Percussionist Lisa Lopez ’18, jittery with nerves, marched mid-field to “In the Stone” by Earth, Wind, and Fire on a rain-soaked Bennett Field with a growing confidence as she got further into the performance.

“I feel like the drum line sounded really good and a lot clearer than in past performances,” Lopez said.

The reason the drum line, in particular, sounded better was due to the fact that the percussionists were using brand new Yamaha drums that were purchased to replace the drum set that had been used consistently for the last 14 years.

“The old set is the Pearl brand,” William Winters, the drum line director said. “Both are great companies, but we went with Yamaha due to the quality of the equipment and also the options for special ordering,”

Parts were falling off of the old drum sets, Lopez said. But with the new set, percussionists do not have to worry about broken equipment.

The replacement parts were getting harder to find because of the age of the instruments, Winters said.

“If the drum sets were not replaced this year, they would need to be replaced in the next couple of years due to the wear and tear of constant use,” Winters said.

In order to fix this issue, the marching band ordered a full set of marching drums. This would include snare drums, marching tenors, and marching base drums.

“I am really excited to use the new drums in the future,” percussionist Maddie Walsh ’18 said. “The new sets sound really good and are obviously in a better condition than the old, rusty set.”

These drum sets were purchased in the spring of 2013, but because of issues with backorders, the drum line was not able to start practicing with the new drum sets until the summer camp last June.

However, one of the advantages of purchasing new drum sets is that a more clear sound is produced when the new instruments are played, Lopez said.

“This clearer sound makes the performance more enjoyable for fans and spectators in the stands during half-time,” Winters said.

More advanced technology has changed the way the Marching Lions’ Drum line performs.

“The new drums are also lighter, because of various technological advances since the previous drums were purchased,” Winters said. “This allows the drummers to be able to play for longer periods of time without getting as fatigued.”

Another way that the Yamaha drums have allowed drummers to play longer is the harnesses.

“They are specially designed out of lightweight materials and also ergonomically designed for greater comfort and individual adjustability,” Winters said

In addition, the drums themselves were specially ordered with a stained blue wood finish and the chrome hardware.

“This really aligns the marching band with LT school colors and shows school spirit,” Lopez said.

Overall, the new drums were a purchase that was necessary to allow the percussionists of the marching band to practice and perform with functional instruments, Winters said.

“The drums will make the Marching Lions a great [marching] band instead of a good one,” Walsh said.