Emeritus is a slamming street-beat that adds low-humming tom drums to the typical battery instrumentation, inspired by the extra bit of punch that a lot of show-style drumlines bring to the table. Creative use of triplet feels and transitions to duple feels create suspense and release while maintaining a strong pulse to march to.
Fun fact: the snare part in the first measure of rehearsal letter C is stolen from an early version of Murray Gusseck’s “Electric Wheelchair,” which had that lick in place of the loud 32nd-note singles that you’ll recognise in every later version. Great choppy 90’s notes to set up the rest of that snare soli. If you’d like, you can also view the first two beats of the following measure as an homage to the old SCV “Threes” exercise.
