Indoor Drumline

Welcome to Spirit of Freedom Indoor Drumline!

Indoor drumline utilizes snare drums, bass drums, cymbals, marimbas, vibraphones, xylophones, bells, synthesizers, drumset, electric guitars, and auxiliary percussion traditionally associated with marching band and drum corps and puts them in an indoor setting.

This is like marching band but without the band, putting the percussionists front and center. Indoor drumlines perform as their own competitive unit indoors during the winter season so it will take up a great deal of time, commitment, and strength but what you gain in return is great friends, dedication, and an incredible experience.

Registering and How to Stay Connected

• Step 1: STUDENT and PARENT contact information MUST be submitted to Mr. Reeves via the Indoor Drumline Contact Info Google Form
• Step 2: Sign up for Remind text notifications
  • Both students and parent(s) MUST register for Indoor Drumline reminder text notifications 
  • Easiest way to do this is by sending a new text to 81010 and typing @fhs-dl24 as the text message.
    • After you send this text, you will receive 2 text messages back from Jacob Reeves confirming you’re registered
      • “This is the thread for Remind messages from JACOB REEVES. You can save this number to your contacts. Text STOP to unsubscribe. By replying you agree to rmd.me/terms“
      • “You’ve joined Freedom Indoor Percussion! Reply to send a message to JACOB REEVES….” 
  • The Remind app is especially important for students and adult volunteers on the day of a competition as it is used by staff to communicate last minute changes! 
• Step 3: Parents/Adult volunteers are asked to register in advance for whatever competition dates they can help to support via the Indoor Drumline Adult Volunteer Sign Up on SignUpGenius
• Step 4: Practice and Competition Calendar can be exported from the LCPS/FHS calendar and imported into your personal digital calendar (Google, Outlook, etc.)
  • Detailed competition itinerary with ESTIMATED rehearsal, loading/unloading, performance times is not typically available until 1-2 weeks prior to the competition day. Mr. Reeves will communicate this out via Remind as it becomes available.
• Step 5: BAND App: Students and parent(s)/caregiver(s) can also optionally choose to use the BAND app which offers an easy way to see the calendar of Indoor Drumline events as well as provides the ability to receive and send messages in the group chats
  • Download and install the BAND app 
  • Create an account, in your “profile” it will ask “My Bio in this Band”. If you are a parent, you can enter something like “My son/daughter, X, plays the Y”
  • After signing up for an account on the Band app, join the “Spirit of Freedom” group to get updates and stay connected via the group chats (NOTE there are separate Chats for the overall band program (i.e. “Spirit of Freedom”) and a smaller group for “2024 Indoor Drumline”). 
• Step 6: Follow us on Social Media via “thefreedomdrumline” Instagram account which is maintained by students and monitored by staff.

If you have any questions or concerns, please email Jacob Reeves at jacob.reeves@lcps.org. Here are a few more helpful references from Mr. Reeves:

• FHS Indoor Drumline One-Page Reference Sheet
• FHS Indoor Drumline Parent Meeting Google Slides

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. What do I need to purchase for my student in advance of the competition?

Each student participating in the Drumline competition needs:

• Ear protection – if you don’t have ear protection Mr. Reeves will not let you perform in the competition (ideally bring a “backup” set of ear protection). NOTE: Parent volunteers who are noise sensitive should also consider bringing/wearing ear protection at competitions.
• A moisture-wicking shirt (preferably skin tone; can be short-sleeve or long-sleeve) and moisture-wicking/compression shorts to wear beneath their uniform/costume.

2. Who decides what schools / competitions the Drumline competes at? Some of the schools are so far away…

The LCPS staff review available competitions and decide on the competition schedule. If a drumline team does not “come out” (participate in their first competition) by a certain date then they are PROHIBITED from participating in Championships. So the staff must balance factors such as travel distance with other factors such as the cutoff date to maximize the time the new team has to learn and practice before their first competition.

3. Can we get the detailed travel itinerary/schedule for each competition?

FHS Spirit of Freedom Indoor Drumline staff normally do not get an estimated performance schedule from Atlantic Indoor Association (AIA) until about to (2) weeks prior to the scheduled performance/competition. Mr. Reeves will communicate the rehearsal and performance day schedule as soon as the information is available. 

For example, if the kids are scheduled to perform at 8:00 pm ET at a nearby venue, a sample schedule might be:

12:00 pm – 1:00 pm: Different sections of students scheduled to report to Freedom High School (FHS) in 15-minute increments
01:00 – 3:00 pm: Rehearsal in FHS Gym
03:00 pm: Parents/Volunteers for this week’s competition report to FHS to practice moving equipment
03:45 pm: Load U-Haul rental trucks with equipment/props 
04:00 pm: LCPS Buses arrive
05:00 pm (LATEST): Leave for competition
06:15 – 7:00 pm: Arrive at competition venue (concessions, restrooms, uniforms, watch other groups)
07:00 pm: Unload and move to warm up
07:33 pm: Official warm-up inside
07:51 pm: Move equipment
08:00 pm: On deck
08:09 pm: PERFORMANCE
08:20 pm: Load U-Haul rental trucks (captains stay in uniforms for awards)
09:25 pm: Awards
09:50 pm: Board LCPS buses and head back to FHS
11:00 pm: Arrive at Freedom, Unload U-Haul rental trucks
11:30 pm: Dismissal

4. What happens if snow/inclement weather is predicted for a competition day?

BOTH the school system hosting the competition AND Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) have to be open/operating in order for the Drumline to compete. This is because the Drumline students travel to the competition using LCPS buses/bus drivers so if LCPS schools are closed then our team cannot compete.<h3>I have questions about the total cost for my student to participate in Drumline. Who do I contact?</h3>

Please contact Mr. Schiffler via email at jonathan.schiffler@lcps.org as he handles all the finances for the program.

Please Volunteer to Help Support Indoor Drumline Competitions

Parents/caregivers are an integral part of the success and growth of our Indoor Drumline. Parents are strongly encouraged to sign up to support Indoor Drumline via SignUpGenius. Adult volunteers are needed to help:

• Building/Assembly Crew to build carts and props for performances
• Service as Driver/Navigator to transport performance floor, props, equipment to competition on U-Haul rental trucks
• Serving as Chaperones to the students on the buses 
• Serving on Load Crew to assist with securing equipment onto the rental trucks and trailers prior to each competition
• Video – we record every performance

Loading/Unloading Trucks

The Drumline rents 3 U-Haul trucks for each competition. Each truck needs 2 ADULT/PARENT volunteers to serve as Driver and Co-Pilot. They will be provided with a binder with all the information they need.

• Effective March 2023, on the day of a competition the STUDENTs will be the ones responsible for loading instruments and equipment on the rental U-Haul trucks.
  • This is a change from the past but is necessary as the kids are familiar with their instruments/equipment and need to see that their equipment gets loaded on the truck (to avoid anything being left behind).
  • Mr. Reeves and other staff will train the students/kids on how to move their own equipment on/off the truck
• 1 PARENT/ADULT volunteer per truck (Co-pilot) will be responsible for keeping track of each item that gets loaded on the truck
  • Mr. Reeves has a checklist and loading diagram for each truck
• Additional PARENT/ADULT volunteers will be needed per truck to take responsibility for strapping in equipment/instruments within the U-Haul so that they don’t get damaged when traveling to/from the competition
  • The Black Box, which controls all audio output and electronic equipment is VERY expensive to replace (~$100k-150k) so EXTRA care needs to be taken and this will need a minimum of 4 (but recommend we have 8 people) to load/unload it from the truck
  • Other equipment/instruments that are large/awkward and require multiple people (not just 1 STUDENT) to move are:
    • 2 Synth carts
    • Drum set & racks
    • Marimbas
    • Vibraphones
    • Xylophone
    • Speakers (top heavy but do fit on U-Haul truck’s ramp)

Timing is critical

The team is allocated a total of 9 minutes (540 seconds) for their entire performance. The timer starts and stops as soon as the first/last person passes the mark in the performance space (e.g. gym floor half court line).

Typically this means the kids and adult FHS volunteers have:

• 90 seconds to Set-up: Get the performance floor, props, equipment/electronics plugged in, and instruments in place.
• 6 minutes 30 seconds (390 seconds) to PERFORM
• 60 seconds to Break-down: Get the performance floor, props, equipment/electronics, and instruments cleared off and past the timing mark.

The team’s score is negatively impacted/points deducted for EACH SECOND they exceed the 9 minute limit.

• At the team’s first performance on Saturday (2/10/24) at Grassfield, they could have moved from first to last place if 20 seconds had been deducted from their overall score.