I'd rather have a line that's a little too big than too small. A bigger line can play at lower dynamic levels without causing technique to suffer. A smaller line trying to balance a big band might hack away at the expense of sound quality and proper technique.

we have a small battery..
2 snares
1 tenor
4 basses
2 cymbal players

its all good to have 15 players in a snare line if its all together and all but ususally it depends on the size of ur band how many memebers on in ur battery!

branden

Actually, it really can all depend on what you are looking at for recruitment. Some of the smaller schools can't even field both a pit and decent battery unless they want to risk horn quality and depth. Now, the size that I would go with would be weighed by what the line itself has going for (and against) it. Yes, 6 snares that are as clean as Cadets in JULY is sweet, but 3 that are as clean as BD in AUGUST is better if it fits more with the ensemble itself. I have heard time and time again that some small-er battery sections actually do overpower the horns when the horns are blaring as loud as they can with good tone and not "BLAAAAAT!"

That being said, if I was given (in TOB sizings)Note: these are all battery size:
Group 1 (35 members and lower): I'd want 2-1-4 maybe 5, but would work with whatever
Group 2 (36-55 members): 3-2-5
Group 3 (56-80 members): 4-2-5
Group 4 (81+ members): 5 or 6-3-5

Granted, this may not work out due to lack of interest, lack of ability, and lack of patience if it happens.

By the by, yes I have marched in a line with 1 snare, 1 cymbal and 3 bass and I have also marched in a 13 snare, 6 tenor, 7 Bass, 6 cymbal line. Trust me, 13 snares that are Pioneer clean in January isn't fun... 10 who are Crossmen in August Clean is.

More is better sometimes. 10 piss clean snares versus 5 piss clean snares. I would say the 10 are more impressive personally. But it also depends on the size of the band. 10 snares with like 20 wind players. Not so cool.

I would say cleanliness if the main focus though. Having a 20 member drumline doesn't matter if you can't play your parts. Our school had a 4 member drumline. Seriously. 1 snare, 1 tenor, and 2 basses. People kept skipping practice so they got kicked off. But those 4 tried and got their parts cleaned up and got 2nd place at a competition with like 15-20 other bands. And they were the smallest or second smallest there.

to me more can be a killer or a saver because if they can all play together and match perfectly all of the visuals and things do look cooler and are way more impressive than if it's just two snares, but if it is even just a tiny bit muddy it makes the whole line look bad.

large is good. but sloppy most of the time. large lines need large ammounts of practice

i like bigger lines personally. in my opinion, having one snare or tenor just sounds stupid. you get a completely different sound when you have 2+. my line this year marched 5 snare, 1 tenor, and 5 bass. we started the season w/ 2 tenors but one quit for stupid reasons. needless to say, that pissed everyone off.

IMO if your line has 1 snare, it doesn't make them "clean". From what I've seen from schools around here if there is one snare, the player tends to try to play way too many notes and tries to make everything real flashy to make himself look good compared to the rest of the line.

Playing clean is always better than size. I typically teach small lines myself. I have seen small lines & big lines play dirty. Use what ya got. However, a big line that plays clean is extremely powerful. I have seen a couple of small lines at contest that would floor ya. Sound quality is the key.