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.

Grips- German vs. French

Found the picture of the grips and had some fun with it.

Which is better German or French?

PASIC- part 2

Sorry for the delay, it's been quite busy lately.  

Malletech is quite an awesome company.  I've read about and seen pictures of the Love Vibe, but I was quite surprised by the instrument once I finally got to see it up close.  The vibrato mechanism is not your typical rotating fan system.  It is a flat "shutter" that moves over the resonators.  It is activated once you push the pedal and the player is able to control the opening and closing of the shutter.  It was difficult to tell about tone since I couldn't hear myself blink over all of the chaos.  You can find more details on their website, but make sure to check it out if you get  a chance.

Grover Pro released their updated castanets earlier in the year.  They changed their handle but have also given players the option of adjusting the tension of the castanets.  


You don't get to see Sabian's SR2 cymbals everywhere.  I didn't try all of them out but definitely spent some time trying out the hand crash cymbal pairs.  They definitely look different than any cymbals in their product line but they sounded very open and played easily.  I'm not sure if they are all made this way, but most felt light, medium-medium thin in thickness.  Very much worth the lower price.  

Tycoon had an interesting contraption.  Not sure how long it's been out, but it's basically a percussion rack with built in beaters.  The black discs allow the player to play them with their hand/stick which in turn strikes the specific instrument.

Overtone Lab's Tune-bot is the first drum specific clip on tuner.  It's designed to clip onto the rim of a drum and is designed to only pick up the sound from the drum that it's attached to.  The user can strike the head at each of the lugs and see the pitch that is being sounded.  The user is able to lock in to a specific range, making it easy to avoid picking up the overtones.  I just got one myself, but haven't had a chance to really test it out.  I'll post my findings in the future.

That's my journey to PASIC in a nutshell.  

PASIC- part 1

After many years, I finally got to make it to another PASIC, this year held in Austin, TX.  For those who don't know what it is, it's the Percussive Arts Society International Convention.  PAS is "a music service organization promoting percussion education, research, performance and appreciation throughout the world."(pas.org)  If you are really into percussion in general and aren't a member, I would look into and join.

Anyways, here are some pictures of gear from the show.  Not all of this is new, but you're not going to find them in most music stores.  Check out the manufacturer's websites for more details.

Ron Vaughn percussion.  Here are some tambourines that have small, heavily-ridged jingles.  Sounds like any good concert tambourine but a lot quieter and articulate. 
He had a good assortment of woodblocks and log drums at the show.  Check out the circular key tree on the top right corner.
ronvaughn.net

 Along with the usual drum heads and assortment of hand percussion, Remo had their Mondo cajon.  For those not familiar with Remo percussion products, the drums have synthetic heads making them quite durable and weather hardy.  The Mondo cajon has a wood body, full sound with snares.  The front circle is a layer of their Mondo head allowing the player to utilize brushes.
Remo.com

Toca had their assortment of hand drums, but a couple of items stuck out.  They had a couple of newer pastel-ish djembes in the Freestyle line.  Not sure how long they've had this out but they also had a cowbell with a rotating tightening bolt/nut.  It looks like you can put it on a clamp and still be able to get to it and also keep it out of the way.
tocapercussion.com


 Pearl's jingle cajon is quite fun.  I believe it has a fiberglass shell.  There are a couple of different sized, adjustable pandeiro-like jingles on the front.  Depending on the adjustment, the sound possibilities are great.  If you already have a cajon, they also sell just the jingles with a suction cup.  I'm curious to check it out on other instruments. 
They also had a set of the Adams Schnellar timpani.  So nice, I was afraid to touch them.  Ratchet pedals, fine tuners, long shaped bowls.  The calf heads were so sensitive that you could hear them vibrate from just the noise in the hall.  pearldrum.com

Cooperman is a company in Vermont.  They have been making sticks, rope tuned drums, and fifes since the 50s.  Sticks are made of hickory, rosewood, and persimmon also sold by weight. 
Cooperman.com






Swan Percussion is based in Austin, TX.  Quite inventive, simple designs, alterations and musician friendly.  The cajons come in different woods and sizes.  You can play them them on three sides, has adjustable snares that can be replaced, and optional accessories.  They also had some cool wood box shakers and the Black Swan drum which allows you to play it like a cajon, or play it with a bass drum pedal.  The head is tunable and can be replaced with any 16" head..
swanpercussion.com

 Matt Nolan custom cymbals is from the UK.  The drum set as well as the concert cymbals have a full, complex sound.  The cymbals I played were very dark.  It was hard to hear with all of the commotion, but the triangles are very shimmery with lots of overtones.  Some of similar shape like the Buddy & Thein triangles.  Didn't get to try them out but the bat-wing like plates looked very cool.
mattnolancustomcymbals.com

 Premier is back.  At least the distribution of the concert and marching portion.  The interesting metal bowl are called Aluphone.  They are made of cast aluminum and pitched from about F3-C6 (I think).  You can purchase them individually, in a tree form and even set up like crotales.  Evelyn Glennie played them during the Olympics and numerous DCI groups used them this past season.
aluphone.com

 Equilibrium is based in MI.  Not sure how long these have been out but they displayed their usual woodblocks as well as plastic blocks.  They sounded surprisingly good, not as resonant as their wood counterparts but don't sound like the LP jam blocks. For those who don't know their products, their mallets are quite good.  My brass Equilibrium mallets are not as pretty as their current models.
equilibri.com


Now it's time to get to bed.  Frodo's beat me to it.  More PASIC posts to come.

Going to PASIC

Sorry it's been a while.  Good news is I'll be attending PASIC later this week.  I plan to post new and different products and anything else that may happen.  Let me know if you have any requests!

Stick impact in slow-motion

It's an older video but it's quite amazing what heads and cymbals go through every time we strike them.  That's why it's important to deflect the impact of the stick on the cymbals.  Now, Mike Mangini does play pretty hard and it looks like a Zildjian A Custom crash which is pretty flexible.  Regardless it's pretty cool and mind-blowing.

Here's Frodo.  He likes to fix mallets.  He has to because he likes to play with them.

Percussion basics- holding sticks!

Here's my first video!  Drum basics- how to hold and move the sticks.  Geared toward school band students.