Noah Phillips
Bixby High School
VYPE: Noah, what grade are you in this year?
Phillips: I’m a senior.
VYPE: When did you become center snare?
Phillips: I became center snare a few months before our last marching season started when my percussion instructor, Mr. A, told me early so that he could start training me up.
VYPE: What grade did you start participating in band?
Phillips: I started in 6th grade. I feel old now. And I’ve even got the back pain to match. Drums are heavy.
VYPE: What has this year been like for you and the band?
Phillips: Alright. In terms of personal growth and enjoyment of the marching season, sure! I’m finally a senior and it felt great helping the younger students out and getting to be a better role model than the ones I had. However, in terms of the actual scoring of our shows, it performed the worst out of the three shows that I’ve participated in. My freshman year was the COVID year, so that show wasn’t judged. Bixby’s entering a kind of transition period in terms of how we do our shows, and this was that first year. I thought the show was really fun to perform, and it was a cool idea, but the judges just didn’t seem to agree.
VYPE: Do you belong to any other clubs or groups at school?
Phillips: I’m the historian for Tri-M, which is a music-based honor society.
VYPE: What are your plans after you graduate?
Phillips: I plan to attend OU and major in Creative Media Productions.
VYPE: What have you enjoyed most about your time in the band?
Phillips: It would definitely be how close I’ve gotten to some of my fellow percussionists. We’re usually off in our own world, stomping out a path in some field a mile away from the band or sitting in the back of the room while we wait for our conductor to finish messing with one of the wind parts, so it makes for easy bonding. I know I’ve gotten some life-long friends out of it, and it makes me excited to come back next year as a viewer so I can see the younger members performing on their own.
VYPE: What advice would you give younger students who would like to become a member?
Phillips: I can’t speak for any other instruments, but for percussionists who want to join the battery in the marching season (snare, quads, and bass drum), then there’s a few things. If you aren’t tall, throw out your dreams of being a quad player. Not worth it. The big guys on quads already suffer from immense back pain, so there is no world in which you don’t settle for playing snare. Also, don’t forget to bring your stuff with you to rehearsal, otherwise you’ll all have to run laps and it is inevitable that someone will be injured. In all seriousness, though, the best piece of advice I have is to do one full season. Give it a shot. The beginning might suck, but it really does get better. So don’t quit half-way into your first week after throwing up your breakfast just because you decided to ignore your directors and drink milk prior to the rehearsal. Just stick with it, because there’s a good chance it becomes the highlight of your high school career. In terms of concert band, get ready to count rests. Sometimes you’ll get a fun part that makes it worth it, but sometimes you don’t, and that’s just the gig.
VYPE: What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
Phillips: I’m an avid reader, enjoy video games, practice way too much for band, and occasionally make videos when I’m bored.
