One project that was really important to me when I became the cymbal section leader for the Marching Illini Drumline was to create a series of videos explaining how to do every visual sequence in our cadence series. The cadence is what we play during parades and is a large portion of the audition process. However, most people auditioning for cymbals have not played cymbals much before college, so there is a large learning curve.
To help prospective members learn our cadence series, and specifically the visual sequences within them, I enlisted the help of two other cymbal players to create this resource. The video above is one of many explainer videos I created, and the full playlist can be found here.
It took a lot of time to write out every single lesson and record them. I couldn’t have done it by myself, and I’d like to acknowledge the help of Ella Nelson for recording, as well as Anthony McClendon for recording and editing all videos. The impact of this resource has been monumental in the first year, with every single incoming member who made the line citing it as their go to resource for learning the series.