The Brief History Of J-I Row

        No band would be complete without a percussion section!!!  Since the early days of the OSUMB as a 12-piece fife and drum corps, the percussion section has been a regular part of the marching band.  In those early days, the percussion section consisted of no more than a pair of tenor or snare drums, a bass drum, and a pair of cymbals. 

        As time went on and the band grew, so did the percussion section.  During the 1930ís under the direction of Eugene J. Weigel, the percussion section consisted of six snare drums, a pair of cymbals, and two bass drums.  In fact, it was during Weigelís tenure as director that the bass drum heads were first decorated with ìOhioî and ìState.î  Another interesting fact is that until Manley Whitcomb took the helm of the OSUMB during most of the 1940ís, the snare drums were worn at thigh level, closer to the knee.  With Whitcomb introducing the 8-to-5, 22 ‡-inch step marching style, the snare drum began to be carried at hip level. 

        In 1972, Director Dr. Paul Droste expanded the band in size for the first time in forty-two years, adding two more snare drums to the percussion section.  Susan Johnson became the first female percussionist when she joined the snare drum section back in 1973, when women were first permitted to join the OSUMB.  During those days, the percussion section was known as I-Row, and before that known as L-Row.  The second expansion of the OSUMB in 1974 doubled the size of the percussion section.   I-Row now became a row of ten snare drums and a new row was added, known as J-Row.  The new row consisted of two pairs of cymbals, four bass drums, and four tenor duos. 

        In 1987, under the direction of Dr. Jon Woods, the tenor duos became trios.  Also, in 1988, the 16-inch cymbals became 18-inch cymbals.  Today, the OSUMB consists of 225 band members:  192 regulars and 33 alternates.  I-Row now stands at fourteen snare drums whereas J-Row now stands at fifteen; five bass drums; five cymbals, and recently in 1998, the five trios became five quads.  It is interesting to note that of the sixteen rows in the OSUMB, J-Row is the only row to have three alternates, one for each instrument in the row.  

        Looking towards the future, the bass drum section will be switching to a more contemporary instrumentation.  That is, up until the 1999 season, there were only two sizes of bass drums.  New to the 2000 band season, the bass drum section will consist of four different sizes of bass drums.

A Day in the Life of J-I Row....