since I was a little girl, and I was on the drumline all throughout high school. When I found out that there was an opportunity to work with all of the percussion students here at Nottingham, I jumped on it!
What has been the most difficult thing about advising?
Ms. Miller - The most difficult thing about being the indoor advisor has got to be balancing all of the kids schedules with the amount of building time available. Nottingham is a very busy school with tons of sports and activities happening, so it can be hard to get everyone together. This show has a lot of tough sections and moving parts so there's a lot of work going into it on all ends.
What do you hope to accomplish this season?
Ms. Miller - Aiming for a successful season! There are quite a few new members (or members on new instruments!) and I'm looking forward to watching them continue to grow and work together. This year's show (“Puppet Master”) has a lot of difficult spots musically and physically, as well as some theatrical segments that some members have never tried before. The ensemble gets to compete at Championships at Fairleigh Dickinson University in April and I would love to see them come home with some recognition for all of their hard work!