What's in the Box?

Frequently, I receive looks of interest towards the amount of goods that I carry around with me as part of my normal arsenal of mallets, sticks, and other miscellany. Percussionists need be capable of performing all instruments in our family, including drums, keyboard instruments (xylophone, marimba, etc), timpani, and all the "toys" (triangle, tambourine, finger cymbals, ratchet, etc.). In order to play many of these instruments, it's a good idea to follow the Boy Scouts of America slogan of "Be Prepared". Although I was never a scout, myself, I try and prepare myself for any situation. Let's peek inside my Vic Firth stick box to see what's inside. (Hint: click on each image to see a larger version of the picture!)

In the photograph above, we see an empty mallet case with some miscellaneous papers, programs, and two clips for outdoor performances in windy weather. Hidden out of sight is a copy of the timpani part for Handel's Messiah. The only reason I keep it with me is to make notations during each holiday season for any specific orchestra that I am performing with, at the time. Call it superstition.


Next is a layer of sticks. There's nothing too interesting here; Vic Firth SD-1's and a combo sticks, Tom Gauger sticks, and a pair of Christopher Lamb sticks from Malletech; not pictured are a pair of Vic Firth brushes. Let's move onto the mallets...


Here we have a pair of Zildjian cymbal mallets (remember, cord mallets should always be used on metals; save the yarn mallets for wood!), Malletech Bob Becker #32 and #34, Malletech Enhanced Fundamental series #35R and two pairs of #41R. I always use rattan handles on xylophone and glockenspiel. Not shown here are a pair of Innovative Percussion brass bell mallets.


Shown above is a plastic bag filled with timpani mutes; two Vic Firth mutes, four light felt mutes that were made at home, four Rhapsody Percussion "Stay Put" mutes, and two mutes home-made from chamois. Also pictured above is a small pouch with drum and timpani keys, a tuning fork, pencils and a pencil sharpener, a triangle clip, a yarn needle, an old AT&T calling card (used for muting snare drums), ear plugs, a screw driver, and cymbal felts. There's also a small American Flag in there, as well, for those patriotic concerts.


I use the Tom Gauger Stand Pad when converting music stands into tables. Many of my colleagues use towels, as I had for many years; however, I've found that the Stand Pad takes up less room in my stick case (it's crafted from nylon and not cotton), and also has edges to prevent sticks from rolling off. Next, onto the timpani mallets...


Normally I carry anywhere from eight to twelve pairs of timpani mallets in my case. I use mallets from Carlisle Percussion. Ron Carlisle is a great person to work with, and I highly recommend his mallets. Pictured above (from top to bottom) are #2 medium cart wheels, #3, medium ball-type general mallets, and two pairs of #4 medium ball-type hard mallets (1/2-inch and 5/8-inch shafts). The second layer....


...includes #7 extra-hard sticks with a 5/8-inch shaft, #8 chamois-covered staccato sticks, #6 hard sticks, #5 hard sticks, and #7 extra-hard with 1/2-inch shafts. Depending on the hall, drums, or piece of work we are performing, I will take other mallets out of my set. The mallets shown above get me through most work.


And that's what's in my box. You can browse my flickr page that has more photographs of other marimba mallets and pictures of my entire set of Carlisle timpani mallets.

I hope this article was enlightening as to what percussionists carry around with them as part of their normal collection of utilities and implements. Thanks for reading!

Holiday Reading of 2007

The end of holiday concerts is always a relief. Although I did miss a note or two during a first-read performance of some non-trivial mallet parts, luckily I came away unscathed! For the holidays, I've chosen the following books to pass my time with.


Although I joke that this end-of-year present to myself is simply to increase the intelligence of my bookshelves, I truly intend to (at least) read both Berlioz' memoirs and Ross' tome.

WFMT Streaming is Now Free

WFMT, the classical music radio station in Chicago, current changed their policy on streaming music. Months ago I posted here that 'FMT was requiring a subscription to the streaming service. We feel that this is the right direction for WFMT and helps promote the station, as well as classical music in general, in a less-than-elitist way.

Bravo to WFMT for making the right decision. Please visit the WFMT web page to hear the streaming broadcast; don't forget, your subscription dollars will help keep the station on the air and Internet, so become a member when possible.

Now Playing: The Monstrosity of Organic Romanticism

Now playing, the Monstrosity of Organic Romanticism, or Bruckner's E-flat Symphony. This work is nothing less than a study in utter boredom for the timpanist. No offense intended to the Maestro, but I could play some of the roll studies from Technique for the Virtuoso Timpanist and get just about as much fulfillment as I can from playing this symphony.

Let me try and be positive for a moment and come up with three positive goals that I have to work towards during rehearsals and performance.

• Goal #1 - Maintain accurate intonation when executing passages at high volumes. Dynamic changes from pianissimo to fortissimo occur "subito" in a few locations throughout the work causing pitch to get sloppy without proper attention.
  
• Goal #2 - Create the sound of a bass pizzicato at the end of the second movement. Since this is the only real "shining" moment for my instrument throughout this masterwork, I believe every attention should be paid to final bars of this movement.
  
• Goal #3 - Smoothly execute each fortissimo roll and cleanly release each roll without accent (unless requested).

Ok, perhaps the entire work isn't so bad; the hunting theme in the Scherzo is fun, and I like the duplet/triplet motive that anchors that movement. But seriously, can we change the title to the "Dramatic" symphony? With no less than seven "authentic" versions of the score in existence, the symphony has surely caused enough drama to warrant a change in title.

Time to Re-Gear

I have started on the long, painful task of searching for a replacement minidisc recorder. I use minidisc recorders to capture live concerts. It's the easiest way to record concerts, but the format appears to be dying, slowly, as it has been since the late 1990s. Both of my recorders have served me well for the past 7 years, but now require replacement (one plays, one records). Check back here for a quick review in a couple weeks to see what I will have chosen; most likely, I'll go with the Sony MZ-R1 or MZ-M200.

Luciano Pavarotti, Dead at Age 71

According to various news sources, Luciano Pavarotti died today, 06 September 2007, at the age of 71. While I am not familiar with much of Maestro Pavarotti's work, I do know that his rendition of the literature can impress even the strongest opponent of opera.

Let us conclude this entry by quoting one of Pavarotti's signature work's, Nessun Dorma from Puccini's Turandot.

Dilegua, o notte! Tramontate, stelle! Tramontate, stelle! All'alba vincerò! Vincerò! Vincerò!

Vanish, o night! Set, stars! Set, stars! At dawn, I will win! I will win! I will win!

Only through your legacy of recordings will we ever hear your magic again, Maestro. We will watch the stars that tremble with love, and with hope.

Remembering Sir Georg Solti

Today is the tenth anniversary of Sir Georg Solti's death. Solti was the Music Director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra from 1969 to 1991. Following his retirement from the CSO as Music Director, Maestro Solti was made the first and only Music Director Laureate in that orchestra's history.

In reflection of the many wonderful years of devotion to music, I chose to visit the his bust, which was originally placed near the Lincoln Park Conservatory in Chicago, Illinois on his 75th birthday in 1987. The bust was moved, in 2006, to Grant Park (as pictured above), just across from Orchestra Hall. Surely the Maestro would be more happy with this location, for it means he would spend less time commuting and more time working!

The last concert which I saw with Maestro Solti conducting was sometime in the mid-1990s while I was ushering at Orchestra Hall. On this concert were the Mussorgsky Songs of Death (arr. Shostakovich) and Shostakovich's Symphony No. 15 in A Major. These concerts contained some of the most phenomenal playing I have ever heard, and the "Solti Touch" was alive, and well, several years after his departure from his position as full time director. With his signature whip of the baton, or only a small gesture of the hand, an amazing sound would emanate from the ensemble. At the conclusion of each piece, a gracious bow was always followed by a quick shuffle, off stage. Age never appeared to have much effect on the vitality and energy of the Maestro's spirit.

Just before his death, Sir Georg was also the focus of a video documentary (published by Image Entertainment) titled Sir Georg Solti - The Making of a Maestro. In this documentary, Maestro Solti covers the early years of his life, his progression from the Liszt Music Academy in Budapest, Hungary, to a career in music, his evolution into several positions as Music Director in various famous opera houses, and much more. Two poignant quotes were made by the Maestro in the documentary.

"I don't think that music will achieve political immunity...I don't think so. But it may be help easing the hate; easing the non-conformity between nations. It will help heal the wounds."

"Today I am what I am. I'm no Hungarian anymore; [I am] not English. a so-called "cosmopolitan", which is an awful word. Yet what I am, a musician. A musician with a family that I love. That's my life."

While Sir Georg Solti may no longer be with us, his legacy and spirit will live on in the memories of those who experienced his talent, and through the many recordings were are fortunate to have from his lengthy career.

To the Maestro: köszönöm szépen!

Floor Toms: Trying My Patience

What is it with floor toms? Why must they always be so difficult, compared to other drums in a drum set? Last night I had a rehearsal that called for my playing a rhythmic drum solo on the floor tom in a "Gene Krupa style" (quoted directly from the score). Ok, I can do that. Dah-dah-zah-dah doo-dah-dah-zah-dah, etc. In the midst of playing this small little solo, the legs of the floor time conveniently gave out. Nice. Now the orchestra thinks I can't keep a decent beat going for more than five bars.

Weeks ago I played a concert with DuPage Symphony titled Sounds of the Sixties. As you can imagine, there were a lot of rock tunes that required some filling in. I like to use the floor tom, probably more than most people, but (as last night) my sexy silver Yamaha floor tom's legs didn't hold up to much either. Maybe I need to fashion something to keep the legs from slipping. Of course, this makes tear-down more difficult, but when have percussionists ever had it easy?

Given this life-long battle against the engineering mistake called the "legs" of a floor tom (...hey you, the person that developed the whole mistake idea...apologize!), I am afraid to move to a rim mounted system; I have no desire to feel a large, heavy ride cymbal falling into my body.

Perplexing Notations

How often do you see this, perplexing, notation? Which note is louder, the principal note, or the accented grace note? Are both notes of equal volume?

Care for another? Ok, try playing repeated eighth-notes in 6/8 time and get into a "groove". Now, attempt to play the next measure.

I had a nice month off..

I had a nice month off. During that time, I managed to practice a lot of rudiments, expose myself to new music, and relax. Hey, the CSO hired a new percussionist.

Interlude: No Narration, Please!

A friend pointed out this comic today, and it offered a nice interlude to what had become a rather monotonous day of looking through various percussion scores for new literature to perform. This particular comic has to be one of the best representations of shopping for classical music I have ever seen. Truly, it's nearly impossible to find a good recording of Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf without narrator! I have approximately five different versions, and the only one I have without narrator is Leonard Bernstein/NY Philharmonic (SMK 47596). Kudos to Chris Onstad, the author of Achewood, for bringing us this comic!

[ Edit: Click on the image to view comic. ]

Have You Heard: Ground/Sumire Yoshihara

Listeners of Japanese percussion music are sometimes frustrated by the lack of recordings available in mainstream distribution. Years ago while shopping through the bins at the now-defunct Tower Records store on Wabash Avenue in Chicago, I purchased Ground: Sound Space for Percussion III by Sumire Yoshihara. Recently, to my delight, I rediscovered this recording in my collection and wanted to write a few notes about the recording.

Ground: Sound Space of Percussion III (Camerata 32CM-314) is a collection of abstract Japanese percussion works, including Ground for solo percussion by Norio Fukushi, Ichinogotoshi I and II for percussion solo by Masanori Fujita, and Dolcissima Mia Vita, Op. 16 for metallic-percussion solo by Yoshio Hachimura.

The recording presents moving interpretations of each work that are filled with energy. The most challenging technical passages are executed smoothly, with resolve, and in this listeners opinion, appropriate to the genre. The highlight of this recording for me is in the last thirty-seconds of the title track Ground where Yoshihara's command of her technical facilities is displayed while playing on a high-pitched wood.

Two color photographs and three black-and-white photographs of the performer are attractively set throughout the 12-page booklet. The first two tracks were recorded in analog and re-mastered digitally; the remaining three tracks are entirely digital. Liner notes are provided in Japanese with English translation, and engineering, production, recording equipment, dates, and locations are also provided.

Ms. Yoshihara's recording may be lesser-known in the United States, but this recording, if a representation of her playing as a whole, should put her on-par with any other great percussionists.

Conductors Noted in the House of Stars

My tour of the Adler Planetarium last friday was slightly interrupted by the news (to the left) listed on the front page of the 21 December 1968 Chicago Tribune newspaper. It would seem that Giulini and Solti both had their front-page experience that day, in addition to those famous astronaunts.

Bear Down, Chicago Bears!

There is a strong buzz in the city of Chicago before this years Superbowl Sunday. Buildings everywhere are donning blue and orange colors to ramp-up team spirit. The CSO is also displaying their spirit. During the 1986 football season, Sir Georg Solti and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus recorded Jerry Downs' Bear Down, Chicago Bears, a song written in 1941 that has served as the team's "fight song" ever since. This recording was originally on the CSO's two-disc set titled Chicago Symphony Chorus: 40th Anniversary Celebration, and was recently released a free mp3 of this recording. You can download and enjoy the recording from the CSO's website, or obtain it from the local copy here. A bit of trivia: the song was composed by Jerry Downs, which is actually a pseudonym for Song Writer Hall of Fame artist Al Hoffman.

New Babylon: Soviet Artistry, Together in Collaboration

Films scores are certainly interesting creatures that live and die by many factors that could not be further from the music itself. The author did not realize this until presented with a unique opportunity to accompany - as part of the University of Chicago Symphony Orchestra - New Babylon, by russian film directors Grigori Kozintsev and Leonid Trauberg.

The film score was composed by Dmitri Shostakovich at the age of 23 years old. In short the film, produced in 1929 and considered by many to be a pinnacle of early Russian avant-garde film, tells the story of the Paris Commune of 1871. Within the score itself the young Shostakovich quotes La Marseillaise and uses several dances popular at the time including the can-can and farandole. Shostakovich even goes so far as to quote Offenbach in several places, selectively displacing a note (or two) as a humoresque. All these themes and dances are fair game for Shostakovich to use in coordination, or opposition, with each other. Tension and anxiety is provided to the viewer through use of counter point, ostinatos, rhythmic and harmonic juxtapositions, and more. The author noted Shostakovich using macro-theme of semitones (Bb-A-Cb) during the third "reel" of the film. This small fragment much resembles his future eleventh symphony.

When the film was completed in 1929, Russian censors in Leningrad approved the version of film, and all was on track to include Shostakovich's monumental score, written in merely three weeks, in the premiere throughout Russia and abroad. Then, things went sour. New censors in Moscow decided that a further 20-percent of the film should be cut upon it's submission for the Moscow screening. The directors were able make their edits in time, but unfortunately Shostakovich's music did not lend itself well to editing because it was written to illustrate and support impressions in the film, acting in a greater capacity than just background music.

New Babylon was one of the first film scores written using techniques that audiences would eventually come to expect, decades later. Character motives, quotes from pop-culture, special effects to create tension and mood, and other techniques are used throughout the film to increase the overall impact of the cinematography. Unfortunately, cutting large portions out of the score (which, even by Shostakovich's account, was a very difficult piece of music to perform) to meet the requirements set forth by the Moscow censors would lead to disaster. The films fate was also doomed for many other reasons outside the scope of this article, and thus it fell out of mainstream media for decades.


The realization of film given last weekend was the premiere of director Marek Pytel's 2006 restoration of the film. Maestra Barbara Schubert, music director of the University Symphony, should also be noted for her efforts to successfully create a smooth, musically correct, film score to accompany this premiere. Presented in eight "reels", the score is a tour de force for orchestra. Although several speeds of the film can be chosen, this premiere was chosen to run at 24 frames per second (the standard running speed for film in today's cinematography).

Accompanying the film running at 24 fps presented several challenges to the orchestra due to the increase in tempos required to fit all music for a scene, or an entire reel, appropriately. Much success was accredited to the Ms. Schubert and her orchestra by several audience members I spoke with after both performances.

The percussion requirements throughout the score are minimal but interesting. Although there are two portions which call for a solo, melodic flexatone (yes, you read the right!), the remaining snare drum, bass drum, cymbals, tambourine, and triangle can be covered by three percussionists and a timpanist.

The experience was certainly a learning experience for the myself, and I suspect for the other members of the orchestra and conductor. To end this article, I quote one of the few scenes I was able to watch...

   "Viva la commune!"

WFMT Streaming

It seems that WFMT in Chicago is once again streaming audio. The catch? You have to be willing to pay $100 USD to be a part of the club. Sorry, no freebies here in Chicago! WFMT used to offer free streaming services 3 to 4 years ago until many entities decided they should not be broadcasting this music onto the Internet. It isn't quite enough that royalties have been paid to those money-hungry fools at the RIAA (and probably those greedy folks within the American Federation of Musicians too!) to broadcast recordings into the Chicagoland market. Instead, WFMT has now succumbed to paying twice the royalties to broadcast onto the Internet. Luckily, they've created a pricing model to obtain that content, but this sets new standards of "low" for the only classical station left in Chicago.

I could probably rant about this for days, and if you've met me in person, you would have already heard about my dealings with the RIAA and MPAA during my day job. They are reversing the usefulness of the Internet by limiting access to content or pursuing end-users through legal action. Now, I write this as an artist knowing well that artists wish to make money from their performances, recordings, etc., but most of the artists, upon whose behalf the RIAA pursues those file-sharing scoundrels, rarely see any of the money returned from those legal actions. Most artists rarely see all but a small percentage of each dollar of their sales.

There's an interesting segment called Dear Air Online which was aired on National Public Radio in 2001. The case has only worsened, and we are being locked into DRM-restricted technologies that provide micro-controls of your artistic preferences. You can help change this by writing your congressmen and telling them you are not pleased with their passive stance on RIAA/MPAA enforcements, DRM, etc. Even if you prefer to buy CD's at your local music store, there are still reasons why you should be afraid of DRM.

Oh yes, I forgot! To be fair, if you're interested in the streaming service, visit the WFMT Streaming website. It wasn't my intent to bash WFMT in this posting because I have friends who work there. But I do hope more people start considering the "why" behind the costs of listening to their favorite on-air programs.