A pandemonium of noises complementing and contrasting, casting a wave of emotion that washes over everyone who listens. The booming of drums fills the air, the softer sound of marimbas accompanying them. Cymbals clash, a striking, high-pitched clang distinct among the plethora of instruments. Bass guitar adds a foundation to the concert. Sound effects give life to the piece, and the piece morphs into a symphony.
That is indoor percussion.
Percussion, which includes drumline and front ensemble [also referred to as pit], is one of the backbones of Band during marching season. Until this year, the only program the Band offered after football season was Jazz Band.
Excitingly, percussion is, for the first time, going indoor for the winter!
This new endeavor resulted from a change in leadership, going from Mr. Jackson Hisatake, who’d worked at the school for two years, to the new Percussion Director, Mr. David Hochstetter.
Hochstetter is very familiar with indoor percussion. He’s had a lot of experience in the program, and enjoys spreading the joys of it.
“Indoor percussion is a passion of mine. I’ve been teaching it for almost 20 years now. Wherever I go, it’s something I like to start because it’s something not a lot of schools have access to. Since I have that passion for it and we didn’t have one here, I figured it was a perfect fit,” Hochstetter said.
He wants to take things slow with indoor percussion for now, and as time goes on pursue harder competitions.
“In our first year, I want to get a feel for the scene so the kids [get used to it]. Because I’ve been around the circuit before, I know what it’s like. But for the students, it’s the first time for them, so I really want them to be comfortable, and experience what it’s like in the local circuit,” Hochstetter explained. ”This year, all our shows are in the San Antonio area. In the future, I would like to go to more of the TCGC [Texas Color Guard Circuit] and experience some Austin and Dallas shows. Long term, I’d like to eventually go to Dayton for championships,” he continued.
Junior Taylor Thorp, Student Leadership Team (SLT) member for both marching band and indoor percussion, was apprehensive coming into this school year, as he both gained a leadership position and lost one of his leaders, Mr. Hisatake.
“It’s my first year as SLT, and we have a new director. I was worried that something was going to happen, and it’d be awkward, or we’d ruin it [the percussion program], or we would have another year with a different director,” Thorp confessed.
Though Thorp was anxious about his new role, he’s taken the challenge by the reins and works hard to lead his section and keep them in line.
“I don’t tell people what to do, though I can try to guide them to do the right things. I have to lead, I have to be the example. So if I want my section to be here on time and do everything they need to be doing, I need to be here on time. I need to be on task all the time so they have someone to look at and be like, ‘I need to do that, not this,'” Thorp explained.
With Hochstetter’s efforts to be more inclusive when handling all facets of the program, Thorp hopes to bring home an award for indoor percussion.
“Our percussion section is really good. We just haven’t been focused on certain parts [of percussion]. For a while, our percussion section has been very drumline-focused. And now it’s drumline and pit focused, which is helping us out,” Thorp said.
To ensure that indoor percussion continues beyond this year, Hochstetter wants to grow the program by recruiting from middle schools.
“One of the biggest things that I have to do, and have already started doing, is reaching out into the middle school so that we increase our numbers in the future,” he said. “Our size is about 25 percussionists total (and we have some non-percussionists that are part of the group as well). We need to try to bump those numbers up through growing in the middle school, so we can be in the mid-thirties for our total number of percussionists.”
Students who are interested in joining indoor percussion should be aware that the audition process for indoor percussion was more selective than it was for marching season.
“I feel like it was a lot more in depth on what Mr. Hochstetter was looking for,” Thorp divulged. “Since this is his first year and he’s trying to make a lot of changes, he took note of everything during auditions, because he wanted the best students that he could get in order to get the results he’s hoping for this year.”
Indoor percussion’s first performance is Feb. 3 at Wagner High School. Let’s wish them well on their new embarkment and come out to support them!