Would you specify what you mean by traditional and corps?

I'm going to guess and say he means corps style or show style.

It is a competition line, so that would be corps style.

You want to use a sling for a comp line? That's kinda weird but hey, whatever floats your boat.

There are different types of competitive lines. There are "corps style" or at least corps-influenced competitive circuits like WGI. There are standstill competitions with playing and arranging similar to what you'd find in HBCU's (historically black colleges & universities). There are some niche competitions for military-style or ROTC units and who knows what else.

If your line will be doing movement along the lines of a WGI-style indoor performance, you absolutely do not want to use slings. Even if it's a fairly slow and basic drill, slings aren't ideal for movement in various directions. As your legs move, so does the drum.

I work at a school that uses Pearls and a school that uses Yamahas. I feel like I have to work a lot harder to get a good sound out of the Yamahas. I'm changing a lot of my heads over this year and experimenting with different tuning schemes and muffling to get what I want. I have a pretty typical head setup on my Pearls and they sound amazing. The battery is constantly complemented by judges for the tuning of the drums and general quality of sound. I have Evans Grey Hybrids on the Pearl snares with MS3 bottom heads. The batter heads are relatively cranked, but the bottom heads are not. When the kids play anything clean, whether it's heavy impacts, tricky dense stuff, or roll segments, the sound gives me chills. To me, Yamaha makes quality drums, but the Pearls are like heaven on earth. Hopefully I can come up with a Yamaha scheme that I like this winter.

Also, it is worth nothing that Pearl came out with new harnesses last year. I tried some on at their DCI booth, and they felt amazing. They are definitely what I would chose for a scholastic drumline, because they are lightweight and their shape would work well for a variety of body shapes.

I agree that the Dynasty tenor mounting system is fantastic. They also make a good product that has served many top ensembles well over the years. I love the sound that Glasssmen, Matrix, and Rhythm X have gotten out of their Dynasty drums in recent years (although RX is switching to Pearl this season). I also kind of like Dynasty drums' eye-catching appearance. You can't help but notice when a Dynasty line takes the field.

I love Yamaha.....

Ok now that I've said that, does anyone have any background on Mapex and Tama drums?

from my personal experience

1. Pearl, the sound is phenomenal, wide range of tuning schemes.
the hardware is one of the most durable on the market. Plenty of options to custom your line. revamped carrier system works very well, Prices are spot on for what you get.

2. Yamaha, The hardware very durable. but with the birch shells they use for their production drums are limited in the tuning schemes. Pretty decent range of custom colors. The carrier system has some issues but for the most part works well. Price wise more expensive then Pearl. My opinion you are not getting anything more for the price. Pretty dead even. Its more a matter of what you are looking for in a drum.

Side note, What frustrates me with Yamaha, the drums the corps uses are NOT the drums available to the public. Maple are used in all top DCI Yamaha corps last summer. So what you hear on the field is not what you are going to get when you buy a Yamaha drum. I checked with Yamaha all the DCI drums are considered Prototypes and only available to be sold after the corps are done with them. Kind of like false advertising in my book.

3. Mapex, I have had limited dealings with this brand. I will say the design is a frankenstein of different brands. As far as sound the snares are a combo of birch maple. which lends the drums a sound in between Pearl and Yamaha. tenors have a inner ply of walnut which gives the drums a interesting sound. Darker then most on the market. Bass drums are all maple and have a Pearl sound to them. Hardware from what I've seen, seems durable. I have heard very little complaints about the groups I know who use them. Not a big fan of XL carrier systems. I would avoid them. Decent amount of options to custom the drums. Price point is little lower the the top two. For a start up group, I would look hard at these drums.


4. Dynasty, everything here is functional, but for me I don't see the durability. Shells are maple, but with the hardware design. it becomes a challenge to get the drums to a tuning scheme that is pleasant to my ears. Snares always have a "boxy" sound to me. with the right combo of heads and tuning they can sound decent. hardware is just not up to par with the other top brands. The tenor bar is great unfortunately its makes the drums heavier then needed. Plenty of options to customize the drums, carrier system is pretty well designed. Price point definitely makes them appealing for a group with small budget. customer service is probably the best of all the top brands.


Stay away from: Ludwig, Premier,
Ludwig, over engineered designed, poor hardware. I have to disagree with skydog on one point. I was never able to use mylar heads on the bottom with the USA snares. the stress ring on the snare side is so shallow that after a couple days the flesh hoop bottoms out on the stress ring. Forget double hooping. Fiber bottoms worked but barley. Shells on the snare were incredibly thin. which helps the drum project but durability suffered. tenors are so heavy and have no projection. just over all sub par set of drums. horrible carriers and high price point. make them a brand to avoid

Premier, I actually like the sound achieved by Premier drums,
Birch shells but they work. Its the hardware that is this brands downfall. Just always have some issue with parts either falling off or loosening up. They have to be very heavily maintained. Last time I saw the carrier system is XL, which stated before not a fan of. Plenty of options to customize.
Price point is hard to find since they only have one dealership in USA at this point. which makes support a big issue. Premier is coming back but I would still stay away at this point.

honorable mention:

Tama, I have absolutely no experience with them. From what I have seen. the hardware is top notch, the shells Maple or bubinga/birch sound amazing. Plenty of options to customize. carriers systems seem engineered the best of all brands. Only reason I don't have them in my top. is price point. Longstar percussion is the only place I saw the drums for sale and they are the most expensive on the market. You do get what you pay for. High quality. but upwards of 600 for 12x14 wrapped maple snare drum. is a little extreme. Most schools can't afford that price point.

Lonstar Percussion Snares

I've had Dynasty and Pearl. I prefer the Pearl. Dynasty was fine and did the job but I don't know that I would call them a drum company. Pearl, Mapex, Yamaha, Tama, and Ludwig are all drum companies meaning that is their specialty. I would rank them in the following order:

Pearl
Yamaha
Mapex
Tama
Dynasty
Ludwig

Tama is interesting and their snares look great and sound pretty good. The design flaw lies in the weight of the drum. Time will tell if they move up the list. I am also hearing that Ludwig is on the cusp of releasing something new soon. I believe they hired away one of the driving forces behind Dynasty's Marching line so that should be interesting to watch soon.

I've heard Ludwig signed a known designer to redesign their Marching equipment, per Drum Corps Planet. While Premier has gotten another US Distributor in MarchingUSA (I believe) to carry their hardware. Not to mention that Premier is also getting either a redesign or a restructuring on quality of parts.

So, the marching industry is crowded now, and could get even more-so within the near future.