On the Road with - The Crossmen

Having just finished up Fourth of July parades and coming off of two weeks of extreme humidity, 105 degree rehearsals, 60 degree nights on the truck, and several rainy days, the drums have endured a lot of change in temperature and pressure and require more attention to tuning to maintain the sound quality we strive for.

Crossmen bassline is glad to be using Evans MS1 heads this summer. We feel Evans provides the highest quality products to best meet the sound quality and durability that the top drum corps require. At the Crossmen, we take a very proactive approach to tuning our marching drums daily in a consistent manner that will give us the finest tone and sound quality for the performers.

While we rehearsed in Missouri the humidity was the highest that we had encountered this summer. This caused the pitch of each bass drum, particularly the top three drums (18, 20, and 24 inches), to drop a noticeable amount. Extra attention to keeping the heads evenly tuned had to be taken as they had only been in use for a week and had not settled yet. Taking the time to slowly and evenly raise the pitch of the drums provided us with great tone, resonance, and longevity of the heads.

The reliability of the MS1 Bass drum heads makes battling the outdoor elements and maintaining a great sound a much smoother task. That’s why we choose Evans.