If you're like me, you probably remember those drum corps videos from 2017 and 2018, when a certain media network started sharing a ton of them on YouTube.
One of the most captivating to watch were the blue devils. I actually used excerpts from some of their lot drum line performances to illustrate what I meant by "playing clean": if you treat your drum kit like 4 players playing together, your "personal drum troupe" should sound, well, Together, rather than all over the place. And it was the devils' footage I used.
The center snare player for that group, during several of its best years, was Brandon Olander, who, I'm excited to say, is today's podcast guest.
Brandon and I had been meaning to have a conversation for a while, and decided "why not record it". I was excited to pick the arch corpsman's brain on a number of things.
Topics we touch on in this interview include:
-The differences between marching snare and drum kit technique
-Brandon's philosophy and approach to teaching
-What it's like to be an apex marching percussionist learning drum kit
If you've ever wondered why the hands of corps folks and drum kit players look so different, or whether the crazy rhythmic vocabulary of drum corps gives you a "leg up" learning to improvise, I know you'll dig this interview.