Indoor Percussion is marching into the dark side of Pandora’s box with their 2022 winter show, “Pandora’s Lament.” The show follows the goddess Pandora as she releases curses upon mankind and captures her emotional response in containing them. Indoor percussion is a type of marching that utilizes the battery and front ensemble instruments.

The instructor of the show, Jay Chipman, expresses his fondness for the show and the artistic skill put into it.

“This isn’t just a drum line jamming out on the basketball court. There is a ton of emotion that has to be protected to the audience that is very similar to theater,” Chipman said.

Bryant’s indoor production has been competing since 2019. Chipman was influenced into entering by his students’ passion for the sport.

“Students hounded me about entering the MCCGA circuit in Missouri. Once we attended our first competition and saw the sport with our own eyes, the students were hooked. They’ve pushed me harder every year to push them,” Chipman said.

Indoor percussion allows students who march in percussion to flaunt off what they’ve learned. “With indoor they get the opportunity to encourage others to feel what they feel, and it’s truly amazing,” Chipman said.

Some of the marchers in the show have been competing for indoor percussion at Bryant for up to 4 years and Chipman has developed a sense of pride with how the show was able to come together and getting to see major growth throughout the season.

“I’ve always told them to ‘give ‘em what they paid for!’, while that’s just an expression to perform at their highest level, they understand the importance of giving everything they have to each and every performance,” Chipman said.

Junior Stephanie Ramirez plays snare drum in the show and feels indoor percussion is more competitive than marching band because if they mess up, everyone will see.

“There is no wind player to play over your extra note, no brass player to cover your late choreo move, it is as if there’s a bare spotlight on yourself and battery,” Ramirez said.

Indoor percussion gets its own season beyond normal marching band, it’s a more intimate show which showcases individual marching and follows a stylistic journey throughout the performance.

“I think indoor percussion intrigues people because many believe that playing the drums is easy when in reality it is an incredibly tedious learning process,” Ramirez said.

The program also allows for freshmen, sophomore and junior percussion marchers who also compete in Legacy to gain more experience going into summer band and performing in the traditional high school marching band.

“This is an opportunity to gain more experience for the next year as a senior and, most likely, as a section leader,” Ramirez said.

Competing in the winter without all of the other instruments makes the section closer as a group, letting them focus on communication and being consistent with each other.

“This is such an amazing group of people with insane skill and potential, it makes me so excited for next year,” Ramirez said.