Snare Drum
Stock snare parts often read like a simplified drum set groove: rim eighth notes, backbeats, and very little real rudimental development. A student can spend an entire season on those parts without learning much about marching snare.
Custom Marching Percussion Arrangements
Battery parts written for your actual students, instrumentation, and season — not a generic ensemble that does not exist.
- Battery writing
- Drumline rewrites
- High school marching band
- Metro Detroit
- Available nationwide
Stock percussion parts rarely fit the students in front of you.
Most stock marching band arrangements include percussion parts that were never written for your program. They were written for nobody in particular: a hypothetical ensemble with average players, average instrumentation, and average needs. If your drumline sounds like it is fighting the arrangement rather than playing it, the parts are probably the problem.
What is wrong with stock battery parts
The same issues show up across stock battery parts. Directors often do not connect the dots because the parts came with the music they already bought.
Bass Drums
Many stock charts treat the bass line as one unison part, regardless of how many players are actually on the field. Four-drum writing does not automatically serve a five-drum tonal bass section.
Tenor Drums
Tenor parts need instrument-specific voice leading. Drum layout, movement, and physical flow matter. A part can look easy on paper and still feel awkward enough to waste rehearsal time.
Ensemble Integration
Stock percussion can sit beside the band instead of inside the music. Cold starts, inactive support, and mismatched texture make the drumline feel disconnected from the winds and brass.
Instrumentation Mismatch
If your section has three snares instead of four, one tenor instead of two, or five basses instead of four, the score does not fit the students in front of you. Rehearsal alone cannot fix that.
What custom parts actually do
Custom battery writing starts with your program, not with a template. The arrangement is built around who your students are, what they can execute, what instruments are on the field, and what the season needs to accomplish.
The Parts Serve the Full Ensemble
Battery parts are written around what the winds and brass are doing. Bass parts support harmonic and rhythmic foundation, while snare and tenor writing reinforces phrasing, energy, and texture.
Written for the Students You Have
Difficulty, vocabulary, density, and physical demand are scoped to the section you actually have. The goal is not easy writing. The goal is the right level for this program, this season.
Rudiments Taught Through the Show
Instead of separating rudimental growth from performance music, the parts build useful vocabulary through the show itself: accents, triplets, rolls, splits, diddles, timing, and control.
Tenor Parts That Actually Feel Right
Tenor writing is shaped by drum layout and movement, not just pitches on a page. The parts are designed to feel natural enough for students to clean.
Faster Rehearsals
When the parts fit the players and instrumentation, directors and staff can spend more time cleaning timing, sound, confidence, and musical intent.
Parts that connect to the music
Students often connect more strongly to parts that sound like they belong in the show. If the show is funk-based, the battery writing should reflect that. If it is a ballad, the percussion should shape around ensemble phrasing and dynamics.
Source-material approach
- Musical fit
- Rhythmic grooves and textural choices reflect what the music actually is.
- Ensemble support
- The drumline reinforces phrasing, energy, texture, and transitions instead of running beside the band.
- Rights boundary
- Source material, published arrangements, and notation excerpts must be handled with permission and care.
- Front ensemble
- Front ensemble writing is available by arrangement, but this page focuses on battery.
Is this right for your program?
This is not only for highly competitive programs. Smaller and mid-size programs often benefit the most because the writing can be shaped exactly around the students and instruments on the field.
- Use stock percussion parts from a published marching band arrangement
- Have limited or no dedicated percussion instructional staff
- Have capable students who are under-challenged or poorly served by the current parts
- Want a better percussion sound without overhauling the full season
- Have instrumentation that does not match the stock score
Garden City High School program rebuild
The portfolio was developed through a rebuild of the Garden City High School drumline. The program began with one snare drum and one bass drum, then grew into a full battery with three snares, one tenor, and four tonal bass drums.
Writing around real students
The parts were customized to those students and their ability levels. The vocabulary was deliberately scoped to what could be taught and executed cleanly: 16th-note rhythms, triplets, accent patterns, and select rim and cross-stick techniques.
Proof without overstatement
A formal director testimonial can be added later after it is collected and approved. For now, the score-video portfolio is the primary proof of concept.
Portfolio: score videos with MIDI audio
Each video shows the complete battery score scrolling in real time, synchronized to a high-quality MIDI audio export using professional drumline sound libraries.
Lady Gaga Show
Year 1 custom writing portfolio.
Pitbull Show
Year 2 custom writing portfolio.
Demonstration Video
Bird's-eye tenor performance with scrolling score.
Published arrangement context
The portfolio parts are written as replacement battery parts for specific published marching band arrangements. The Pitbull show parts were written to work with Fireball arranged by Vic Lopez, Alfred Music item 00-43897; Timber arranged by Mike Story, Alfred Music item 00-42105; and Time of Our Lives arranged by Ishbah Cox, Hal Leonard HL03745941.
What you receive
Every project is scoped to the director's needs, student level, instrumentation, and timeline.
- Complete drumline score with all battery parts, formatted for rehearsal
- High-quality MIDI audio export rendered with professional drumline sound libraries
- Score video with scrolling notation synchronized to audio
- Demonstration videos of snare drum and tenor parts where useful
Optional add-ons
- Exercise progressions that build toward the written parts
- Simplified alternate versions for developing players
- Rehearsal notes for directors and staff
- On-site instruction at band camp or clinics, subject to scheduling availability
How it works
No quote is given until the consultation happens, because project scope depends on the real details of the program.
Step 1
Consultation
A brief call or email exchange covers instrumentation, student experience, show music, goals for the season, rehearsal constraints, and difficulty level.
Step 2
Quote
A quote is provided after the scope is clear. Pricing depends on movement count, complexity, instrumentation, timeline, revision needs, and add-on materials.
Step 3
Custom Writing
Battery parts are written from scratch around the program. One round of revisions is included so director or staff feedback can be addressed before final delivery.
Step 4
Delivery
Final materials are delivered as PDFs, audio files, and video files so the section can begin learning the parts independently.
Rights-safe by default
Custom percussion writing must respect source material, published arrangements, and usage permissions. Public notation excerpts should not be posted unless they are original, licensed, public domain, or otherwise cleared.
Inquiry details
- Show music
- Share the arrangement titles, publisher, arranger, and any item numbers if available.
- Instrumentation
- List snares, tenors, basses, cymbals, front ensemble, and alternates.
- Student level
- Describe current skill level, strengths, weak points, and realistic growth targets.
- Timeline
- Include band camp, rehearsal milestones, first performance, and revision deadlines.
Not ready to inquire yet? Watch the portfolio videos to hear how custom battery parts work in context.