Make some noise, on the beat,
when the notes leap off the page
and command, now! — you do —

You whack that bass drum with the soft mallet,
feel the heartbeat reverberate through
your hand. You make the huge, overgrown
cymbal of a tam whoooooonnng with
percussive emphasis, an exclamation point
that envelops the room, while next to you
the snare’s rat-a-tat establishes a rhythm
that cannot be ignored, a satisfying
counterpoint to the high clear bells
and the plinky xylophone.

You hear the brrrrrrrp! of a thumbed tambourine,
the whap! of a slapstick, the ching-ching-ching
of sleighbells. You take your turn at the resonant
marimba, the crystalline vibraphone.
And you confront the long, slender silver
chimes, taking up a felted hammer in each
hand to whack the rimmed edges on cue.

But it’s the fat, round notes of the tympani
that embed themselves in the soles
of the feet, this heartbeat, this backbone
of the band, breathing in time with those
blowing horns, making music with mallets
or sticks in hand — if not perfect —
well played, my percussion friends,
so well played.

•••

Above: From the percussion section, Dr. Molly Redfield,
director of the FLC Symphonic Wind Ensemble /
Photo: Jan Haag

•••

You can watch part of the Folsom Lake College Symphonic
Wind Ensemble percussion section in action here playing
a peak moment of “Into the Storm,” which will be played at the
Dec. 8 concert at the Harris Center at Folsom Lake College.