this is a collection of terms used by one or more of us drummers at lbj...

Ass adj. Describing something that sounds/looks bad. Ex: "Don't sound like ass." See also: Paris, Sergio

Ass Spunkler n. Ty's word for gay people.

Ass Spunkler Society (A.S.S.) n. The trumpets. "Ass. It's not just for breakfast anymore."

Barbie n. Mr. Happy's "friend"

Beaner adj. 1) A really weak player that dirts like a bitch. 2) A geek, brown nosing, suck up, and\or generally irritating person.

Blow Hard Unlimited n. The flutes (obviously). "We love to see you smile."

Canada n. Derek's nickname.

Canadia n. Henry's word for Canada.

Canadian adj. Word to describe things Derek does. Ex: "Just ignore him, he's Canadian."

Coochie Corps n. The pit.

Damn it whore! What Elijah says when somebody annoys him.

Drumline Monkey n. The picture of a monkey that Josh put up in the bass/tenor cabinet and was later thrown away by Craig.

English as a Second Language n. The class Derek takes according to Henry.

Flute n. The ultimate insult. Ex: "Stop being like a flute."

Ghetto Pad n. The really old Remo practice pad that has been in the snare slots for several years.

Hard core adj. How the Drumline acts, which supposedly annoys some members of the band.

Ho Ass n. Josh's nickname for Richard.

Holy! Josh's exclamation for something...

Hoochie n. The 32 inch bass drum that has been retired from marching and is now used by the pit and the battery during football games.

Kevin n. David's nickname because he looks and acts exactly like Kevin Glienke.

Limp Rods of America (L.R.O.A.) n. The trombones. "Low, low everywhere you go at the L.R.O.A."

Midnight Dykstra n. You don't wanna know.

Mr. Happy n. The yellow bean-bag smiley-face guy that hangs in the snare cabinet.

Paris adj. Describing something that sounds/looks bad. Ex: "Don't sound like Paris." See also: ass, Sergio

Pimpco n. The Drumline. "More hoes for your money." "Quality ho-sale since 1869."

Rimshot Eights n. A snare warm-up with the sole purpose of pissing off the band... eight on a hand with all rimshots and level 10.

6-inch Guns n. The barrels of the main turrets on the H.M.S. Belfast as described by a tour guide on the band trip to London and Paris in '99.

Slut Trash Inc. n. The color guard. "At Slut Trash Inc. we won't be under sold. We wanna save you money!"

Starfire n. The Drumline's closest thing to a mascot. Our gold snare head from the 80's. No longer in production by Remo.

Volvo n. Josh's obsession.

Antravasado (anh tra va sah doh) n. Playing out of clave (3/2 or 2/3) in latin music

Apeshit (ayp shitt) adj. Using large movements with arms and body; going very fast and loud. i.e., During the solo, Jared went apeshit on the bass drums.

Ashtray hand (ash tray hand) n. when the left hand (traditional grip) of a snare player is facing up looking like an ash tray.

At Attention (at uh ten shun) n. To be still and alert to what your instructors are saying; marching drumlines are oftencalled to attention with a barked command such as "Set", "Attention", etc., so they willhear what they are about to be told.

Backstick (back stik) v. Playing with the butt end of the stick.

Bag (bag) n. Anything which is horrible, i.e. a musical score, a performance, etc. (i.e. That drumline was the bag.) The worst player in a particular section. also tick box, bag of ass

Bag of Suck (bag of suk) n. When there is so much suckin' goin' on in the whole Drumline that it comprises an entire bag of it!! i.e. You guys are screwin around so much that you look and sound like a giant bag of suck!!

Balls (balz) n. Intensity; i.e., Play with some balls, man. also sacks, cajones

Balls-to-the-walls (balz to tha walz) adj. Seriously intense.

Balltag (ball tag) v. For members of the drumline to take sticks and/or mallets and hitthe drummer who messed up in the balls; e.g., "Go balltag Johnson for that last run-through."

Ballzando (baltz ahn doh) adj. A dynamic level far above all traditional dynamic levels. i.e., "You guys don't have to play it at ballzando to be heard over the pit."

Beating (beet ing) n. A drumline practice session that teeters on the line between very tough rehearsal and raw, all-out punishment, intended to establish discipline or simply to improve chops. see also roll stroll.

Beaver (beev ehr) v. To cut up ones stick from rimshots, e.g. "Hey man, Shorty just beavered your sticks."

Beech 'Em (beech em) v. when your section leader calls "beech 'em" and everybody takes there drums off, because the director wants to yak his head off for an hour. A great way to piss of the director.

Big Johnson (bihg jon sun) n. A Scott Johnson signature drumstick, e.g. "Get out the big Johnsons and let's start warming up."

Bill Beater (bill beet ehr) n. A variation of the Egg Beater that is played with a 16th note before the E.B. that is played R-RRRLLR-RRRLL etc also played off left hand.

Bitch Beater (bich beet-ehr) n. Means you are playing way too loud.

Book (book) n. The musical score/drillwriting for the season.

Brain Fart (brayn fahrt) n. Any mistake made by a member of the line.

Brass Slapper (brass slap ehr) n. Cymbal player.

Bring it up (bring it up) v. To torque a drum to the point of breaking. To play at your personal best; i.e., "Bring it up, drumline!"

Bunk (bungk) adj. See 'dirty'.

Burn (buhrn) v. To play any lick or passage very fast...can be done solo or with other players. i.e. "Let's burn triplet diddle once." also reef, i.e. "We were reefin' the '94 Blue Devils shopping spree last night!"

Bus Macking (buhs maq king) v. The extreme flirting (or, often times, amateur pornography) that goes on riding home after a great competition.

Buzz Kill (buzz kihl) n. Expecting a cool lic, but it turns out to suck, i.e. "The Bluecoats drumline is a total buzz kill."

Cattle Guard (cat uhl gard) n. Derogatory term for the color guard.

Cheese (cheez) n. A note which is both flammed and diddled (dragged).

Chili Dogs (chill ee dogz) n. Rudiment - flam taps, with cheese on the flams. also cheese flam accent, cheeselet

Chops (chopz) n. The muscles located in the wrist of a drummer. Any area of the hand that is sore after drumming for hours. The physical ability level of a drummer. i.e. "He's got good chops."

Chop out (chop owt) v. To play a part that is rudimentally simple, but still hard to play because of the speed it is played at.

Chop wood (chop wud) v. To play the drum at any angle besides perpendicular to the head.

Chow (chow) v. see shlock

Chuchutta (chuh chuht ah) n. Flam accented triplets with an added flam on the third note of each triplet

Clam (clam) n. A mistake (someone who is making a lot of mistakes is said to be eating clam chowder)

Clean (cleen) adj. when a passage is technically correct, in the ensemble, and in unison. also tits; i.e. that lick was tits.

Clusterfuck (cluhs tur fuk) n. A set in which everyone is disoriented and misplaced.

Coming to Jesus (cuhm ing to jee zus) v. A drumline meeting in which the instructor deals out the tough love and lets a struggling drumline know what it's going to take to become a quality ensemble. see also family meeting

Cop-a-squat (cop uh skwat) v. For one to squat down and take a knee during practice.

Cop Killer (cop kill ehr) n. Anybody who manages to bust their stick through a kevlar head.

Correctional Center (coh rec shun uhl sen tehr) n. Wherever correctional therapy takes place... usually out of view of the public.

Correctional Therapy (coh rec shun uhl thair uh pee) n. Anything which a drumline does to a young, arrogant, or whiny member so as to adjust their attitude. Anything embarrasing or painful goes.

Crutch (cruch) n. A part your director puts in to help the band keep tempo. Usually when the battery is not playing. Often top bass or snare captain playing on the quarters. ALSO Cheater beats. proper noun -- The one playing the notes.

Darth Vader (darth vader) proper noun Any kid on the line who has an asthma attack the first five minutes of practice.

Dehyperfy (dee hyp er fy) v. To play a passage more quietly; i.e. "Dehyperfy those sixteenth notes, you're way out of the ensemble."

Do it up (doo iht upp) v. To do well; kick ass.

Doin' it for gramma (doo in iht for gram mah) v. when a freakin ree-ree wears his hat way up on his head so his grandma can take pictures of his face, even though it looks stupid.

Doughboy (doh boy) n. Name given to one who is gasping for air after the first 15 minutes of practice.

Druminese (drum uh neez) n. the universal language spoken by all drummers, using mouth sounds to imitate sounds made by different drums, Ex. gak for a rimshot on a kevlar snare.

Dut (duht) n. Chant used to keep time. also hut.

Duzh-da-duzh (duhzsh dah duhzsh) n. To ask the drumline or section to play: as in "OK, let's go duzh-da-duzh". Descriptive of the primarily "26-rudiments" --and thus musically limited-- writing/arranging, monotone sounding "play one volume and one tempo" style of the majority of pre-1967 drumlines: before different size bass drums, multi-tenors, pit, etc. were used.

Eargasm (eer gaz em) n. Climax of an incredible drum lick listening experience.

Egg Beater (egg beet ehr) n. A roll that is played RRRLLRRRLL etc. or can be played off theleft hand. Note - hands do not go same speed.

Eight Factorial (ate fac tore ee uhl) n. Taken from the mathematical factorial function (ex: 8x7x6x5x4x3x2x1), this is an "8 on a hand" exercise in which you play 8 notes on each hand, then 7, then 6, then 5, .... You can start at 16 and 32 too. Also optional is to build back up to the starting number.

Fake it (fayk it) v. To try to look like you know the part, while you are trying to remember the drill at the same time... when you really only know half the part.

Family Meeting (fahm uh lee meet ing) n. When the instructor calls the drumline into a circle to talk with them. see also coming to Jesus

Flaggot (flahg uht) n. Derogatory nickname for any color guard member. A member of the drumline who has secret aspirations to be in the colorguard; also can perform portions of colorguard routines better than the colorguard themselves.

Flaming Bag of Shit (flaym ing bag of shit) n. see bag of suck

Flash Flood (flash flud) n. What happens when one snare can't hack it, so the entire song gets watered down.

Flem (flehm) n. A flam that was so dirty, it sounded like somebody coughed it up.

Flintstone (flint ston) n. hybrid rudiment, consisting of a flammed dotted eigth note, tapped sixteenth, then 32nd note flam-five (sounds like "Meet the Flintstones")

Floater (flowt ehr) n. Short for a free-floating drum, where the tension lugs which tighten the head are not directly connected to the shell.

Frizbee (friz bee) n. Synonym for a cymbal. also plates

Frog Belly (frohg bell ee) n. Similar to goal posts, it's the tan you get from wearing a vest carrier and no shirt.

Fryin' the Stick (frae in tha stik) v. when a snare player has a stick that is so busted up already, that when they play, little pieces of wood go flying everywhere, hitting the rest of the drumline in the face; i.e., "Dude! Quit fryin' your stick in everyone's face and get a new one ya bitch beater!"

Fuck The Buddy (fuk tha bud ee) v. When a drummer who "sets a line" (that is, other drummers line up off of him/her) suddenly takes huge steps in the very last few counts of a drill move. This causes everyone behind him to have to adjust a huge distance in almost no time; i.e., "Hey Itzhak Perlman - way to fuck the buddy. Why don't you try taking all the counts to get to your set?"

Futz-Ass (futz ass) n. Name for annoying band directors; who try to do things too fast, or just do dumb stuff, and always seems to screw the drumline.

Fuzz (fuhz) n. A quality of sound achieved when a snareline is on the brink of being clean; i.e., "Cadets were fuzzy in July, but they are piss clean for finals.

Gank (gangk ) v. Making a big gash in your stick, caused by rimshot or just sucking. ie. I just ganked the shit out of my stick. To steal something, i.e. That dude just ganked my stick! or Man, our instructor just ganked that part from Vanguard '90. also rip East Coast terminology for skangk, see skangk

Gator Beatin' (gay tore beet in) v. Playing firmly into the drum head, thereby producing a good quality sound.

Geriatric (jerr ee a tric) adj. When a drummer holds his stick like he's crippled. also, when sticks are extremely out of playing position. i.e., Quit doin' those geriatrics and play normal!

Ghost (gost) v. To "fake-drum" - to take out notes of a passage you're playing but still air drum them like your playing it.

Gimpy (giv good hed) adj. When a stick cracks and no longer gives the proper rebound (the gimpy stick causes the tick) When you are not playing up to your usual ability; weak. (My chops are gimpy today).

Give Good Head (giv good hed) v. To play well.

Glory Boys (glore ee boyz) n. The kick-ass snareline. Also, alumni who are idolized by the instructors and the drummers.

Gock (gahk ) n. High pitched, approx 6in. drum on set of tenors, generally closest to the carrier. also sprock, gack, gawk, shot, shot drum, spank, spock, whacker, high pitched annoying thing. A medium-high pitched sound made on a snare drum by hitting rim and head at the same time with the tip of the stick at the center of the drum head. also rim shot

Grabbing the bull by the balls (you can read) v. Taking a really hard lick and playing it so perfect, the whole band sounds awesome.

Grandma (gram ma) n. A rudiment consisting of alternating stroked 16thnotes with 32nd note right and left-handed paradiddles added in.

Grid (grihd) v. To take a rudiment (flam, diddle, etc.) and place it on the first, second, third, and fourth beats of a sixteenth note over a series of measures. Can also be done over triplets.

Hack (hak) v. To improvise equipment (w/duct tape, etc.) To play something stupid when you aren't supposed to be playing, caused by boredom and innate desire to hit your drum. (i.e. Quit hackin' or I'll kick your ass!)

Hailstorm (hayl storm) n. A dirty roll.

Hatin' It (hayt in it) v. a state of being which is somewhat like suffering, i.e., "The snare drummer on the end of VK's line was hatin' it during the drum solo." "The tenor players are hatin' it, because their damn drums weigh a ton."

Haul Balls (hawl bawlz) v. To march very fast in order to make a distant set; i.e., "Damnit you guys, haul some balls here, we gotta go all the way across the field."

Helicopters (hel ih cop terz) n. see butterflies

Hell Raiser (hel rayz ehr) n. When you beat the hell outta the drum and the head snaps.

Hemiola (hee mee oh la) n. A violent and abrupt outburst of the battery during a show.

Hertah (her tah) n. Two 32nd notes immediately followed by two 16th notes. Roll the "r" Italian-style and it sounds like what it means.

Hurl (hurl) n. See "vomit".

Infinity Rolls (ihn fin ih tee rolz) n. A period of time where the line starts rolling and doesn't stop until the time period is over, usually starting out at a fast tempo and high stick height, depending on the skill and endurance level of the line. i.e., Tommorow we have to do infinity rolls for 15 min.

James sticking (jaymz stik ing) v. -playing any type of drum with a traditional-like style, only with the right hand flipped instead of the left.

Jiz (jiz) v. What one does when they hear an awesome line.

Lackadaisical (lak uh dayz uh cuhl) adj. Unfocused, zoned out; i.e., "Hey man, don't get lackadaisical on us."

Lick (lik) n. Any part of a drum score, although usually concerning a solo or particularly difficult passage.

Life Saver (life sayv er) n. The snare line's practice pads (Real Feals, etc) ie, Get out your life savers and practice that opener!

Listen In (liss ihn ihn) v. To listen for the center drummer's sound, thereby assuring that you are not playing louder than him/her.

Low-and-go (loh and goh) v. To play in the ensemble and low to the drum. Typical for difficult passages, where overplaying will keep the passage from being clean, i.e. "Low-and-go, boys - those single-hand flam fives don't need to be played at 9 inches from the head, you know..."

Million Flam Rule (mihl yun flam rool) n. The rule that states "One must play a million flams before one can play a perfect flam."

Monkey drum (muhn kee druhm) v. To "flail" each stroke, whipping the stick down and back very high, usually above your head.

Motherfucker (muh thur fuck er) n. A flamadiddle that alternates hands. The "sung" part for inside fives (one motherfucker two motherfucker)

Nerf Claves (nurf clah vayz) n. What you give the bag, freakin' ree ree, geriatric, stick jockey, or water boy to play. also Nerfwoodblock and Nerf cowbell.

Nirvana (nuhr vah na) n. A state of being achieved when you are playing a lick so effortlessly you give out an aura that you could play 10 times better than anyone else around you.

Notes (nohtz) n. A passage, or measure, that is very difficult because of the amount of notes that you play. i.e., You guys wanted some notes, so here they are.

Nutt (nut) v. To suck so bad that even the water boy gives you a dirty look; i.e., "Donnie. Seriously. You are nuttin' ALL OVER your drum."

Orville Redenbocker Line (or vil red en bock ehr lyn) n. a line that plays nothing but total popcorn.

Paper Bag (pay per bahg) n. What one of the drums on a set of tenors sounds like with a busted casing.

Park-'n'-blow (park an blow) n. A part in a show where you just stand there and play; no marching. Usually during the drum solo, or for dramatic effect.

Peck (peck) v. To improv on any percussive instrument when you get bored, or when you are trying to annoy the crap out of sombody

Pecker (peck ehr) n. A practice pad. i.e., Whip out your peckers and hack through the solo. A title/derogative term for someone who constantly plays after the cutoff from the director, i.e., "Hey, pecker, quit hackin' before I shove this stick where the sun don't shine - SIDEWAYS!"

Ping (ping) n. A gock (def. #2, or rim shot) played 2-3in. away from rim

Piss 'er down (piss ehr down) v. Take a break to get rid of some beer

Piss it (piss it) v. Make the roll so clean it sounds like someone urinating

Plates (playtz) n. Cymbals. also frizbee

Popcorn (pop corn) n. The result of snacking- i.e., "What the hell kind of feature was that those guys were trying to play? They were playing so dirty, it sounded like popcorn!"

Popeye Syndrome (pohp eye sin drome) n. The incredible burning sensation in the forearms after a difficult workout.

Pow wow circle (pow wow sirk uhl) n. When all the bass drummers in a line get together in a circle for a sectional, i.e. "Okay, it's time for our little pow-wow circle again, so we can get this feature right."

Puss out (puss owt) v. To play too weakly or not play at all, i.e., Man, quit pussin' out on that roll.

Put your balls on the line (oh, you can say it) v. To align the balls of your feet with a yard line to set drill.

R.P.O.C. (ahr pee oh cee) adj. Extremely soft dynamically (Rat Pissing On Cotton); i.e., play those triplets R.P.O.C., you guys are overpowering the pit.

Radio Edit (ray dee oh ed iht) n. A clean run-through, usually used sarcastically, i.e. Hey guys, let's play the radio edit of the cadence this time...

Ram (ramm) n. A passage in a song when players (bass drummers, etc.) go insanely fast.

Ram out (ramm owt) v. To play the drum, i.e. Man, that drumline was rammin' out some serious licks!

Reef it (reef iht) v. To play as loud as possible.

Rim (rihm) v. the act of hitting nothing but rims when trying to do scrapes and rakes on the tenors, i.e., Bill, you're rimmin' up all your tenor licks.

Rip (rip) n. A stolen drum score, i.e. That solo Frankfurter North played was a total Cadets rip.

Rollgasm (roll gaz uhm) n. the feeling you get after playing a clean long roll in the ensemble.

Roll Stroll (roll stroll) n. Marching around playing intensely fast rolls for as long as an hour straight, thereby inducing Popeye Syndrome. see also infinity rolls.

Sack (sak) n. See bag.

Schlep (shlepp) v. To move equipment, such as moving keyboards to a show site.

Schlock (shlok) v. To play first attacks of accented patterns, rolls, diddles, etc.. as dirty as humanly possible. i.e., "What is this, Schlock-Fest `97?!"

Scoop (scoop) n. A sound projector attached to the bottom of a snare drum.

Set the Table (set tha taybuhl) v. Position the cymbals in front of the battery at ride or hi-hat carry for the battery to play on. (Get it - cymbals = plates = set the table?)

Sha goink (sha goyngk) n. What gets accomplished when the instructor is not around.

Shank (shangk) n. Torque wrench or power key.

Shit the bed (shitt tha bedd) v. To blatently suck beyond belief, i.e. "You guys are reallyshittin the bed on that lic...."

Shut 'er down (shutt ur down) v. To end practice. i.e., "It's 9:00, timeto shut 'er down."

Slap on the hogs (slapp on tha hogz) v. Put on your drums. also load 'em up, strap 'em on, mount up

Smoking (smohk ing) adj. Outstanding. A "smoking" show is one that totally blows the judges hair off and all the fans start to run away because it hurts their ears.

Snack (snack) v. see shit the bed

Snackum (snack um) n. One who snacks.

Snail pushups (snayl push upz) n. Pushups done with a bass drum on your back.

Solo taco (soh loh tah coh) n. Something played which is totally wrong, not even CLOSE to whatactually should be played. i.e. Hey wrong page man, dont go Solo taco on me.

Spank (spangk) v. To hit the drum.

Spank the Gock (spangk the gak) v. (in traditional grip) Moving the right stick from left to right quickly and gocking with a flourish; i.e., "Did you see those guys spank the gock at the end of that lic?!"

Spree (spree) n. A drumline's exercise in which they play all of their meat such as flam drags, cheeses, cheese chuchuttas.

Sprock (sprock) n. See "gock".

Sprock Spank (sprock spangk) n. a lick in which the sprock drum (or etc, see above) is hit repetiativly on accents, flams, drags, or open rolls/sweeps.

Snack (snack) v. see shit the bed

Snackum (snack um) n. One who snacks.

Stick Jockey (stik jock ee) n. A drummer who sucks so much they are demoted from the battery, straight to equipment manager. ie. "That freakin' ree ree is headed for stick jockey."

Stick The Cymbal (stik tha sim bull) n. Game played by drummers as follows: One drummer stands at an end of the parking lot waiting on waldo with his sticks...then the cymbal boys stand at the other end of the p.lot then the snare player whales his stick at the cymbals and if he hits one he gets a point..first to 10 wins

Superman (soup ehr mann) n. The lug-rim attachment on a bass drum. Named so because when taken off the drum, they look like little flying men.

Sweep (sweep) n. Tenor terminology for a rapid double stroke over two drums. also rake

Swiss Aarons (swiss air onz) n. Sixteenth notes with a flam on thedownbeat. Sticking is R, R, R, L (or L, L, L, R). Should sound like flam-paraddidles.

Tachutta (tuh chuht ah) n. Triplets with accents on the downbeats, and every SECOND notehas an unaccented flam.

Throw down (thro down) v. To play the drum. also ram out, spank

Tick (tik) n. A pulsed roll, unclean flam-drag, or any other technical error that makes the song sound worse.

Tighter than a virgin's daughter (you can pronounce it yourself) phrase ... How one should tune a marching snare drum.

Toy (toy) n. any item that can be attached to a marching drum (Cowbells, Jam Blocks, Ride Cymbals, Hi hats, Ribbon Crashers, Spoxe, Crotales, Granite Blocks, etc.)

Trainwreck (trayn rek) n. when the drumline as a whole shits the bed, thus causing the band to....shit the bed.

Trek (trek) v. To march a long distance with just the drumline. Usually done to practice a piece (ie: the cadence) with marching. "Let's trek the cadence for a couple miles." see also roll stroll

Uggh (uggh) intrjct. What you say instead of playing the right notes. also shit, huh, etc. Example - When you have a great lick going and your top bass just happens to miss a nine stroke roll at the climax and says "Shit!" instead; right when no one else is playing.

Vibe (vibe) n. The intensity that a drumline or a drummer produces while playing, evident by their body language/facial expression.

Virgin Stick (ver jin stik) n. A new stick that has never been played with.

Visual (vizh yoo uhl) n. Something the percussionist does to add a visual texture to a song (twirls, back-sticking, fake-sticking, drum to drum, etc.)

Vitamins (vy tah minz) n. Any roll endurance exercise. see infinity roll

Vomit (vah mit) n. An anticipated shitting of the bed; i.e., "Uh oh, here comes the tenor vomit." also hurl

Water (wah ter) v. To simplify a drum score. also hose

War Club (wahr club) n. A heavy or heavily taped stick.

Way out (way owt) adj. The worst you could possibly play...to not even come close to playing with the line, worse than a tick; i.e., "Dude, you are just way-out on those inverts in the closer."

Wet-mouth (wett mowth) n. Any drooling bando who is paralyzed with amazement in the parking lot or in the stands.

Whacktissimo (whack tiss ih mo) adj. See "ballzando".

Wonder Boy (wun der boy) n. A freshman who comes into the line and totally blows away all the vets in the line. i.e., That Wonder Boy got center snare over that senior!

Yoink (yoynk) v. see gank, def. #2

Zorro (zohr oh) n. A really dirty sticks-out.