Marching Band Percussion and Pacemaker

Hi - my son has a pacemaker and he used to be in the marching band - he played percussion instruments so he used to wear the harnesses that carry the mallets (xylophones), bass drums, snare drums. Does anyone know of any harnesses that can be used that won't rest on the pacemaker area? or is his "percussion" marching band days over!!

Any info or any website you can point me to would be greatly appreciated!!!

Lisa

2 Comments

talk to the band director

by Tracey_E - 2014-09-29 11:09:40

My kids are in marching band, also! Sax and piccolo.

I doubt there are enough kids with pm's who march that there is any info out there, and we're all built differently with our pm's placed differently. Harnesses vary so I'd suggest he try some and see how they feel. As long as he feels comfortable, it'll be fine. The pm is titanium, a harness is not going to damage it. Adding padding might be an option or there are shirts with protectors that might work
http://www.paceguard.com/

Last resort, cymbals or the xylophone that plays from the edge of the field, but I don't think it'll come to that.

I work with marching bands...

by MelodyMarch - 2014-09-30 12:09:58

As a part of my living. Most of the snare and quad harnesses today are designed with lots of padding and are almost a protective "shell" type of material. The weight is designed to be distributed across the whole shoulder area so impact on the pm directly is slim. While I wouldn't want to carry it all day, I have when a student couldn't in an emergency, and it was no worse on my pm than a heavy backpack.

Bass drum harnesses are a different story, most of them still use the older metal strip type which go directly over PM sites. Those might be painful. I would steer away from bass drum anyway, I find if I stand too close to them the vibrations make me feel funny. Your son may not have that though.

The latest xylophone harnesses are of the more snare/quad type so those should be okay.

The next part is the type of harnesses you use vs. your uniform vs. your director, but a lot of harnesses can also be fit over the uniform, thus providing even more padding. It's a discussion that should be had with you, your son and your director as what is best for everyone. I wouldn't immediately say no to a harness.

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