Falcon Marching Band Drumline

The Falcon Marching Band rehearses Monday-Friday from 4-5:45. The drumline will have a weekly sectional during that time, with occasional rehearsals outside of normal band rehearsal. We perform at all home football games (typically 6), and some other athletic events in the fall, including sports like soccer and volleyball. The band will typically travel to one away game a season, as well as to a bowl game if the football team is eligible. The marching band also has several additional performances every semester which can range from performing at band shows or competitions, professional sporting events, parades, and more. 

Hi all,

Thanks for your interest in the Falcon Marching Band Drumline. I’m so glad you took the time to check this out, and I’m excited to hear you audition. The FMB is going to the Rose Parade this year, and we’re excited for you to be part of it!

The drumline is one of only 3 sections in the FMB that has an audition process, and ours has changed a lot over the last few years. The drumline has been increasing in size and will be bigger this year! Our expected instrumentation this year is 10 snares, 6 tenors, 8 basses, and 15 cymbals, plus possible alternates, with 50-60 people auditioning. Every year we look back at what we did and try to figure out how we can do it better and then implement new ideas. Because of the number of interested students, we’re continuing our multi-stage audition for this year. What that means for you is that you have less to put together for the first stage. I’m hoping this will be a win for everyone as the pressure on you is a little lower, and the audition panel has a bit more time to work through all the submissions we get.

I know some of you may see those numbers and be worried about whether you should even audition for the band. Please do! You don’t know how your playing will stack up against anyone else, and neither do I! One thing that is very important to me in this process is that no one has a guaranteed slot. All of the vets in the drumline undergo the exact same process as everyone else. If you’re new here, you aren’t competing for whatever is left open, but for every spot in the drumline. If you have any concerns about auditioning for the drumline, please contact me! I’m very happy to talk with you about your concerns, and I want everyone possible to be a part of this band.

Now onto the details! Stage one of the process is to submit a video with the required exercises. The deadline for this video is April 18^th at 5pm. Once your videos are submitted, we will have a panel review them and select people for the next round, which is the live (or in-person) audition. This portion of the audition will take place May 9-10.

The music for the video round is our warmup book for 2026. This is the only piece of music for your video audition, and will be available by February 20th. Those of you invited to the in-person audition will receive additional music to prepare for that stage of the audition.

Please sign-up for auditions here. I will use this list to send music to you, and to give you additional details about the auditions.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me.

Mark Cook
Associate Director
Drumline Instructor