Bill Bachman reflects on his Trip to Taiwan 2008!
Hey guys, I recently returned from teaching marching percussion at the Taipei International Percussion Summer Camp held at the Taipei National University School of the Arts in Taiwan. The week long percussion camp in its ninth year had 170 students from fifth graders all the way up to college music majors. The students were divided up into seven classes based on age and skill level. They all had daily classes in different disciplines of percussion: Marimba, Jazz Vibes, Steel Drum, Drumset, Marching Percussion and three different styles of traditional Chinese percussion.

The students were great to work with! They were very open and interested in the drumline classes even with it being a rare thing in their musical culture. There's a lot of really good general percussion instruction going on over there so they were all good readers and caught on quick. We worked on fundamentals for the first two sessions, and then got on the drums to learn a few cadences of mine from my "Street Jams book 1" (published by JW3.com). It was great to watch them having fun with the beats, especially once all of the visuals we could possibly fit were added in.

The week ended with a concert where the students of all levels performed on various percussion instruments for an audience of about 500. I had three groups selected to perform on marching drums which included the 5th graders! They were a big hit and watching them go at it isn't something I'll soon forget.

The translators turned out to be more like Teacher's Assistants, most were percussion majors studying in the US and were actually capable of teaching the classes themselves! My translator Yi-Jan Liu (a.k.a. Rachel) is working on her Doctorate at the University of North Texas and even had drumcorps experience. It's funny that she was my ride from the airport to the hotel a month earlier when I was in Denton for the UNT drumline camp. Small world!

My favorite thing about overseas trips like this is getting to know the people and their culture. The people are kind and are passionate about what they do, the food is good and of course I love the history and art/architecture. If you have the chance to visit Taiwan I highly recommend it--be sure to stop by the Taipei National University of the Arts and reef some beats for me!

-Bill ><>

Phantom Regiment Wins Second Drum Corps International Championship!
This past week in Bloomington, Indiana the Phantom Regiment won their 2nd Drum Corps International title with a score of 98.125 besting the Blue Devils with a score of 98.100. In one of the closest finishes in DCI Championship history Phantom Regiment took the Fred Sanford High Percussion Award for the 2 time in 3 years and the Blue Devils received the Jim Ott High Brass Award for the 5th time in the last 8 years! In other placements the Glassmen were 11th in World with a score of 87.200 and the Pacific Crest placed 17th with a score of 79.650. In the Open Championships Blue Devils B was 2nd with a score of 96.775, Oregon Crusaders were 4th with a score of 93.025, Revolution was 8th with a score of 88.650, Dutch Boy was 10th with 84.975, Memphis Sound was 11th with 84.400, Yamato was 12th with 84.200, Spartans 14th with a score of 82.700, Racine Scouts 19th with 74.300, Stragnas from Sweden 20th with 71.050 and Spirit of Newark 21st with a score of 67.450.
Congratulations to all the members, staff, administration and volunteers for all these drum corps and to all the drum corps in general for making DCI Championships such a special week for all the fans. Check back here next week for all the pictures and videos from DCI Championship week.

Posted Today....Interviews with Sean Vega, Paul Rennick and Scott Johnson.
Dynasty USA artists Sean Vega, Paul Rennick and Scott Johnson discuss their ideas on percussion, the passion that they live and what their lives are like as three of the leading minds in marching percussion today.

Brett Dietz Joins Dynasty USA

Dynasty USA Percussion is proud to announce the addition of Brett Dietz to the Dynasty USA Percussion family. We are very excited about the wealth of knowledge and musicianship that Brett brings to the company. We know that Brett will be a huge help in furthering our concert percussion instruments here at Dynasty USA. We are very lucky to have Brett on board with us and we are looking forward to a great relationship with Mr. Dietz..

Read more about Brett Dietz.

Phantom Regiment OnQ Snare Drum Camp
This past weekend Phantom Regiment had their OnQ Snare Drum Camp with Paul Rennick, Marty Hurley, Jeff Hassan and Ellis Hampton. Also there was drum doctor GURU Sam Flores who prepped and took care of all the drums for the camp. Around 40 students were on hand for the Snare Drum Camp and a good time was had by all. Congratulations to all the campers and a big thank you to all the staff and the Phantom Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps. 

ScoJo's Lick of the Week Season Two!
Check out ScoJo's Lick of the Week Season Two.

Blake Tyson Performs at the University of Oklahoma

Blake Tyson recently performed a concert and presented a master class at the University of Oklahoma. He performed many works on the concert including a couple of his own compositions . His repertoire for this concert included the following:

A Cricket Song . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Blake Tyson
Sonic No. 7. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Halim El-Dabh
In Search of Three Goddesses. . . Halim El-Dabh
Anubis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Blake Tyson
Secrets of the Sky and Earth. . . . Halim El-Dabh
Cloud Forest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Blake Tyson

Canadian Clinic by Joe Shuker from Dutch Boy!

Joe Shuker recently did a clinic in Southern Ontario for Dynasty USA and Dutch Boy. Joe said the kids were very excited and recpetive to drumming of any kind and when they answered the correct questions Joe rewarded the students with door prizes. Joe is an ex- Cavalier snare section leader and is the caption head arranger at Dutch Boy. Dynasty USA is proud to have Joe doing clinis for Dynasty USA in Canada where some of DCI's finest rundimental drummers have come from.

Joe Shuker Bio

Joe Shuker has been involved in the marching percussion scene since 1988, when he was 8 years old. He has worked with numerous groups in Canada and the United States. His ability to teach and write for a wide range of ages and abilities has made him a sought after arranger for Drum Corps and Marching Bands. He owns and operates his own production company 2rl Productions, and is an active Percussionist in the Greater Toronto Area. Joe is Excited to join the Dynasty Team. Marching Percussion History • 1988-89 Ridge Raiders "The Dynasty Edge is attention to detail, a genuine interest in the activity, and the musicians. I couldn't be more pleased to be a part of this great team" - Joe Shuker • 1990-96 Kiwanis Kavaliers • 1997-2001 Cavaliers • 1999, 2000 2nd place (Individual Snare) • 2002 S.P.Y.E. Caption Head and Arranger • 2002 Magic of Orlando Div 2 champion Percussion Section • 2003 - 2007 Northcoast Academy Instructor/Consultant.

CADRE Gets New Dynasty USA Drums!

Two time DCA World Champion  CADRE Percussion Ensemble recently took delivery of 10 new Dynasty USA snare drums, stand and cases. "We are excited that CADRE has once again decided on Dynasty USA as their drum company" said Allan Murray, Vice President of Sales. "CADRE along with Fred Johnson and Paul Mosley, are the leaders in percussion and we are proud to be associated with them."

CADRE will once again be competing at DCA in Rochester, NY on Labor Day weekend defending their title and Dynasty USA will be there once again to see it all happen.

New Website for Drummers!
Snare Space    a new website for drummers. http://www.snarespace.com  It is like a 'myspace' but for drumline drummers. Everyone gets their own personal profile to tweak. There are forums, blogs and interviews with prominent people in the field.  If you get a chance check this out!

Godley High School: Small School, Big Drumline!

The Godley High School Wildcat Band had three percussionists for the
2006-2007 school year. This year, the field line exploded to 11 and five others filled in the pit.

"We had no seniors this year and only three juniors," said Percussion Instructor Taylor Cathey. "I knew we needed a quality product that the students would be proud of. We also needed something soon that would last for a long time. These students made the commitment to play, and we wanted them to have the best."

Dynasty was the answer. The new equipment arrived on a Friday before a football game. The dynasty tenors and snares come fully assembled and ready to tune. The bass drums only require lining up the logos and tightening the lugs. Carriers are fully adjustable and go together quickly. Once assembled, the carriers are tight and do not flop around like other brands.

"We were able to get everything ready in a couple hours. The crowd had no idea what they were in for," said Mr. Cathey.

The Dynasty Marching Percussion line offers great volume control. According to Mr. Cathey, "We are a 2A band with 11 percussionists on the field and less than 50 winds. We knew the judges at contest would say we were too loud from the moment we stepped on the field. Fortunately, we were able to play where we needed to for cleanliness, without worrying about volume. At no point in the show did any judge mention that we were too loud."

The GHS band directors are overly happy with the service that comes along with the Dynasty product.

"We had an accident in the stands and broke one of the snare mechanisms,"
said Mr. Cathey. "I contacted Mr. Allan Murray at Dynasty about purchasing the part, but instead they quickly replaced the part at no cost. Dynasty puts out a superior product and has excellent customer support. It is nice when the vice president of the company wants to help out the little guy."

This fall, the WildCat Drumline will enter the Crowley Drumline Contest. Mr.
Cathey is arranging a piece involving several members of the band performing in a rock band setting. Members of the line have high hopes as this will be their first contest. They will enter the Division II Standstill portion for lines with 11 members and under.

The Godley High School WildCat Drumline is under the direction of Jeff Henry, Head Band Director, Taylor Cathey, Percussion Instructor/Associate Band Director, and Carly Simpson, Associate Band Director. The WildCat Drumline uses Vic Firth Drumsticks, and Mike Balter Mallets.

Dynasty USA Welcomes Scott Herring!

Dynasty USA is pleased to welcome Scott Herring, assistant Professor of Percussion at the University of South Carolina, to the Dynasty USA family. Scott is an accomplished musician, teacher and clinician and he will bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to Dynasty USA's growing concert percussion family. Scott joins a list of Dynasty USA concert artists that include Mark Ford, She-e Wu, Brian Zator, Blake Tyson,Paul and Sandi Rennick, JIm Carey, Tim and Tom Ouderits, Evert Van Eynde and the group Pulse.

Check back frequently to see an ever expanding list of Dynasty USA concert artists as once again Dynasty USA welcomes Mr. Scott Herring!

Archbishop Wood HS Wins with Dynasty!
It has been quite a year for Warminster Pennsylvania’s Archbishop Wood Percussion program. Starting with this past falls outdoor marching band season and the recently completed Cavalcade Indoor Association’s indoor season, Wood successfully defended the Cavalcade of Bands High Percussion Awards they garnered in the fall of 2006 and the winter of 2007.

Their 2008 indoor percussion season came to an exciting conclusion during the weekend of May 1-4 in Wildwood New Jersey for the recently completed Tournament of Bands Indoor season, when Wood came from 5 tenths down after preliminary competition to win the Open class division by two tenths with a score of 93.9. With that win Archbishop Wood Percussion Program capped of an undefeated 2007-2008 school year. Loosing just 2 seniors to graduation this year, the unit looks to duplicate their success in 2008-09.

Wood has used Dynasty USA drums exclusively for over 10 years and has racked up an impressive record during that time winning 2 TOB Atlantic Coast All-Chapter Championships; 6 TOB Chapter 3 Championships; 1 USSBA All-States Championship; 2 USSBA PA State Championships; 3 USSBA Regional Championships; 2 Cavalcade of Bands Championships and 2 Cavalcade Indoor Association Championships.

Archbishop Wood is under the direction of Caption Head and Arranger Scott Wolfinger and is assisted by Mr. Chad Kilhefner, Nick Geoffries, Ian Carr, Matt Kuhner and Miss Chelsea Bolerno.

University Of North Texas Summer Marimba Workshop!

The University of North Texas is hosting our second annual Summer Marimba Workshop on June 23rd-27th. This workshop will feature high school and college/professional tracks with experienced faculty such as She-e Wu, Christopher Deane, Brian Zator and myself. To down load an application form go to

http://www.music.unt.edu/percussion/summer.html.

This will be a great week of marimba!
Private lessons and master classes
Ensembles based on experience and ability
Technique classes
Student solo and ensemble performances throughout the week
Faculty recital

Mark Ford
UNT Coordinator Percussion
PAS Past-President
www.music.unt.edu/percussion
940-565-4124

Dynasty USA at the WGI Championships, Dayton, OH!

Dynasty USA would like to congratulate Rx, Tyler Jr. College and Pioneer Indoor for their championships this last weekend in Dayton, OH at the WGI Indoor Percussion Championships. The performances of all the groups were exciting and it was evident that everyone had a fun time during a spectacular three days of competition. Competing in the championships were as follows.............   check back soon for the WGI Event Gallery with all the pictures and video from the championships!

Independent World

Rhythm X 1st Place
Riverside Com. College 2nd Place
Aimachi, Japan 3rd Place
North Coast Academy 5th Place
Freelancers 7th Place
Matrix 9th Place
Redline 10th Place
Pariah 16th Place

Independent Open

Tyler Jr. College 1st Place
Stryke Percussion 3rd Place
Palmetto Percussion 5th Place
Valley Independent 6th Place
Elements Indoor 8th Place
MN Brass Indoor 9th Place

Independent A

Pioneer Indoor 1st Place

Scholastic World

Choctawhatchee High School 4th Place

Centerville HS 5th place
Hilliard Darby High School 7th Place
Father Ryan High School 14th Place
Fred J. Page High School 17th Place

Scholastic Open

Stamford High School 6th Place
Franklin Central High School 12th Place
Kings High School 17th Place
Clovis East High School 19th Place
Plainfield High School
Destrehan High School
Powhatan High School
Houston High School

Scholastic A

Greenfield Central High School 2nd Place
Milton High School 3rd Place
Long Beach High School
Springstowne Middle School
Olentangy Liberty High School
Harrison Central High School
Centerville High School
Lebanon High School
Rochester Lourdes High School

Scholastic Concert World

Goshen High School 2nd Place
Tunstall High School 3rd Place

Again congratulations to all the groups and schools, the staff's and supporting casts and good luck for the rest of 2008.

Matrix in Europe!
Check out the link below for an article and pictures on Matrix's trip to Europe.

Top Secret Drumline from Basel, Switzerland Joins Dynasty USA Family!
Dynasty USA and Muremo Music are pleased to announce a new relationship effective immediately with Top Secret Drum Corps and Erik Julliard, from Basel, Switzerland. Top Secret is famous throughout the world for their spirited performances of precision and excitement. On March 29th Top Secret will debut with Dynasty USA and Muremo Music at the Indoor Percussion Europe Championships that will be attended by Top Secret Drum Corps, Matrix Indoor Percussion Ensemble and Father Ryan High School Percussion Ensemble.
"We are pleased to announce this relationship with Top Secret Drum Corps" said Allan Murray, vice president of Dynasty USA. "Top Secret Drum Corps is the leader in marching percussion for drum lines in all of Europe and possibly the world. As you can see by their YOU TUBE exposure Top Secret Drum Corps has a huge following not only in Europe but worldwide!"

About Top Secret Drum Corps http://www.topsecretbasel.ch

About Muremo http://www.muremo.be/

About Dynasty USA/ DEG

Dynasty USA is a division of DEG Music Products, Inc. DEG Music Products is the manufacturer of Dynasty USA Brasswind & Dynasty USA Percussion Instruments and Schafer band instruments; North American distributor of Willson professional brass instruments and offers a complete range of DEG accessories for wind instruments.

Dynasty USA Brass
Dynasty manufactures a complete choir of marching brass voices. They are endorsed by championship marching bands and drum corps.

Dynasty USA Percussion
Dynasty manufactures Concert Percussion, Marching Percussion and Mallet Percussion. Dynasty percussion Instruments are the choice of leading artists and ensembles.

Schafer Brass Instruments
Schafer brass instruments are an outstanding student line of upright tubas and baritone horns.

DEG Accessories
DEG offers dealers a complete line of accessory products for wind instruments and percussion.

Contact Information
P.O. Box 968, Lake Geneva, Wisconsin 53147
PH: (262) 248-8314  FX: (262) 248-7953.
E-mail: info@dynastybi.net

Matrix and Father Ryan land back in America

Dynasty USA and Muremo Music was proud to have two of the most exciting indoor ensembles perform at the IPE ( Indoor Percussion Europe) Championships on Sunday March 30th. The Independent World group Matrix and the Scholastic World group Father Ryan High School performed their shows for a crowd of 1400 people. The performances took place at the end of finals and Father Ryan was greeted with a chant of " USA. . .USA" before they performed. When the Father Ryan Ensemble finished their show they were rewarded with a complete standing ovation and again the crowd chanting " One more Time. .. One more time !" After a short break to catch their breath they set up and ran the show one more time for the sold out crowd. Some members of the Father Ryan Ensemble were blown away at the reaction. Derrick Schletzer ( director of the Indoor Ensemble) said " This will probably be the only time the kids will perform in front of a crowd where every single person is pulling for them ."

Pioneer Indoor and Dog the Bounty Hunter!
On April 11, 2008 the Pioneer Indoor will be filming with #1 A&E show Dog the Bounty hunter in Mooseheart, Illinois. The show will be aired during season five of the series. Duane Chapman, AKA DOG the Bounty Hunter from A&E's #1 Reality TV Show, will be in concert with bands Echoing Angels, Inhabited, Flatfoot 56, and Will Duvall for two very different concert nights. He'll speak for 45 minutes from his heart about his life, tragedies, triumphs, and faith. This is an extremely rare personal appearance. The Pioneer Indoor Ensemble from Romeoville IL, will open the festivities with their 2008 production “On a Roll”. “This is going to be a great experience for our members and a wonderful publicity tool for our growing ensemble. We are very lucky to have this experience and we hope this will open up more opportunities for other WGI lines” Says director Adam Hill. Please check back with WGI for airing times and dates.
Pioneer will be performing at 6pm on Thursday night of WGI.
Pioneer Indoor
2007 WGI PIA Champions
Dynasty, Promark, Zildjian, Evans

2008 WGI Nashville Regional Championship!
This past weekend in Nashville there were several Dynasty USA family members competing in the regional. At this time Dynasty USA would like to congratulate Rx for winning Independent World, Centerville High School for winning Scholastic World, ED White and Kings High Schools for placing first and second respectively in Scholastic Open! Others playing over the weekend were Greenfield Central Indiana High School, Destrehan LA High School, Long Beach MS High School, Harrison Central MS High School, Fort Walton Beach FL High School, Houston TN High School, Fred J. Page TN High School, Tyler Jr. College Percussion Ensemble, Palmetto Percussion, Elements Indoor Performing Ensemble and Pariah Percussion.

Despite the rainy weekend it was a fun time. it was nice to get to see all the groups and we spent time out at several rehearsal sites on Friday and Saturday including taking pictures and videos in the lot. Again congratulations to all the competing groups and we will see you all in Dayton in 3 weeks for the championships.

Dynasty USA Congratulates Boom Boom's Mike Nessen!
Recently Mike Nessen of Boom Boom Percussion completed 13.1 miles of a charity marathon in 2 hours and 31 minutes! Wow congratulations Mike from all of us here at Dynasty USA/ DEG Music Products, Inc.

So Cal Dream Plays Dynasty USA Percussion.
These pictures are from the most recent So Cal Dream camp where they debuted their new Dynasty USA percussion. Chris Rodriquez, percusion caption head, is excited and loves the drums sound and look. And they do look "sweet" as Chris proclaimed. Thank So Cal Dream......................

Mark Ford at University of Virginia Clinic.
Renowned educator and performer Mark Ford presented a masterclass at the University of Virginia on Tuesday, Feb. 26th, 2008. In addition to Ford's inspirational performance, the clinic focused on four-mallet techniques and exercises, effective practicing, and musicianship. The masterclass was co-sponsored by Dynasty, Innovative Percussion, Evans, Latin Percussion and the McIntire Department of Music at the University of Virginia, and was hosted by I-Jen Fang (Director of Percussion Studies).

Introducing Blake Tyson
Dynasty USA is proud to announce new artist Blake Tyson.

Bill Bachman Clinic in Boise, ID for PAS Day of Percussion

Bill Bachman recently did a clinic for the Idaho PAS Day of Percussion. If you haven't had a chance to see one of Bill's clinics you need to check his schedule here or on his web site and try to get to one soon. His clinic is fantastic and he is quite the performer as well. Bill's next clinic will be at the Florida Day of Percussion on April 12, 2008 in Orlando, FL.

For a list of Bill's clinics check the Dynasty website here...   http://dynastyband.com/clinic/