In my opinion, cymbals are an important part of the marching band. This is a personal issue for me, and here's why.

Brynn (yes, the Brynn of BrynnPark) played oboe in middle school. She did pretty, but we moved to a large 6A suburban HS right before her freshman year.
I contacted her future BDs and told them that she could play tenor sax as well, and could probably do that in marching band.

Their answer: we don't march tenor sax (don't get me started on that).

So she goes to band camp not knowing what she's going to play, and she was told she could play cymbals - and she wanted to. All marching cymbals were played by double reeds, which I think was good for them.
Most importantly to me, my kid got involved in a way she wouldn't have if she was in front ensemble.

Also, I believe it adds to at least the visual aspect of the battery.

I'm not aware of a reason it would hurt the performance.


Tim