The Canadian Drumline Association has three adjudicators, and one officer at each competition. The CDA will be hosting drumline competitions this year in Ontario, Quebec, and Alberta. This article will discuss the Visual Judge.

The Visual Judge focuses on the visual performance of the ensemble as a whole. This is broken down into two sub-captions. The Composition sub-caption rewards the written visual content of the drumline. The performance sub-caption rewards the drumline for how well they execute their performance. This is often referred to as the “How and What”. How well are the marching and moving, and what are they doing.

The CDA has defined skills for each caption, and competing drumlines are required to demonstrate a skill set appropriate to the classification they are competing in. Concert ensembles demonstrate basic skills such as ” Body and stick visuals”, intermediate ensembles demonstrate intermediate skills such as ” Proper staging”, and premier ensembles demonstrate advanced skills such as ” Vertical layering amp; embellishment”.

The Visual Judge adjudicates all performers in the ensemble, and gives a score of up to 10 each for composition and performance. The Judge may not give the same score in the same sub-caption to multiple ensembles, and is positioned high and centred in the audience stands.

Our next article will discuss the Drumline’s accompaniment