Big 8 Drumline

The Big 8 Drumline is the percussion section of the Florida State University Marching Chiefs. In addition to performing at Doak Campbell Stadium before, during, and after every home football game, the Big 8 also performs at various pep rallies and other related events around Tallahassee. These include The Downtown Getdown in downtown Tallahassee, and (on some occasions) performances at several clubs.

Nomenclature

Established in 1958, the name "Big 8" originates from the demographics of its original membership. There were eight males in the battery section, and four females in the auxiliary section. Due to the widespread sexism of the 1950s, the women of the auxiliary section often were under erasure, and due to said erasure, the name "Big 8" was born. Currently, there are almost 30 members in Big 8, both male and female, but the name remains as a tribute to all those who have marched in the past.

Instrumentation

The instrumental makeup of Big 8 has changed over the last half-century. Just as previously mentioned, it began with the battery (consisting of snare drums and bass drums) and the auxiliary section (consisting of cymbals, tenor drums, and other effects). Throughout the later half of the twentieth century, a number of things happened. The auxiliary section was eliminated, but a number of those INSTRUMENTS came to be marched, such as cymbals. Tenor drums were also marched for a short time before quad toms became the standard, and due to the addition of newer members, the inception of a new voice and section was instituted in the 1970s - the Latin Section. The Latin Section, who marched bongos and timbales with a mounted cowbell, brought a fresh new influence to Big 8, giving it a latin vibe that is still present today. Unfortunately, in the mid-1990s, the Latin Section was eliminated, and the cowbells were subsequently mounted to the tenors. However, after the Latin Section was eliminated, the Big 8 tenor line kept the latin influence by adapting the timbale parts to the tenors. This allowed for the tenors to play a multiple-split part (which is very uncommon, especially among college drumlines), meaning that there were three different parts being played at once, each complimenting the other. Currently, the Big 8 has a standard drum and bugle corps instrumentation.

Current Instrumentation

(as of the 2009 season)

9 Snares
5 Tenors
5 Bass Drums
10 Cymbals

Repertoire

Several of the Big 8's cadences and street beats are traditional, and have stayed the same for over 50 years. For instance, their march-over cadence sequence (known simply to Big 8 as "Sequence") has been passed down over the years. Since its origination in the 1960s, some parts have been added, some changed, and some dropped completely, but a large portion of the original "Sequence" has stood the test of time. In recent years, the Big 8 Sequence has typically exceeded eight minutes in length. Certain parts of "Sequence" contain advanced rudiments and are extremely difficult to play, even at a drum and bugle corps difficulty level. Even today, current members of Big 8 continue to compose new cadences, but simultaneously manage to keep the traditional pieces in tact.

See Also

Marching Chiefs
Drumline