Off the Grid

This snare drum duet is perfect for any drum corps enthusiast looking to add flair to a concert program. Heavily influenced by marching snare drum style, with back sticking, stick flips, other stick flashes, and double stops, the piece is both musically and visually engaging. Composers Danny Raymond and Tony Aleguas dedicated this duet to Tom Float, the teacher and drum corps instructor credited with popularizing the concept of gridding.

The piece begins with call-and-response sections between the two players, with the occasional unison line cutting in emphatically. The energy builds to the first climactic point with stick flips and twirls — a nod to DCI and marching-band style. This marks the end of the first section, and the piece transitions into extended solo sections.

Each player has 20 bars of solo material while the other plays light background grooves. These solos incorporate visual elements (tossing sticks from one hand to the other, twirling between matched and traditional grip, half and full stick flips, etc.) as well as impressive technical passages (complex flam patterns, triple-bounce sextuples, fast diddle rudiments, etc.). While the performers can certainly stick to the written solos, Raymond and Aleguas also encourage improvisation during these sections.

The duet concludes with a return to opening material — more call-and-response interspersed with unison patterns. The dramatic finale is reached after an extended crescendo and a final nod to drumline writing with flashy thirty-second-note splits between the players.

The marching elements incorporated in this solo shouldn’t be a deterrent to students without a background in that area. Raymond and Aleguas included a useful preface with an explanation of “gridding” in a marching context, examples of gridding within the piece, and a few exercises demonstrating the basic concept. This duet could be a fun and energetic opening/closing piece for a concert, and the gear required is easily transportable, ideal for run-out performances or clinics at schools.

—Hannah Weaver
Percussive Notes
Vol. 61, No. 4, August 2023