Dan Schack is the Battery Coordinator/Choreographer of Carolina Crown Drum and Bugle Corps and the Creative Director of George Mason University Indoor Drumline. Outside of his musical endeavors, Dan is pursuing a Ph.D. in English at the University of Delaware.

Lebron and Jordan. Messi and Ronaldo. Gordon and Earnhardt. Tyson and Ali. Biggie and Tupac. 

No matter the activity, everyone always seems to be arguing about who is the best ever, the greatest of all time, or the "GOAT." 

It’s astounding that we constantly seek to rank everything and everyone–perhaps this is just our primal competitive nature, or the need to organize, to control, to categorize, to understand. 

But what is perhaps more important is understanding the genealogies, the lineages, and the trends of these things we must organize.

So here, in a search for nuance, I offer not an exact list of the "Top Ten percussion sections ever," but rather ten percussion sections I believe are crucial to one’s understanding of the activity’s developments and current identity. 

Thus, I have listed the below groups not in rank, but in chronological order, to provide readers with ideas as to how we have arrived at where we are now, and where we may go next. 

Enjoy! 

Santa Clara Vanguard (1973-1979)

Led by marching percussion legend Fred Sanford, Santa Clara Vanguard won five drum trophies in six seasons between 1973-1979. Sanford’s writing demanded new levels of artistry, dynamic and rhythmic musicianship than ever seen by the activity before. Not to mention, SCV earned high percussion at over fifty shows in a row in three years.

The Cadets (1986-1990)

The Cadets in the mid-80s to the early 90s was a force to be reckoned with. 

Led by Thom Hannum, The Cadets received a perfect score in the percussion caption in 1987. In 1989, Tom Aungst took over as the arranger and caption head, quickly separating himself from Hannum’s influence through a dense, choppy book that was also highly musical. 

The Cadets' front ensemble also pushed the boundaries of the activity through their aggressive two-mallet playing. Dave Satterfield’s composition demanded each player switch instruments throughout the show; performers jumped around between xylophone, bells, vibes, marimba, rack, and timpani. The Cadets wrapped up the 80s and kicked off the 90s by winning high percussion in 1990.

Star of Indiana (1991-1993)

After his time with The Cadets, Thom Hannum found himself among many friends at Star of Indiana. During his stint at Star, the percussion tied for first with Vanguard in 1991 and took the high percussion trophy in 1993. 

'93 is indisputably one of the most chop-full, aggressive, dynamic, and uniform batteries to ever take the field. Filled with a slew of big-name players and educators, the '93 Star drumline introduced a new peak of drumming athleticism and performance energy. The players’ personalities shined through in their performance qualities. This one is an obvious choice for this list. 

The Cavaliers (1995-2004)

In 1995, The Cavaliers took high percussion under Brian Mason’s tutelage and composition. The Cavaliers demonstrated tremendous technical skills and tricks including the “Casey Claw,” a back-sticking trick invented by Mark Casey (apparently in his dorm room). 

The Cavaliers would go on to win high percussion back to back in 1999 and 2000 under Brett Kuhn, setting new standards for rhythmic difficulty, technicality, and individual identity. In 1998, alongside Kuhn, Erik Johnson became the front ensemble arranger for The Cavaliers, forever changing the landscape of front ensembles in DCI. 

Johnson pulled on his experiences designing with Music City Mystique (WGI) and founding Innovative Percussion, a drumstick and mallet manufacturer. The Cavaliers front ensemble pushed the activity for many years to come, setting the standard for nuance, endurance, technical variety, demand, and color. 

Santa Clara Vanguard (1999-2004)

Santa Clara Vanguard saw another surge in percussion with the addition of Jim Casella as their battery arranger between 1996-2004. Casella’s arrangements were super dynamic, and his drumlines played with a touch and sound that is still exemplary today. 

With the addition of Murray Gusseck as the caption head in 2003, Vanguard once again evolved, turning the parking lot warm-up into its own show with a series of popular exercises, including "Spanks", "Double Beat 04", "Cheesy Poofs", and "Basic Strokes." 

The Vanguard 2004 drumline is still (rightfully so) considered one of the greatest of all time. 

The Cadets (2000-2005)

Between 2000-2005, the Cadets won four high percussion awards under Tom Aungst and Neil Larrivee. These Cadets drumlines are memorable and standard setting for their clarity, uniformity of approach, consistency year to year, and overall cohesiveness within the educational team. 

Aungst’s books were dense and choppy as usual, but also quite musically demanding. The Cadets' 2005 drumline was an absolute force, and pushed the activity into the future. 

The design team, staff, and membership alike were competitively hungry; the 2005 Cadets represents the best of Aungst and Larrivee’s collaborations. 

The Cadets' 2005 program drew heavily upon the indoor drumline scene, best exemplified in the two-minute percussion feature (with brass accompaniment), an incredibly challenging quad solo, and mic’d drum-speaking. 

Let’s also not forget the insane amount of notes the battery played during the ballad. 

Phantom Regiment (2003-2010)

Paul and Sandi Rennick’s time at Phantom Regiment was nothing short of phenomenal. 

Though the corps was coming up through the competitive trenches, the Rennicks pushed the percussion section forward, claiming percussion titles in 2006, 2008, and 2010. Known for their musicality, dynamic contrast, and blend and balance, these Regiment lines were consistent every year. 

Paul and Sandi have set the standard for building a cohesive team that can produce a high-quality product regardless of the corps' history. 

Their most recent success at SCV since 2011 proves that the Rennicks are a permanent staple in DCI percussion. 

Blue Devils (2003-2009)

While there are many, many Blue Devils percussion sections that could make this list, I find that 2003-2009 are especially groundbreaking years. In 2003, we saw the indoor influence start to take hold, notably in RCC Indoor’s trickiness and technicality. This influence continued growing through 2004 ("SummerTrain Blues MIX"), 2006 ("The Godfather"), and 2007 ("Winged Victory"). 

Pulling from the aggressive choreography coming out of top indoor groups like Music City Mystique, the 2007 Blue Devils pushed the boundaries of simultaneous demand and choreographic efforts in DCI, inspiring others to soon follow in their pathway (The Cavaliers 2008 and Carolina Crown 2009 come to mind). 

This trend has only ramped up since.

Bluecoats (2005-2008)

Between 2005-2008, battery arranger Mike McIntosh and front ensemble arranger Tom Rarick convinced the community that marching percussion could be hip. McIntosh’s compositional choices each year were geared towards the show concepts, a move that is now commonplace today, but less so then. 

This is also noticeable in Rarick’s instrumentation choices and the increased exploration of ethnic music and acoustic textures in the front ensemble: log drums in 2005, steel drums in 2006, industrial/metal materials in 2007. Under McIntosh and Rarick, the percussion section became a more integral part of the total design. 

You can hear the Bret Kuhn-era Cavaliers inspiration in Mcintosh’s rhythmic choices and the interplay between voices. With Tim Maynard at the helm of the battery, the Bluecoats drumlines combined a laidback Midwest swagger with an in-your-face, hyper-defined East Coast approach. 

At this point, these Bluecoat years are cult classics; 2007 and 2008 are especially memorable. 

Bluecoats (2010-2016)

In 2009, Tom Rarick took over as the battery and front ensemble arranger at the Bluecoats, and the corps’ trajectory has continued upward under his leadership. 

The Bluecoats percussion has placed within the top three five times with Rarick at the helm (2010, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016).  Bluecoats battery is well-known for its athleticism, difficult rhythmic vocabulary, and huge performance presence. 

A variety of strong educational leaders also passed through 'Coats at this time, including Tim Jackson, Mike Jackson, and now Roger Carter—and their WGI experience is clear through Bluecoats’ drumline identity. The nature of Bluecoats’ overall design has placed incredible visual demands on the battery members, as well as environmental demands and visual focus on the front ensemble. 

Each year, the Bluecoats’ pit setup is remarkably different. Similarly, the instrumentation and composition Rarick chooses are always based on the requirements of the program. These front ensembles are characterized by an expanded textural and musical palette, with Rarick treating the keyboard players as multi-instrumentalists. 

Rarick’s awareness of the big picture goals is evident in this practice. 

Perhaps most notable is Bluecoats implementation of electronics as a major sonic character in the design. Boasting a strong, activity-leading electronics team, Bluecoats have become renowned for their immersive electronics schemes. 

Conclusion

So what appears above are not isolated incidences of greatness, but rather a cumulative trajectory. Even in this very limited list, one can observe inspirations, divergences, and “conversations” across the marching percussion community. Tracing these lineages over time provides a clearer and more thorough picture of the trends and developments in marching percussion as a whole. Rather than viewing each year as its own separate entity, it is useful to see how designers and teachers draw from each other’s work to create new methods and fresh ideas. 

Special thanks to Tom Aungst, Mike McIntosh, Jim Ancona, Tom Rarick, and the percussion community for providing me with insight and perspective.