After the marching band performs its last, the school’s percussion section gets ready for its serious competition — the indoor season.

Winter percussion is — as the drummers like to say — marching band but without the band. It is also inside on a tarp.

The show this year is entitled “The Good Earth.” While the drumline — consisting of snares, quads, bass drums, and cymbals —  the front ensemble works their magic with various keyboards, synths, various miscellaneous percussion instruments, and, last but certainly not least, the timpani.

One of the seniors, who also is the player of the aforementioned timpani, is Isaac Merriweather. He’s done winter percussion for four years.

“It really doesn’t feel like four years,” Merriweather said. “It feels like time just went really fast. Freshman year I was just getting into the groove of things and then it’s like bam, it’s senior year and I’m a main part of the show.”

Isaac is also heavily involved in BDTV.

“Both BDTV and band are so time consuming,” he said. “You really have to play your cards right and you have to kind of prioritize what you do in both.

“When it’s hot and heavy in the band season and I know I can’t be on a very high level package or anchor or anything like that for BDTV, I have to settle for a commercial or something like that. But when it’s in the beginning or near the end of band season, I can get my BDTV thing going.”

Merriweather has enjoyed his time in winter percussion.

“Winter percussion is the first thing that I felt accepted in,” Merriweather said. “My first season of marching band there was still a lot of people. No one really introduced me to anyone. I kind of had to see who all of my friends were from past years from middle school.

“But once winter percussion happened it was like, boom, instant family, everyone loved everyone. And winter percussion is just so amazing to me, like this is where we really connect as an ensemble. Percussionists all feel like we have one goal, and when an entire group has one goal, the possibilities are endless.”

As for what he wants to accomplish this season, Merriweather wants “top three at state, and top eight at WGI World Class finals.”

The first competition is March 5-6 at Franklin Central for a WGI Regional. Then they hold their own invitational here at BD March 12 and then semi state on March 19 at Avon HS, then state at Indiana State University April 2. The final competition of the season is in Dayton, Ohio for WGI World Class finals April 14-16.

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Perla Mata