West Side Story Musical

I got the opportunity to cover the percussion part to Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story (musical version) with Santa Fe College.  It was their first musical and definitely started with a big bang.   The pit at the hall is small so it was recommended that I set up in one of the side "balcony" spaces.  The orchestra and drummer set up under the stage in the pit.  The performances went well, quite an impressive first impression for the college.  

The two biggest challenges were planning what/how to cover and playing with the rest of the ensemble.

I spent a good amount of time contemplating what to cover.  For those who have played the orchestral "Symphonic Dances," it's very similar in orchestration.  I'm glad to have played that version numerous times.  It covered most of the challenging parts.  In order to fit in the space and cover as much of the part as possible, I decided to not use congas and only used two timpani.  I doubled up on cymbals and bongos.  Few of the accessory parts were covered by the drummer.  I wrote A LOT of arrows and notes in the part.  I found that setting up the toms 'marching quad' style reduced the amount of space and made the part easier to play.  I put a set of timbalitos on the front end of the toms for the occasional timbale hits in "Mambo."  For volume and control reasons, I used a LP Mini Shot.  Since I was also mic'ed, all of the sounds cut through.  Cowbells, triangle, finger cymbal and chimes are in the back part of the accessory set up.

Being at stage level made listening difficult.  Most of what I heard was the cast.  I was able to hear the orchestra when I was playing in quieter dynamics.  A monitor set up under the vibes helped greatly, especially during "Cool."  It kept me on my toes for all of the performances.

If you ever get a chance to play in a production of the musical, go for it!  Just make sure to have some time to plan it out.

Tan Dun- Water Concerto

I recently had the opportunity to perform Tan Dun's Water Concerto with the Gainesville Orchestra.  
It's not like any standard percussion concerto, mostly non-traditional instruments with their own challenges.  

The solo part itself is not very rhythmically challenging, but adding water to the mix made it interesting.  A good part of the preparation was in discovering different sounds for each instrument and the development of the cadenzas.  I spent a good amount of time just playing with the water.  First working out the sounds required for the piece and then other sounds for the open sections that are aurally different and visually interesting.  Being amplified, certain dynamics were difficult to control.  The water can only get so loud, and playing very soft was difficult on few of the instruments.  Tan Dun did a very good job orchestrating the sounds in with the orchestra.  I also used distance to the microphone to control some dynamics.  I found that the water shaker brought out all of these issues and was the most difficult to control.

I made a brief video demonstrating most of the "instruments" used in the composition.

The orchestra rented the instruments and I added a few of my own.  Below are pictures of what I did for a set up.  I set up two tables on either side of the bowls.  

I ended not taking all of the written tempo markings.  While some of the parts were difficult to play at the written markings, I found that the faster markings felt frantic.  The slower tempo gave the piece a nice smooth groove and gave certain sections an opportunity to breathe.  I wanted more of a calm stream instead of rapids.  The writing on its own increased in intensity and thickness of texture.

The 7/16 time signature and syncopated rhythms will challenge any orchestra.  After practicing to a metronome for a long time, playing with the real thing was an eye opener getting closer to the performance.  Things worked out in the end.  A great visual and aural experience for the audience.

It was a great experience getting to perform it.  Got my hands wet.  Maybe I'll get another opportunity to perform this or another of his nature themed concerti.
If you're interested in the piece, you can find previews online from a DVD performance that was released in 2009.