They didn't just smash the record, they crushed it.
Percussionists from Rock Hill High School place a new Guinness world record Saturday for the longest, single drum roll, as 28 students shared to keep up the roll on one snare drum for 27 hours, 23 seconds.
That with no trouble broke the earlier record of 24 hours, 23 seconds held by a high school in Michigan. Rock Hill High's effort began at 5 p.m. Friday at the Rock Hill Galleria and ended at 8 p.m. Saturday to applause from dozens of citizens who had gathered to fob watch the final minutes.
The happening elevates around $3,600 for Rock Hill High's Band of Distinction to buy new tools.
Of course, the record isn't official until Guinness World Records certifies it. For that to happen, Skellett must compile information for the company, including eyewitness statements, video evidence and media reports and wait for the final word.
“It's been a huge success,” said Michael Skellett, the band's percussion director, referring to the money. “Plus, we got to break a world record in the process, which is cool.”
Some students played longer than others, but no one played longer than junior Jason Piers.
Piers set what is believed to be the longest drum roll by a single person at 4 hours, 10 minutes, besting the previous mark by two minutes. Not only did he have to sustain the roll for that long, he did it in the wee hours of Saturday morning as other drummers took advantage of the downtime to get some sleep.
It wasn't something Piers set out to do. But someone mentioned the record for a single drummer for 4 hours, 8 minutes.
“So I went to the drum and I did it for 4 hours, 10 minutes,” Piers said.
The trick, he said, was playing near the edge of the drum, where the sticks would bounce better. And he made sure not to play too loudly, so as not to use too much energy.
“You want to be as conservative as possible,” he said.
But Piers' feat might not be officially recognized because he didn't fill out the necessary paperwork with Guinness in advance. He's got video of his single roll and is going to explore his options to see if Guinness will accept it anyway.
“If not,” he said, “I'll do it next year.”
The student who had the honor of silencing the drum was senior Ryli “Pop” Schmiedel, whose final strike of the snare at 8 p.m. brought the long journey to an end.
“It's really cool that they trusted me with that,” she said. “It was really nerve-wracking. I was afraid I wasn't going to get it.”
Schmiedel said confidence was high that they would break the record, but Piers' valiant four-hour stint proved key, as it gave other members a chance to rest.
“That saved us in the long run,” she said.
Snaring glory aside, Piers immediately turned his mind toward his next pressing goal.
“I'm going to go home and go straight to bed. I have church tomorrow,” he said.
Guess what he'll do at church. Yep, he'll play drums for two morning worship services.
Standing off to the side as his students prepared to finish up their 27 hour, 23 second record, Skellett, the percussion director who hadn't slept except for maybe an hour since 6 a.m. Friday, said he never doubted his students would reach their goal.
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