Gerry Shellmer - DCI Hall of Fame

Gerry Shellmer

 

Inducted in 1998

Gerald Shellmer's career as a drum corps instructor spanned the years 1950 to 1977. Although the majority of his contributions to the activity were introduced prior to the founding of DCI, his tenure as an instructor did span the early years of DCI. Gerry taught with Most Precious Blood Crusaders (later to become the Boston Crusaders) and the Lt. Norman Prince Princemen of Boston during their heyday. Gerry won the National Championship as an individual snare drummer and in fact retired the V.F.W. National Sr. Title.

To the marching activity, Gerry introduced marching percussion tympani, horizontal keyboard instruments, mounted suspended and ride cymbals, concert bass drums, concert crash cymbals, crotales, the timptom, multitenor drums and the musically proper and tasteful use of ethnic and accessory percussion instruments.

At the same time, he changed the writing style of marching percussion by introducing traditional musical idioms to drum corps, thereby bringing the predominantly rudimental "street beat"-type of drumming to a modern-day sound where tonality, phrasing and "music" are of prime importance.