Saturday, March 5, Gaffney High School’s BOG indoor percussion went to state. The competition was held at Catawba High School and even though they were the last to perform, they were able to put on a spectacular show. The band set a goal to score at least a 70/100 and ended up getting a score of 70 and proudly took home first place metals. The show is titled “Laundry Day” and in the first movement, you hear the song “So Fresh, So Clean” by OutKast. I am part of the performing show and it is such a honor. I perform with students playing behind me and while I am not exactly sure what goes on behind me, I know that it sounds pretty good. Every once in a while, I will have to glance back to prepare myself for the next sound effect to make sure I play it at the right time.

My job title is the sound technician; I stand behind some big metal box that holds the soundboard and I control most of front ensemble’s volume, but I also play little sound effects here and there. We practice on Mondays and Thursdays from around 4:00 P.M. to 6:00 P.M., and on Saturdays, before competitions started, we would practice around 8:30/9:00 A.M. to 11:30 A.M. or 12:00 P.M.

I started working with the band in July of 2021, when band camp started for marching band. Even though I am working around less people now, that does not make competitions less stressful and nerve-wracking for me. When I was with the marching band, all I had to do was stand over to the side and press buttons, but with indoor percussion, I am set up near the middle and have to show more personality in order to really sell the show.

Our uniforms consist of a plain black t-shirt, a white jacket, black shorts, light gray, tear-off pants, long black socks, and our band shoes. Before we begin playing, we have to tear off our light gray pants and throw them behind us, revealing our black shorts underneath. I usually get hit in the face with someone’s pants, but it’s all apart of the experience.

Indoor percussion has another competition this Saturday, March 12. Mr. Asis and all of the other band staff have worked their hardest to improve the shows; we hope to get a score of 75 or higher this time, so wish us luck!