The superb sound of the CADRE drummers in Sharbot Lake

Julie Druker | Sep 09, 2015

On August 29 Sharbot Lake village came alive as the sound of the CADRE (Canadian Associates Drumming Rudimental Excellence) drummers rang out through town in a special free afternoon performance on the lawn of the Sharbot Lake Country Inn.

Thanks to a generous invitation extended to the group by inn owners Frank and Sandra White, drumming fans, those just curious, and those lucky enough just to be passing by were awed by the prowess, precision and impeccable playing of this five-time world champion drumming ensemble. The players delighted listeners with what they called a “dress rehearsal” for their upcoming world championship competition, which will take place in Rochester, New York, on September 4. A total of nine players who make up the competition group performed “Camp 3”, a piece comprised of drum core classics that was written by eight different authors from the U.S. and Canada.

The highlight of the show was the competition piece that the group will be playing in Rochester, a tune called “Boy in a Red Shirt” that was written in part by Paul Mosley (who leads the competition group) and Fred Johnson, the current president of the CADRE ensemble. The piece is comprised of no less than eight different time signatures and includes a number of different sticking patterns, one called back-sticking where the drummers use the back of the drum stick to make the beat, as well as a technique called cross-sticking. For the competition piece the drummers play a series of identical snare drums, and some of the members also play a second set of tuned drums called quintuplet drums as well as one bass drum.

The drummers begin the competition each playing on the identical snares and at certain point in the piece three of the players move from the snares to the quintuplet drums to add a different sound into the mix. The wonder of the sound comes from how the players are able to play with such rapid fire precision and in perfect time while also adding a number of tricky choreographed moves that make the performance a marvel to both see and hear. At the competition the drummers will be judged on a number of different criteria including content, execution, expression, the number of mistakes they make and how varied the program is, as well as for their general presentation.

Asked what makes a good drummer, Fred Johnson, who has been drumming since 1946 and first started in an Air Cadet band in Toronto, said it's how well you play without making any mistakes. “A good drummer is able to take a score, and play it without making mistakes and many of the competitors in the group will often practise for four hours a day to hone their skills.”

At Saturday's performance Johnson also played along with the other CADRE members on a series of ancient wooden rope drums in a style of rudimental drumming that Johnson said “has not changed in 500 years”. Their repertoire on these drums included tunes that had been written in the British Isles in the 1600s, one solo tune whose roots go back to Napoleonic times and the French Revolution, along with some more modern American fife and drum selections written earlier this century.

As explained on their web site cadre-online.ca, the group adheres to some strict principles which Johnson says has contributed to the group's success as an award-winning international ensemble. They include focusing on excellence, 100% acceptance and adherence to a musical master score, and approaching the performance by emphasizing the many shades of musical dynamics to create “that elusive inner-bar magic”.

The group demonstrated that magic on Saturday afternoon in Sharbot Lake and those who were lucky enough to take it in can understand why this group continues to excel on the international stage. For those who missed the show, you can see videos of the group playing on their website.