Boom boom ba-dum tss; from the marimba to the drumset, Blaise Clapper, senior, plays all types of percussion instruments.

“I like drumset and marimba the best,” he said. The marimba, a keyboard instrument made from rose wood, is one of the biggest keyboard instruments they play at Shorewood and he says he likes the dark sounds it can produce.

Clapper’s mom was a music teacher so he has been playing instruments since a young age but started playing them formally in fifth grade when he joined the elementary school band. 

“I wasn’t really practicing that much back then,” he said. Initially being more of a hobby for him, Clapper was just playing for fun. He started playing more seriously in high school and practicing more often, taking private lessons and working hard. 

Taking band in high school helped Clapper want to keep going to school.

 “I have a passion for it and it’s a good group of people who are passionate about music.” 

He says dedicating himself to music and practicing has brought him lots of joy as well as great ups and downs. 

With a desire to express himself and share music with people, and continue to improve, the next logical step in life for Clapper is going to Central Washington University to pursue music at a higher level. Central has one of the strongest music programs in the state. 

Clapper visited Central last year with the Shorewood wind ensemble to listen to the bands there play. He says that “the level was something insane,” and it made him think: “I want to do that someday.” 

Like a lot of other students, Clapper is not fully sure what comes after that but he hopes for a career in the music industry, be it playing in an ensemble or teaching people how to play. At this point though, Clapper says, “There are so many things in my future I don’t want to just narrow myself to one thing.” Clapper wants to be able to grab stuff from different places in music and become a well rounded musician.

Clapper recommends that students join the band or participate in music at Shorewood and wants everyone to know that “Me do drum line.”