PercussiveNotes_200404

Percussive NotesThe journal of the Percussive Arts Society • Vol. 42, No. 2 • April 2004


Drumline Audition Solo

A Musical Approach toMarimba Technique

Incorporating Thai Musicinto Percussion Ensemble

Selectinga SnareDrum

COLUMNS |

3 President’s ReportBY MARK FORD

5 PASIC 2004 ReportBY GEORGE BARRETT, HOST

6 Society UpdateBY MICHAEL KENYON

8 Web Threads

76 New PercussionLiterature andRecordings

88 From the PASMuseum CollectionThree Paintings byMichael Craden

COVER |10 Selecting a Snare Drum

BY WILLIAM PATTERSON

DRUMSET |16 Interview With Gilang Ramadhan

BY JEFF MOORE

20 Expanding on a Three-Over-Four Beat IdeaBY MIKE SPINRAD

22 Practice Room Essential Double Bass GroovesBY BOBBY RONDINELLI AND MICHAEL LAUREN

MARCHING |

24 Marching Band in the Far EastBY ROBERT SANDERL

30 Practice Room Drumline Audition SoloBY JAY WANAMAKER

WORLD |

32 Incorporating Thai Traditional Music in the Percussion EnsembleBY JEFF MOORE

EDUCATION |

38 Integrating Improvisation Into Your Curriculum An interview withBill Cahn

BY JAMES SNELL

KEYBOARD |

44 Beyond Mechanics: A Musical Approach to Marimba TechniqueBY ALISON SHAW

46 Practice Room Jazz Waltz for VibesBY THOMAS L. DAVIS

SYMPHONIC |

48 Jennifer Higdon’s “Concerto for Orchestra”BY JOHN TAFOYA

TECHNOLOGY |

58 Compositional Standard for Electronic ControllersBY MICHAEL MIZMA AND JAMES METCALFE

HEALTH AND WELLNESS |

64 I Feel Your Pain!BY DR. DARIN “DUTCH” WORKMAN

RESEARCH |

72 Scientifically Based Drumming PedagogyBY DR. TODD JOHNSON


I Feel Your Pain!, page 64

Interview With Gilang Ramadhan, page 16

PERCUSSIVE NOTES 2 APRIL 2004

(YEAR SPECIfiES DATE OF INDUCTION)KEIKO ABE, 1993ALAN ABEL, 1998

HENRY ADLER, 1988FRANK ARSENAULT, 1975

ELDEN C. “BUSTER” BAILEY, 1996JOHN BECK, 1999REMO BELLI, 1986

LOUIE BELLSON, 1978WARREN BENSON, 2003JAMES BLADES, 1975

MICHAEL BOOKSPAN, 2003CARROLL BRATMAN, 1984

HARRY BREUER, 1980GARY BURTON, 1988JOHN CAGE, 1982JOE CALATO, 2001JIM CHAPIN, 1995

VIDA CHENOWETH, 1994BOBBY CHRISTIAN, 1989

MICHAEL COLGRASS, 1987ALAN DAWSON, 1996

JOHN CALHOUN (J.C.) DEAGAN, 1999CLOYD DUFF, 1977

SIEGFRIED FINK, 2003VIC FIRTH, 1995

ALFRED FRIESE, 1978GEORGE GABER, 1995TERRY GIBBS, 2000

BILLY GLADSTONE, 1978MORRIS GOLDENBERG, 1974

SAUL GOODMAN, 1972GEORGE HAMILTON GREEN, 1983

LIONEL HAMPTON, 1984HASKELL HARR, 1972LOU HARRISON, 1985ROY HAYNES, 1998

SAMMY HERMAN, 1994FRED D. HINGER, 1986

RICHARD HOCHRAINER, 1979MILT JACKSON, 1996ELVIN JONES, 1991JO JONES, 1990

ROY KNAPP, 1972WILLIAM KRAFT, 1990GENE KRUPA, 1974

MORRIS “ARNIE” LANG, 2000ALEXANDER LEPAK, 1997

MEL LEWIS, 2001MAURICE LISHON, 1989

WILLIAM F. LUDWIG II, 1993WILLIAM F. LUDWIG, SR., 1972

SHELLY MANNE, 1997ELLIE MANNETTE, 2003JOE MORELLO, 1993CLAIR MUSSER, 1975

NEXUS: BOB BECKER, WILLIAM CAHN,ROBIN ENGELMAN, RUSSELL HARTENBERGER,

JOHN WYRE, 1999JOHN NOONAN, 1972RED NORVO, 1992

BABTUNDE OLATUNJI, 2001CHARLES OWEN, 1981HARRY PARTCH, 1974

AL PAYSON, 2001JOHN S. PRATT, 2002PAUL PRICE, 1975TITO PUENTE, 2001BUDDY RICH, 1986

EMIL RICHARDS, 1994MAX ROACH, 1982

JAMES SALMON, 1974FRED SANFORD, 2000

MURRAY SPIVACK, 1991RINGO STARR, 2002

GEORGE L. STONE, 1997WILLIAM STREET, 1976

ED THIGPEN, 2002EDGARD VARÈSE, 1980

WILLIAM “CHICK” WEBB, 1985CHARLEY WILCOXON, 1981

TONY WILLIAMS, 1997ARMAND ZILDJIAN, 1994AVEDIS ZILDJIAN, 1979ROBERT ZILDJIAN, 2000

P E R C U S S I V E A R T SS O C I E T Y

HALL OF FAME

PERCUSSIVE NOTESEDITOR Rick Mattingly/Bellarmine

University, Louisville, KY

MANAGING EDITOR Hillary Henry/Lawton, OK

ASSOCIATE EDITORSDrumset Jim Coffin/Anaheim Hills, CA

Education Scott Harris/Stephen F. AustinState University,Nagadoches, TX

Health and Wellness Darin Workman/Kingwood, TXKeyboard Percussion Alison Shaw/Michigan State

University, East Lansing, MIMarching Jeff Moore/University of

Central Florida, Orlando, FLResearch Lisa Rogers/Texas Tech

University, Lubbock, TXJames Strain/Northern

Michigan University,Marquette, MI

Selected Reviews James Lambert/CameronUniversity, Lawton, OK

Symphonic Michael Rosen/OberlinConservatory of Music,Oberlin, OH

Technology Kurt Gartner/Kansas StateUniversity, Manhattan, KS

World Percussion B. Michael Williams/WinthropUniversity, Rock Hill, SC

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Keiko Abe/Tokyo, JapanJohn Bergamo/California

Institute of the Arts,Valencia, CA

Michael Burritt/NorthwesternUniversity, Evanston, IL

Morris “Arnie” Lang/New York, NYArthur Lipner/Stamford, CTHeinz von Moisy/Rottenburg,

GermanyRichard Weiner/Cleveland

Orchestra, Cleveland, OH

MUSIC ENGRAVER Rick Mattingly/BellarmineUniversity, Louisville, KY

ART DIRECTOR Hillary Henry/Lawton, OK

EDITORS EMERITUS James Lambert, 1986–1995Jean Charles Francois, 1985–

1987Robert Schietroma, 1983–1986Stuart Smith, 1983–1984F. Michael Combs, 1979–1982James L. Moore, 1963–1980Neal Fluegel, 1966–1979Donald G. Canedy, 1963–1966

Mission StatementThe Percussive Arts Society® (PAS®)

is a music service organizationpromoting percussion education,

research, performance andappreciation throughout the world.

PERCUSSIVE ARTS SOCIETYPAS BOARD OF DIRECTORS

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEEPresident Mark Ford

University of North Texas, Denton, TXPresident-elect Rich Holly

Northern Illinois University, Dekalb, ILVice President Gary Cook

University of Arizona, Tucson, AZSecretary Steve Beck

Pro-Mark Corporation, Houston, TXTreasurer Mike Balter

Mike Balter Mallets, Prospect Heights, ILImmediate Past President James Campbell

University of Kentucky, Lexington, KYExecutive Director Michael Kenyon

DIRECTORSTimothy K. Adams/Pittsburgh, PA

Anders Åstrand/Stockholm, SwedenGeorge Barrett/Innovative Percussion, Nashville, TN

John R. Beck/North Carolina School of the Arts,Winston-Salem, NC

Gregg Bissonette/Westlake Village, CARuth Cahn/Eastman School of Music, Rochester, NY

Peter Erskine/Santa Monica, CADavid Eyler/Concordia College,

Moorhead, MN, Fargo-Moorhead Symphony OrchestraVic Fir th/Vic Fir th, Inc., Dedham, MA

Neil Grover/Grover Pro Percussion, Inc., Woburn, MASteve Houghton/Indiana University, Bloomington, IN

James Lambert/Cameron University, Lawton, OKArthur Lipner/Wilton, CT

Frederic Macarez/Orchestre de Paris, Conservatoire Superieurde Paris - CNR, Paris, France

William Moersch/University of Illinois, Urbana, ILLisa Rogers/Texas Tech University School of Music,

Lubbock, TXNey Rosauro/University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL/

Santa Maria, BrazilDavid Samuels/Fairfield, CT

Ed Shaughnessy/Calabasas, CAKristen Shiner McGuire/Nazareth College, Rochester, NY

Ed Thigpen/Action Reaction, Copenhagen, DenmarkNorman Weinberg/University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

Andy Zildjian/Sabian, Ltd., Meductic, NB Canada

COUNCIL OF PAST PRESIDENTSRobert Breithaupt, 1999–2000

Genaro Gonzalez, 1997–98Garwood Whaley, 1993–96

Robert Schietroma, 1991–92John Beck, 1987–90

Thomas Siwe, 1984–86Larry Vanlandingham, 1982–84

James Petercsak, 1978–81Gary Olmstead, 1973–77Sandy Feldstein, 1968–72Gordon Peters, 1964–67Donald Canedy, 1961–63

PAS STAFFExecutive Director Michael Kenyon

Director of EventProduction & Marketing Jeff Hartsough

Marketing Director Katherine LeidyMuseum Curator/Librarian Otice Sircy

Publications Editor Rick MattinglyGraphic Designer Hillary Henry

Financial Manager Ferra BriscoeAdministrative Assistant Christa Riley

Paula ThomasMail Clerk Danny Mendonsa

Intern Brian Zeglis

PAS MUSEUMDirector of Public Relations James Lambert, Cameron

University, Lawton, OK

PAS HISTORIANSLisa Rogers, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX

James Strain, Northern Michigan University, Marquette, MI

PASIC HOSTGeorge Barrett, PASIC 2004, Nashville, TN—Nov. 10–13, 2004


FROM THEPRESIDENT

Annual membership in the Percussive Arts Society® begins in the month dues are received and applications processed.A portion of membership dues is designated for subscription to Percussive Notes. • Percussive Notes (ISSN 0553-6502) isprinted in the USA at Johnson Press of America, Inc., Pontiac, IL and is published six times a year: February, April, June,August, October, and December by the Percussive Arts Society, 701 NW Ferris Ave., Lawton, OK 73507-5442; telephone:(580) 353-1455. Periodicals postage paid at Pontiac, IL and at additional mailing offices. Annual subscription rate:Professional/Enthusiast—$85, Library—$90, Student/Senior—$55, ePAS™ On-line Student—$25, ePAS™ On-line Profes-sional–$40. • POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: Percussive Notes, 701 NW Ferris Ave., Lawton, OK 73507-5442• Correspondence regarding change of address, membership, and other business matters of the Society should be directedto: Percussive Arts Society, 701 NW Ferris Ave., Lawton, OK 73507-5442; telephone: (580) 353-1455; fax: (580) 353-1456.• Editorial material should be sent to: Rick Mattingly, Percussive Notes, 701 NW Ferris Ave., Lawton, OK 73507-5442 •Advertising copy, negatives, insertion orders, etc., should be sent to: Percussive Notes, 701 NW Ferris Ave., Lawton, OK73507-5442 • © 2004 by the Percussive Arts Society. All rights reserved. Percussive Notes, an official publication of thePercussive Arts Society (a not-for-profit educational organization), is protected under the United States of America CopyrightProvision, section 107, regarding the “fair use” of a copyrighted work for purposes of criticism, comment, news reporting,teaching, scholarship, or research. Reproduction of any part of this publication without written consent from the PercussiveArts Society is prohibited by law. The Percussive Arts Society reserves the right to reject any editorial or advertising materials.Mention of any product in Percussive Notes does not constitute an endorsement by the Society. The Percussive Arts Societyis not responsible for statements or claims made by individuals or companies whose advertising appears in Percussive Notes.

HOW TO REACH THE PERCUSSIVE ARTS SOCIETY: VOICE (580) 353-1455 [leave message between5 P.M. and 9 A.M.] • FAX (580) 353-1456 [operational 24 hours a day] • E-MAIL percar [email protected] •WEB www.pas.org • HOURS Monday–Friday, 9 A.M.–5 P.M.; Saturday, 1–4 P.M.; Sunday, 1–4 P.M.

The best way to ensure that youngpercussionists develop into goodmusicians is to give their teachers

the finest percussion education possible.Teachers inspire and motivate studentsthrough their enthusiasm and dedicationto their art form. If you are reading thisarticle, you have probably either taughtand/or taken a college percussion meth-ods course. I think we would all agreethat a one-semester percussion methodscourse couldn’t adequately prepare a col-lege music-education major for a careeras a band director. Usually there is somuch percussion information and tech-nique to learn that the future band direc-tor leaves the methods class with onereal ambition: “Hire a percussion in-structor as soon as I get a job!”

In response to this educational di-lemma, the Percussive Arts Society initi-ated the PAS Teacher Training Workshop(TTW) in 2003. The concept of theseworkshops is to offer a one-day, hands-ontraining session for high school andmiddle school music educators. Theseworkshops are an extension of the popu-lar FUNdamentals clinics offered everyyear at PASIC. TTW participants receivebasic training by professionals on snaredrum, keyboard percussion, timpani, ac-

cessory percussion, and drumset. Theyalso receive a TTW Handbook filled withpercussion resource materials, a one yearePAS membership, six hours of continu-ing education credit (where applicable),and percussion literature and informa-tion from many PAS Sustaining Mem-bers. These workshops are an amazingvalue for the $100 registration fee!

Unlike our chapter Days of Percussion,these teacher-training workshops are formusic educators only. They do not in-clude student performances or guest art-ist clinics. The primary goal is to givehigh school and middle school teachersthe experience and resources they needto teach percussion effectively. It is myhope that eventually each PAS Chapterwill be able to host a PAS Teacher Train-ing Workshop every year.

Our first 2004 Teacher Training Work-shop was held in February at FloridaState University, hosted by John Parkswith faculty members Parks, AlexJimenez, and Leon Anderson. There willbe five more PAS Teacher Training Work-shops this year. Below is a list of theseworkshops with their hosts and contacts:

April 17: California State University–Long Beach

BY MARK FORD

Reaching Out toTeachers


Host: Michael Carney,[email protected]: Dr. Michael Carney, DavidGerhart, Randy Drake

June 12: University of GeorgiaHost: Tony McCutchen,[email protected]: Tony McCutchen, Arvin Scott,Sean Womack

June 12: University of North TexasHost: Mark Ford, [email protected]: Christopher Deane, Mark Ford,Ed Soph

June 29: Capital UniversityHost: Bob Breithaupt, [email protected]: Bob Breithaupt, Eric Paton,Mark Reynolds, Nate Anders

July 9: Eastman School of MusicHost: Ruth Cahn,[email protected]: Ruth Cahn, John Beck, BillCahn, Kristen Shiner-McGuire

If you live in one of these areas, pleaseinform area music educators about thebenefits of these workshops. By givingvaluable hands-on training to teachers,students will also benefit and become

aware of PAS. The Teacher TrainingWorkshops are an essential tool in con-necting with local music educators andtheir students. Many thanks to the hostsand faculty for providing their time andtalents for this worthy cause!

If you would be interested in hosting aPAS Teacher Training Workshop in yourchapter, please e-mail me at the addressabove. The PAS Executive Committee isalready looking for potential workshopsites for 2005.

Best wishes,

Mark Ford

P.S. Don’t forget, if you are teaching acollege percussion methods course, PASwill send you free three-month ePASmemberships for those enrolled in yourclass. This membership will allow themto do projects for your class such as ex-plore the FUNdamentals Handouts, re-view percussion literature and methodbooks, ask questions on the PAS Forumand a myriad of other projects. E-mail

PAS now at [email protected] to re-ceive these free memberships for the stu-dents in your percussion methods class!

PN

The Percussive Arts Society wishesto express its deepest gratitude to

the following businesses andindividuals who have given generous

gifts and contributions to PASover the years.

$500,000 or moreMCMAHON FOUNDATION

$100,000 or moreFRED GRUBER

ZILDJIAN FAMILY

$50,000 or moreGORDON B. PETERS

EMIL RICHARDS

MICKEY TOPERZER

$25,000 or moreCAROLL BRATMAN

NANCY & PERRY D. PREUSCH

REMO, INC.SABIAN, LTD.THOMAS SIWE

PRESIDENT’SCIRCLE


BY GEORGE BARRETT

FROM THEPASIC HOST

The PASIC 2004 Nashville host com-mittee has been hard at work plan-ning what looks to be one of the

most exciting and successful conventionsthus far. I would like to thank all themembers of the local committee for all oftheir hard work during the past months.Working hard to bring this year’s attend-ees a diverse and unique array of clinics,master classes and performances, com-mittee members have taken many hoursout of their busy schedules to meet insubcommittees to review a host of sessionapplications and make decisions on theartist invitations.

In March we dealt with several of theorganizational issues associated with theconvention. Jeff Hartsough, PAS Directorof Event Production, visited Nashville fora site inspection, which included soundchecks of all the venue and clinic rooms,and held meetings concerning sound,video, catering, security, and logistics is-sues.

In this issue of Percussive Notes, pleasetake note of a number of important appli-cations. Included is an early registrationform for the convention, along with a ho-

Nashville Planning CommitteeHard at Work

tel registration form. The Renaissancehotel is a well-appointed hotel, and is at-tached directly to the convention center. Iencourage everyone to book their roomsearly, as this hotel will sell out quickly.There are also a number of other hotels,offering a variety of price levels, withinan extremely short walking distance ofthe convention center. See the hotel res-ervation form in this issue or visit thePASIC Web site www.pasic.org for mapsof the area and more information on ho-tels.

As a reminder, PAS has eleven PASICscholarships being offered this year. In-terested students will find the applica-tion in this issue. Please note that thedeadline for PASIC scholarship applica-tions is June 15, 2004. I also want to re-mind everyone that the deadline for thehigh school and college percussion en-semble Call for Tapes is April 15, 2004.Three university and three high schoolensembles will be selected to perform ashowcase concert during this year’sPASIC. As I mentioned in the last issue,PASIC will once again feature perfor-mances by the solo marimba and ma-

rimba duo winners of the upcoming In-ternational Marimba Competition in Bel-gium to be held in August. I encourageeveryone to enter and apply for thesegreat scholarships and competitions.

Exhibitors: Jeff Hartsough has askedthat I remind everyone that you shouldhave received your PASIC exhibitorpacks by now, and that the opening dead-line for accepting applications was March22. You can also download the exhibitorpack at the PASIC Web site,www.pasic.org. Space assignments andbooth locations are awarded by the officebased on the date the application is re-ceived at the PAS office. To ensure thebest booth location, please submit yourapplications and deposits as soon as pos-sible. Space in Nashville is limited andwe are sure to sell out once again for thisyear’s Nashville convention.

As “Music City” continues to get readyfor another exciting PASIC, and potentialartists respond to their invitations, wewill bring you a preview into more of theexciting events planned for PASIC 2004in the June issue of Percussive Notes. PN


FROM THEEDITOR

SOCIETYUPDATE

Days of PercussionBY MICHAEL KENYON

April is traditionally the busiestmonth for Days of Percussion forboth our national and international

chapters. These chapter events are a prin-cipal reason why PAS is such a strong anddynamic organization. Days of Percussionevents reach beyond our membership andare an important avenue for students andeducators to become familiar with PAS.How well these events are run and whatprogramming is offered has a tremendousimpact on our society.

This year is proving to be another ban-ner year for these events. Everyone atPAS offers their congratulations andthanks to our chapter presidents, chapterofficers, hosts, and other volunteers for allthe hard work that they have poured intomaking these events successful. Thanksalso go to the artists for their perfor-mances and clinics and to the many corpo-rate and community sponsors for theirfinancial contributions. This mosaic ofsupport is remarkable when you begin toput it all together and realize that thishappens over 75 times each year through-out the world.

As a PAS member, your participation inchapter activities is essential to the suc-

cess of your chapter. To volunteer, contactyour chapter officers or the PAS office toget connected. Getting involved is a greatway to network with the local percussioncommunity, give back to the membership,and contribute to the society.

NEW SCHOLARSHIP OFFERED FOR 2004LOGISTICS WORKERS

PASIC 2004 logistics workers will re-ceive a series of new benefits for volun-teering their services at the convention.Besides free convention registration, a t-shirt, and a great chance to get a behind-the-scenes view of the convention andclinicians, all logistics volunteers will beeligible for the following benefits.

$1,000 Scholarship for Tuition: Onestudent will be selected from all eligiblelogistics volunteers who complete theirdesignated shifts.

One–year ePAS student member-ship: All volunteers completing theirshifts will receive a complimentary ePASmembership.

Percussion Gear Drawing: All eli-gible volunteers will be entered in a draw-ing for percussion gear from participatingmanufacturers.

The logistics application form is in-cluded on page 19, or you can downloadthis and other PASIC forms atwww.pasic.org. Be sure to apply early toget the best selection of shifts.

PAS WELCOMES NEW STAFFI am pleased to announce three new

staff members that have joined PAS overthe last sixty days. Katherine Leidy, ournew Marketing Director, began in Febru-ary and is an experienced marketing andcommunications professional. For more in-formation regarding Katherine’s appoint-ment and experience go to http://www.pas.org/News/Press/KLeidy.cfm. Alsojoining PAS this past month is FerraBriscoe, who will serve as our FinanceManager, and Paula Thomas, who joinsChrista Riley in office administration.

CONTEST DEADLINESAs our PASIC host George Barrett men-

tions in his report, April 15 is the deadlinefor the International Percussion EnsembleCompetition. This date is also the dead-line for the 2004 Solo Vibraphone Compe-tition and the 31st Annual PercussionComposition Competition. Forms areavailable in this issue of Percussive Notesand online at www.pas.org/News/Contests/index.cfm.

FALL INTERNSHIPPAS is still accepting applications for

the fall internship position at PAS head-quarters. This six-month internship is agreat opportunity to get industry-relatedand administrative experience. The in-ternship begins in July and includes a sti-pend and a paid, furnished apartment. Forfurther details please see the announce-ment on page 45. You may also direct in-quiries via email to [email protected]

BOARD NOMINATIONSNominations for the PAS Board of Di-

rectors continue to be accepted throughJune 1 for the 2005–2006 term. All nomi-nations must be received at the PAS officein writing and include nominee contact in-formation. Self nominations are accepted.

PN



TendonitisFollowing are excerpts from a recent dis-cussion in the “Health and Wellness”topic of the PAS Members Forums. Toview the entire discussion (and partici-pate, if you wish) visit the Members Onlysection of the PAS Web site atwww.pas.org.

Erin RobertsonFor the past few years, I have been

struggling with problems in my left wrist/arm. I have had ganglion cysts to ten-donitis. This will be the second time inless than a year that I have been diag-nosed with tendonitis. I have tried physi-cal therapy, not practicing/performing,taking steroids, surgeries. I really needsome advice. I love to play; I could neversee a day passing in which I would not. Ifyou have dealt with tendonitis and havefound other avenues in which to “cure” it,please let me know.

William MoerschI had a severe case of tendo-synovitis

in the mid-1980s. The key solutionswere: proper diagnosis, immobilization,therapy (both physical and occupational)for recovery and rehabilitation, carefulexamination of the personal factors thatcaused the problem (including changingthe entire mindset for practice and perfor-mance), and patience. My recovery pro-cess took one year, from no playing forsix months, to light playing, to carefulfree-lancing, to half-recital solo pro-grams, and finally to full recital programs.I did not require steroids or surgery, and Ihave been injury-free ever since, but Ihave seriously changed the ways inwhich I approach the task at hand, prima-rily through more thought and less effort.

Brian FlescherA chiropractor used acupressure on

my arms, which pumps electrical currentthrough them to get the blood flowingbetter. I also had a couple sessions witha specialized masseuse called a “rolfer.”Putting ice on for 10 minutes at a timekeeps the swelling down. All of this com-bined got my arms back to normal inabout a week and a half.

Erin RobertsonWere you in school during this time? I

do not want to miss any school; I cannot af-ford to be a year behind. But in the samerespect, I do not want to not be able to playagain. Percussion is my life, my soul.

William TriggI have had students say almost exactly

the same thing. Listen carefully, please!One year of school may seem very impor-tant right now, but if you risk your entire ca-reer for that one year it will become muchmore important to you IN A NEGATIVEWAY! Nothing is more important than yourlong-term health. Don’t put your life andyour soul on the line. You will regret it for-ever if you take that risk and lose. You oweit to yourself to step back and get healthy.

Alexander RadziewskiTendonitis starts with fixed, unrelaxed

and untrained shoulder muscles. Start withdaily gymnastics, stretching and maybeswimming or another sport which trains thephysical and mental condition. The goal isto become more and more relaxed on ahigher level, not to have the body of Mr.Schwarzenegger. After three months doingthis program you will feel much better.

My practical advice after 25 years in thebusiness: 30 minutes body-fitness and 30minutes warm-ups per day replace 120minutes of stupid practicing time. So, youare prepared and fit to do the importantthings on the instruments. Practicing an in-strument includes these body warm-ups.

Dillon PhillipsI spent a long time “battling” tendonitis,

and the way to recovery was resting. I hadto cancel a recital, but it was worth it.

Aaron T SmithIf you are “battling” tendonitis or any

other physical problem that interferes withyour playing, examine what you doing. Weare not meant to fight our bodies; if thebody is putting up that much resistance,something is fundamentally wrong.

If you have been ignoring your healthand nothing bad has happened to you yet, Iwould wager that you have been lucky, andchances are sooner or later something will.

Darin WorkmanAs a doctor, I often treat problems of the

wrist and arms with drummers. It seems

that your passion for playing is writingchecks your body cannot cash.

I have read all of the replies to your in-jury question, and all are sound advicedepending on the injury, the stage that itis at, and the amount of damage that isdone. If the injury is first starting, you canusually do the stretching and exercising,but if it has progressed in damage andage, stretching and exercise may aggra-vate it.

Your passion for playing must carryover into your technique. Many times,small glitches in our technique go un-seen and unfelt at lower levels of playing,but are increasingly magnified as the in-tensity (time, force, movement) of ourplaying increases. I imagine that youstarted feeling the symptoms as yourplaying intensity increased. The firstthing that happens in that situation is thatthe muscles overwork, go into spasmcreating contractions that cannot bestretched out. This forces the musclesaround the damaged area to do the jobthey are not meant to do, and they followthe same path getting injured. Tightmuscles put constant increased force onthe tendons, and that causes tendonitis.

Unless the problem in the muscle isrelieved, the tendonitis will get worsewith playing. You can rest, and the ten-don will cool down (or even heal withenough time), but when you resumeplaying, the cycle starts again and the in-jury comes back.

Your case has progressed and re-quires proper examination and treatment.The above information is just FYI as apossible (and very common) reason foryour pain. My professional advice is tostop playing until you find the reason forthe injury and then have proper treat-ment and rehabilitation from a doctor thatknows (and hopefully plays) drums/per-cussion.

An organization called the PerformingArts Medical Association (PAMA) has adirectory of qualified musical health pro-fessionals. Their number is (303) 751-2770. You can e-mail me if you needfurther info: [email protected]. PN



Selecting aSnare Drum

By William Patterson


How rigid is the shell?Rigidity is necessary for sound pro-

jection. Just as a woodwind instru-ment must have the hardness anddensity for good sound projection, somust a snare drum. Also, asyou begin to tightendown the lugs andhardware, you don’twant the shell tocontort or beginto “cave in”around thebearingedges.

Try thisexperi-ment: Setvariousdisas-sembledshells (somewood andsome metal)on the floor ina vertical posi-tion. Now pushdown on eachone and notice theamount of flexibility andbend. One of the most sur-prising discoveries will be that agood wood shell can often have morerigidity and structural integrity than atypical metal shell.

If you look over typical magazine ads for drums, you’re likely to come away

quite bewildered and confused. Every manufacturer, whether it be the lone,

custom drum builder or one of the big, established names, will claim that

their latest model is “the one.” With a price range from $400 to $2,200, how do

you know you are getting your money’s worth? With a few basic facts at your

disposal you can pick out or even put together your own great-sounding snare

drum. Also, you can decide if it is worth the time and money to fix up that old

“classic” you’ve been wanting to restore.

The basic ingredient of a quality drum is a shell with structural integrity—a

shell that is rigid, round, and “flat.” Following is a list of items you should men-

tally check before buying or building a drum:

Shell materialYour choices are basically between

wood and metal. In terms of wood,many exotic materials are available,and a whole host of specialists advocat-

ing the advantage of onewood over another.

Personally, afteryears of re-

search and ex-perience onthe stage, Idon’t thinkthe soundof a drumis the re-sult of aparticularmaterial as

much as it is the result of several otherfactors, such as how rigid, round, andwell-crafted the shell is, and how thebearing edges are cut.

In order to get those qualities, youmay want a very dense wood or mate-rial, but not for any unique “vibratingsound qualities” of the particularwood. Will one wood provide betterstructural integrity than another? Per-haps, but my choice would not bebased on any unique “tonal characteris-tics” of the wood.

Typical metal shells are the result ofsheet metal fashioned around a mold.To get some degree of rigidity, themanufacturer will crimp a large flangearound the bearing edge. The thin shellcombined with the particular way the


bearing edge is crimped gives the“sheet metal” drum its unique sound.Ideally, for the greatest projection andsensitivity, I would use a metal shellthat was lathe turned from a solid cast-ing, eliminating the need for anycrimping or other compensationsaround the bearing edges.

Be careful of synthetic shells. Somefiberglass shells are more flexible thanan inferior wood shell. Know whatyou are getting before you buy.

Shell constructionIf money were no object, I would

have a shell turned on a lathe to com-puter specifications. I am fortunate toown several aluminum drums designedin this fashion, and they are simply in-credible. Do the sound waves interactany differently with aluminum thanwith other metals? If any nuances at allcan be observed up close, they quicklyfade into irrelevance as the distance in-creases. The main ingredient is that thewaves have the kind of precision, reso-nating chamber that makes for greatprojection and response.

With wood shells, you have threechoices. The first is the typical ply-wood shell, described by the numberof layers of wood glued together (6-ply, 8-ply, etc.). If I can get the rigidityI want out of a 1/4-inch shell, that ispreferable to a thicker 5/16-inch shell.True, a 5/16-inch shell may give you amore rigid cylinder, but you are going

to lose an important ingredi-ent: sensitivity. For this rea-son, I would avoid drums with

reinforcing rings glued aroundthe inside bearing edges.

Some drum makers, prior tothe gluing process, torque or twist

the shells as a method of providingadditional, internal strengthening.

This allows the drum to maintain agreater degree of structural integrityand stability under its own “pressure.”I own a wood drum made in this fash-ion, and it is an excellent instrument.

If you want a ply shell, ask about theprocess used in bending the wood.Most important, ask if there is a re-turn/exchange policy if you are notsatisfied with the results!

The second option is the solid woodshell, which is usually made frommaple. A solid piece of wood is steambent and spliced together at one joint.Try to find a shell 1/4-inch thick with-out bearing-edge reinforcements. Someof these drums may use a reinforcing,thicker ring around the bearing edgesto help maintain the drum’s shape.While these drums will offer great pro-jection at fff, the reinforcing ring willreduce response and sensitivity nearthe edge. If you find a solid wood shelldrum without the ring, check to seethat it actually offers more rigidity androundness than a good ply shell. Oth-erwise, in my opinion, it is not worththe extra money, as these shells are ex-pensive.

The third option is the segmentedshell. Here, various hard woods thatare not conducive to bending understeam are glued together into a large,overlapping block pattern. This largeblock of wood is turned on a lathe inthe same fashion as a metal casting.This process uses much less glue than aply shell and has a tremendous amountof precision involved.

A drum made in this fashion has theappearance of overlapping bricks orblocks of wood. For a wood shell, thiswould probably be my first choice.This process is more expensive thantypical steam bending, but you getwhat you pay for in this regard. Thismethod allows you to work with someof the very hard and dense exotic

woods that you could not use withsteam bending.

The amount of glue in the layeringprocess has a definite effect on theshell’s overall resonance. Try this ex-periment: Suspend a typical plywoodshell and a solid or segmented woodshell. Strike each with a yarn mallet,listening to the difference. The moreglue involved, the more dampening ef-fect there is to the shell’s ability to“sing.”

Regardless of the type of wood shellpurchased, make sure the inside is fin-ished to protect it from humidity andwarping. Brian Del Signore—PrincipalPercussionist of the Houston Sym-phony—recently retrieved some wooddrums that were submerged in a base-ment flood for several days. Amaz-ingly, the shells that had been nicelyfinished on the inside of the drum ap-pear to have survived totally intact.

Is the shell round?To check for roundness, measure the

diameter across from each of the lugs,avoiding any shell that has a differen-tial of 1/16-inch or more. If it is out ofround before mounting heads, it is go-ing to be worse afterwards! Also,tighter head tunings will usually exac-erbate this problem.

Does the shell lay flat?You should be able to lay any shell

on a truly flat surface and notice if thedrum lays “flat” (with the exception ofthe snare bed). Without a large piece ofmachinist granite, the next best choiceis usually a good flat countertop. Put aflashlight inside the shell and noticeany unevenness around the circumfer-ence on either side of the drum. If theshell is otherwise round and rigid, anyunevenness with the bearing edges cantypically be corrected by a processcalled “contouring.” It is usually not anexpensive process and it is well worththe investment. Be sure to select some-one who is qualified to do this.

Bearing edgesThe bearing edge is the highest point

of the shell where the head crosses be-fore it meets the rim. Where and howthe edge is cut affects the overall


brightness or warmth of the drum’ssound. For maximum ring with high-est overtones, that point will be the ex-treme outer part of the shell with aninward slope of about 45 degrees. Thistends to produce a sharper “attack” tothe sound. For a slightly warmersound, that point will be moved inslightly from the outer shell wall. Thisis referred to as a “back cut” or“counter cut.”

Rounding off the top edge will fur-ther warm up the drum’s sound. I findthat a rounded edge on the batter sideworks best when using thicker heads(e.g., Remo Ambassador). Dependingon your requirements, you could con-ceivably use different bearing edges be-tween the batter side and the snareside. In any case, make sure the edge iscut with precision.

SnaresPlayers today can choose between

gut, wire, and cable snares. Gut wasused regularly in the “old days,” butwas especially sensitive to humidityand the elements. As an organic sub-stance, gut would eventually deterio-rate. Wires offer a brightness and“wetness” to the sound that manydrumset players prefer. Cables, espe-cially the ones that extend past thebearing edge, offer some options thatplayers of all styles of music are begin-ning to notice.

Wire coils only produce soundwhere the coils actually contact thehead, leaving the rest of the coiledspace “soundless.” If you go to thetrouble of calculating all of the exactpoints of contact on a typical set ofwires, that represents only three tofour inches of total head contact!Cables span the entire surface of thebottom head and provide between 14to 23 feet of continuous head coverage,depending on the number of strands.

Wires are also especially sensitive tothe sympathetic “buzz” vibrationscaused by amps, horns, and bass fre-quencies. It is not uncommon for thedrum to be “buzzing” more loudlyfrom other instruments than from theactual soft passage you are performing.Cables that extend past the bearingedge have the ability to reduce sympa-

thetic snare buzz by about 80to 90 percent. This is especiallyimportant for drummers who wantto play “clean” solos around the setwithout the snares buzzing loudly ev-ery time the toms and bass drum areplayed.

Of course, there is the frustrating ex-perience every drummer has trying tosort out dynamic nuances with wiresnares. Typically, as you adjust thedrum to play softly you will get a no-ticeable “slap” if you venture into theforte range, or you can adjust the drumfor forte only to find the snares are tootight to get any response at ppp. Untilthe advent of cable snares, players typi-cally relied on masking tape to controlwire snare slap. Assuming you havethe right snare bed, the cables offer atremendously expanded dynamic rangefor any particular strainer setting withonly minor adjustments.

The snare bedThe best bed for cable snares is one

cut 1/8-inch deep and 1 1/4 to 1 1/2inches wide. Usually a slope of 1/2inch on either side back to the originalbearing edge is fine. This allows thesnares to pull into the bottom head formaximum response.

Of historical note, this was the cus-tomary way of cutting beds back in thedays when gut was used. With the ad-vent of wire coils, manufacturers gotaway from using beds almost entirely.Now it appears they have rediscoveredthem, even to the point of extendingsome beds to almost 1/4 to 1/3 of thedrum’s circumference in order to con-trol “snare slap.”

If you have one of these drums, youwill want to consider having the snareside “contoured,” with new beds cut.(Of course, if you have a sheet-metalshell, you are stuck with the way thedrum comes from the factory.) Withthis process, you may loose 1/8 to 1/4inch in shell depth for the drum, butsuch loss in depth will be negligiblecompared to the improvement in thedrum’s overall sound and response.One warning though: Check to makesure there will be no foreseeable prob-lems with the snares pulling up cor-rectly against the snare head after any

shellalter-ation ifyou are usingany kind of ex-tended snaremechanism.

The snare strainerThe typical side lever or cam

lever strainer with a traditional buttplate is fine for most purposes. Try toavoid internal drum hardware!Whether it be timpani, bass drum, orsnare drum, you will want to avoidhaving anything inside the drum thatinterferes with the drum’s resonance.Some players have been known to takevery expensive drums that have a lot ofinternal hardware, gut the hardware,and mount a simple strainer and buttplate with cable snares. The result wasa dramatically improved sound.

There is a wide range of strainers onthe market, and manufacturers are al-ways coming out with new designs.Look for something that has as fewmoving parts as possible, that is quiet,and that allows easy access to the fine-tuning knob while playing. You don’twant to have to reach around the leverto gain access to the adjusting knobwhile you are playing. Ideally, youwould also want a strainer that pullssnares outward as well as upward.

If you are building a drum, mountthe butt plate a little higher up fromthe bottom rim in order to obtainmore clearance for mounting and ad-justing cable snares.

Also, if you are considering buying adrum with multiple snare strainers,you may want to anticipate the prob-lem of having each stick play on top ofa completely different type of snare.From the audience’s perspective, manyof these multiple configurations don’tproduce the result the player hears upclose.


RimsAlways use diecast hoops. These can

be obtained from Kaman or UniversalPercussion, two of the nation’s largestsuppliers to dealers. Just like the shell,make sure your hoops are not warped.Simply lay them on a flat surface tocheck. Also, for ease of mounting yoursnares, get a bottom hoop with an en-larged snare-gate opening so you don’thave to remove the bottom head everytime you wish to change your snares.

Placement of lugs and ventholes

Several prominent manufacturersclaim that lugs and vent holes shouldbe mounted in the “acoustical deadzone” or nodal area to achieve maxi-mum shell vibrations. On a flat plane,nodal points are a scientific reality,such as with keyboard bars. However,as NASA discovered when analyzingthe space shuttle’s nose cone, once thesurface is rounded or bent, the issue ofnodal points becomes meaningless.

Furthermore, the notion that thisfeature allows the shell to vibrate unen-cumbered is nonsensical. The last thingyou want is a shell that vibrates! Thatwould indicate that you have a verycheap drum. You want a shell so rigidand dense that the vibrations are to-tally directed against the heads and“outward” to the audience. That iswhat projection is all about.

So, in my opinion, don’t spend extramoney for drums that have hardwareand vent holes mounted in this fash-ion. Drum makers include this featurebecause they not only have convinced

us that this is a necessity, but that weshould also pay extra for it!

What kind of lugs are best?I prefer a double-tension lug. Sepa-

rate “single tension” lugs pull with in-ordinate tension and stress around theouter edges of the shell. I prefer posttension lugs because you have less sur-face contact against the shell. I alwaysgo for ten lugs so that each lug pointonly has to absorb ten percent of thetotal head tension. This is especiallypreferable if you are used to highertunings over A-flat. As to non-attachedlugs used in the “free-floating” shell de-sign, experience has shown that this de-sign may allow the heads and/or shellto move in relation to each other, caus-ing serious problems with your drumtuning and head response.

HeadsWire coils can actually break bottom

heads. The point of the coil can have asharp enough edge to split a bottomhead under heavy playing. To compen-sate, manufacturers and players tend touse thicker bottom heads, therebychoking the drum sound.

Since cable snares lay flat against theentire plane of the head, you can use athinner, more resonant head, such as aRemo Diplomat—an advantage youshould consider. A thinner head alsobrings out the beautiful sensitivity thatcables are capable of. (A good headcombination for band/orchestral workis either the Diplomat Renaissance orAquarian Modern Vintage for the bat-ter side, and the regular Diplomat for

the bottom “snare” side.) Aquarian of-fers heads without the typical preset,bearing-edge “crease” that is commonwith other manufacturers. I have hadgood success with tuning these heads.

TuningTop heads for drumset are usually

tuned anywhere from G-flat up toabout an A-flat for a 14-inch drum.Concert snare drummers will tunefrom A-flat up to A or even toward B-flat.

Bottom heads serve two functions.Not only do they activate and deter-mine the kind of snare response youget, but they also play an integral partin the drum’s resonance. While thebottom head will sound higher thanthe top, remember it is still looser be-cause it is thinner.

For lower drum tunings, I suggestthe bottom head should sound a fourthto a fifth higher. Otherwise, it is tooloose for maximum cable response.However, with an interval of a fifth,make sure the bottom head doesn’tstretch down to a tritone—not a pleas-ing interval for the best resonance! Forhigher batter tunings, try tuning thesnare side to sound a major thirdhigher. If the bottom head is tuned tootightly, you will choke the drumsound.

SummaryAsk a lot of questions. You are buy-

ing an instrument to fit your musicalneeds—not something a dealer needs tosell. With a little extra knowledge, youcan end up putting together or buyingan instrument that you will be happywith for a lifetime. Besides avoiding alot of aggravation, you may save a lotof money in the process!

William Patterson is Acting PrincipalPercussionist with the San AntonioSymphony and Principal Percussionistwith the San Antonio Lyric Opera. Heteaches at Trinity University in SanAntonio and is owner ofPattersonSnares.com. He can bereached for comments and questionsat: [email protected]. PN



Gilang Ramadhan was born inBandung, Indonesia on May 30,1963. He started learning on the

piano and violin, switching to drumswhen he was twelve years old. In 1980-81, Ramadhan studied at the HollywoodProfessional School, continuing his stud-ies as a music major at the Los AngelesCommunity College from 1981-84. Re-turning to Indonesia, he started perform-ing with many of that country’s topmusicians. Ramadhan recorded severalalbums with a variety of musicians, butis best known for hiswork with the im-mensely popular jazz/fusion bandKrakatau. He is aversatile drummerwho comfortablycrosses over fromjazz/fusion into rock.

Ramadhan has col-laborated with sev-eral establishedIndonesian rockgroups, recordingwith Ian Antono,Ahmad Albar, NickyAstria, and HariMoekti. He per-formed on and co-pro-duced two pop/easy-listening al-bums with IndraLesmana, which weretop sellers in Indone-sia. Currently, he hasturned his attentiontoward solo performance compositions,incorporating traditional Indonesian in-struments and rhythms. Ramadhanhopes his work will make the instru-ments and music of Indonesia as familiarto the world as Latin and Salsa music. Tofurther advance education and trainingfor Indonesian drummers, he created theIndonesian Drummers Corporation (IDC)in 1996, and hosts a weekly televisionprogram on drumming.

Jeff Moore: When and where did you startyour drum training?

Interview With Gilang RamadhanBY JEFF MOORE

Gilang Ramadhan: I started playingdrums in Paris in 1975.

Moore: Did traditional Indonesian drum-ming influence your training, or was itwestern drumset style only?

Ramadhan: Before I started studying seri-ously in the United States (1980–85),my parents told me that I should go tothe Sudanese traditional music school.I was born in Bandung, and thatmakes me Sudanese. My parentswanted me to recognize where I came

from culturally. As I learned at theschool, it seemed to me that traditionis very important in developing myown capabilities, style, and color ofplaying drums. As I grew and continueto grow, traditional Indonesian drum-ming has a great influence on me. Aftermany years, I have opened my mind tothe fact that my country has a lot oftraditional culture. As a result, I be-came very interested in listening toother areas besides Sudanese music.Even though I have studied andlearned this music all my life, I am still

learning and will never finish until theday I die.

Moore: When, where, and who did youstudy with in the United States?

Ramadhan: I started studying drums witha good teacher named David Smith in1980 at Los Angeles City College. I alsostudied jazz and big band performancefor a time with Dr. Simpson, who was abass player for Gene Krupa’s band.

Moore: What gave you the idea to combinegamelan with thedrumset?Ramadhan: Mostmusicians, here andin other countries,told me that Ishould try to be re-ally original in myplaying. So, I cameup with the idea tocombine gamelanconcepts and partsof certain gamelanrhythms, using aslightly modifieddrumset. There is somuch gamelan mu-sic in Indonesia towork with, I knew Ihad my inspirationto be original.

Moore: How do youcombine the con-cepts? Can you de-scribe your setup

and tuning relative to the gamelan in-fluence?

Ramadhan: The combination and types ofdrums, along with the pedal instru-ments in my setup, are quite differentfrom a basic drumset. Although I ar-range my drumset basically in thewestern tradition, I add extra drumsand metal instruments in a uniqueway, which inspires my use of gamelanconcepts.

I have five pedals. On the far leftside there is a traditional Indonesianinstrument called kecrek, struck with

Ceng-ceng cymbals from Bali are inverted over the toms.


the first pedal on my left. The nextpedal to the right is a hi-hat pedal. Thenext two are my double bass drum ped-als. The final pedal, on the far right, isa pedal that strikes a traditional in-strument called kempul. Next in mysetup are my Yamaha Stage CustomAdvantage drums. These drums, alongwith all of the hardware, are manufac-tured in Indonesia, and it is importantto me to use an instrument constructedin my country.

I have three snare drums: 10-inch,13-inch, and 14-inch. The bass drum is20 x 17. I use two 8-inch toms, 10-inch,12-inch, and 14-inch toms, and an 18-inch floor tom. The unique thing aboutmy toms is that I tune them to thePelog scale. There are five pitches in

this scale. In traditional Sudanese itwould sound Da, Mi, Na, Ti, La, Da.[Author’s note: Although the tuningsystem is not tempered the same aswestern music, roughly the pitches area descending do, ti, sol, fa, mi, do, insolfeggio, or 1, 7, 5, 4, 3, 1, in pitchnumbers.]

Moore: What about gongs, metals, andcymbals?

Ramadhan: I use a Javanese 20-inchgong. The note or pitch it produces iscalled Selendro. In front and above thetoms are instruments called ceng-cengfrom Bali. I set them up with severalYamaha cymbal stands so it ends uplooking like a tree of cymbals. Thepitches are all pentatonic. High on my

left is a traditional Javanese instru-ment called a flat kenong. The cymbalsare all Zildjian: I use a 14-inch hi-hat,K and Z; 10-inch hi-hat; 16-inch Kcrash; 18-inch K splash; 17-inch Chinawith a 12-inch splash on top; 18-inch Kswish cymbals with a 14-inch crash ontop; 22-inch K Custom dark ride; and a20-inch A ride/crash.

Moore: You use traditional rhythms andmelodies as the basis of your solo ideas.Have any of these concepts found theirway into your combo or pop perfor-mances, or do you keep them separate?

Ramadhan: I think that my concept ofplaying certain rhythms from Indone-sia would be very nice in any kind ofcomposition. It could be used in jazz,

Left side pedal configuration with kecrek. Far right pedal plays the kempul.


rock, pop, world music, or any othermusic.

Moore: Many drummers in America willsee similarities between your approachto drumset performance and that ofTerry Bozzio. Are you aware of hiswork? Is it an influence?

Ramadhan: I really admire what he hasbeen doing. But my direction of playingis quite different. I am incorporatingspecific ideas from my culture, whichgives my music a unique soul. TerryBozzio is a great drummer and an in-novative musician, but his music andmy music have different inspirations—not better or worse, just different and,hopefully, interesting.

Moore: Who are your influences?Ramadhan: I have seen and heard so

many great players from contemporarythrough traditional that I cannot possi-bly name all of the influences.

Moore: Could you give me a few names?Ramadhan: Steve Gadd, Trilok Gurtu,

Ade Rudiana, Pak Kompiang, TonyWilliams, Agus Supriawan, and manyothers.

PAS members are invited to submit formalprinted percussion solo and ensemble

programs for inclusion in program listings.Please include:

Venue (i.e., the name of the school)

Date of Performance

State & Country

Name of Performer or Ensemble(including director and any guest artists)

Composition Title

Composer Name (first and last)

Arranger Name & Publisher

Send information to Wilber England3813 Laura Way, Bloomington, IN 47401

E-mail: [email protected]

Moore: What are your goals with this ap-proach to the drumset?

Ramadhan: Some of my goals are classicfor drummers all over the world. Iwould love to play with musicians orsingers like Peter Gabriel, Paul Simon,Joe Zawinul, Jan Garbarek, or manyother artists. I would love to help givea different feel to their music. Othergoals would be to build an awarenessof Indonesian music and culture topeople all over the world. I would loveto share our music and culture with ev-eryone.

Moore: Where do you see yourself tenyears from now?

Ramadhan: Hopefully, I am still alive(laughs), and am giving some creativ-ity to the world of music. I enjoy per-forming and music producing, so,hopefully, I am still involved in theseareas at a worldwide level. Peace tothe world.

Jeff Moore is Professor of Percussion atthe University of Central Florida in Or-lando, where he conducts the Pop Percus-sion Ensemble, the Chamber PercussionEnsemble, the Marimba Band, and the

Steel Drum Band. He is also an interna-tionally recognized percussion clinicianand soloist. PN

SUBMITTINGPROGRAMS


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Inspired by a Steve Gadd fill, I came up with the followingdrumset motifs. The continuous three-note pattern of bassdrum, hi-hat, and snare using groups of four sixteenth notes

creates a three-over-four pattern. You need to have a cowbell orcymbal set up on the same side of the drumset as your hi-hat.

By changing the hi-hat pattern to different sound sources,even more complex cross-rhythms can be created. Example B1substitutes a cowbell (or cymbal) for every other hi-hat stroke.

Example B2 uses an open hi-hat on every other hi-hat stroke.

In example B3 the open hi-hat strokes are placed next toeach other.

Expanding on a Three-Over-FourBeat Idea

BY MIKE SPINRAD

In example C, the multi-leveled aspect of the pattern isbrought out by a two-bar version of example B1.

The number of sound sources you can add is limited only byyour imagination. Check out example D and the extended ver-sion, example E.

After you master the above, add them to your playing, not asexercises but as musical fills fitting into the style of the musicyou are playing.

Mike Spinrad works as a freelance drummer and percussionist,and has backed up San Francisco Bay area rock, bebop, bigband, R&B, and commercial performers both live and in thestudio. Besides teaching privately, Spinrad also teaches at KentMiddle School in Marin County. PN



The following patterns represent some of the most commonly played double bass grooves. Just like any foundational technique,it’s a good idea to have these patterns “under your feet” so you are able to apply them at will.

Essential Double Bass GroovesBy Bobby Rondinelli and Michael Lauren

From The Encyclopedia of Double Bass Drumming

By Bobby Rondinelli and Michael Lauren

Published by Modern Drummer

Copyright © 2000 by Modern Drummer Publications, Inc.

International Copyright Secured All Rights Reserved

Used by Permission

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PAS 2004 INTERNATIONAL

PERCUSSION ENSEMBLE COMPETITION

PURPOSE: The purpose of the Percussive Arts Society International Per-cussion Ensemble Competition is to encourage, promote and reward musi-cal excellence in percussion ensemble performance and compositions byselecting the most qualified high school and college/university percussionensembles to appear at PASIC.AWARDS: Three high school and three college/university percussion en-sembles will be invited to perform at PASIC 2004 (November 10–13) inNashville, TN. All ensembles will be featured in Showcase Concerts (Thurs-day, Friday, Saturday). 50 minute program (per ensemble) maximum.ELIGIBILITY: Ensemble Directors and/or Professional Soloists are not al-lowed to participate as players on the tape. All ensemble members (exclud-ing non-percussionists, e.g. pianists) must be members of PAS and currentlyenrolled in school. This will be verified when application materials arereceived. Ensembles which have been chosen to perform at PASIC may notapply again for three years (resting out 2 PASICS).PROCEDURES: 1. Send five identical non-edited CDs (preferred) or cas-settes to PAS, 701 NW Ferris Ave., Lawton, OK 73507-5442. Recordingsshould demonstrate literature that you feel is appropriate and not exceed 30minutes in length. Recordings should include only works that have beenperformed by the ensemble since January 2003. Include program copy forverification. All compositions and/or movements of music must be per-formed in their entirety. Recordings become the property of PAS and will notbe returned. 2. The recordings will be numbered to ensure anonymity andwill then be evaluated by a panel of judges. 3. Invited groups are expectedto assume all financial commitments (room, board, travel), organizationalresponsibilities and to furnish their own equipment. One piano will beprovided (if needed) as well as an adequate number of music stands andchairs. PAS will provide an announcement microphone. Additional audiorequirements must be provided by the performing ensemble. 4. Ensembleswill be notified of the results in June.

PAS 2004 INTERNATIONAL PERCUSSION

ENSEMBLE COMPETITION

Category: ❑ High school ❑ College/University

Ensemble’s Name ____________________________________

School Name _________________________________________

Ensemble Director’s Name_____________________________

Address ____________________________________________

City ____________________ Country ___________________

State/Province ______________ Zip/Postal Code __________

Telephone Number (include area code) _______________________

Ensemble Director’s PAS Membership Code Number: _____

On a separate page list ensemble members and their PAS Mem-bership Numbers (Please note: without ensemble membershipnumbers and names your application cannot be processed.)

To ensure the same quality as the performance tape, please indi-cate the number of returning ensemble members: ______________

Please include a $25 U.S. Contest Application Fee; make checkspayable to Percussive Arts Society.

I hereby certify that I have read the requirements and regulationsstated above and understand that failure to abide by these regula-tions will result in the disqualification of our ensemble.

Signature of Ensemble Director ______________________

DEADLINE IS APRIL 15, 2004

ALL MATERIALS (APPLICATION FEE, APPLICATION FORM, STUDENTMEMBERSHIP NUMBERS, 5 RECORDINGS, PROGRAMS FOR VERIFICATION)

MUST BE RECEIVED BY APRIL 15, 2004.

PURPOSE: To encourage the highest level of artistic expression in theart of performance and literature for solo vibraphone. The contest isdesigned to select four finalists to compete at the 2004 PASIC. Thecontest will include cash awards for the finalists as well as matchinggrants to their respective percussion programs, as follows:

First Place: $1000 plus a matching grant of $1000Second Place: $ 750 plus a matching grant of $ 750Third Place: $ 500 plus a matching grant of $ 500

Fourth Place: $ 250 plus a matching grant of $ 250

The matching grants will be awarded to the institutions represented bythe four finalists, and can be used for scholarships, equipment needs orrepairs, guest clinicians/performers, or other percussion area needs.

PROCEDURES:• The contest is for college level students who are current PercussiveArts Society members, ages 18–25 years of age at the time of entry.• Each performer must submit a CD plus 4 copies (5 total) to PAS. TheCD must be no longer than 15 minutes in length.• All entries will be numbered to insure anonymity and will then beevaluated by a panel of judges.• Each finalist chosen to compete at PASIC 2004 will not have to paythe convention fee but will be expected to assume all costs pertainingto the event including travel, room-board, etc.• Finalists will be required to verify age.• Selections on the CD must be from the repertoire listed below. Thefirst work must be a complete work or movement (unedited), additionalselections may be shortened to stay within the 15-minute restriction.• Disqualification will occur if the CD is in excess of 15 minutes, therepertoire included is not from the required list, or selections have beenelectronically altered or edited (other than shortened to accommodatethe time restriction).

REPERTOIRE LIST:

“Four Bagatelles” by Gitta Steiner“Four Pieces for Solo Vibraphone” by Larry Spivack

“Links 4 (Monk)” by Stuart S. Smith“Omar” by Franco Donatoni

“Reflections” by Lynn Glassock“Schickstuck” by William Hibbard

“Sonata Brevis” by Raymond Helble“Sonic Residue” by Richard Power

“Six Poems” by Robert Stright“The Aprocryphal Still Life” by Christopher Deane

APPLICATION FEE: $25 per entry payable to PAS

SEND CD’S TO: PAS, 701 NW FERRIS AVE., LAWTON, OK 73507

Performer’s Name: _____________________________________________

Age_______________________ PAS Membership #__________________

Address ______________________________________________________

City_______________________________________________________________

State _________________________ Country ______________________

ZIP or Postal Code _____________ E-mail address ________________

School enrolled ________________________________________________

Teacher ________________________________________________________

DEADLINE FOR ENTRIES IS APRIL 15, 2004

PERCUSSIVE ARTS SOCIETY

2004 SOLO VIBRAPHONE CONTEST


I recently had the pleasure of speakingwith percussionist Jeff Moore upon hisreturn from the Far Eastern countries

of Thailand and Indonesia. He spent timewith local marching groups and organiza-tions giving performances, clinics and ad-judicating competitions. The marchingactivity, while a long-time veteran of themusical fabric in North America, is arelatively new and blossoming opportu-nity for the young people of these twocountries. Jeffworked intimatelywith the perform-ers and staff, re-turning with agreat deal of infor-mation concerningthe current stateof the activity, aswell as its in-tended direction inthe near future.The following is asummary of Jeff ’sexperiences inthese two coun-tries during a 2002clinic and recitaltour.

Sanderl: Before dis-cussing the mu-sical aspects ofyour journey,could you brieflytalk about your first impressions uponarriving in each of the countries youtraveled to?

Moore: Over the years we had severalperformers in the Madison Scouts whowere from Thailand. Two of them,Kasem Thipayametrakul and ChumpolTechakraisr, were in the front en-semble and shared many pictures andinformation concerning Thailand. As aresult, I had a much clearer pictureabout what to expect in Thailand,which has a beautiful landscape, andarchitecture that is far different fromwhat I am used to in America andWestern Europe. The attention to de-tail is remarkable. For example, the

Marching Band in the Far EastBY ROBERT SANDERL

way in which they adhere small goldtiles in a mosaic manner to the templesand curved roofs making the entirestructure glitter and sparkle was awe-inspiring.

When I arrived in Indonesia I didnot know what to expect, but waspleasantly surprised. DowntownJakarta was much like any other met-ropolitan city like Chicago or New Yorkin terms of skyscrapers (slightly

shorter) and apartment buildings.Their landscape is very similar toThailand, in that there is a great dealof vegetation, even around the city. Itis similar to a jungle, but not in aprimitive sense. It is industrialized,yet one can see what was there prior tothe clearing of land for the construc-tion of buildings. When I traveled out-side of Jakarta, the train rides wentthrough a number of villages and non-industrialized areas, which was trulyfascinating. While peering through thewindows of the train, I found the scen-ery very reminiscent of Japan in termsof the rice patties and the forest-likeareas.

Sanderl: Can you offer some broad cul-tural differences between Indonesiaand Thailand, in comparison to theUnited States, that have a direct effecton how the activity is perceived, orga-nized, and eventually put into “mo-tion”?

Moore: Indonesia is a relatively poorcountry. There is difficulty having anykind of extra-curricular school activitysuch as a marching band. A great deal

of the marchingbands, whetherthey are relatedto schools or not,get sponsorshipsfrom large corpo-rations such asfuel companies,banks, and evenlocal airports.The sponsorshiptakes its form infinancial contri-butions for equip-ment, and thehiring of staff.

There are over400 marchingbands in Indone-sia of varioussizes and levels.The secondaryschools will havea band, yet thegroup must seek

outside financial sponsorship. The pri-mary school band is very structuredand financially supported, but it doesnot cost as much as a secondary schoolband. The primary school bands startthe students playing the melodica,which is the Hohner or Yamaha instru-ment that you blow air through whileoperating a keyboard similar to a pi-ano. It resembles the sound of a reedinstrument. The educators have all ofthe wind students play melodica priorto picking up the band instruments.

As the students move from primaryschool to secondary school, they discon-tinue the melodica and begin on brassand woodwind instruments, thus a

Arngthongpattamarojwittayakom High School drum line in their drum solo.


huge increase in the equipment bud-get. In Indonesia one will find brassbands, brass and woodwind bands, anddrum and bugle corps. The percussionsections of Indonesia are similar tothose in the United States. There aresnare drums, tenors (usually quads orquints), multiple bass drums, as wellas students that play keyboard and ac-cessory instruments in the “pit.”

In Thailand there is far more struc-ture for marching band in the schools.Thailand is similar to America in thatthe schools subsidize the marching ac-tivity. The groups are still not as wellfunded as the schools and its partici-pants would like it to be, but they doreceive funding as it is an after-schoolactivity. Many high school studentswill participate in the marching bandand practice from three o’clock untileight at night, or four o’clock to teno’clock at night on weekdays.

The perception of the activity is in-teresting. In Thailand the group is per-ceived as a school activity similar tothe U.S. In Indonesia, however, it issimilar to a drum corps in that it isloosely affiliated with the schools, butby and large is more of a communitygroup. At the University in Jakarta,where I did a clinic, one of the bandstudents told me that her friends al-ways ask how she can spend so muchtime and money on this activity. Theywonder why there is no financial re-ward for all her time and efforts. Shewas surprised to learn that many

Americans have similar questions, asthe activity does not fit the athletic orthe capitalistic stereotypes completely.It was interesting to me that the Indo-nesians experienced similar perceptionproblems to the U.S., as even friendsand family do not always completelyunderstand the commitment and con-stant repetition. In contrast, these stu-dents had a very interesting perceptionof DCI in the U.S., thinking that every-one in America knows what it is, andvalues the groups and their efforts.They did not know that drum corps isas much of a fringe activity as it is.

Sanderl: Are eligibility requirements for agroup based upon age, which grade inschool the student is currently in, oranother set of criteria altogether? Also,are these requirements consistent fromschool to school?

Moore: In Indonesia, school structure isoften the criteria that determines amember’s eligibility; however, thereare also neighborhood and communitygroups that perform together, whichfunction under different eligibility re-quirements. A group like this can havemembers that are nineteen years oldalongside those that are twelve. Thesebands also perform and compete in dif-ferent classes apart from the school-sponsored groups. By and large, exceptfor the community groups, most bandsare affiliated with schools and, as a re-sult, are broken down by age.

Thailand’s programs are all school

affiliated, thus the eligibility require-ments are determined by age. In Thai-land, “university” can be anywherefrom age 16 to 22. It is a bit differentin these two countries from the U.S. inthat the students begin at youngerages and continue further in age aswell. These guidelines are consistentschool to school, so the groups competeagainst bands of similar ages.

Sanderl: Do these groups have parent or-ganizations that are similar to thosehere in the U. S.? Also, do the schoolsoffer any assistance financially, or inany other way, to the existence and suc-cess of the group?

Moore: No, by and large the bands do nothave the same type of parent groups.What the bands do have are sponsors,who are the teachers of the band.Sometimes other teachers in the com-munity, not necessarily from the samedistrict, might take an interest in thegroup as well. These people will join assponsors, give whatever they can offer,serving in the way of a booster. How-ever, most of the time they are simplyvolunteering their service. They oftenprovide transportation as well as assis-tance in moving equipment. In general,the pool of parent volunteers in Thai-land and Indonesia is not as deep as inmany places in the U.S.

Schools sponsor the activity by hir-ing the staff, providing the equipmentand storage space, and a place to re-hearse. Many times the school will pro-


vide the transportation, with regard tobusses or trucks needed.

Sanderl: What type of equipment is mostoften used in the percussion section?

Moore: Funds are more limited in Indo-nesia than in Thailand, therefore theyuse whatever equipment is availableand afforded by their budget. If theydo have instruments, they may befrom several different manufacturersand of various levels in terms of qual-ity. They are often able to afford thelower model Yamaha, Pearl, Premier,and Dynasty marching equipment. Ifthey have a large sponsor like a fuelcompany, they may be able to affordmore “top of the line” equipment.There is one group in Indonesia that istaught by an American, ReneeConway, who has a full-time job as anassistant director/percussion instruc-tor for a military school. This particu-lar group is able to afford the bestequipment because the governmentsupports the band financially.

However, if a corporation is sponsor-ing the contest, like one I went to thatwas sponsored by Yamaha, a set ofbattery instruments is available to theparticipating bands. That particularshow had equipment that included 14-inch SFZ snare drums with Kevlarheads, as well as tenor drums of 8–10–12–13 inches, and bass drums startingat 18 inches and moving in two-inchincrements to 26 inches. There wasalso keyboard equipment, includingmarimbas, vibes, bells, xylophones,concert bass drums, and some toms.

As each school came out to performthey could elect to either use theYamaha equipment or their own.Other companies, like Dynasty andPearl, provide similar opportunities atother shows. It was very interesting tosee the different groups play variousmusical selections on the same instru-ments with the same tuning.

In Thailand, only pit equipment wasmade available to the bands. Mostgroups had their own battery, pur-chased by the school, often in partner-ship with the parents and sponsors.The corporate sponsor of the show willprovide the keyboards and concert per-cussion, although many did bring theirown. However, if a group wished toaugment what they already had, or ifthey wished to use the sponsor’sequipment because they came particu-larly far, it was available

Sanderl: Do these groups have the stan-dard battery and front ensemble con-figuration as commonly used in theU. S.? Is there a standard size numeri-cally?

Moore: There is not a standard size nu-merically, but the ratios are similar tothe U.S. For example, the groups willuse two snares, one tenor, and three orfour bass drums. For every two orthree snares added, one would alsoadd a tenor. The keyboard section canbe anywhere from two to twelve play-ers. The size of the percussion sectionis usually proportional to the size ofthe band.

Sanderl: Are there any considerable dif-

ferences with regard to tuning?Moore: There is not much difference. The

bands try to emulate the drum corpsin terms of their tuning. In Indonesia,if they elect to use the equipment pro-vided, they are essentially acceptingthe tuning made available, which re-sembles that used in the U.S. If theyhave their own equipment, I would notsay either country has a unique tun-ing, but it runs the gamut, similar tothe marching bands in the U.S. I thinkthe tuning was done in relation to themusical selections. In some groups itwas evident they did not have a greatdeal of experience tuning, which oftenresulted in suggestions made on adju-dication tapes.

Sanderl: Are traditional instrumentsunique to these countries used in themusical arrangements or composi-tions?

Moore: In Thailand, not that much. I didnot see or hear many Thai instru-ments, mainly because many of thepitched percussion instruments aretuned with a different temperament.Because of this, the intonation be-tween the traditional instruments andthe winds and keyboards would be im-possible. Occasionally you will see ataphon (a traditional Thai hand drumshaped like a barrel) or some othertype of membranophone or wood in-strument that is non-pitched. I haveseen these instruments includedwithin the pit setup, yet not show-cased. In Indonesia they use certaingongs or plates that you would find ingamelan, but for the same reason asstated above, their use is limited.

Both Thailand and Indonesia usetraditional music arranged usingWestern instruments. Some of thepeople in both countries commentedon how the traditional music does notsound quite right on these instru-ments. Even with the tuning differ-ences, however, the listeners usuallyrecognize the pieces right away.

Sanderl: Do these groups perform com-petitively?

Moore: The groups do perform competi-tively. The scoring system is deter-mined by who sponsors the show. Forexample, in Indonesia there is a groupcalled the Indonesian Marching BandDevelopment Foundation. It is an out-


side organization that is sponsored bybusinesses, and is run by a business-man who is very much into marchingband. This individual helps to organizecompetitions and tries to establishcommon rules and practices. However,a group may compete in a city or com-munity festival, similar to those heldin the U.S. many years ago, and thusbe adjudicated under completely dif-ferent criteria. There are also corpo-rate sponsored shows by companiessuch as Yamaha, which again may re-quire the participants to adhere to dif-ferent rules and criteria.

Each band has to meet the require-ments for the length of their show ineach circuit. The festival shows aretypically shorter, therefore the bandswill remove a portion of the programand learn the drill without that mate-rial, and then place it back in whencompeting in an Indonesian MarchingBand Development show, or manufac-turer show.

Sanderl: Can you summarize the scoringsystem and adjudication practices ap-plied?

Moore: The judging system is very inter-esting. It is difficult for both countriesto find individuals who understand theactivity that are not already involvedin a marching program of their own.There are not that many people whoare knowledgeable in the skills andcriteria that are presented in the scoresheets. As a result, show organizers of-ten find individuals who are retiredband teachers or who teach bands inother parts of the country. It becomesvery difficult to have a national com-petition without bringing in outsideadjudicators, which is very expensive.In a situation where there are limitedfinancial resources, it can prove to beimpossible.

The process under which thesegroups are judged is interesting. Somejudges look at the performance andcompare it against a personal prede-termined level of achievement andskill demonstration. Therefore, a bandperforms against an imaginary scaleand the judge will say, “Well, thatband is about an 80.” They are relat-ing it a little from band to band, butmost of the time it is very subjective,and the point spreads can be huge andinconsistent.

In contrast, other adjudicators willprocess the information in a similarmanner as seen in the United States.Following the performance, the judgewill rank the band first and rate themsecond. As the band finishes its pre-sentation, the judge notes the level ofthe group, but holds off on administer-ing a numerical score. The judges at-tempt to keep the scores close to oneanother, therefore the decision doesnot fall on one adjudicator’s number orspread.

The number of judges varies fromtwo to six depending upon the contestand criteria. Many times they willleave the elements to be adjudicatedup to the judge. For example, a musicjudge will evaluate everything includ-

ing percussion. That process allows foras little as two judges, or perhaps fourwhere there are then two adjudicatorsa piece for both music and visual.They try to keep symmetry with re-gard to the number of judges for eachof the captions. Overall, the criteria isnot as strict as it is in the UnitedStates, where there are specific benchmarks and levels that a judge is look-ing for.

When I judged the Eighth AnnualYamaha All Thailand Marching BandCompetition, the organizers met withthe judges prior to the show to discussthe criteria, how the sheets should bebroken down, what each judge is look-ing for, and what points go where.There is an extensive process before


the competition to explain the sheetsto the judges, and then communicatethat to the directors. At the conclusionof the event, there is a follow-up meet-ing where suggestions and ideas arediscussed for implementation in up-coming shows. This particular show isbecoming more and more similar tohigh school non-festival shows. It isalso my understanding that other com-petitions are adopting the same sys-tem used at the Yamaha sponsoredevents.

In Indonesia specifically, organizershave downloaded sheets from DCI andBOA, and are looking to bring a newuniformity to contests, even within thefestival format.

Sanderl: Are these practices standard re-gardless of the bands size or age of itsparticipants?

Moore: The younger bands are judgedwith a little bit more leniency in bothcountries. No one is out to discouragethese performers by any means; thejudging is meant to react and respondto what the students are performing,and try to award points to reflect that.There is somewhat of a sliding scale asthe groups are divided up into variousclasses.

Sanderl: Is a great deal of travel involvedfor these groups?

Moore: Yes. In Indonesia, being spreadout over hundreds of islands, travelcan be very expensive, time consuming,and not all that comfortable. Thesebands go through a great deal of sacri-fice financially and timewise, as it maytake up to twenty hours each way totravel to a band competition. On myfirst trip, I gave a clinic only inJakarta, which was attended by peoplethat had traveled from across the coun-try. Yamaha felt that there was still alarge group of people that could notmake the immense journey, thereforethey set up a clinic tour to other cities.

On my second trip, I not only trav-eled to Jakarta, but to YoYakarta andBandung as well. In the first year, theclinic in Jakarta had about 400 peopleattend; in the second year I had ap-proximately 200, but in Bandung andYoYakarta there were now approxi-mately 300 people at each event.

The same attendance ratios are truein band competitions. There are com-

petitions in different regions of Indone-sia that will have twenty or thirtybands, and then a large championshipcompetition in Jakarta will have 10 to15 bands (predominantly made up ofthe bands from Jakarta). The Indone-sian Marching Band DevelopmentFoundation (IMBDF) is trying to cre-ate a circuit that will allow groupsfrom different regions to see more ofthe bands from outside their immedi-ate area. The circuit is also establishedin the hopes of bringing the top re-gional groups to Jakarta for one over-all championship show.

As far as Thailand, when comingfrom the north to Bangkok, geographi-cally it is not as great a distance as inIndonesia, but it is still quite a jour-ney. Occasionally they will get groupsfrom neighboring countries to comeand compete.

Sanderl: Is the rehearsal atmosphere oneof great intensity, where a high level ofdemand is placed upon the performer?

Moore: At times, yes. For instance, in mytravels to Japan I found their atmo-sphere to be very intense and focused.In Indonesia and Thailand I sawgroups of equal focus, but it did notseem to be as widespread as in Japan.In both countries there are various de-grees of intensity and focus. It is a bitmore relaxed because there is a greatdeal of sacrifice involved. Many ofthese rehearsals take place outside ofthe school day, so it is seen as an after-school activity instead of a class. In Ja-pan, some rehearsal is done during theschool day, therefore disciplinary ex-pectations are carried from the class-room to the rehearsal.

Sanderl: Is the teacher/student relation-ship similar to that seen in the U.S.?

Moore: In both countries the instructorstend to be former students who havegraduated and then returned to help,something that is common in theUnited States. The heads of the bandsare sometimes not musicians, butqualified teachers within the schoolwho oversee the management of thegroup. A great deal of respect is givento the formal directors, with regard toattentiveness and listening. The mem-bers tended to be very grateful for thetime and instruction given to them.


Sanderl: What is the normal timetable fora band season; including show design,composition, and competitions?

Moore: It is very similar induration to the U.S., butthe calendar is reversedbecause of the weather.In both countries a bandstarts learning theirmusic in October, inpreparation for the up-coming season. In Indo-nesia, August andSeptember are when thelarge performances arepresented. In Thailand,the large competitionscan be scheduled in ei-ther December or Janu-ary. If you haveinternational perfor-mances they may be inthe summertime, so theschedule is adjusted asneeded. If a group com-petes in the Yamahasponsored shows, they would normallystart in February or March for theshow in December.

The overall process is much like the

U.S. in terms of time. The design pro-cess typically takes two to threemonths, which is then followed by the

initial rehearsals where the basics ofthe activity and the show itself arelearned. After these concepts are cov-ered, the rehearsals shift focus and

Marching Small Ensemble Standstill Individual

Percussive Arts SocietyMarching Percussion Festival

PASIC 2004 . November 10–13Nashville . Tennessee . www.pasic.org

Come Throw Downin Nashville...

Jeff Moore’s percussion clinic in Yogyakarta.

concentrate on the execution. Bothcountries have approximately a nine-month season from beginning to end.

Unfortunately not manyIndonesians are able tocome to march in DCI andreturn with information.Within the past five to tenyears a number of Thaipeople have come to theU.S. and marched in DCIand brought back the infor-mation and experience. Inthe past two years I havealready seen a great leap inthe level of execution inThailand. There are nowThai groups that would ri-val some of the bettermarching bands in the U.S.from an execution and ef-fect standpoint. It is veryexciting to watch that pro-gression in Thailand, and Ihope Indonesia will find thesame success by providing

the opportunity for students to come tothe U.S. and perform with our groupsand return with the knowledge and ex-perience. PN

Morehead State University PASIC 2003

Siegel High School PASIC 2003


Drumline Audition SoloBy Jay Wanamaker

practiceroom

From Alfred’s Intermediate Snare Drum Solos

22 Intermediate Level Contest Solos

By Dave Black, Sandy Feldstein, and Jay Wanamaker

Copyright © MCMXCVIII by Alfred Publishing Co., Inc.

All rights reserved.

Used by Permission.

This solo, titled “Final Rudimental Solo” in Alfred’s Intermediate Snare Drum Solos, was performed in the movie Drumline asthe audition solo.


PASIC 2004

SUBMIT ALL MATERIALS TO

PERCUSSIVE ARTS SOCIETY

701 NW FERRIS AVENUE, LAWTON, OK 73507

PASIC 2004 . NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE . NOVEMBER 10–13, 2004

Name _______________________________________________

Address _____________________________________________

City _________________________________________________

State ________________________________________________

Zip __________________________________________________

Phone _______________________________________________

E-mail _______________________________________________

Pas Member # _______________________________________

Alternate Address ____________________________________

______________________________________________________

Alternate Phone ______________________________________

_______________________________________________________

Materials will be sent to the address above unless analternate address is provided.

Five contestants will be chosen (plus three alternates).A winner, first runner-up and second runner-up will bedecided near the end of the audition period with apublic critique from the judges as a follow-up.

TIMPANI MOCK AUDITIONTHURSDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2004 2:00 – 4:00 P.M.

August 1, 2004: Applications and one page resume due

July 1, 2004: Videotape repertoire released to applicants

September 10, 2004: Videotapes due (3 copies required)

October 1, 2004 Finalists chosen and live auditionrepertoire list released

October 8, 2004: Committment to participate in the liveaudition in Nashville must be made

DEADLINES


BY JEFF MOORE

As universities continue to incorpo-rate world music into their pro-grams, locating accurate sources of

authentic material can be elusive. Formany universities, it is difficult to securefunding and rehearsal/storage space forauthentic instruments. Finding materialarranged in a manner comfortable forperformance by classical western musi-cians with acceptable western instru-ment substitutions may not be ideal, butcan become fiscally and logistically neces-sary.

In an era in which increasing students’sensitivity to music ofother cultures throughperformance experi-ence is a focus, it ap-pears paramount thatpercussion instructorsdiscover sources thatallow non-westernmusic to be experi-enced. Budget con-straints may dictate aminimum financial in-vestment, and timeconstraints may limitthe optimum amountof research and prac-tice time for teacher and student alike.Ideally, universities would have an ex-pansive non-western instrument, music,and recording collection with ensemblesdirected by experts in each region whoare knowledgeable about performancepractice and the music’s role within theculture. Realistically, those resources areavailable to the precious few.

Does this mean students that attendinstitutions without these resources can-not experience music of other cultures?Of course not; instructors can be creativein programming percussion ensembleconcerts to be more inclusive. Locatingthe appropriate materials can be chal-lenging, but not impossible. Understand-ing this challenge, I was pleasantlysurprised to discover six volumes of au-thentic Thai Piphat (pronounced pea-paat) ensemble music offered in western

notation (in score and parts format) forabout $100.00.

While traveling to Thailand in Decem-ber 2002, I conducted research on tradi-tional Thai music (specifically the Piphatensemble) for a percussion-focused WorldMusic course. The National Associationof the Schools of Music (NASM) will re-view the University of Central Florida foraccreditation next year. As BobBreithaupt and Eric Payton of CapitolUniversity so accurately conveyed intheir PASIC 2002 presentation, NASM iscommitted to all schools demonstrating

how their students’ awareness and sensi-tivity to music of other cultures throughperformance experience is being ad-dressed. While conducting research atKasetsart University in Bangkok, I met amusic professor named Dr. PanyaRoongruang. He shared his dissertation,Thai Classical Music and Its Movementfrom Oral to Written Transmission, 1930–1942, Kent State University, 1999 withme. The dissertation outlines the ThaiMusic Manuscript Project undertaken topreserve traditional Thai music.

A Brief History of the Thai MusicManuscript Project Excerpted from theCollected Works of the Thai ClassicalRepertoire Vol. 1

Thai music is typically transmitted byoral tradition, musicians learning by rotewithout music notation. When modern-

Incorporating Thai TraditionalMusic in the Percussion Ensemble

ization and Western culture affectedThailand in the late nineteenth century,many Thai scholars were concerned thatThai music was being destroyed. Theidea of preserving Thai music in writtenform was initiated and the Thai MusicManuscript Project Committee was cre-ated. They met every Thursday and Fri-day beginning on February 19, 1930.Thai musicians performed each composi-tion for the Western-trained musicians totranscribe. The first phase of theCommittee’s work lasted until 1932 andwas stopped by the revolution.

Later, after the Thaiand Western music divi-sions moved to the FineArts Department, thesecond phase of theproject began. Themeeting was held at theRoyal Masked DramaHall in the SuanMissakawan Royal Gar-den on August 31, 1932.The Committee was di-vided into four workinggroups.

1. The Thai musicperformers. The per-

formers were required to be masters ofThai classical music and have goodknowledge of the repertoire.

2. The music transcribers. The tran-scribers were required to be knowledge-able in Western music notation andcapable in transcribing music as it wasbeing performed.

3. The performers of Western mu-sic. These performers were unfamiliarwith Thai music, but were needed to playthe music, as it had been notated, backfor the Committee, in order to verify theaccuracy of the transcriptions.

4. The Thai Musical Notation Ap-proval Committee. This committee wasmade up of experts in Thai music and itsduty was to approve the transcriptions.

Piphat music was selected for tran-scription because it is the foundation ofThai music and because it is the most


complex and flexible of the instrumentalidioms. The first composition transcribedwas a ritual suite called Phleng ChudHomrong Yen [Evening Prelude], orPhleng Chud Homrong Lakhawn [Dra-matic Prelude].

The instruments used to play the tran-scriptions back for the Approval Commit-tee were as follows (in parentheses areDr. Roongruang’s recommended wind andpercussion instrument substitutions):

1. Pi-nai, was substituted by violin orviola (oboe, flute, or clarinet)

2. Ranad-ek was substituted by piano(upper register marimba or xylophone)

3. Ranad-thum was substituted by pi-ano (lower register marimba)

4. Ranad-thum-hlek was substituted bypiano (lower register vibraphone)

5.Khawng-wong-yai was substituted byxylophone (upper register vibraphone)

6. Khawng-wong-lek was substituted bycelesta (glockenspiel)

7. Drums and other Thai percussion re-quired no substitution (Taphon—congaand tumbadora, Ching—finger cymbalsor triangle [open sound] and castanets[closed sound], and Mong—nipple gong)

When the Project completely stoppedin 1942, 475 compositions had beentranscribed in staff notation. About100 of these were transcribed in fullscore, and the rest were in one ormore parts. It greatly upset Com-mittee members that their work wasnever published for public use (ex-cept for the two compositionsHomrong Yen [1936] and ThamKhwan [1955]), as intended fromthe outset of the Committee’s labors.

Because after 1942 no one in au-thority paid any attention to theManuscript Collection, the tran-scriptions remained unpublished(except for the two mentioned ear-lier). In 1960, the National Theatrecaught on fire and a large portion ofthe Collection was destroyed. Fortu-nately David Morton, a doctoral stu-dent from the United States, hadcome to Thailand to study Thai clas-sical music. He was allowed to mi-crofilm all of the original scores in1958–59 and brought five rolls of micro-films back to the Institute ofEthnomusicology at the University ofCalifornia, Los Angeles. Over time, theThai Manuscript Collection disappearedalmost entirely from the memory of theThai music world.

THE LOST THAI MUSIC MANUSCRIPTRESTORATION PROJECT

The compositions in the Thai MusicManuscript Project were never madeavailable to the public until PanyaRoongruang established the Lost ThaiMusic Manuscript Restoration Project onNovember 1, 1993. Under this project,many compositions in many differentgenres have been and continue to be pub-lished. The series published by this

project is called Noted Phleng ThaiChabab Khru (Masterpieces of Thai Mu-sic).

The project is divided into two phases:1. entering the 3,877 pages of musicmanuscript into the computer using theFinale notation program and printingthem in camera-ready form, 2. publishing

the restored music in book and CD-ROMform. The first phase was to be completedin eight to ten years, but this goal hasproved impossible due to the lack of timeand financial problems. As of August1999, only six books of music have beenprinted, each book consisting of bothscores and parts. There are approxi-mately 35 to 40 more books awaitingcomputerization and printing in camera-ready form; it cannot be projected when

they will be complete. Althoughthese music books have not beenpublished, copies have alreadybeen presented to major institutesfor public use.

One might be inclined to believethat converting the manuscripts tocomputerized notation and print-ing them in camera-ready form isrelatively easy and can be donequickly. As a matter of fact, it isnot as easy as it appears. The taskof entering the scores into thecomputer requires extreme care,in addition to knowledge of bothThai and Western music. In addi-tion, because many pages ofmanuscripts in the microfilms arenot clear or even in the correct or-der, they need careful interpreta-tion before they can be enteredinto the computer with absolutecertainty. After the music is en-

tered into the computer, Dr Roongruanghas the computer play the music backwhile following the manuscript score inorder to verify that each line has beenentered correctly. After he is satisfiedthat the computerized version is thesame as the original it is saved and cop-ied to a compact disc.

Thai traditional music student at Kasetsart Universitypractices on the Khawng-wong-lek.


AN INTERVIEW WITH DR. POONYAROONGRUANG

Jeff Moore: How do you see the musicfrom The Lost Thai Music ManuscriptRestoration Project being utilized?

Poonya Roongruang: The collection of this

music is like the bible of Thai classicalmusic. Since Thai traditional music istaught by rote, the written collectionhelps to document major Thai classicalworks. It documents an accurate inter-pretation of traditional music and cap-tures how it was performed in the last

century to the present. Because Thaitraditional music is a “live” music andnot a “dead” music, things can changeover time—particularly, the idiomaticlines performed by such instrumentsas the high xylophone (ranad-ek), lowxylophone (ranad-thum), high gong

For the complete arrangement of this piece, visit the Members Only section of the PAS Web site at www.pas.org



by a committee of experts in the early20th century—to clear up any dis-agreement or confusion about whatwas traditionally correct.

By putting the music in western no-tation, the collection can also be usedfor analysis. This can help people dis-cover and understand the organiza-tional principles and theoriesgoverning Thai music. Score analysishelps people understand how Thai mu-sic works and will clearly demonstratethe Thai music texture described asidiomatic heterophony. That is each in-strument playing its own idiomaticline, governed by a series of sequencesunique to the instrument, based on theprincipal melody performed by thelarge gong circle (khawng-wong-yai).

Moore: What procedure would you recom-mend for implementing Thai Piphatmusic into the percussion ensemble?

Roongruang: I can be reached by e-mail [email protected], and we canwork out the arrangements for order-ing the collection. It is not hard to find

Thai music scholars in the UnitedStates for information or to help in-struct the ensembles. For example, inCalifornia you can go to one of the Thaimonasteries or Buddhist temples andfind at least one music teacher trainedin Thai music. There are monasteriesin Chicago, New York, Seattle, andTexas, and many places have Buddhisttemples with Thai music instructors.Many of them hold at least a bachelor’sdegree in Thai music from major uni-versities in Bangkok. Kent State Uni-versity in Ohio has a Thai musicensemble being taught by a well-trained Thai scholar. You may contactAmerican Thai music expert Prof.Dr. Terry E. Miller [email protected].

Moore: What recordings do you recom-mend, and how can a person outside ofThailand purchase them?

Roongruang: In Thailand it is very easyto find, but in America it is not easy.There is one main education supplystore in Bangkok called Suksapan andthere are many CDs and cassettes tochoose from. There are three main cat-egories of Thai classical music en-sembles:

Piphat (pea-POT): This ensemble,mostly percussion, combines gongcircles, xylophones, drums, and oboe.

Khruang-sai (kroong-SIGH): Thestring ensemble combines flute withstrings, although other instruments,even Western ones, can be added.

Mahori (mah-or-A): Derived from acourt ensemble, it comprises all the in-struments of the khruang-sai andpiphat with the exception of the oboe.

Be specific as to which ensemble yourequest, as just asking for Thai classi-cal music may not get you the en-semble you are looking for. The seriesof Piphat recordings I recommend iscalled Mae-mai-pleng-thai (TraditionMusic of Thailand) directed and con-ducted by Seree Wangnaitham andperformed by the government’s Depart-ment of Fine Arts Band. It is a largecollection of over 30 CDs. Each volumefocuses on Piphat music for differentoccasions—religious, wedding, funeral,Thai boxing, etc.—and has discs thatfeature the Ranad-ek (xylophone) andkhawng-wong-lai (large gong circle) assolo instruments. For information onpurchasing this series in America, I

circle (khwang-wong-lek), high fiddle(saw-duang), and low fiddle (saw-u).These and other instruments fill in themusical picture with their idiomaticdetails and ornamentation. It is likeThai design in which a drawing con-sists of a main line, and other decora-tive lines fill the space. The principalor skeletal melody, played by the largegong circle (khawng-wong-yai), has notchanged much at all.

I see the project being utilized firstof all as regular printed music that canbe performed by the western percus-sion instruments and one wind instru-ment. If you want to perform the musicwith a string or wind ensemble, that isfine too. The music is put in westernnotation not just to document thepiece, but also for sharing the musicwith other cultures. The project is alsoutilized as a reference for accurate per-formance of the traditional music. Oc-casionally, Thai musicians disagree orhave doubts about parts within themusic. The collection offers an authori-tative source—created and validated


recommend contacting Dr. Terry E.Miller at Kent State University inOhio. He is not a distributor, but canhelp with the connections to get thisseries in the United States.

Moore: To date, you have six volumes ofThe Lost Thai Music Manuscript Resto-ration Project printed. You write in thepreface that there are approximately 35to 40 more books awaiting computer-ization and printing. How will you con-tinue the project to its completion?

Roongruang: It is so hard. I have in handfive rolls of microfilm, and each rollcontains a great deal of music for a to-tal of 3,877 pages of manuscript. I havefinished another four books, but do nothave the money to formally print themfor distribution. I will work it veryslow, day by day, until I finish. I hope Ican get a research grant from the gov-ernment to finish the project, but it isnot easy to get this kind of grant. Thegovernment feels it has more impor-tant things to be concerned with, so Ido not know for sure how I will com-plete the project.

If any one is interested in helpingme—actually, helping preserve theworld heritage—with money or grants,they should contact me by e-mail. Thedifficulty with a person directly assist-ing in the project is that they need tobe trained in both Western music andThai traditional music, and thesepeople are difficult to locate.

Moore: Do you have anything to add?Roongruang: Yes. It is my pleasure to give

this collection and information to you.At least 190 pieces of Thai classicalmusic have been lost in the past be-cause the tradition is oral and not writ-ten. There is a book that can trace themusic back over 300 years ago, but allwe know now is the title because noone knows the piece. We have thename, but no melody. Some melodieshave many names and that adds to theconfusion. This is the nature of the artin the east. Now, we have it in print, inwritten document, that is crucial topreserving this music for all time.

I am happy to help with any ques-tions concerning Thai traditional mu-sic, but for more information Irecommend reading the latest versionof Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Mu-sicians on Thailand. I have written the

most recent entry, but before this edi-tion Dr. David Morton wrote the ar-ticle. Morton is extremely important toThai music, as he was the man whomicrofilmed the music in this collectionand preserved it from the fire that tookso many of the manuscript pages. I amthe one who restored it and brought itback to Thailand from the archives inthe United States.

Most people in Thailand do not knowof this collection, but for those thathave learned of it, I encourage them toshare with and distribute it to peopleall over the world. I also recommendthe Southeast Asia, Thailand entry inthe Garland Encyclopedia of WorldMusic. Dr. Terry E. Miller wrote thatentry and it is very thorough and infor-mative. It goes into great detail aboutnot just Thai classical music, but theregional Thai music as well.

Jeff Moore is Professor of Percussion atthe University of Central Florida in Or-lando, where he conducts the Pop Per-cussion Ensemble, the ChamberPercussion Ensemble, the MarimbaBand, and the Steel Drum Band. He isalso an internationally recognized per-cussion clinician and soloist. PN

Applications are being acceptedfor the chair position of the PASMusic Technology Committee.

Among the many responsibilities,the chair will facilitate and

coordinate the activities of thecommittee by examining andaddressing topics and issues

related to the committee and thePercussive Arts Society.

Deadline for applications:May 1, 2004

Applicants should send a letterof interest and a current vita to

Michael Kenyon, ExecutiveDirector, Percussive Arts Society,

701 NW Ferris Avenue,Lawton, OK 73507.

MUSIC TECHNOLOGYCOMMITTEE CHAIR SEARCH


With a prominent spot on the Na-tional Standards list and keeninterest in improvisation by the

National Association of Schools of Music,the question “How do you incorporate im-provisation into your curriculum?” hasbeen posed to me in job interviews, ac-creditation interviews, and by colleaguesacross the nation. The usual response,“Ask the jazz faculty,” does not seen tocover it, especially as many of my stu-dents are not involved in the jazz pro-gram. How then, with an already fullcurriculum, could I make space forimprovisational studies?

A recent visit by Nexus providedthe answer. During the masterclass portion of the day, Bill Cahnasked about our improvisational ac-tivities. At that time our “improvi-sational activities” solely consistedof impromptu get-togethers by stu-dents on their own accord. WhileBill spoke I began to see the stu-dents’ eyes widen and I soon real-ized that regular improvisationwould help our ensemble with lis-tening skills, tone production, and gen-eral musicality. We were so moved byBill’s words that we decided to bring himback for a mini-residency to focus on de-veloping a curriculum for improvisation.What follows is part of an ongoing con-versation with Bill Cahn regarding hismethod of “creative music making.”

Jim Snell: You have spoken often of the im-portance of improvisation early in thecareer of Nexus. Can you share somepersonal observations on the role of im-provisation during that formative timeand how it has contributed to your ar-tistic growth over the years?

Bill Cahn: Improvisation has been at thecore of Nexus’ music making from thevery beginning. Just before Nexusformed as an ensemble, in 1968, thefive of us—Bob [Becker], Russell[Hartenberger], Robin [Engelman],

John [Wyre] and I—came together atthe Marlboro Music Festival in Ver-mont to perform Stravinsky’s “LesNoces.” John was in residence there,and during his stay he had been visit-ing the local antique shops. In one ofthose shops he found a set of Japanesebronze dome-shaped temple bells,which he purchased and suspended inthe percussion storage room.

After one of the Stravinsky rehears-als, we had some time to kill and westarted fooling around with instru-

ments in the storage room. We wereplaying orchestral excerpts, but dis-torting them in any imaginative waypossible. The temple bells came intoplay for a moment in a distortion of thexylophone passage to “Porgy andBess.” Of course, the pitches werewrong and the intonation of the bellsfell in-between the notes of the chro-matic keyboard scale, all of whichmade for a great outpouring of fun andlaughs.

The outcome of this was that ourmusical friendship became deeper anda mutual willingness was sparked toget beyond the restrictions with whichour musical thinking had been edu-cated. Which is to say that over time,in our own music making, “notes” andtechnical issues became diminished inimportance and expression becamemore of a concern.

Integrating Improvisation Into YourCurriculumAn interview with Bill Cahn

BY JAMES SNELL

Months later, Bob and I visited Johnat his house in Toronto. By then Johnhad his bell collection prominently dis-played in one room. Each bell was indi-vidually suspended to allow for itssustained ringing. Clusters of smallbells were also suspended on strings offour- to six-foot lengths in such a waythat when activated by a push of thehand, they could swing and strike eachother for as long as several minutes. Infact, even after it seemed the ringinghad stopped, two bells might later

come together, producing a singledelicate sound, completely unex-pected and out of context, maybepunctuating a conversation andmaking all of us laugh.

John was completely enamoredwith the bell sounds and wouldmove around the room playingthem while encouraging his visi-tors to join in. The experience oflistening deeply to the sounds ofthese bells had a lasting impact onour music making, as did the expe-rience of intuitively responding by

playing other bell sounds. Two newmusical concepts emerged: There wereno wrong sounds, and there were fre-quent but seemingly random occur-rences of what might be called“consonance”—a coming together ofpitches, timing, or resonance. Further-more, the sounds were fully capable ofinvolving us and sustaining our atten-tion.

Inspired by John’s bells, the rest ofus began collecting our own instru-ments—mostly bells and gongs, whichin those days could only be found byusing considerable time and effort tolocate and hunt through antique shops.Most of the instruments that inter-ested us had been acquired, throughforeign travels, as souvenirs or art ob-jects by individual estates. As estateswere liquidated, these instrumentsfound their way into antique shops.

“Every performer was free to playanything at any time. Rather thanbeing a license to ‘go crazy,’ theabsence of a plan was taken as a

responsibility to listen carefully andto make interesting music.”


In May 1971, at the prodding of com-poser Warren Benson, the first Nexusconcert was presented at the EastmanSchool of Music. The stage was filledwith our collection of instruments, andthe music on the two-hour concert wasentirely improvised. There were tworeasons for this: First, we had collectedmany instruments, the sounds ofwhich we were still interested in ex-ploring, and second, every instrumentwas unique in its sound—pitch, timbreand resonance—so there was no musicin existence composed for these specificsounds.

The improvisations that occurred onthis concert had no preconceived rulesor plan. Every performer was free toplay anything at any time. Ratherthan being a license to “go crazy,” theabsence of a plan was taken as a re-sponsibility to listen carefully and tomake interesting music, just as hadbeen done with the bells at John’shouse.

For the first few years of Nexus’ ex-istence, every concert was completelyimprovised. Over time it became ap-parent that the state of mind that ex-isted in our improvisations could bebeneficially transferred to making mu-sic in other contexts—notably sym-phonic music and composed chambermusic. Such a state of mind has thefollowing characteristics: a deeperknowledge of the instruments andtheir sound-making possibilities, adeeper listening—to one’s self and toother ensemble members—that focuseson an acute awareness of the soundsbeing made, a more developed intuitivesense in making appropriate musicalresponses, an increased ability to beaccepting of the sounds produced byothers, and an increased confidence inmusical expression and risk taking.

Snell: When did you begin to realize thepedagogical potential of the “improvi-sational frame of mind”?

Cahn: The value of experience in improvi-sation was self-evident almost from thevery start. The mindset was naturallytransferred to other areas of music per-formance, especially to orchestral mu-sic in my own personal experience.

However, none of us in Nexus everreally conceptualized a formal peda-gogy. Even though we presented regu-lar improvisation workshops over the

years, they were usually loosely struc-tured. Normally, Nexus would performa short improvisation or two—usuallyon the group’s collection of world per-cussion instruments—and then se-lected participants would improvise onthe same instruments, sometimes withNexus and sometimes without. I don’tremember any occasions, though theremay have been some, when standardorchestral percussion instruments likemarimbas, vibraphones, and timpaniwere used in improvisation clinics. Thegeneral plan was simply for the play-ers—usually percussionists, rarelyother instrumentalists—to play what-ever they wanted to play.

In 1998 I went to Japan as a visitingartist in residence at the Showa Col-lege of Music and the Arts near Atsugi,south of Tokyo. In order to create animmediate bond with the students, itoccurred to me—only after my ar-rival—to obtain a recording/playbacksystem for my studio, and to play andrecord an improvisation in each ses-sion with individual students. The in-struments used were a marimba and avibraphone.

The responses from the studentsupon hearing the playback of our im-provisations were gratifying in the ex-treme. Facial expressions werewide-eyed and unbelieving, provokingear-to-ear smiles. In Nexus I had be-come accustomed to listening to record-ings of our improvisations, but thiswas the first time I had observed thepower of such listening in others. Itbrought to mind my own recollectionsof listening to the improvisation re-cordings that Bob Becker and I hadmade in the days just before Nexuswas formed.

Additionally, the listening at Showawas followed by a brief discussion, in-cluding questions like, “What did youthink about when you were improvis-ing? What did you think as you werelistening to the playback? Did you no-tice anything in the playback that youdidn’t hear while playing?”

My residency culminated in a finalrecital in which a group improvisationwas included. Subsequent visits toShowa in the following years rein-forced the perception that improvisa-tion—particularly free-formimprovisation—has immense potentialas a pedagogical tool for musicians of



all ages and disciplines. It has also be-come evident that the experience ofplaying free-form improvisations ismade more meaningful for players bythe additional steps of listening toplaybacks, followed by a question anddiscussion period.

At the request of the EastmanSchool of Music, John Wyre and I pre-sented a weeklong summer course in2002 titled “Improvisation for the Restof Us.” In preparing for this event, apedagogy started to crystallize for me,and one year later the result was anew book titled Creative Music Making– Four Simple Steps to Cultivating theInner Musician, which presents ideasfor structuring a formal program.

Snell: Could you define Creative MusicMaking and describe the four steps?

Cahn: Creative Music Making (CMM) is afour-step process in which musicianscan expand their musical expressionthrough the creation of spontaneous,free-form music without the con-straints of thinking about technique orwatching printed music. CMM alsoprovides a way of attaching meaning tothe music by including active listeningand questioning as integral elements,in addition to active playing.

In CMM any musician or musicteacher of any age, student or profes-sional, performing on any instrument,will find a practical method of cultivat-ing his or her musical voice. Ideally, atleast two performers are needed to par-ticipate in a CMM session, and it is notnecessary that the performers be atthe same level of experience.

CMM sessions consist of four simple,but equally important, interrelatedsteps: playing, recording, listening,and questioning. In the playing stepparticipants create spontaneous, free-form music in small groups of two tosix performers. No previous experiencein improvisation of any kind is re-quired. The ensemble size will, how-ever, depend on the amount of previousexperience, meaning those with mini-mal experience will benefit most fromsmaller ensembles.

The rules for playing free-form im-provisational music are simple: 1. par-ticipants can play whatever they wanton any instrument, and 2. participantsshould listen to each other and tothemselves, but there is no penalty for

breaking this rule.The second step is recording, so that

participants may be able to hear whatthey have created as a non-performerwould hear it. Listening back is thenthe third step. Participants focus onimproving their listening skills—notic-ing as much as possible about whatthey hear—as a means of expandingtheir awareness and their own musicalvocabulary.

Step four is questioning. Partici-pants, in a group round-table format,raise and respond to appropriate self-directed questions in order to increaseunderstanding and gain confidence inthe value of their creations. “Question-ing” in a CMM session means raisingquestions, but it also means thinking,discussing, assessing, contemplating,and evaluating those questions.

To get started in CMM it is recom-mended that there be an experiencedfacilitator present, at least in the earlystages, and that regular times—eachday, week, or month—be set aside forCMM sessions.

Snell: What is the role of the facilitator?Cahn: The facilitator’s role is simply to

support all CMM participants in theirprocess of developing self-directedplaying and listening skills. The princi-pal task of a CMM facilitator is to en-sure that all four CMM steps arepresent, particularly the listening andquestioning steps. The facilitator alsoguards against any temptation toshort-cut the process, since listeningand questioning are at the core ofCMM.

A facilitator is most valuable in thefirst few sessions of CMM when ajump-start is needed to overcome iner-tia, the fear of being judged, and mis-conceptions about improvisation. Thefacilitator ensures that the two rules offree-form improvisation are appliedand that participants are encouragedto raise questions at appropriate times.In the absence of student questions,the facilitator is there to raise ques-tions him or herself.

However, the facilitator should alsohave a sense of when not to intervene,and when participants are capable ofworking through the issues they raiseon their own. It is desirable that asparticipants gain in CMM experiencethe facilitator’s involvement dimin-


ishes, until eventually it is the partici-pants themselves who drive the pro-cess and co-share in the facilitator’srole.

One of the desirable outcomes ofCMM sessions would be that partici-pants actually perform free-form im-provisations in public concerts. In fact,it is recommended that a public perfor-

mance be planned as the culminatingevent of either a CMM course or work-shop. For this kind of concert, a varietyof ensemble configurations (duets,trios, quartets, or larger) and varyingcombinations of instruments (strings,winds, percussion, or mixed) can beutilized. Participants might form theirown groupings, the facilitator may ap-

point and assign ensembles, or somecombination of the two methods maybe used.

Just as in CMM sessions, novice par-ticipants may be paired in a public per-formance with professional musiciansto the benefit of both. The novice per-former is challenged to rise to the mu-sicianship of the professional, and the

Ludwig AlbertRobert Bell

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Jose OrtizRipin PaitimusaF. Keith QuarlesJohn Jano Rojko

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PAS THANKS ITSINDIVIDUAL FRIENDS


professional, rather than being obligedto demonstrate technical mastery, isinstead challenged to create a goodcommunication with the novice, a taskrequiring well-developed listeningskills and imaginative responses. Whatbetter way for any professional tobroaden perspective, get beyond theconfining concepts of music making,and to embrace a global rather thanspecialized point of view? The ultimategoal, shared by all, is to deepen the ex-perience of making music.

Snell: When I began regular CMM ses-sions with my students I noticed agreat deal of imitative playing. Lately,the imitative playing has dwindled anda large number of simultaneous eventshave begun to occur. Is this evidence of“deeper” listening or just coincidence?

Cahn: There normally are progressivestages of development as experience inCMM increases. Imitative playing—copying one or more of the musical as-pects in the playing of anotherensemble member (pitch, rhythm, dy-namics, tone color, and so on)—is avery typical response in the beginningstages. Imitative playing also contin-ues into later stages; however, as expe-rience and listening skills increase theimitation response tends to becomemore refined and less direct. As aplayer’s confidence in his or her ownintuitive reactions increase, the imita-tion becomes more and more subject tothe influence of that player’s own cre-ativity. As the line between imitativeplaying and intuitive playing becomesincreasingly blurred, an overall senseof unity and wholeness in the music be-comes more apparent.

One characteristic of the unity is thepresence of what may be called “conso-nance” or “synchronicity.” Consonancemay be defined as a moment in themusic when communication among theplayers is at a peak. This may be evi-denced in the music by the presence ofa simultaneous tonality, rhythm, orany other musical element into whichthe individual players seem to havecompletely surrendered themselves. Itis difficult, if not impossible, to knowto what extent the occurrence of a con-sonance is brought about either bysimple coincidence or by deep listen-ing. However, it is generally true thatwhile brief consonances may occur in

the beginning stages of CMM, more ex-perience leads to an increased numberand length of such events. This is adeeper level of music making—agreater sense of being connected toone’s self and to the other players. Thesearch for consonance is, in short,what Creative Music Making is allabout.

Since Bill’s visit, we have been holdingregular Creative Music Making sessions,and I have begun to see tangible resultsin all of my students. They have re-marked to me that they feel more com-fortable behind the instruments, are ableto actively listen more in their variousensembles, have a deeper understandingof tone production, and have begun to de-velop an individual musical voice. Impro-visation through the Creative MusicMaking process now holds a prominentspot in our curriculum and in our en-semble and recital performances. Formore information about Creative MusicMaking, contact Bill Cahn atwww.nexuspercussion.com or write tohim at 8740 Wesley Road, Bloomfield, NY14469.

James Snell has performed with the Kan-sas City, Dallas, and New Mexico Sym-phony Orchestras, the Dallas Opera, theLyric Opera of Kansas City, and the Mis-souri Chamber Orchestra. He has re-corded with the New Mexico and DallasSymphonies as well as the Dallas WindSymphony. He received his Bachelor ofMusic degree in Percussion Performancefrom the University of Illinois inChampaign-Urbana, a Master of Musicdegree in Percussion Performance fromSouthern Methodist University, and aDoctor of Musical Arts degree from theUMKC Conservatory of Music. Snell isAssistant Professor of Percussion at theUniversity of Missouri-Kansas City Con-servatory of Music and a faculty memberof the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in TwinLake, Michigan. PN


tech-nique n. (Fr.): 1. the method ofprocedure in artistic work. 2. The degreeof expertness in following this.

As percussionists/marimbists we of-ten align the concept of techniquewith mechanics. The very nature of

our craft requires us to develop an almostscientific approach to technical develop-ment. We spend many hours doing repeti-tive motion and permutations. Thesetechnical studies also include scales, ar-peggios, and tone patterns. Althoughtechnical practice and development iscrucial, we can become so in-volved with the execution ofwarm-ups and exercises thatwe are not fully aware of thesound we are producing.

We become passive as westand behind the instrumentand watch our mallets andhands move, and we hear thenotes go by. (If we hear amissed note, we fire off thesame set of mechanics and hope that thistime we hear the right notes!) Whenmarimbists and percussionists talk abouttechnique, we usually don’t talk aboutour ears. We talk mostly about motion.Unless we are mindful about how wepractice marimba, we use our ears in avery passive way most of the time. Forexample, we do not have to create pitchlike a singer; we simply have to strikethe bar. Because mallet-keyboard playersdon’t have to mentally hear the pitch inorder to strike it, we get in the habit ofletting our ears follow our hands. Wewatch our hands move, we see the mal-lets striking the bars, and we hear thenotes as a by-product of the physical mo-tion.

Can we hear our way to better tech-nique? Hearing notes is not the same aslistening critically to the quality of soundbeing produced from the instrument. Wesometimes become so infatuated with ac-curacy and velocity that if we hear im-pact and pitch we are satisfied, so long asit is the correct pitch.

This manner of thinking separates usfrom the true nature of musical artistry,which is one of expression. Rememberthat technique is only a means to an end.It gives us freedom to show our interpre-tation of the music without any physicallimitations. Technique should be devel-oped and explored in full relationship totone production and musical possibility.It is a fundamental part of our artistry,yet should never be isolated as a separateconcept. An artistic technical approachalways allows for development and re-finement of the following three elements.

ELEMENT 1: TONETone is your inner voice. Tone is the re-

lationship you find with the instrument,and the degree to which you allow thenatural resonance of the instrument tosound. If you were asked to write inwords what your tone concept is, couldyou do it? What descriptive words wouldyou use? This written exercise may bemore challenging than you imagine. Giveit a try. If you were asked to describewhat good tone feels like, how would youanswer? The answer to this questionshould help you to define your technicalapproach.

Experiment with the tightness andlooseness of your grip with both two andfour mallets as you play patterns, permu-tations, and scales. Focus on the sound ofthe instrument. Notice how these physi-cal differences create changes in tone andtimbre. How does your physical approachto the instrument feel in relationship toyour written definition of tone? Howmuch tension do you notice as you play?Does this tension affect your tone? If you

feel uncomfortable or unnatural as youplay, chances are you are not projectingyour best tone.

ELEMENT 2: DYNAMIC CONTROLDynamics are closely related to tone

production. Because volume changes onmarimba are accomplished by changes instroke height or changes in velocity, thecharacteristic sound of the bar oftenchanges with volume. You must practicetechnique in all dynamics to be able tocontrol your tone and be expressive at alldynamic levels. Don’t make the mistake

of practicing your technicalstudies at the dynamic of“mezzo stagnant.” Can youchange volume without alsochanging tone? Does thesound become brighter as youplay louder? Does the impactbecome more harsh?

Try this experiment: Playone exercise continuously asyou gradually increase vol-

ume, and notice the subtle changes youneed to make in your grip and your me-chanics to keep the tone consistent. Dothe same with a decrease in volume.Most players agree that the higher thedynamic, the more crucial it becomes toeliminate tension.

ELEMENT 3: ARTICULATIONMallet selection plays an important

part in articulation, timbre, and the de-gree of brightness. However, it is a greatchallenge to find ways to manipulateyour articulation with one mallet choice.For example, try playing scales in thebottom two octaves of a marimba withhard/bright mallets, with the musicalgoal of trying to eliminate the harshquality that mallets such as these wouldnaturally produce. Similarly, try to pro-duce clarity and articulation in the upperregister while playing scales with soft/darker mallets. Play the “tight-loose”game and notice how changes in yourgrip affect the articulation or contactsound.

Beyond Mechanics:A Musical Approach to Marimba Technique

BY ALISON SHAW

“Because mallet-keyboard playersdon’t have to mentally hear the pitchin order to strike it, we get in the habitof letting our ears follow our hands.”


Effective technical practice should al-ways enhance facility and agility. Equallyimportant, it should serve as a vehicle fordeveloping a musical vocabulary. Don’tthink of technique as a means for movingaround the instrument. Instead, think ofit as a means for improving your lan-guage as a performer.

Recognizing good technique may bemore difficult than you imagine. Watchtwo professional runners compete againsteach other, and you will undoubtedly no-tice one working harder than the other.Which runner has the best technique?Probably the one who doesn’t appear tobe working as hard.

In music, technique serves its highestpurpose when it allows the performer totranscend the limitations of the instru-ment. If the observer is not distracted bythe necessary mechanics, the clarity andexpression of the performer comes to life.

Alison Shaw is a free-lance percussionistand educator, and is active as a soloistand clinician. She performs with QuorumChamber Arts Collective, a mixed-instru-mentation sextet specializing in new mu-sic. She has served on the faculties ofMichigan State University, Indiana Uni-versity of Pennsylvania, and EasternNew Mexico University. She is a featuredxylophone soloist with The NewColumbian Brass Band and is PrincipalTimpanist with the Brass Band of BattleCreek. She is Past-President of theMichigan PAS State Chapter, and is anassociate editor for Percussive Notes. PN

The Percussive Arts Society is seeking applicants for our six-month internshipprogram beginning in July 2004. Many successful candidates for this positionhave either used internships at PAS as capstone semesters to complete musicbusiness degrees or have been recent graduates of such programs. However,all percussion students who wish to gain industry experience as a way of pro-moting career goals are encouraged to apply.

PAS interns acquire broad industry experience by assisting with a variety ofstaff projects. The fall 2004 intern will be part of the team that is planning andproducing November’s international convention in Nashville. The opportunity towork closely with our Director of Event Production and Marketing, JeffHartsough, on artist and manufacturer relations and marketing projects willmake the fall 2004 internship especially valuable to any young adult who is con-sidering a career in the field of music business.

Interns live in a furnished apartment provided by PAS (water, electricity, andcable bills are also paid). In addition, interns receive a $500 stipend each month.

We invite prospective candidates to send the following information:• a résumé of academic and work experiences;• a copy of a paper submitted in an upper division course that includes anevaluation written by the student’s professor;• a list of persons who have agreed to provide academic and work-relatedrecommendations, along with contact information; and• a cover letter that both describes the applicant’s career goals and also dis-cusses how an internship with PAS could help to realistically promote thosegoals.Completed applications can be forwarded as e-mail attachments [email protected] or may be sent to our postal address: Intern Coordinator,Percussive Arts Society, 701 NW Ferris Avenue, Lawton, OK 73507.

Priority will be given to candidates whose applications are received before June1, 2004.

Please encourage students in your program to consider the advantages of sixmonths of industry-related experience with the Percussive Arts Society.

FALL 2004 INTERNSHIP APPLICATIONS


Jazz Waltz for VibesBy Thomas L. Davis

practiceroom

From Voicing and Comping for Jazz Vibraphone

By Thomas L. Davis

Published by Hal Leonard

Copyright © 1999 by HAL LEONARD CORPORATION

International Copyright Secured All Rights Reserved

Used by Permission

Hear a recording of this solo in the Members Only section of the PAS Web site at www.pas.orgSound Enhanced



Commissioned for the PhiladelphiaOrchestra’s Centennial celebrationin June 2002, Jennifer Higdon’s

“Concerto for Orchestra” is quickly be-coming the most sought-after orchestralwork this season, receiving rave reviewsfrom the press and standing ovationsfrom audiences.

The National Symphony Orchestra per-formed Higdon’s work this past Octoberat the Kennedy Center for the PerformingArts in Washington, D.C un-der the direction of LeonardSlatkin. Since this work willundoubtedly be performed bymany other orchestras, Ithought it would be of greatinterest to everyone to askHigdon some questions aboutthis piece and to also includesome technical informationand practical suggestions per-taining to the timpani part.

Jennifer Higdon (b. Brook-lyn, New York, December 31,1962) is an active freelancecomposer. She is the recipientof several awards, including aPew Fellowship, aGuggenheim Fellowship, andtwo awards from the AmericanAcademy of Arts & Letters.Her orchestral work “Shine”was named Best New Piece ofthe Year in USA Today’s TopPicks in Classical Music for1996. Her works are recordedon two-dozen discs, includinga recent release on Telarc of “blue cathe-dral” by the Atlanta Symphony Orches-tra. Her commissions include works forthe Philadelphia Orchestra, the AtlantaSymphony, the Brooklyn Philharmonic,the Pittsburgh Symphony, the BaltimoreSymphony, National Symphony, St. PaulChamber Orchestra, eighth blackbird, theCypress String Quartet, the Ying Quar-tet, the American Guild of Organists, andthe Verdehr Trio. She is on the composi-tion faculty at the Curtis Institute of Mu-sic in Philadelphia.

Jennifer Higdon’s“Concerto for Orchestra”

BY JOHN TAFOYA

John Tafoya: How did the commission bythe Philadelphia Orchestra occur?

Jennifer Higdon: The Philadelphia Orches-tra was commissioning new works forits Centennial, and I was one of sevencomposers considered. I was, in fact,the least known among the group (theothers included James MacMillan,Aaron Kernis, Michael Daugherty,Roberto Sierra). The orchestra felt thatit was important to commission a local

composer. I had been contacted duringthe summer of 1998 about submittingsome of my orchestral music, but Iwasn’t told what it was for. Around Oc-tober I was approached about the com-mission. Boy, was that a surprise! For afew days after I had been asked, I keptwaking up wondering if it had reallyhappened or if it had been a dream.

Tafoya: What composers influenced youand your compositional style? Whattype of music do you generally listen to?

Higdon: I’ve probably been influenced by alot of composers. In the classical realm,I would say Copland, Barber, Debussy,Ravel, and Stravinsky, as well as a lotof living composers including JoanTower, Libby Larsen, Stephen Paulus,John Adams, and Christopher Rouse.In terms of non-classical, I would haveto say the Beatles, because I actuallygrew up listening to pop music.

I listen to all sorts of music now: re-ally contemporary classical mu-sic that’s recently released oncompact disc, so that I can keepup with what my colleagues aredoing, country music likeShania Twain, the DixieChicks, and Garth Brooks, aswell as the Beatles andFleetwood Mac. I love to mixthings up a lot.

I’ve found, though, that myneed to have a clear pulse inmy music maybe stems fromgrowing up listening to theBeatles, Simon & Garfunkel,and groups like Peter, Paul &Mary. I also have some march-ing band in my background; allthose hours in rehearsal has tohave left a mark!

Tafoya: Since the premiere inJune 2002, how many other or-chestras have performed your“Concerto for Orchestra”?Higdon: The Dallas Symphony,the Tanglewood Contemporary

Music Festival Orchestra, the AtlantaSymphony, who opened their seasonwith the work and recorded it forTelarc, the Milwaukee Symphony, whoalso opened their season with the work,the National Symphony, and theMalmo Symphony [Sweden], so thatmakes six orchestras thus far. The Eu-gene Symphony and the BBC are alsoon the schedule for this year.

Tafoya: Following the premiere, were anychanges made?


Higdon: Very few; in fact, fewer than Ithink I’ve ever had in a piece. I took abass solo down an octave, I adjusted afew metronome markings, and that wasabout all.

Tafoya: The fourth movement is composedentirely for percussion alone. How didthis movement originate?

Higdon: When I was thinking about thestructure of the work and how the piecewould highlight the musicians as solo-ists and as a whole, I realized that per-cussion is the section of the orchestrathat has grown and advanced the mostthrough the 20th century. So this beinga new work at the beginning of the 21stcentury, it seemed logical to highlightthat section. Coupled with this was thefact that I love percussion and I’ve hadthe good fortune of working with thevarious members of the PhiladelphiaOrchestra percussion section. I wantedto write something for them specifi-cally. It all seemed to fit together sologically.

Tafoya: What source or research led you tochoose to stop the vibration of bowedmetallic instruments? The ensemble ag-gregate sound is truly unique becauseof this simple device.

Higdon: I used bowing to start that move-ment because I wanted the percussionmovement to contain the quietest partof the entire piece, which is not whatmost people would expect from a per-cussion movement. When I initiallywrote this movement, I had the percus-sionists allowing the sound to ringthrough. Wolfgang Sawallisch, whoconducted the premiere, was the onewho asked about stopping the sound.We tried it, and it sounded wonderful,so that was a change I made perma-nent in the piece. Stopping the soundkeeps the harmonies clear.

Tafoya: A review mentions some “unortho-dox” percussion performance in thefourth movement. Could this be in ref-erence to the bowing of vibes andcrotales, etc.?

Higdon: I think that’s what they meant.People are so surprised by that move-ment that they often think unusual in-struments are being played, when inreality, they’re the usual instruments.It’s fun to watch the audience duringthe beginning of the movement, be-

cause people always start leaning for-ward in their seats trying to figure outwhat’s being done in the percussionsection. And usually, the question I getmost afterwards is, “What were thosepercussionists doing at the beginning ofthe fourth movement?” Every perfor-mance I’ve been at, at least a dozenpeople come up to ask that question.The percussion movement is alwayseveryone’s favorite.

Tafoya: Have there been any interesting orunusual interpretations of this work?

Higdon: I’ve been enjoying the differentinterpretations, and I’ve honestlyfound them all to be interesting. I don’tknow if any could be classified as un-usual. The piece is so new that orches-tras are dealing with that challengealone. I’m sure down the road someonewill come up with an interpretationthat is quite different than what othershave done. Right now, the work is justestablishing its own kind of perfor-mance history as it moves among thevarious orchestras.

Tafoya: Do you have any new projects inthe works?

Higdon: Yes, lots. I’m finishing up aproject where I’m adding a fifth percus-sion part to an older work of minecalled “Zones.” It was originally forfour percussionists and CD, or what wecalled a “tape part.” Don Liuzzi fromthe Philadelphia Orchestra requestedthat I add an additional percussionpart. I think he has it in mind for a re-cording project in the near future.

I’m also writing works for the Chi-cago Symphony, the Pittsburgh Sym-phony, the St. Paul ChamberOrchestra, and the Brooklyn Philhar-monic, as well as various chamberworks and choirs. It’s a real pleasurehaving the luxury of enough commis-sions to keep me busy for awhile. I’malso in the middle of editing a record-ing of the “Concerto for Orchestra” and“City Scape,” which also has somecoooooool percussion stuff in the secondmovement, for Telarc with the AtlantaSymphony. That should be out inMarch 2004.

HIGDON: CONCERTO FOR ORCHESTRATHE TIMPANI PART

The timpani part to Higdon’s “Concertofor Orchestra” includes several chal-

lenges for the performer. I found that asix drum setup was necessary, using two32-inch drums and two 26-inch drums.There is never an instance in which allsix instruments are needed. However, dueto the range of notes (and dynamic con-siderations), the following arrangementwas determined:


MOVEMENT IMeasures 123 to 133 in the first movement use the bottom five drums. As indicated (“l.v.”) in the part, muffling is not required for

any note in this passage, allowing the performer to concentrate on the syncopated rhythms. I experimented with various stickingsfor the four sixteenth notes in measure 132 and finally settled on a paradiddle sticking.


MOVEMENT IIIThe low five drums are needed for measures 211 to 234. Starting with pitches F, G, B-flat, D-flat, E, this setup is still challenging

due to the physical demands of moving from drum to drum. At measure 219, immediately following the rhythmic pedal glissando, Ipedal the E up to an F and the D-flat up to an E-flat (in measure 221). This helps to economize my playing area. The E-flat is thenpedaled up to an E-natural on the downbeat of measure 225. The C is also quickly pedaled to a B-natural in this measure and,when possible, the G can be tuned down to an F. This will position all the needed notes in a “normal” four-drum setup from mea-sures 226 to 233.


MOVEMENT IVTimpani solo beginning in measure 45 (the top five drums are needed for this excerpt). The part instructs the timpanist to play

percussion at the beginning of the fourth movement. However, most timpani players opt not to perform this section (which containsbowed vibes, bells, and temple blocks). Since the National Symphony Orchestra’s usual stage setup splits the timpani and percus-sion section, an extra percussionist was hired to cover this part.

The most technically challenging spot was in measure 50, performing a rhythmic pedal glissando on the 32-inch and 26-inchdrums (where the 23-inch drum normally resides). After tilting my instruments to help bring the beating spots slightly closer, itwas still difficult to perform the glissandi as indicated. I ended up playing the C on the downbeat of measure 50 and then quicklytuning the B-natural up to a C or C-sharp to begin the glissando. This placed the double glissandi on my I and III drums, making itmuch easier to play. However, this created a quick pedal change on the downbeat of measure 51; the F has to be pedaled to a B-natural and the other 26-inch drum needs to be tuned from a C up to an F. I set up my second 26” drum so that the highest pitchwas an F, and this maneuver (with a lot of practice) worked out quite well. The use of paradiddle stickings also became necessary tofacilitate better movement from drum to drum (especially in tempos faster than quarter note = 90!).


The indication of using the butt-end of the mallets in measure 59 was problematic due to the tempo. I constructed a double-sidedmallet (half wood/half felt), which enabled me to quickly make this stick change.

Playing on the rim of the instrument at measure 66 was somewhat of a novelty. Fortunately, the composer states “whicheverdrum is convenient.” Those players worried about marking up their counterhoops could substitute a snare drum hoop or somethingsimilar. Butt-ends of the mallets are needed at measure 77. With that in mind, I performed buzzed rolls here and tried to add someadditional phrasing to this exposed solo; adding a slight crescendo on the G-sharp rolls in measures 77, 81, and 83. Adopting aright-hand only sticking at measure 88 assures the left-hand enough time to switch the stick back to felt for the subito forte en-trance in measure 89 (and the same idea, in reverse, for measure 91).


MOVEMENT VThe top five drums are utilized in this passage. Due to the non-repetitive nature of these rhythmic patterns I ended up treating

this as a sight-reading exercise (as opposed to marking in too many stickings or which drum to strike, etc.). In very fast tempos(and to save your hands), double-sticking the thirty-second-note figures might also be in order since these rhythms all occur in asoft dynamic.


Due to the drum setup (top four drums), some double-stickings were needed in measures 106 and 112.


More paradiddle stickings are needed toward the end of this work (measures 180–181 and in the final measure). Again, this isprimarily due to the fast tempo (quarter = 160–180).

Examples Copyright © 2002 by Jennifer Higdon [ASCAP]. All Rights Reserved. Timpani part excerpts reprinted by permission.

John Tafoya is Principal Timpanist with the National Symphony Orchestra and Director of Percussion Studiesat the University of Maryland. He has presented numerous master classes and clinics at universities across theUnited States, and has been a featured clinician at the Virginia/D.C. PAS Day of Percussion and at PASIC. Hehas published articles for The Band Director’s Guide, the Texas Bandmasters Association, the Florida PASnewsletter and Percussive Notes. His Web site, www.johntafoya.com, is accessed by thousands of percussion stu-dents and professional players each month. PN



The technological advances made in the past 20 years areastounding. Many electronic percussion controllers havemusical possibilities that we have only begun to explore.

However, many of the compositional standards that would facili-tate the use of these controllers have not been established. Thesestandards would serve performers who use electronics as ameans of acoustic instrument substitute as well as performerswho leave us awestruck with their unique delivery of electronicmusic. By standardizing electronic percussion composition, edu-cation for electronic instruments will be more feasible and effi-cient.

These compositional standards address issues of notation,sound sources, controllers and controller requirements, soundsource mapping, and playback. The compositional standards ad-here to standard notational practices. With standardized nota-tion, percussionists do not have to grapple with the task ofdeciphering any new notational system. Therefore, musicians canfocus their full attention on the performance of the musical mate-rials rather than the notation. (See Example 1.)

To assist the performer in preparing the percussion or malletcontroller for performance, each composition should include aninstrument legend along with the standard notation score. Thelegend will provide guidelines for the use of controllers. The leg-end for mallet controllers should include the following:

1. Number of octaves needed for the piece;2. Identification of middle C as it relates to the score;3. MIDI output channel number;4. Gate time/note length;5. Number and type of pedals required to properly perform the

piece. (See Example 2.)The percussion controller legend includes the following:1. Number of trigger pads necessary for the piece;

BY MICHAEL MIZMA AND JAMES METCALFE

Compositional Standard forElectronic Controllers

2. Number of pedals required to properly perform the piece;3. Gate time/note length;4. MIDI output channel number;5. Notation legend;6. Suggested controller setup. (See Example 3.)Some composers may wish to write pieces that have more com-

plex performance and setup demands. In such cases, composersshould include additional components to the controller legend toclarify their creative intentions. For instance, a composer maywish to write a piece with timbrel layering that is sensitive to dy-namics. To assist the performer with the controller setup, thecomposer should include dynamic indications with the controllerlegend. (See Example 4.)

Once the score and controller requirements have been ad-

Controller range = 3 octavesMIDI output = channel 1Gate Time/Note Length = .18sec1 Pedal Input = sustain

Example 2 - Mallet Controller Legend

Middle CC3


5-1 6-1 7-1

1-1 2-1 3-1 4-1

Foot Pedal8-1

1-1 2-1 3-1 4-1 5-1 6-1 7-1 8-1

Percussion controller requirement - 7 pads1 pedal input - Kick or trigger pedalGate Time - .08 secondsMIDI output - channel 1

Example 3 - Percussion Controller Legend

Suggested Controller Setup

Notation Legend

dressed, the final step is to deal with the sound source and soundsource playback.

Sampling provides the most accurate and prolific means of dis-tributing composer-intended sounds for compositions. Althoughthe General MIDI standard has facilitated easier access to com-mon sounds for “auditioning” purposes, there are too manytimbrel discrepancies between sound modules that can ruin themusical impact of a composition. Therefore, the sound sources ofchoice are samples. Sampled sounds give composers greater cre-ative and artistic control of the finished work. Furthermore, dis-semination of sample sound sources helps composers andperformers to avoid the generic quality and inconsistencies ofGeneral MIDI patches.

To distribute the sampled sound sources, the compositionalstandard utilizes .wav format files. The .wav files are compatibleon Macintosh and Windows-based computers as well as anyhardware sampler, regardless of manufacturer. For ease andcompatibility reasons, the score must also include a CD-ROM ofsamples each saved in .wav format.

Samples must be played back via samplers, which are avail-able in two basic forms: dedicated hardware samplers and soft-ware samplers. Each form of sample playback has inherentstrengths and weaknesses. Hardware samplers are usually costly

PURPOSE: The Percussive Arts Society sponsors an annual competition to en-courage and reward those who create music for percussion instrumentsand to increase the number of quality compositions written for percussion.

2004 CATEGORIES

Category I: Vibraphone Solo

First Place: $1000.00 plus publication by Studio 4 MusicSecond Place: $ 300.00Third Place: $ 200.00Category II: Percussion Quartet

First Place: $1000.00 plus publication by Meredith Music PublicationsSecond Place: $ 300.00Third Place: $ 200.00

Efforts will be made to encourage performances of the winning composi-tions at a future Percussive Arts Society International Convention or otherPAS sponsored events. PAS reserves the right to not designate a winner ifthe judges determine that no composition is worthy of the award(s).

ELIGIBILITY AND PROCEDURES:

• Previously commissioned or published (printed, audio or video) works maynot be entered.• Time limit for each category is 6–12 minutes. Total duration of pieceshould be stated on manuscript. Compositions must be original (no tran-scriptions or arrangements).• Composer should send five complete copies of the score. If not computergenerated, neat manuscript is required. Composer’s name cannot appear onany of the score pages. Five CDs (preferred) or cassette tapes may be sub-mitted in addition to scores but are not required All entry materials becomeproperty of PAS.• The difficulty of the composition is left to the discretion of the composer,however, high artistic goals should be coupled with realistic demands to al-low for performance at the university level. Instrument demands shouldalso be limited to those commonly found at the university level.

APPLICATION FEE: $25 per composition (non-refundable) should be en-closed with each entry. Make checks payable to the Percussive Arts Soci-ety.

DEADLINE: All materials (application fee, application form and manuscripts)must be received in the Lawton, Oklahoma PAS office no later than April 15,2004.

For further information and details, contact PAS, 701 NW Ferris Avenue,Lawton, OK 73507-5442, (580) 353-1455; E-mail: [email protected]

2004 PERCUSSIVE ARTS SOCIETY 31ST ANNUAL PERCUSSION

COMPOSITION CONTEST

Name of Composition ________________________________________

Composer’s Name __________________________________________

Address ____________________________________________________

City _______________________ State ____________ Zip ___________

Telephone Number (include area code) ____________________________

Fax Number __________________ E-mail Address ________________

Signature of Composer _______________________________________

I hereby certify that the enclosed composition is original and it has not been previouslycommissioned or published in any format.

2005 CATEGORIES: CATEGORY I PERCUSSION ENSEMBLE (8–12 PLAYERS)CATEGORY II MULTIPLE PERCUSSION SOLO (SMALL TO MEDIUM SET-UP*)

WITH CD ACCOMPANIMENT

*THE LIST OF ACCEPTABLE INSTRUMENTS IS AVAILABLE FROM PAS

2004 PERCUSSIVE ARTS SOCIETY 31ST ANNUAL

PERCUSSION COMPOSITION CONTEST

Example 4 - Dynamic Indications

p and mp should not trigger the Timbale or Crash cymbalsamples

f should trigger the Timbale and Crash cymbal samples

all dynamics levels should trigger the plink, longtone1,longtone2, and drumend sounds


and have a cumbersome user interface. However, they usuallyhave high-quality integral audio outputs and are made to be por-table. Software samplers are relatively inexpensive applicationsthat can operate on desktop or laptop computers. The user inter-face is easier to navigate but the audio outputs may be of lesserquality.

In order for the performer to properly integrate the samples,the composer must provide a sample map along with the control-ler legend, score, and CD-ROM. Each sample map will includethe .wav file name that corresponds directly to the file name lo-cated on the CD-ROM. For proper playback, the sample mapmust also define additional musical and MIDI parameters.

Musically, each .wav file will have a specified root note andpitch range. This ensures that sound sources are set to pitchescorresponding to the range of notes in the score. Also, eachsample must have a defined playback mode definition. There aretwo basic playback modes: normal (N) and play complete sample(PCS). Basically, normal mode only allows the entire sample toplay back with the use of a long gate time/note length or with useof a sustain pedal. PCS will generate the entire .wav sample re-gardless of gate/note length or sustain. In addition to assistingthe integration of the .wav files on the sampler, the sample mapshould include various MIDI parameters like volume and veloc-ity, which are self-explanatory.

Finally, the sample map includes setup information corre-sponding to the “Dynamic Indications” example. To demonstrate

a sample map for a mallet controller, see Example 5. Percussioncontroller sample maps can be included with the controller leg-end. (See Example 6.)

TO SUMMARIZE:Standard format for electronic percussion and mallet controller composi-tion

I. Use standard notationII. Include a controller legend

A. Mallet controller 1. Number of octaves 2. Identification of Middle C as it relates to the score 3. MIDI output channel number 4. Gate time/note length 5. Number and type of pedals required to properly

perform the pieceB. Percussion Controller

1. Number of trigger pads necessary for the piece 2. Number of pedals required to properly perform the

piece 3. Gate time/note length 4. MIDI output channel number 5. Notation legend 6. Suggested controller setup

III.Use a CD-ROM of .wav format files for sound sources

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Example 5 - Sample Legend

N= Normal Mode PCS = Play Complete Sample

Sample

Timbale

Crash

plink

longtone1

longtone2

Drumend

Root Note

B2

D3

F#1

F#1

F#2

F#2

Low Note

B2

B2

F#1

F#1

F#2

F#2

High Note

C4

C4

F#1

F#1

F#2

F#2

Wave Mode

N

N

N

PCS

PCS

PCS

Volume

100

80

0

127

127

127

Vel. Sens.

25

88

0

0

0

0

Vel. Range

95-127

95-127

0-127

0-127

0-127

0-127

Suggested Pad Setup

Root note #65Low range #65High range #65

1-1 2-1 3-1 4-1 5-1 6-1 7-1 8-1

Example 6 - Percussion Controller Legend and Sample Map combined








IV. Use samplers for playbackV. Include a sample map

Michael Mizma received a B.M., Magna Cum Laude from theCrane School of Music, SUNY Potsdam, and his M.M. with hon-ors from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.Michael teaches Audio Engineering, MIDI, Percussion, Percus-sion Ensemble, Steel Drum Band, and Music Business at SanJacinto College. He is also an active professional musician in theHouston area. He is founder of the Caribbean jazz groups TropicEnvoy and Tropical Beat, performs regularly with the variety en-sembles Mirage, The Coconuts, and the world music ensembleThe Gypsies.

James Metcalfe received his Bachelor of Music Education degreefrom West Texas State University and post graduate study wasdone at the University of Iowa. He has studied drumset withSteve Houghton and Efrain Toro, Ghanaian drumming withAbraham Adzenyah, Benares-style tabla drumming with PanditSharda Sahai, and Afro-Cuban drumming with Michael Spiro. Hehas written for and performed for dance ensembles and writtentwo books on Afro-Cuban drumming. He teaches at San JacintoCollege and freelances in the Houston area. PN

5-1 6-1 7-1

1-1 2-1 3-1 4-1

Foot Pedal8-1


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While treating drummers and per-cussionists over the past fifteenyears, I have noticed some

trends in the injuries they get. In addi-tion, I developed a survey on drummer/percussionist injuries, and have kept aneye on the results for the past six years. Ihave found that the majority of injuriesfall into the category of soft tissue dam-age. Being a drummer for over thirtyyears now, I wasn’t surprised.

You see, I too have had my share ofaches and pains from playing before, dur-ing, and after becoming a doctor. Thetreatment for most of these injuries canhurt plenty, and I jokingly tell my pa-tients “I feel your pain.” Well, it’s true inthis case.

Soft tissue injuries have to do withdamage to the muscles, tendons, liga-ments, and bursae. In our case, thesecome on over long periods of abusing ourbodies. Let’s face it, rarely do we experi-ence broken bones, dislocated joints, con-cussions, and traumatic injuries of thatsort from playing. We leave those to thefootball players.

Since most drummer/percussionist in-juries deal with soft tissue, we will dis-cuss in more depth the most commonsoft tissues involved, and then shine alittle light on how they are commonlytreated.

I Feel Your Pain!BY DR. DARIN “DUTCH” WORKMAN

MUSCLE INJURIESCommon injuries in this category:Muscle spasms: Knife-like pain any-

where in the body in a muscle belly.Fibromyalgia: Pain to move, touch, or

stretch, etc. anywhere in the muscles ofthe body.

Piriformis syndrome: Tight painful,restricted movement in hip and/or but-tock possibly going down the same-sideleg.

Torticollis: Painful restricted move-ment in the neck that may travel downthe arm.

Tension headaches: Headaches thatincrease with pressure on variousmuscles.

Muscles are usually the first soft tis-sue to be injured, because they providethe force that moves the body. They dothe work.

When the muscle works, it uses up en-ergy. When too much energy is depleted,the muscle becomes fatigued. You know

you have fatigued an area when it shakesas you try to hold it still. It will also be-come weaker and less coordinated.

A muscle’s usual response to fatigue(overuse) or injury is to tighten up and gointo spasm (constant contraction of the fi-bers). It does this to act much the sameas a splint, and reduce movement of thearea in order to protect it from furtherdamage. This process actually protectsyou from you.

However, this “splint” effect causespressure around the blood vessels, whichreduces the flow of nutrition to the in-jured area. Since blood is necessary toheal injury, the healing process is slowedin the proportion to the reduced circula-tion.

Muscles are one of the fastest soft tis-sues to heal quickly because they have agreat amount of blood circulation. Moreblood circulation to an area generallymeans faster and better healing becausethere are more materials to work with.Greater amounts of damage means a big-ger repair job, and a bigger job requiresmore materials and time.

They will usually heal fully four to sixweeks following a typical injury (you feelbetter much sooner than that). However,the amount of damage done to the area,and the amount of time the injury hasbeen there, will play an important role inhow fast and how well it will heal.

In addition, the longer an injury hasbeen there, the more difficult it is to re-verse it. With time, scar tissue begins toform, and fibrous tissue develops be-tween the muscle fibers that are stuck incontraction. Basically, if something in thebody is not moving, the body glues it inthat position with tissue.

In order to heal the injury, the fibroustissue (adhesions) need to be broken inorder to once again allow proper move-ment of the muscle. As you can imagine,this is usually a painful process to vary-ing degrees (see “How to do Basic Mas-sage”), but it must be done for fullhealing.

TENDON INJURIESCommon injuries in this category:

COMMON TYPES OFDRUMMER/PERCUSSIONIST

INJURIESMUSCLE SPASM: When a muscle

goes into sudden, involuntary contrac-tion.

TENDONITIS: When a tendon getsinjured by tearing, fraying, or irrita-tion.

BURSITIS: When a bursa getsover-worked, begins to break down, orgets inflamed.

NERVE IMPINGEMENT: Whensomething puts pressure on a nervecausing a decrease in its ability tofunction.

Muscles attach to tendons, and thentendons attach to bones. Often,when a muscle is injured, thetendon is also affected, and visaversa.


Stenosing Tenosynovitis: Pain onthumb side of the wrist and forearm.

Policis tendonitis: Pain and swellingwhen moving the thumb.

Lateral epicondylitis (tennis el-bow): pain on the outside of the elbow.

Achilles’ tendonitis: Needle-typepain on the back upper heel.

Tendons and ligaments are not as flex-ible as muscles, and they heal slower.Constant pressure and force on the ten-don is a common cause of tendonitis. Ten-donitis simply means that the constantpull on the tendons can cause them to de-velop small tears in the fibers. When thishappens, the tendon gets irritated, swol-len, and painful. This can occur any-where tendons exist in the body.

Irritation to an area leads to musclestightening involuntarily (spasm) to pro-tect the area. However, muscle spasmputs stress on the tendons that attachthe muscle to the bone because the tightmuscle is less elastic, causing more pullon the tendon. This irritates the tendon.

Allow me to illustrate: If you werebungee jumping, the cord would repre-sent the muscle, and where it attaches toyour leg would be the tendon. Imagine ifyou jumped off of a bridge and came tothe end of the bungee but it didn’tstretch. See what I mean about pullingon the tendon?

Since we use our hands and feet somuch in playing drums/percussion, themuscles that operate those areas tend toput more pressure and wear on the ten-dons around the wrist, hands, and feet. Itis very common for players to have ten-

donitis that develops from overuse of anarea with chronically tight muscles.

Tendons typically take around twelveweeks to heal. During this process, theinitial action should be to take the pres-sure off of the tendon by loosening up theattached muscle. If the injury is minor,the player can see if the injury will re-lieve by trying some basic massage tech-niques on the injured area, but this isbest done with moderate to deep massageof the muscle by a massage therapist ex-perienced with musician and athlete in-juries.

Usually this is a painful process, andthe person rendering the treatmentshould have the experience necessary toknow where to work, and how much pres-sure to apply. In addition, the longer theinjury has been there the longer it willneed to be treated in order to heal. Mostpeople do not have the patience neces-sary to take the process from start tofinish.

Once the pressure is off of the tendons,they will need time to rest with minimalor no playing. In a severe case, afterabout two to four weeks of total rest youcan begin playing at about fifty percentof normal intensity and time. If the in-jury begins to hurt during the playing,back off and try it again the next day.

With each day, you should be able toplay longer and with more intensity.Gradually, you will reach your maximumlevel. It is important that you do not playwith pain because it will take longer toheal, and further damage may occur.

LIGAMENT INJURIESCommon injuries in this category:Facet syndrome: Lower back pain,

worse when bending backwards.Coccydynia: Extreme pain at the bot-

tom of the tailbone (coccyx), worse whensitting.

Ligaments surround joints attachingbone to bone while allowing movement.They are strong, fibrous tissues that arepliable, and some believe that they areslightly elastic. They keep the joints snugin their movement rather than loose andshifting. Muscles protect the joint themost. They prevent the joint from goingtoo far in its movement, and they tightento secure it when moving or stable.

The ligaments play an important rolein keeping the bones lined up at the joint.When a ligament is injured or weakenedto any degree, the joint is more suscep-

The muscles of the lower leg combineinto one common tendon and attachto the heel. One large injury, orrepetitive misuse causes pain,swelling, and/or tearing of thetendon fibers. This is called Achillestendonitis (circled area shows thelocation of pain).


tible to injury.Generally, ligaments take longer to

heal than muscles. However, due to theirlocation and function, they are less apt toget injured from overuse or improper usethan muscles or tendons.

They are usually injured when a jointis moved beyond its normal range, orwhen the muscles supporting the jointare weak and force the ligaments to domore than their share of securing thejoint. By far, this happens most whenmuscles are fatigued and the ligamenttakes the full force of the movement,causing small tears to varying degrees.You know when this happens because ithurts immediately.

Rarely does a drummer/percussionistencounter a situation that puts enoughstress to a joint to force it further thanits normal range. This is usually a sud-den, unexpected move, mostly encoun-tered when moving equipment ormarching and such.

Tearing of ligament tissues sends analert to the brain, and the body respondsby causing the muscles around the areato contract in an effort to stop movementof the joint. Further movement of thejoint could cause more stress on an al-ready damaged ligament. Every damagedfiber is one less to add stability andstrength to the area, making the soft tis-sue more at risk for injury.

Ligaments typically take around

twelve weeks to heal. During this pro-cess, the joint should be stabilized (usu-ally with a brace of some sort) in order tokeep the ligaments from being movedand further damaged.

The player can help increase the circu-lation and restore strength to themuscles that protect the joint by tryingsome basic massage techniques. Rarely isa ligament injured without a surroundingmuscle also being injured.

After the ligaments begin to heal inthe first week or two, you can begin usingthe joint (playing) at about fifty percentof normal intensity and time. If the in-jury begins to hurt during the playing,back off and try it again the next day. Youshould find that each day you can playlonger and with more intensity.

It is important that you do not pushthe ligament to do more than it can do, orfurther damage will occur. Gradually, youwill reach your maximum level. If youpush the playing even though it hurts,the healing will take longer and yourchances of full recovery without residualpain will be greatly decreased.

BURSAE INJURIESCommon injuries in this category:Elbow bursitis: Swelling and/or pain

at the tip of the elbow when moving and/or touching it.

Shoulder Bursitis: Burning, stabling

pain in the shoulder that increases withmovement.

Retrocalcaneal bursitis: Pain andswelling on the back of the heel.

Ischio-gluteal bursitis: Extreme, un-relenting pain in the buttock, worsewhen sitting.

Bursae are a different type of animalthan the previously discussed soft tis-sues. They are various sized sacks of lu-bricating fluid that are situated betweenmoving parts within the body in order toreduce wear, heat, and friction thatwould cause injury.

They are very slick and very durable,but they can be injured from a direct hitand/or constant motion of the area. Thechances of a bursa being irritated is in-creased with pressure on the bursa,speed of movement, and/or the durationof the movement. Therefore, suddenly us-ing heavier sticks or playing at fasterspeeds than you are used to can bring iton.

Bursae are located between two areasthat rub together. They reduce the fric-tion. They are found around the shoulder,knee, hip, etc. where most movement oc-curs. Misuse of the area as describedabove can cause irritation of the bursaeresulting in inflammation (bursitis). Ifyou have pain in a joint during move-ment, bursitis is one possibility.

Once a bursa is irritated, the bestthing to do is leave it alone and let it cooldown. The average doctor will counselthe patient with bursitis to not move thearea for two to four weeks. With a littleimagination, you can usually get aroundthat. Career players cannot afford to stopa movement that makes their living.

In most cases, altering the playingsituation in some way allows the musi-cian to continue playing, and at the sametime lets the injury heal. A change intechnique, repositioning of the instru-ment, decreased intensity of playing byworking with a sound man, etc. may beall that is needed to allow this to happen.

NERVE IMPINGEMENT INJURIESCommon injuries in this category:Carpal tunnel syndrome: Numb,

tingling, or achy feeling in the hand and/or wrist; gets worse over time.

Intervertebral disc syndrome: Mod-erate to severe pain (usually neck orlower back) that typically continues downthe arm(s) or leg(s).

Median nerve entrapment: Tin-

This figure shows an elbow bursa.Bursae are bags filled withlubricant positioned between twomoving objects in the body in orderto provide smooth movementwithout friction.

Ligaments stabilize two bones thatmeet to form a joint. They keepthe joint snug unless they areinjured in some way.


gling, pins-and-needles, and/or numbnessof the first three fingers.

Claudication: Pain, ache, cramp, ten-derness in the leg when in use.

Sciatica: Tingling, burning, pain, andpossible weakness down one or both legs.

The final type of injury I would like toaddress occurs when something putspressure on a nerve causing what we callan “impingement” injury. Any pressureon a nerve causes a decrease in its abilityto function, and is accompanied by thenerve complaining in some way (usuallypain, tingle, burning, numbness, etc.). A

good example of nerve impingement iswhen you strike your “funny bone” (theulnar nerve) and a tingle or shock shootsdown the arm.

A longer-lasting nerve impingementsensation feels like getting a “dead arm”when you sleep on it too long. The armusually starts with feeling numb, thenwhen you get off the arm you feel tin-gling, pins-and-needles, and sometimesburning or aching. With time, it slowlyreturns to normal.

A nerve can be pushed on by manythings in the body, but the most commonfor drummers/percussionists are: tightmuscles, swelling of the nerve and/or sur-rounding irritated tissues (tunnels, reti-nacula, etc.), and even pressure on thearea from inefficient playing techniques.

HOW ARE SOFT TISSUEINJURIES COMMONLY

TREATED?

1. Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation(RICE). The ice should be applied forfifteen minutes (never more) directlyto the skin over the injured area, fol-lowed by fifteen minutes with no ice.This can be repeated three times perday for the first one to two days. Theamount of activity allowed, and thelength of time before doing full activ-ity, is dictated by the pain. When youfeel pain, you should back off and startagain when the pain subsides.

2. Begin using the injured area(playing) at about fifty percent of nor-mal intensity and time. If the injurybegins to hurt during the playing,back off and try it again the next day.You should find that each day you canplay longer and with more intensityand less pain. If this doesn’t occur, seeyour doctor.

3. Find out the movements or be-haviors that caused the injury, or itwill continue to happen over and over.Any movement that causes you painwhile playing indicates that you aredoing something wrong. Evaluate yourtechnique, and correct it so that itdoesn’t hurt anymore. A good instruc-tor can help.

This illustration demonstrates two ofthe common causes of sciatica.(1) Bulging or herniated lower backdiscs, and (2) pressure on thenerve from a spastic muscle(usually the Piriformis muscle).Sciatica can be down the leg as faras the toes in the pattern shownon the left (nerve in solid greenline, and pain pattern in reddashes).

continued on page 71


HOW TO DO BASIC MASSAGE

NOTE: This section is designed to teachthe reader how to do a BASIC massage.It in no way gives the reader enough in-formation to have the skills or knowl-edge of a professional. It gives beginnerinformation that will enable one to douseful soft-tissue work in a relativelysafe way. Massage and soft-tissue workis best done by an experienced profes-sional certified massage therapist(CMT), or doctor of chiropractic (D.C.)with soft-tissue work experience.

The benefits to the body of a goodmassage are not very well known to thegeneral public. Likewise, the ability togive an effective soft-tissue massage ishighly underestimated. Massage is anart form requiring talent and practice,not to mention a good knowledge of theanatomy beneath the skin. It is impor-tant to know where the muscles are andthe direction their fibers go. In addition,knowing the muscles that perform vari-ous functions that are hurting allowsone to more effectively relieve that pain.

Massage is a very simple thing tophysically do, but at the same time, dif-ficult to be effective at. It involves all ofthe senses. In particular, being able tofeel what is under the skin is of greatimportance. The subtle changes thathappen during the massage indicatewhat should be done next. They alsoshow where and how hard to push. Onlythrough focus and constant practice canone become a great masseuse.

IMPORTANT: If the area to be mas-saged has been injured, consult yourphysician before working on it.

Begin by finding the area of pain.Lightly rub the areas around it to feelall of the spots that might be involved.Once you have found them, begin doinga general massage of the area by rub-bing lengthwise along the muscle fibers,starting at one end of the muscle, andmoving to the other end slowly (one inchper second, moving towards the heart inmost cases), with moderate pressure. Itis best to use some kind of lotion in or-der to guide along the skin smoothly to“iron out” the muscle fibers.

While working the muscle, try to de-termine if the knots and sore spots are

smoothing out. If they are, continue mas-saging along the muscle fibers, startingat the left side, and moving to the rightapproximately a half inch after eachstroke. Once you have moved to the rightedge of the muscle, go back to the leftside and start again doing the samething; repeat this three to five times.Each time you make a sweep over themuscle, the pain should decrease slightly,and the bumps should smooth out andflatten.

If the bumps are too hard and refuse togive way after doing this each day for two

For larger muscle areas such as the legsand back, use the palms and outeredge of the hands (top). For smallerareas, it is convenient to use thethumbs to massage the muscles(bottom). It is important to movealong the skin slowly and smoothly(using lotion helps), ironing out thepainful bumps of muscle spasm.Above shows the pattern and direc-tion you should massage.

The longer a trigger point or spasm hasbeen there, the more difficult it is toremove it. Static pressure on aspecific knot is one way of singlingout the problem area and focusing onits removal. Once it is gone, you cando general massage to relax theentire muscle.


to three days, you can use a more aggres-sive technique that specifically works onthe trigger points and spasms.

Here’s how it works: Massage alongthe muscle area as above, and if you hit atrigger point, immediate pain will causethe patient to jump. The trigger pointwill be round shaped about the size of amarble (they are various sizes). Spasmsare very different. They usually feel likea rope or cable within the muscle goingwith the fibers. It is usually not painfulunless you apply hard pressure to it.

If it is a spasm, single it out, and workon it as above, going along the fiber bot-tom to top, and left to right. However,you will need to apply more pressurethan usual on this area in order to get itto “release” or relax.

While you are doing this, the handswill probably slide off of the spasm, usu-ally causing pain. It is important thatyou stay on top of it as you move alongthe fibers. I call this “surfing out thespasm.” Repeat the left-to-right processthree to five times; it should begin releas-ing within three to five treatments if youare doing it each day. As it releases, youwill feel less pain during the massage,and the spasm will slowly melt, becomingsofter each time. If you are really payingattention to your body, you will probablynotice more strength, coordination, andendurance in that muscle.

When you find a trigger point, the painwill make the person jump (thus the term“trigger point”). Massage around it, andmark in your mind its parameters. It willfeel like a marble (of various sizes)within the muscle.

Begin moving in a left-to-right patternalong the muscle fibers as mentioned be-fore, staying on the trigger point only.This is usually a very painful process, soless pressure is required. It is importantthat you move very slowly while workingout the trigger point— a half inch persecond or less. This gives it a chance torelease while you are working it. Gradu-ally, the area will become less painful,and the trigger point should deflate overthree to five treatments.

Stubborn trigger points respond well tostatic pressure. This technique requiresmore training to be really effective, so itmay take a while for you to become goodat it. Find the trigger point, and placeboth thumbs on top of it. Slowly increasepressure on the area, being careful not to

roll off. It will usually be painful, butthe pain should only reach a level thatthe patient can tolerate without fight-ing back (tightening up). They shouldbe able to allow the muscle to relaxduring this process, or it will not be aseffective. If they are tightening up, youwill need to reduce pressure to the trig-ger point until the muscle stops fight-ing back.

Hold the pressure on the triggerpoint for twenty to thirty seconds. Dur-ing this time, it will usually deflate,and at the same time the pain willfade. The key to this technique is beingable to put the right amount of pres-sure on the trigger point. Too much,and it will just fight you back to protectitself. Too little, and it will just laughat you without releasing. As it starts todeflate, you can increase the pressureslightly to accelerate the process.

This can be repeated two to threetimes if needed, but if it is not respond-ing, you will need to do general mas-sage as described above for a day ortwo, and then try it again. If you can-not get it to release, or the sorenessdoesn’t go away after a day or two, seeyour chiropractor or massage therapist.

Remember that muscle spasms andtrigger points appear because you aredoing something that irritates thebody—something it wasn’t designed todo, or wasn’t ready to do as much of.Unless you change the thing you aredoing to cause the problem, it will con-stantly return, and you will be chasingmuscle spasms and trigger points therest of your life. Fix the problem, andremove the spasms and trigger points.If they return, call a doctor who workswith musicians, and have the problemcorrected properly.



this injury return?” My reply is, “If youcontinue to do the thing that caused theinjury in the first place, it will happenagain. But if you change the pattern thatinitially caused the injury, it will neverbother you again.”

Behaviors are the main cause of injury,so we must find the behavior and changeit. On the positive side, pain shows usweaknesses in our technique, and if weimprove that weakness we will play bet-ter and longer.

All illustrations and photographs byDr. “Dutch” Workman. References avail-able upon request from the author.

Darin “Dutch” Workman is a doctor of chi-ropractic practicing in Kingwood (Hous-ton), Texas. He works with performingand sports related injuries. He has alsoreceived his Bachelor of Human Biologydegree, and is a Certified ChiropracticSports Physician. He has authored nu-merous injury and prevention articlesand presented many workshops over the

Nerves can also be affected if their bloodsupply is reduced, but for this article it isless of a concern.

A number of muscles are positionedclose to a nerve. If they go into spasm,they can cause pressure to the nearbynerve. This irritates the nerve and itcries out in one of the above-mentionedsensations. It will continue to do this un-til the pressure is removed, then it willgradually return to normal. The amountof time it takes to return to normal in-creases with the amount of pressure thatwas on it, and the amount of time it wasthere. If left long enough, chances for fullrecovery can decrease.

It is important to consult a doctor inorder to remove the cause of the pressureto the nerve. After that, your ability toplay will improve as the normal feelingand function comes back to the nerve.This injury is more complex, and shouldbe monitored by a doctor.

FINDING A DOCTOROnce a soft tissue is injured, the best

thing to do is leave it alone for a period oftime and let it cool down (until the painsubsides). Most doctors will counsel thepatient with a soft-tissue injury to notmove the area for two to four weeks.

In most cases, musicians cannot juststop moving for that amount of time, sothey just suffer until it gets so bad thatthey cannot move anymore. Many timesthis can ruin a job for them, and even af-fect their career. They put off seeing adoctor for fear that they will be told tostop playing—something they don’t feelthey can do.

In most cases of soft tissue injury, themusician can continue to play at a lowerlevel and also have the injury heal. Notall injuries require total rest. It is impor-tant to consult a doctor that has experi-ence with performers and athletes.

It is optimal if you can find a doctorthat actually plays drums/percussion, be-cause such a person understand the de-mands and movements of playing wellenough to provide alternative ways toplay without causing further injury tothe area.

GETTING RID OF PAIN FOR GOOD!As a final note, it is very important to

find out the movements or behaviors thatcaused the injury. Almost without fail,when the treatment is complete and themusician is fully healed, they ask “Will

years, and is cur-rently finishing abook on ergonom-ics, and preven-tion andtreatment ofdrumming inju-ries. Workman isChair of the PASHealth andWellness commit-tee, and is a mem-ber of the Performing Arts MedicalAssociation (PAMA). As a drummer/per-cussionist of over twenty-five years, hecontinues to be active in performing andteaching. He can be reached by e-mail [email protected]. PN


Instructional literature for all musicalinstruments, including the humanvoice, typically contains vague meta-

phors and analogies to describe the physi-cal actions used to play a particularinstrument. To develop wrist flexibility,Abram (1984) described several ways forpianists to practice a scale:

At first, as students play each key, theyswing down from the wrist to the horizon-tal level (not lower). The fingertips are al-ways in contact with the key surface.Immediately after producing the tone, theyshould eliminate excessive pressure. Thenstudents imagine the wrist filling with he-lium and very gradually, very slightly,floating up toward the playing of the nextkey. (pp. 28–29)

In describing snare drum playing, Cook(1997) described a way of striking a drumin which sticks are bounced like a ball“with a gentle throw or push of the ball to-ward the head being initiated primarilyfrom the wrists” (p. 40). He then offered asecond way to conceive of the same task:

Or, with sticks aside, the performer cantry placing his or her fingers on the sur-face of the instrument and lifting thesound out of the instrument as if testing ahot iron. (p. 40)

Typical of much instructional litera-ture, both examples contain imprecise,even contradictory, instructions that mayor may not provide adequate descriptionfor someone learning to play the instru-ment in question. Would it not be better tohave a more objective way of describingthe motions, touch, and other physical ac-tions used in playing an instrument? Forexample, perhaps an action could be sub-divided into distinct portions in whichparticular parts of the body should movemeasurable amounts, in certain directionsand through specified ranges of motion,applying pressure within an expectedrange to specific parts of a playing imple-ment, all in the effort to produce an ex-

Scientifically Based DrummingPedagogy

BY DR. TODD JOHNSON

pected sound on an instrument.This may sound farfetched, but it is in

fact not. Many researchers have turned toscientific measurement to more objec-tively define the physiological basis oftechnique for a variety of instruments.These efforts have provided the pedagogyof many instruments with an objective,measurable description of technical issuesfar superior to the subjective, impreciseinformation often imparted by musicteachers.

SCIENTIFIC STUDIES IN VOICE, PIANO,STRINGS, AND BRASS PEDAGOGY

For some instruments’ playing tech-niques, researchers have scientifically in-vestigated many questions and issues.The pedagogy for voice has benefited froma number, and long history, of studies.Hirano (1988) detailed a relatively com-plete model of laryngeal muscle behaviorin singing. Watson, Hoit, Lansing, andHixon (1989) and Wedin (1984) investi-gated abdominal muscles used in singing.Like the investigations into laryngealmuscles, these studies used, as a primarytool in their investigations, electromyo-graphy, the study of electrical activity inmuscles when stimulated by a nerve.

Researchers have provided piano peda-gogy with a significant amount of scien-tifically defined information. Chung,Jaiyoung, Onishi, Rowen, and Headrich(1992) examined “weight playing” and amore traditional approach to striking pi-ano keys, comparing the range of wristmotion used by each method. The studyconcluded that the weight playing tech-nique required a smaller range of wristmotion. Wolf, Keane, Brandt, andHillberry (1993) identified two conditions,striking keys with excessive force and useof extreme finger angles, which might pre-dispose particular pianists to musculosk-eletal injury. Lee (1990) measured thecorrelation of ergonomic variables, such ashand size, weight, and finger spread withmusical variables such as tempo, volume,and articulation. Sakai, Liu, Su, Bishop,and An (1996) gathered data about the

amount of motion at various joints in vari-ous piano performance tasks. The authorsnoted that large variations occurred be-tween pianists, even though the tasksconsisted of basic chordal and scalar pat-terns.

String pedagogy also boasts a numberof useful scientific investigations of tech-nique. Among them, Koehler (1993) ana-lyzed the activity of selected musclesduring violin vibrato. Bejjani, Ferrara,and Pavlidis (1989) also analyzed the ac-tivity of muscles during violin vibrato.Levy, Lee, Brandfonbrener, Press, andLevy (1992) examined the effect of a violinshoulder rest on muscle activity, identify-ing neck and shoulder measurements thatpredicted the relative value of a rest for aparticular individual. Dennis (1981) ex-amined back and arm muscle tension forthree different methods of string bass sup-port, and the methods’ effects on tonequality.

Finally, many researchers have de-scribed specific playing techniques forbrass instruments. Brass studies by Isley(1973), White and Basmajian (1974), andHenderson (1979) are among the earliestelectromyographic examinations of thephysiology involved in playing an instru-ment. Based on his research, Isley pro-posed a comprehensive theory for all brassinstruments’ embouchures. White andBasmajian, by measuring how selected fa-cial muscles’ activity changed with regis-ter, volume, and a subject’s ability,validated several widely held principles oftrumpet pedagogy. Henderson attemptedto establish patterns in throat-muscle ten-sion of professional trumpet players.

Many more recent brass studies havecontinued the scientific investigation intoplaying technique, including Lammers’s(1984) study, which measured trombon-ists’ wrist and forearm extension whilemoving to and from different tromboneslide positions, and Heuser and McNitt-Gray (1993) tested whether asymmetricalor “off-center” trumpet mouthpiece place-ment affected embouchure muscle activity.


SCIENTIFIC STUDIES FOR DRUMMINGCompared to the scientific studies de-

scribed above, drumming technique hasreceived limited attention. A review of theexisting pedagogical literature yields onlytwo drumming studies, Crocker (1988)and Johnson (1999), that provide peda-gogical information based on quantifiable,scientific data.

Crocker determined the effect of handdominance on speed and accuracy for vari-ous sticking patterns used in snare drum-ming. Johnson, the author of this article,measured wrist flexion and extension dur-ing snare drumming in an effort to deter-mine the differences in muscle activityused for various drumming techniques. Adetailed examination of each study re-veals the potential value of such researchto drumming pedagogy.

Crocker examined the effect of left andright hand dominance in drumstick tech-nique among more than 900 fifth graders.Through answers to a questionnaire,Crocker categorized subjects as purelyleft-handed, purely right-handed, or“mixed-handed.” On the questionnaire,subjects indicated which hand, or if eitherhand, was used to perform tasks such asthrowing a ball, holding a toothbrushwhile brushing teeth, and holding a spoonto eat soup. This information, fed into aformula, provided a score that determineda subject’s handedness category.

On a specially built device, a subjecttapped various rhythms, each hand on adifferent metal plate. A switch on eachplate sent information to a computer. Sub-jects tapped each rhythm using differentpermutations of left and right hand.These permutations mirrored typical al-ternated and stick-subtraction (alsoknown as “natural” or Straight) stickingpatterns used in snare drum playing.

Crocker found no significant differencein performance accuracy or in speed forsubjects of different handedness. Also,there were no significant differences be-tween alternated and stick-subtractionsticking methods in the speed or accuracyof a rhythm’s performance.

Johnson’s (1999) was a similarly lim-ited study, focusing on the amount ofmuscle activity used in movement of thewrist for various drum strokes. In manyways, the research resembled studiesmentioned above for other instruments.Like most of those earlier studies,Johnson used electromyography to mea-sure the activity in a few representative

muscles from among the several musclesactually involved in a task. The “tasks” inthis case were single strokes, doublestrokes, and buzz strokes using matchedgrip, and the muscles measured includedone representative muscle used in flexionof the wrist (the “down stroke”) and onemuscle involved in extension (the “upstroke”).

As a baseline for normalization, each

subject, while holding a drumstick, per-formed a “maximum voluntary contrac-tion” in both wrists for both extension andflexion. In other words, subjects held eachwrist up or down as far as possible in aneffort to create a maximum amount ofmuscle activity in each of the muscles tobe measured. Theoretically, that maxi-mum contraction represented 100 percentof a muscle’s potential activity in striking


the drum. The amount of activity for flex-ion or extension in one of the tasks couldthen be expressed as a percentage of themaximum, allowing comparison betweenmuscles from side to side, task to task,and subject to subject. One limitation onthis study, in contrast to many of thestudies mentioned above, was the rela-tively small number of subjects, a total often.

Johnson produced several noteworthyand also some unexpected results. In thecase of flexor muscle activity, there wasconsistently more muscle activity fordouble-stroke execution, on both domi-nant and non-dominant sides, than forsingle-stroke execution. The same wastrue for buzz-stroke execution when com-pared to single strokes. However, a com-parison of flexor activity betweendouble-stroke and buzz-stroke executionrevealed no consistent increase or de-crease. Also, for a given subject, across allthree tasks, the dominant side’s flexor ac-tivity was either consistently less or con-sistently greater than that of thenon-dominant side.

Unexpectedly, extensor activity for alltasks, in all but one subject, exceeded the100 percent level established by maxi-mum contractions. Most likely this situa-tion resulted from the involvement of thechosen extensor muscle, during stroke ex-ecution, in some role besides just wrist ex-tension.

Muscles are a complex tissue made upof many small fibers. A muscle may acti-vate some fibers for one task and com-pletely different fibers for some othertask. In Johnson’s research, it is likelythat some muscle fibers were active instroke execution but not activated by themaximum contraction, thus causing theexcessive extensor measurement duringstroke execution.

For the particular extensor musclemeasured, the most likely additional ac-tivity causing additional fibers to fire waswrist “neutralization.” In other words,some of the extensor activity was used,during at least part of each execution of astroke, to hold the wrist joint in placeagainst the activity of other muscles. Theactions that might have caused the exten-sor muscle to act in neutralizing the wristare sidewise movements of the wrist (ul-nar flexion), extension of the forearm, orfinger flexion. Johnson concluded that,while more study was required, the mostlikely cause was finger flexion, or, in other

words, finger movement or pressure wasinvolved in execution of each of thestrokes but did not factor into the maxi-mum contractions.

CONCLUSIONTo some, the conclusions reached by

Crocker and Johnson might seem remotefrom the everyday job of teaching drum-ming. However, limited as they are, thoseresults do provide some helpful informa-tion. For example, it is reasonable to as-sume that most drum teachers use eitheran alternation or stick subtractionmethod as the basis for teaching stickingto young drum students, and also reason-able to assume that some of those teach-ers strongly favor one method over theother. Crocker’s research implies thatthere is no inherent physical disadvan-tage or advantage to either approach, andthus lends some weight to the argumentthat young students should be exposed toboth methods.

Johnson’s discoveries about wrist flex-ion confirm what many drum teachersprobably assume from experience, that ex-ecution of double or buzz strokes requiresmore muscle activity than execution ofsingle strokes. Less “common sense” is thefinding that dominant-side wrist flexionwas either consistently more or less thanfor the non-dominant side. If confirmed bymore extensive research, a deviation fromthat pattern could be an early indicator ofa beginning student’s difficulties in ex-ecuting one of the three stroke types.

Possibly even more valuable are thequestions raised by Johnson’s measure-ments of wrist extension. Should there befinger activity or forearm motion in all ofthe three stroke types? Is there some armor finger muscle activity inherent in all ofthe three stroke types, despite the factthat a teacher might insist thereshouldn’t be? Surely these are worthwhilequestions for drum pedagogy to answer.Like other musicians, drummers owe it tothemselves to gradually build an under-standing of drumming based on quantifi-able, scientifically based data rather thananecdotal, subjective information givenvalidity only by being passed from teacherto student over many years.

REFERENCESAbram, B. (1984). “Musical tension and muscu-

lar ease.” Clavier, 23(6), 28–9.Bejjani, F. J., Ferrara, L., Pavlidis, L. (1989).

“A comparative electromyographic and

acoustic analysis of violin vibrato in healthyprofessional violinists.” Medical Problems ofPerforming Artists, 4(4), 168–175.

Chung, I., Jaiyoung, R., Onishi, N., Rowen, B.,and Headrich, J. (1992). “Wrist motionanalysis in pianists.” Medical Problems ofPerforming Artists, 7(1), 1–5.

Cook, G. D. (1997). Teaching percussion (2nded.). New York: Schirmer Books.

Crocker, R. J. (1988). “Effects of hand domi-nance on the speed and accuracy of tappingpatterns in beginning percussion perfor-mance” (Doctoral dissertation, University ofNorthern Colorado, 1987). Dissertation Ab-stracts International, 48, 2270A.

Dennis, A. W. (1981). “The effect of three differ-ent methods of supporting the double basson muscle tension” (Doctoral dissertation,Indiana University, 1981). Dissertation Ab-stracts International, 43, 716A.

Henderson, W. A. (1979). “EMG potentials ofthe sternocleidomastoid muscle duringtrumpet performance.” Journal of the Inter-national Trumpeter’s Guild, 4, 30–35, 52.

Heuser, F. and McNitt-Gray, J. L. (1991).“EMG potentials prior to tone commence-ment in trumpet players.” Medical Problemsof Performing Artists, 6(2), 51–6.

Hirano, M. (1988). “Vocal mechanisms in sing-ing: laryngological and phoniatric aspects.”Journal of Voice, 2(1), 51–69.

Isley, C. L., Jr. (1973). “A theory of brasswindembouchure based on facial anatomy, elec-tromyographic kinesiology, and brasswindembouchure pedagogy” (Doctoral disserta-tion, University of North Texas, 1972). Dis-sertation Abstracts International, 33, 3956A.

Johnson, T. A. (1999). “An electromyographicexamination of wrist motion while executingselected drumstick techniques with matchedgrip” (Doctoral dissertation, University ofOklahoma, 1999). Dissertation Abstracts In-ternational, 60, 1821A.

Koehler. W. K. (1993). “The effect of elec-tromyographic feedback on achievement inbowing technique” (Doctoral dissertation,Indiana University, 1993). Dissertation Ab-stracts International, 55, 2758A.

Lammers, M. E. (1984). “An electromyographicexamination of selected muscles in the rightarm during trombone performance” (Doc-toral dissertation, University of Minnesota,1983). Dissertation Abstracts International,44, 3315A.

Lee, S. H. (1990). “Pianists’ hand ergonomicsand touch control.” Medical Problems of Per-forming Artists, 5(2), 72–8.

Levy, C. E., Lee, W. A., Brandfonbrener, A. G.,Press, J., and Levy, A. E. (1992). “Elec-tromyographic analysis of muscular activity


in the upper extremity generated by sup-porting a violin with and without a shoulderrest.” Medical Problems of Performing Art-ists, 7(4), 103–109.

Martin, F., Thumfart, W. F., Jolk, A., andKlingholz, F. (1990). “The electromyographicactivity of the posterior cricoarytenoidmuscle during singing.” Journal of Voice,4(1), 25–29.

Naill, R. and McNitt-Gray, J. L. (1993). “Sur-face EMG as a method for observing muscleactivation patterns associated with strate-gies of string depression used by cellists.”Medical Problems of Performing Artists,8(1), 7–13.

Sakai, N., Liu, M. C., Su, F-C. Bishop, A. T.,and An, K-N. (1996). “Motion analysis of the

fingers and wrist of the pianist.” MedicalProblems of Performing Artists, 11(1), 24–9.

Watson, P. J., Hoit, J. D., Lansing, R. W., andHixon, T. J. (1989). “Abdominal muscle ac-tivity during classical singing.” Journal ofVoice, 3, 24–31.

Wedin, S. (1984). “EMG investigation of ab-dominal musculature during phonation.”Journal of Research in Singing, 7(2), 34–44.

White, E. R., and Basmajian, J. V. (1974).“Electromyographic analysis of embouchuremusic function in trumpet playing.” Journalof Research in Music Education, 22, 292–304.

Wolf, F. G., Keane, M.S., Brandt, K.D, andHillberry, B. M. (1993). “An investigation offinger joint and tendon forces in experienced

pianists.” Medical Problems of PerformingArtists, 8(3), 84–95.

Todd Johnson is the percussion teacher atMcMurry University in Abilene, Texasand Principal Percussionist with theAbilene Philharmonic Orchestra. Heholds degrees from Central MichiganUniversity, Northwestern University, andthe University of Oklahoma, and taughtpreviously at James Madison Universityin Virginia. This article is adapted fromhis doctoral dissertation, “An electromyo-graphic examination of wrist motionwhile executing selected drumstick tech-niques with matched grip.” PN


Publishers and composers areinvited to submit materials toPercussive Notes to be consideredfor review. Selection of reviewers isthe sole responsibility of the ReviewEditor of Percussive Notes.Comments about the works do notnecessarily reflect the opinions ofthe Percussive Arts Society. Sendtwo copies of each submission to:James LambertPercussive Arts Society701 NW Ferris AvenueLawton OK 73507-5442 USA.Note: Please provide current ad-dress or e-mail, contact informationand price with each item to be re-viewed. Whenever possible,please include a performance orrehearsal tape of ensemble mu-sic. Also, if possible, include atranslation if text and CD linernotes are not in English.

SELECTEDREVIEWS

New Percussion Literature and Recordings

Difficulty Rating ScaleI–II Elementary

III–IV Intermediate

V–VI Advanced

VI+ Difficult

REFERENCE TEXT

Stage Presence from Head to Toe—AManual for Musicians

Karen A. Hagberg, Ph.D.$24.95Scarecrow PressThis superb 109-page manual couldbecome a significant reference textfor anyone involved in public per-formance. As stated in the author’sintroduction: “Stage presence is anaspect of music education that car-ries over to many other areas oflife. Good stage presence is invalu-able for job interviews, verbal pre-sentations, and social situations ofall kinds.”

Hagberg defines stage presenceas “the visual aspect of live musicalperformance: everything from aperformer’s walk, bow, facial ex-pression, and dress, to anensemble’s portrayal of a single,

unified entity; from the condition ofthe chairs, music stands, and piano,to the mechanics of smooth stagemanagement. Performers cangreatly enhance their image, andtheir audience’s total experience, bypaying attention to the details ofstage presence.”

Chapters include the followingtopics: Stage Presence; The Soloist;The Page Turner; The Small En-semble (No Conductor); The LargeVocal Ensemble; The Orchestra;The Conductor as Leader; On theDay of the Concert; The Stage andIts Furnishings; NonperformingPersonnel; Auditions and Competi-tions; and How to Teach Stage Pres-ence. With a very engaging writingstyle and the use of illustrations(both of good and bad stage de-meanor), Hagberg conveys the im-portance of this overlooked aspectof musical performance.

—Jim Lambert

KEYBOARD PERCUSSIONSOLO

Seven Operations for Marimba IV–VD’Arcy Philip Gray$17.95HoneyRockThe title of this publication is some-what puzzling until one reads theprefatory material and discoversthat “operations” is used as a syn-onym for “exercises,” and thatSeven Operations for Marimba is acollection of technical pieces thatcan be used for practice, contests orexams. The composer explains that“each ‘operation’ started as an im-provisation around technical exer-cises and then evolved graduallyinto a short piece.”

Each of Gray’s short pieces in-cludes notes that explain whichstroke types serve as its focus(based on the terminology used inLeigh Stevens’ Method of Move-ment). Performance notes also pro-vide pertinent suggestions forpracticing each example. Six of thestudies address double-verticalstrokes. Double-lateral and single-independent strokes are high-lighted in three exercises; two

etudes feature interval changing;and single-lateral strokes, single-alternating strokes, the indepen-dent roll and octaves are each dealtwith in one etude. With the excep-tion of the first study, Gray employsa piano-staff format, which helps todemarcate notes assigned to rightand left hands. (The exercises canall be performed on a four-octaveinstrument.)

Some musical challenges alsoawait the student, such as readingmusic in several different key sig-natures (including five flats); read-ing in both treble and bass clefs;and, if taken literally, some tempomarkings, which the author reas-sures us are intended as “physicalgoal(s)” that can be adjusted. Al-though based largely on repetitiouspatterns, musical interest is pro-moted through rhythmic varietyand changing melodic patterns.This text should accomplish its pri-mary objective (“to help studentsdevelop their four-mallet marimbatechnique”) depending, of course, onthe tenacity and diligence of thosewho use it. The short exercises willalso be ideal for studio perfor-mances. Hopefully, the author’s ef-forts at attempting to approacheach study as a musically coherententity will make the malletstudent’s learning experience morepleasurable and pedagogicallymeaningful.

—John R. Raush

60 Advanced Four-Mallet Studies forMarimba IV+ –VI

Luigi Morleo$22.95HoneyRockLuigi Morleo provides the advancedfour-mallet marimbist with 60 chal-lenging etudes in a book that isvery well-organized and sequential

in terms of difficulty. A low-A ma-rimba is needed to perform thestudies. The book’s six sections arededicated to particular stroketypes: I. Single-independent anddouble-lateral strokes, II. Double-vertical strokes, III. Single-alter-nate and double-lateral strokes, IV.Single-independent, double-verticaland double-lateral strokes, V.Single-independent, single-alter-nate and double-lateral strokes,and VI. Double-vertical, single-al-ternate and double-lateral strokes.The collection includes tempomarkings, wide dynamic contrasts,a plethora of key centers andaccidentals, and difficult rhythmicpassages.

As Michael Rosen says in thepreface, “The real strength of thisbook is the composer’s musicalpoint of view. I find Morleo’s melo-dies haunting; his harmonies in-triguing.”

—Lisa Rogers

Acadie III–IVDaniel Sauvage and SylvainSoumagne$11.83Alfonce ProductionThis short, two-mallet solo with pi-ano accompaniment can be per-formed on marimba or xylophone.The solo is in 4/4 meter with the-matic material that is syncopatedin ragtime style. The syncopation issomewhat stagnant, employingfour-note motives that reoccur ingroupings that are a dotted-quarterapart. The key signature is C ma-jor, but much of the solo containsmotives built over G-minor 7chords.

Two versions of the solo are pro-vided. The advanced version con-tains many double stops and rolls,while the simpler version is writtenwith all single notes and no rolls.This should be ideal for an encoreor for studio recitals.

—George Frock

Minuet in G IIIBeethovenArr. James L. Moore$4.00Per-Mus PublicationsRequiring just two mallets


throughout, this arrangement ofBeethoven’s “Minuet” for solo ma-rimba utilizes double stops, whichare most often parallel thirds orsixths. The middle section of thisthree-part form shifts to single-linearpeggios before returning to thedouble stops, which are recaps ofthe first section. This is an excel-lent solo for young mallet students,providing ample opportunity for ex-pression and nuance.

—George Frock

Per i profughi di guerra 8 IVLuigi Morleo$8.31Alfonce ProductionThis solo for the advanced, four-mallet vibraphonist is approxi-mately three minutes long andadheres to an ABA form. The com-poser has provided clear and con-cise pedal indications as well asmallet dampening markings. Theperformer will need proficient skillswith double-vertical, single-inde-pendent and single-alternatingstrokes at various intervallic dis-tances. The character of the workreminds me of church bells ringing,noting a triumphant beginning.Therefore, the performer and audi-ence will find the work very uplift-ing and jubilant.

—Lisa Rogers

Great Wall VLeigh Howard Stevens$15.00Keyboard Percussion PublicationsWith “Great Wall,” Leigh Stevenshas created a five-minute solo thatexplores the lushness of the low endof the five-octave marimba. Thework opens with a slow chorale, uti-lizing the double-lateral (Musser)roll throughout. The pentatonicallyinspired melody and open fifths inthe left hand give the work an ex-otic, Eastern quality. The choraleintensifies and gives way to a tran-sitory section of arpeggiated fifthsand fourths leading into the secondmajor section. Here, the right handplays the predominately pentatonicmelody in eighth-note triplets, asthe left hand rocks between severalopen fifths. This section is more en-ergetic, and later begins to incorpo-rate some of the arpeggiatedfourths and fifths from the previoustransition. Stevens closes this sec-tion by gradually morphing backinto the double-lateral roll from theopening chorale. The work ends

with a repeated, introspective me-lodic fragment that fades to noth-ing.

The challenges of the piece lie inmaking the rolls even and sono-rous, and having the chops to getthrough the fast section. Themarimbist and audience will findthis a beautiful work, as it high-lights the organ-like qualities of theinstrument.

—Scott Herring

Ki-La-Li VMayumi Hiromitsu$10.95Gérard Billaudot“Ki-La-Li,” a ca. four-minute ma-rimba solo, is structured in severalsections of contrasting textures, in-cluding melody with accompani-ment and polyphonic writing.Running sixteenth-note figures liewell on the marimba keyboard. Thesynchronization of right and lefthands to produce a continuous six-teenth-note melody is especially ef-fective when it appears in thesonorous lower register of a five-oc-tave marimba. Harmonies used inthis tonal work (centered in A ma-jor) help create an ambience remi-niscent of popular music.

The greatest technical chal-lenges to the marimbist will be theexecution of one-handed rolls and abeamed accelerando in the righthand, while sustaining an active ac-companiment in the left. If theseare mastered, however, Hiromitsu’spiece will provide collegemarimbists a light, approachablesolo they can insert in a recital pro-gram for a pleasurable diversionfrom more esoteric literature.

—John R. Raush

Nocturnes III VGao PingArranged Brian Hibbard$15.00HoneyRockThis three-movement work for low-F marimba cannot be performedcorrectly without first reading thedetailed instruction page. Rollspeeds, shaft playing, node playingand octave placement must be un-derstood before a quality perfor-mance can be achieved.

Movement I is marked Andante,and for the most part it consists ofmoving eighth notes under a one-handed roll. Movement II is markedModerato and features a linear ap-proach. Movement III is marked


and sounded in double stops andchords. The marimbist, who is chal-lenged throughout to convey musicthat is delicate, light, graceful, andexpressive, also encounters ad libi-tum opportunities that contributeto this imaginative work’s often im-provisatory ambience.

Grazyna Pstrokonska-Nawratil’sca. 8–9 minute “An Algorithm of theDream of a Great City” (2001), fromthe cycle Madrigals (II), is charac-terized by sharp contrasts in dy-namics, texture, timbre, melody,rhythm, and articulation. For ex-ample, an intense, rhythmicallyanimated opening statement high-lighted by the tritone, played withhard mallets, marked fortissimowith the generous addition ofsforzandi, and set in the lowest oc-tave of a five-octave instrument, isfollowed by a tranquil section (pia-nissimo and delicato) in flowing, al-ternated eighth-note double stopsplayed legato with soft mallets inthe middle register. Various modesof attack, dynamics, phrasing, andarticulation are used and carefullymanipulated throughout, includingglissandi (both “crisp” and “gentle”glisssandi are stipulated), andbeamed accelerandos andritardandos. Melodically, the per-former confronts ad libitum oppor-tunities with the freedom to controlrepetitions of four-note cells in theinterpretation of several long pas-sages in this interesting piece,which explores extreme contrasts indynamics and texture and demon-strates both the percussive andlyrical capabilities of the marimba.

Witold Szalonek’s earthy“Agnesissimo-Africanissimo” (2001)utilizes a monophonic setting and atwo-mallet technique, with the ex-ception of the coda, which requiresfour mallets to play alternatingdouble stops, and three- and four-note chords. The first word in thepoetic title of this ca. 17-minutepiece written for a five-octave in-strument is a nod to marimbistAgniesezka Pstrokonska-Komar, towhom the work is dedicated. Thereference to Africa in the title isjustified musically by the use of ahighly syncopated rhythmic treat-ment throughout. The single me-lodic line is played with a gradualacceleration and crescendo from thebeginning to the end of the piece,interpreted with an ever-increasingbrilliance and passion, and drivenby energetic rhythms. The exuber-

ance conveyed at the conclusion ofthe coda is capped in a final spec-tacular visual gesture—a three-note glissando up the entire lengthof the keyboard, at the conclusion ofwhich the marimbist launches allfour mallets into the air.

The composers of the music inthis collection display a broadknowledge of contemporary ma-rimba performance techniques, andhave successfully exploited theinstrument’s unique qualities andadaptability to accommodate a vari-ety of musical styles and composi-tional practices.

—John R. Raush

KEYBOARD PERCUSSIONENSEMBLE

Le Papillon IIIRichard K. LeVan$20.00HoneyRock

“Le Papillon” (“The Butterfly”) is anappropriate title for the work,which combines minimalism withAfrican-influenced grooves to sug-gest the “flitting” nature of a but-terfly. Although written for fourplayers, only two marimbas areneeded for performance (two play-ers share a four-octave marimba,and two players share a low-F ma-rimba). Only the Marimba IVplayer uses four-mallet technique.All parts are of equal difficulty andthe work is approximately 4 1/2minutes long. “Le Papillon” willprovide an upbeat closer for yournext concert!

—Lisa Rogers

SNARE DRUM

10 Intermediate SnareDrum Solos II+ –III

John H. Beck$10.00Kendor MusicThe ten solos in this collection are

Presto and includes both linear andchordal playing.

“Nocturnes III” is well-arrangedand represents a slightly differenttype of marimba piece. Its use ofvarious roll speeds and node play-ing create an interesting and listen-able solo.

—John H. Beck

Scotland VMurray Houllif$6.00Per-Mus Publications

“Scotland” is a solo for either ma-rimba or vibraphone, set in threeshort movements, two with dance-like features flanking a middlemovement in ballad style. The firstand second movements require fourmallets (e.g., in the performance ofthree- and four-note chords); thespirited third movement, set prima-rily in sixteenth notes and tripletsixteenths, is played with two mal-lets. The lyrical second movementmakes an ideal vehicle for perfor-mance on vibraphone. In fact, stu-dents who use the marimba for theouter movements may wish to sub-stitute the vibraphone in the secondmovement.

Houllif incorporates a numberof allusions to traditional Scottishmusic, from the ornamental embel-lishments and drone of the high-land bagpipes to the dottedrhythms of traditional folk dances,including the inverted dottingpopularly known as the “Scotchsnap.” The result is an appealing,melodically engaging solo that issure to beguile performer and audi-ence alike.

—John R. Raush

An Anthology ofContemporary Music VI

Anna Ignatowicz, KrystynaMoszumanska-Nazar. GrazynaPstrokonska-Nawratil, WitoldSzalonek$38.95Polskie Wydawnictwo Muzyczne SASerious marimbists will be inter-ested in the four solo works in-cluded in this anthology that revealthe status of literature written formarimba by Polish composers inthe late 20th and early 21st centu-ries.

Anna Ignatowicz’s “Toccata”(2001) exhibits stylistic featurescommonly associated with thatgenre, particularly passages deserv-ing of virtuoso status. Textural con-trasts are used effectively, assections of the work feature idiom-atic writing for marimba that in-cludes running sixteenth-notepatterns in an ostinato accompany-ing a simple melody as alternateddouble stops and as streams of bro-ken chords. Passages of chordsplayed in block fashion in this nine-to ten-minute piece offer an effec-tive contrast to the prevailing poly-phonic texture. A succession ofchords that build to a stunningfortissimo sets up the musical cli-max, a dramatic passage in whichthe full range of a five-octave in-strument is exploited, featuring anexpressive melody that stretchesthe lyrical capabilities of the instru-ment. Contributing to the appeal ofthis tonal work is the effective useof a conservative but striking har-monic setting as exemplified by itsevocative finale set in C-sharp mi-nor.

Pieces labeled “fantasias” havehistorically included imaginativecompositions that often displayednon-idiomatic stylistic practices.That is also the case in KrystynaMoszumanska-Nazar’s ca. 15-minute “Fantasia” for a low-A ma-rimba, in which usual parametersof timbre are expanded through theuse of tone clusters (requiring theuse of “cluster mallets”) andglissandi on the resonators. In themelodic line, which is often embel-lished with double stops and three-and four-note chords, large leapsand disjunct motion contrast withstepwise and chromatic movement.A mildly dissonant language isused, created by intervals of majorand minor 7ths and 2nds, and thetritone, outlined in the melodic line


“Single Stick It,” “Flam It,” “TheEcho,” “Space,” “Five To Nine,”“Ruff It,” “Paradiddle Waltz,” “Mix-ing It Up,” “Syncopated” and “Slow-Fast.” The solos focus on severalelements of concert and rudimentalsnare drumming in a fun but chal-lenging setting, and Beck has in-cluded performance notes for eachsolo. Each solo is approximatelytwo minutes long, and they are ar-ranged sequentially in terms of dif-ficulty.

One main area of emphasis is“hand-to-hand” or alternatestickings. Beck reinforces this con-cept by including stickings. Then,each solo focuses on a particular ru-diment such as single strokes,flams, paradiddles, ruffs or rolls tofacilitate development through rep-etition. Beck also addresses musicalstyle through dynamic contrasts,articulation and tempo markings.

—Lisa Rogers

50 Syncopated Solos forSnare Drum III–IV

Joe Maron$7.50Southern Music Company

This collection of snare drum soloswas created to develop reading abil-ity, particularly the skill of under-standing syncopated rhythms. Thesolos cover common time signa-tures, including 2/4, 3/4, 4/4, 6/8and cut-time. There are a minimumnumber of technical challenges, em-ploying just single-stroke patternsand rolls. There are no flams ordrags, and there is a glaring omis-sion of dynamic markings. Even so,the syncopated rhythms presentchallenges that should be beneficialin developing skills for both youngand advanced students.

—George Frock

MULTIPLE PERCUSSION

The Inverted Pyramid IIJohn H. Beck$5.00Kendor MusicHere is a well-written, intro-levelmultiple percussion piece for snaredrum, high and low tom-toms, andhigh and low woodblocks. The titleis related to the shape of the setup;the snare drum and two toms arepositioned in a triangle shape, withthe player standing in front of thesnare. The woodblocks are to beplaced on the far side of the tri-angle from the player, one next toeach tom.

The piece begins in 4/4 with asimple theme in quarter and eighthnotes. A second theme adds a fewsixteenth notes, but is still a simplerhythmic pattern. Three eight-mea-sure sections lead to a cadenza,which consists of several fast-to-slow gestures on the woodblocksand toms, each moving from loud tosoft. Then a six-note pattern involv-ing the entire setup is repeated.The player is instructed to “Startthis pattern very slow and increasethe speed until you cannot play anyfaster—approximately eight times.”After the cadenza, much of theoriginal material returns and thepiece concludes with a section usingslightly more complex patterns andmuch dynamic contrast.

This is a good piece for studentsbeginning to explore multiple per-cussion literature. The cadenza pro-vides a particularly importantcomponent to the piece, allowingthe performer to work on musicalpacing and expression. Also of noteare the two “practice patterns” pro-vided by the composer. These recur-ring patterns are identified at thetop of the score, encouraging theperformer to practice them indi-vidually for when they occur in thepiece.

—Tom Morgan

Delirium IVGerald Heslip$4.00Kendor MusicThis two-minute multiple percus-sion solo is challenging, fun to per-form, and will be an audiencepleaser. “Delirium” is scored forbass drum, three tom-toms, snaredrum, timbale, cowbell, and JamBlock or woodblock. The setup is

not your usual high-to-low arrange-ment; it has a unique setup withthe player in the middle. On theright is a bass drum, meduim tom-tom, snare drum and cowbell. Onthe left side is a low tom-tom, hightom-tom, timbale and Jam Block.Crossing from side to side creates achallenge for the player and a vi-sual display for the audience.

A repeated dotted-eighth andsixteenth note followed by twoeighth notes at quarter note = 144is the basic rhythmic pattern of thework. This rhythmic pattern is de-veloped somewhat, but remains theheartbeat of the work.

—John H. Beck

DRUMSET

100 Tips for Drums II–VPete Riley$24.95Sanctuary PublishingThis book is very thorough, cover-ing everything from basics likepractice, setup, the Moeller System

and rudiments, to more advancedconcepts like time playing in vari-ous styles, reading, and playing inthe studio versus playing live.Much of the book is text (sometimesit’s a little “wordy”), which may notappeal to everyone, but it is alsofull of helpful examples and exer-cises. Also included is a demonstra-tion CD so the student will be ableto hear most of what is contained inthe exercises. Although a beginnercould use this book to great advan-


in-depth history of the various mu-sical traditions, definitions of manymusical subcategories (e.g., sambabatucada vs. samba de breque), per-formance practices on each instru-ment, and drumset adaptations ofmany lesser-known styles.

Performances practices and com-mon rhythmic patterns are pro-vided for surdos (surdo de resposta,surdo de corte), ganza, chocalho,reco-reco, caixa, taróis (repiques),tamborims, pandeiro, agogo bells,cuica, apito (whistle), atabague(similar to congas), afoxé (cabasa),berimbau, caixeta (woodblock),caxixi (basket shakers), maracas,triangle, zabumba (like a tenordrum), and frigideira (frying pans).The samba, bossa nova, partidoalto, 6/8 Afro-samba, sambacruzado, samba funk, 3/4 and 5/8samba, forró, baiáo, xaxado, coco,calango, marcha, marcha rancho,frevo, afoxé, maracatu, folia de reis,and carimbó styles are all demon-strated and explained in this excel-lent book/CD package.

Tips for playing drumset in Bra-zilian styles, the use of brushes,standard instrumentation for dif-ferent styles, common rhythmic fig-ures and breaks, odd-time bossanova patterns, fast ride-cymbal pat-terns, a discography, suggestedtune list, glossary, and bibliographyround out the package. The CD con-tains 80 tracks, including threeplay-along tunes. Many of thestyles are not very well-known out-side of Brazil or perhaps Brazilianexpatriate circles, but certainly de-serve more recognition and atten-tion.

—Terry O’Mahoney

Rudimental Grooves for Drum SetRick Considine$19.95Berklee PressWhen I first saw the title of thisbook I thought it was going to bejust another rehashing of the sameold “beat books” that make up alarge part of the drumset instruc-tional literature. I was wrong. RickConsidine has given us a book thatwill stimulate your creative juicesby helping you find new and inno-vative ways to apply rudiments tothe drumset.

Although the book begins with alisting of the 26 standard rudi-ments, it focuses on the group thatthe author considers most appli-cable to the drumset. These include

the paradiddle, two different in-verted paradiddle stickings,paradiddle-diddles, six-stroke roll,single drag, five-stroke roll, seven-stroke roll, Swiss Army triplets,flam drags and the single-strokeroll. The book is organized aroundthese rudiments.

Considine shows several applica-tions for each rudiment that can bedeveloped, “orchestrated” (movedaround the instrument) and thatcan be used in multiple styles. Hisdemonstrations on the accompany-ing CD follow the written examplesonly loosely, promoting the ideathat these are open-ended ideasthat can be developed by the stu-dent. As you listen to the CD youhear familiar sounds that havebeen played on countless recordingsby the masters. But you are learn-ing an approach that will not onlylet you copy their ideas, but developsimilar ideas and patterns of yourown.

This book stimulates the studentto think creatively and developideas in the same manner as thegreatest drummers. Because it isopen-ended, one can return to itagain and again for more ideas andinspiration.

—Tom Morgan

Wes Crawford’s Play-Along DVD I–IIIWes Crawford$29.99MusicAndGames4UWes Crawford has produced an in-structional drumset DVD that hesays will help the beginner “makethe leap from lessons to jammingand performing with real musi-cians.” His Play-Along DVD is setup almost like a video game thatallows the viewer to “audition” witha fictitious pop band and see what

tage, 100 Tips for Drummers willappeal most to the more experi-enced drummer who is ready to se-riously approach the drumset andis looking for a well-sequenced,complete course of study.

—Tom Morgan

Cajun Stroll IIIGerald M. Helslip$6.00Kendor Music“Cajun Stroll” is a fully notateddrumset solo in the New Orleanssecond-line style. The drumsetmust include a bass drum, hi-hat,snare drum, three toms, a ride cym-bal and a crash cymbal. The piece isin an ABA form, with the A sectionbuilt around a 3/2 clave played onthe bass drum. This pattern re-mains constant throughout the Asection while other cross rhythmsare performed on the rest of the setin a straight-eighth Zydeco style.The middle section is in a swingstyle with bass drum playing quar-ter notes and the hi-hat on 2 and 4.A D.S. al Coda brings back a por-tion of the A section and the pieceends with a short coda.

This piece would be a good wayto introduce the New Orleans styleto an intermediate student. Theperformer would also need to listento examples of New Orleans-stylemusic to achieve the correct feeland interpretation.

—Tom Morgan

Fahrenheit 451 IV–VBen Wahlund$15.95HoneyRockInfluenced by the aggressive AllenHoldsworth school of jazz-rock fu-sion, “Fahrenheit 451” for solodrumset is a 4 1/2-minute work forthe advanced drumset player look-ing for challenging chart-readingexperience or audition material.The tune uses many of the musicalsignatures of the Mahavishnu Or-chestra and other 1970s jazz-rockfusion ensembles. Composer BenWahlund included the accompany-ing recording as part of the compo-sition to ensure a qualityperformance without having to relyon the availability of virtuosic col-leagues on other instruments.

Beginning with a sparse, cym-bal-oriented section, the piece’s ag-gressive, rhythmic ensemblefigures, grandiose synthesizerthemes, and strong groove provide

a muscular underpinning for thedrumset soloist. After the some-what introspective introduction, theplayer is required to solo aroundrhythmic background figures by thesynthesizer before a transition intoa 7/8 section. The tune continueswith a busy, Latin-esque sectionand half-time Afro-Cuban 12/8variation that includes the most ex-tensive soloing section. After thesolo section in 12/8 time, the piecequickly resolves with a syncopatedcoda.

The solo sections never exceedeight bars and often involve “play-ing around” the rhythmic figures bythe synthesizer. In the 12/8 section,there are some duple polyrhythms,but nothing too complicated. TheCD recording contains a versionwith and without drums. The ver-sion with drums features fill andsolo ideas that sound like DennisChambers. When using the play-along version, drummers could,however, tailor the fills and soloideas to their own level.


Good N’ Easy Drum Set PrimerJames L. Moore$9.95Per-Mus PublicationsGood N’ Easy Drum Set Primer is aconcise instruction book on how toplay the drumset. The author con-tends that there is an abundance ofadvanced drumset material on themarket and this book prepares stu-dents for it. The “add on” approachof the book—hands first, feet sec-ond, then all four—will develop co-ordination enabling the player tobetter study from advanced books.The illustrations and easily under-stood musical examples provide theplayer with simple but excellent ex-amples to practice. This book’s con-cise approach touches on all aspectsof drumset playing and will helpdevelop basic coordination and un-derstanding of drumset perfor-mance.

—John H. Beck

Brazilian Rhythms for Drumset andPercussion III–V

Alberto Netto$29.95Berklee PressMost books that deal with Brazilianpercussion provide only the basicrhythmic patterns associated witha style (e.g., samba, bossa nova).Alberto Netto, however, includes an


it’s like to play in front of differentaudiences.

Here’s how it works. The viewervisits Crawford’s Web site anddownloads the charts for the tenplay-along tracks. Then the viewermoves a television near the drumsin order to view and play alongwith the DVD.

At the beginning of the DVD,Crawford informs viewers that theyhave the opportunity to “audition”for a local pop band by playingalong with the first track. After suc-cessfully “making the band” theviewer performs with the band in avariety of settings and for differentaudiences (a wedding reception, atthe beach, a nightclub, etc.).

There are three audio settings sothe viewer may listen or play alongto the complete tracks (withdrums), play along without drums,or play along while listening toCrawford offer advice as the trackis playing (e.g. “Now go to the ridecymbal,” “Careful of this transi-tion”).

A unique aspect of the DVD iswhat viewers see as they are play-ing along with each track: the restof the band and an audience! Thesongs include straight eighth-notepop, R&B, shuffle, disco, and funktunes, and the simple, clearly writ-ten charts are very helpful. An au-dio CD is included for those whoonly want the play-along tracks.

Wes Crawford’s Play-Along DVDis a fun way to get some “virtual”experience playing with a band.This package would be suitable formost beginners who haven’t foundtheir own band yet.


PERFORMANCE VIDEO

Keiko and Carmina…Ra!Keiko Abe, Mark Ford, UNT WindSymphony$27.00University of North Texas College ofMusic

Recorded live on April 3, 2003, inthe Winspear Performance Hall atthe University of North Texas, PASHall of Fame member and virtuosomarimbist Keiko Abe delivers astunning performance of her compo-sition “Prism Rhapsody II,” joinedby concert marimbist and PASPresident Mark Ford in duo con-certo performance accompanied bythe University of North Texas WindSymphony (conducted by EugeneMigliaro Corporon). Also includedon this DVD are David Dzubay’s“Ra!” and Carl Orff ’s “CarminaBurana.”

“Prism Rhapsody II” begins withdramatically slow introductory ma-terial that evokes energy from thesuperb North Texas wind ensemblebefore Abe and Ford open their soloportion with duo performances,each using six-mallet technique. In-terplay between the soloists andthe wind symphony infuse the com-position with an intense, impres-sionistic style. After a faster sectionis developed with a brief solo per-cussion section from the wind sym-phony and a perpetual-motion solofrom the soloists, a slower cadenza-like section highlights an incrediblevisual and aural dialogue betweenAbe and Ford. Their combinedsense of ensemble and unlimited,effortless technical expertise leavesthe viewer in awe! This rhapsodic,lyrical middle section transitions toa tour-de-force concluding sectionin which both performers are ar-ticulating literally hundreds ofnotes, alternating between unisonand harmonic intervals on theirfive-octave marimbas at ablindingly fast tempo. This perfor-mance brought the audience to animmediate standing ovation withseveral curtain calls.

This DVD belongs in every uni-versity percussion library for refer-ence and definitive performancestandard of “Prism Rhapsody II.”The clarity of the video and the au-ral balance between the wind en-semble and the soloists isunbelievably present.

—Jim Lambert

INSTRUCTIONAL VIDEO

Tim Alexander, Live Performance andCommentary III

Tim Alexander$19.95Hal LeonardDrummers who are fans of thebands Primus and Laundry will en-joy this DVD featuring the drum-ming of Tim Alexander. It isactually a video of a performance/clinic done at The Drum Pad inChicago in 2002. The DVD is a non-stop performance of what are essen-tially the drum parts to varioussongs from recordings of Primusand Laundry. Some of the tunes in-clude “My Name is Mud” fromPrimus’ Pork Soda, and “Ten Gates”and “What is Great” from Laundry’sMotivator. Eight tunes are in-cluded.

The instruction can be found onthe commentary, which can be se-lected on the DVD. Here, Alexanderprovides a running commentary onhis drumming as it happens. Hiscomments tend to be rather gen-eral, but he does give some insightinto the ways he approaches hismusic and how he thinks aboutdrumming.

—Tom Morgan

TIMPANI

Variations Without a Theme ` IVJohn Curtis$5.00Per-Mus PublicationsThis solo for four timpani is a set offive variations that explore a six-measure motive, using five con-trasting meters and tempi.Although the rhythmic patterns arecommon, the tempos and movementbetween the drums will challengeadvanced high school and youngcollege students. Variation IV is oneof the more challenging, requiringpedal and melodic tuning changes.The composer presents excellentperformance notes, which will as-sist the timpanist in preparing thework.

—George Frock

MIXED INSTRUMENTATION

Passage IIIBen Wahlund$25.00HoneyRockBased on the Biblical passagePhilippians 4:8 (“whatever istrue…think on these things”), thiswork is written for oboe, multiplepercussion and a mallet quartet ofvibraphone, two marimbas (the low-est requiring a five-octave instru-ment) and glockenspiel. All thekeyboard percussion parts requiretwo-mallet technique. The multiplepercussion part is written for highand low woodblock, mounted tam-bourine, four concert toms, concertbass drum and suspended cymbal.The piece also comes with a clarinetpart as a substitute for the oboe.

This piece is made up of a seriesof 7/8 ostinatos that create a peace-ful mood. The oboe plays lyricalmelodies that float over the top ofthe percussion. At one point nearthe middle of the piece, the meterchanges to 4/4 and there is morerhythmic action. Even the marimbaostinato is played in a staccatomanner. Then the meter returns to7/8 and the original mood of peacereturns. The piece ends with agradual fading out of the ostinatoand the oboe playing a long G-sharp that resolves to an A.

This piece is not difficult techni-cally but demands much sensitivityfrom the performers. It creates amood that is unusual for percussionworks and would provide excellentcontrast on a chamber recital orpercussion ensemble concert.

—Tom Morgan

Musica del Alba (Dawn’s Music) IVCarlos Passeggi$62.20Dutch Music Partners“Musica del Alba” is written forvoices, piano, bass, vocal percus-sion, body percussion, and otherpercussion instruments. The num-ber of vocalists as well as vocal andbody percussionists is variable;however, the minimum number ofperformers needed is 17. A more de-tailed instrumentation includes:voices (male and female, four ormore), a four-octave marimba, pi-ano, vocal percussion (two or morevoices), body percussion (four ormore), triangle, crash cymbals,drumset and bass.


Paolo and is scored for bells, xylo-phone, shaker/woodblock, agogobells/tambourine, snare drum/tim-bales/suspended cymbal, bass drum(surdo), bass, drumset and piano.Opening with a soft surdo rhythm(which can be performed on a lowfloor tom), the remaining ensemblemembers join in a joyous soundreminiscent of a samba band com-ing into the market square at festi-val time. Solo sections feature thedrumset, timbales and piano. Steeldrums can be substituted for any orall of the keyboard percussionparts. The piano part is integral tothe success of this lively samba forthe percussion nonet.

—Jim Lambert

Helping Hands IVMurray Houllif$13.00Kendor MusicThis percussion sextet is scored forsolo drumset, bells or vibes, xylo-phone or marimba, three timpani,conga or low bongo, cowbell andtambourine. Written with a LatinRock feel, the ensemble opens witha four-bar solo by the drumset andquickly moves to a blues theme bythe keyboard instruments. This issupported by a rhythmic groovefrom the non-tuned percussion in-struments.

Much of the content of the en-semble includes two- or four-barphrases, often repeated. The alter-nation of the tuned phrases withthe drumset solo is a major featurethrough much of the piece. Thedrumset parts are clearly notated,but Houllif allows the soloist to im-provise. The piece is not too diffi-cult, and middle school and moreadvanced groups should have funwith it.

—George Frock

Perchacareando IV+Carlos Passeggi$29.93

7 Reasons for a Meeting III+Carlos Passeggi$31.97

Different Paths IV+Carlos Passeggi$49.52Dutch Music PartnersIn “Perchacareando,” the marimbistis a featured soloist accompanied byfour other percussionists. For this 51/2-minute work, the instrumenta-

tion includes orchestral bells, afive-octave marimba, snare drum,Chinese cymbal, four tom-toms andbass drum. The marimba part holdsthe main melodic interest; there-fore, the performer must be profi-cient with single-independentstrokes and single-alternatingstrokes.

“7 Reasons for a Meeting” em-ploys seven percussionists perform-ing on glockenspiel, a four-octavemarimba, ride cymbal, Chinesecymbal, snare drum, bongos, tam-bourine, two tom-toms, floor tom,suspended cymbal, woodblock andbass drum. The marimbist usesfour-mallet technique with an em-phasis on single-independent andsingle-alternating strokes. Addi-tionally, the marimba part is themelodic and rhythmic focal point ofthis overall minimalistic work.

In “Different Paths,” the ma-rimba part employs a basic rhyth-mic ostinato moving the pieceforward throughout. It is writtenfor nine players and requires glock-enspiel, vibraphone, a four-octavemarimba, piano (in lieu of a piano,the composer suggests using an-other vibraphone and marimba tocover the part), four timpani, snaredrum, two suspended cymbals(crash and ride), triangle, crashcymbals, cabasa, and tam-tam orgong. The four-mallet marimbistmust be proficient with single-inde-pendent, single-alternating anddouble-lateral strokes. Rhythmi-cally, the ensemble is very synco-pated and employs mixed metersthroughout. “Different Paths” chal-lenges the listener as differentpaths or motivic lines are skewed.

—Lisa Rogers

Spirits IVDavid J. Long$42.00C. Alan PublicationsThis is an engaging piece for pianoand a seven-member percussion en-semble. The instruments includethree marimbas, vibraphone, xylo-phone, chimes, crotales, five tim-pani, four suspended cymbals, highand low woodblocks, cuica, claves,temple blocks, medium and heavychain, tam tam, medium cardboardbox filled with broken glass, slap-stick, glass wind chimes, mark tree,bamboo wind chimes, bass drum,five brake drums, castanets, sand-paper blocks, guiro and ratchet.Strobe lights are also called for. The

The marimbist will employ four-mallet technique with an emphasison single-independent and single-alternating strokes. Passeggi’s workuses rhythmic and melodicostinatos and layers each via stag-gered entrances. “Musica del Alba”is an interesting mixture of percus-sive and lyrical sounds, and I hopethe work gets the attention it de-serves.

—Lisa Rogers

Tampanera II VJames Lewis$15.50Media Press“Tampanera II” is a new setting forflute and multiple percussion of“Tampanera,” which is a duet foralto saxophone and multiple per-cussion published by HoneyRock.The work is loosely based on Bizet’smusical style. For example, a hintof “Habanera” from Carmen can beheard in the work. The percussioninstrumentation includes fivewoodblocks, five temple blocks, alow-A marimba, castanets, guiro,and three slit drums. This new set-ting was written for the McCormickDuo (Robert McCormick, percus-sion, and Kim McCormick, flute).

—Lisa Rogers

PERCUSSION ENSEMBLE

Can-Can IIIJacques OffenbachArr. Gary E. Parks$29.80Dutch Music PartnersThe instrumentation for this en-semble arrangement of “Can-Can”includes bells, xylophone, vibra-phone, a four-octave marimba, alow-F marimba, four timpani, crashcymbals and snare drum. Parks’ ar-rangement utilizes eight percus-sionists, but if you only have sevenplayers, the snare drum and cymbalparts may be performed by oneplayer on snare drum and sus-pended cymbal. The two marimbaparts utilize four-mallet techniquethroughout, focusing on double-ver-tical and single-independentstrokes.

—Lisa Rogers

Choros IVGary E. Parks$44.86

Muddy Waters IVGary E. Parks$15.93

Son Clave III+Gary E. Parks$40.63Dutch Music PartnersThese three intermediate percus-sion ensembles each explore uniquegenres and styles of music. Eachensemble is approximately fourminutes long.

In “Choros,” Parks establishes aMiddle Eastern flair through theuse of an Egyptian sounding scaleas well as such instruments astabla and tars. The work can utilizeten or more percussionists. Otherinstruments include glockenspiel,vibraphone, xylophone, a four-oc-tave marimba, a low-E marimba,timpani, tambourine and fingercymbals. The marimba players uti-lize four-mallet technique andmainly employ double vertical andsingle independent strokes.

“Muddy Waters” explores the 12-bar blues form and requires six per-cussionists. The instrumentationincludes vibraphone, two xylo-phones, a four-octave marimba, afive-octave marimba and drumset.Both marimbists employ four-mal-let technique. Parks provides an op-portunity for all five keyboardplayers to improvise over two-barphrases. However, he has includedwritten solos as well.

“Son Clave” examines the Afro-Cuban style and is written for 12 ormore players. The instrumentationincludes glockenspiel, vibraphone, afour-octave marimba, a low-A ma-rimba, electric bass, congas, bongos,claves, cowbells, guiro, whistle andmaracas. The bongo, conga, andclaves parts could be doubled in or-der to accommodate more players.Parks suggests that the bongo andconga players may ad lib the writ-ten parts. Once again, the marimbaplayers utilize four-mallet tech-nique.

—Lisa Rogers

Batuka Samba IVTerry O’Mahoney$15.00Per-Mus Publications“Batuka Samba” is named for aBrazilian drum festival in Sao


score provides a recommendedsetup.

The piece is written in twomovements. The first, “TheSuccubus,” is described by the com-poser as, “A demon of the night whomasquerades as a seductive womanbeguiling men in their sleep.” It isslow (quarter note = 50), and beginswith dissonant chords from the per-cussion ensemble and gradually ac-celerating minor seconds in thepiano, followed by the same inter-vals gradually slowing down. Thisidea is repeated at a different tonallevel. After a short percussion inter-lude made up of various ostinatos,the piano enters again with alovely, more tonal passage. Themovement continues with variousostinatos being juxtaposed betweenthe percussion and the piano, creat-ing interesting harmonies and tex-tures.

The second movement, “The Pol-tergeist,” is described by the com-poser as, “A malevolent spiritwhose hauntings are characterizedby loud noises, strange lights, rap-ping sounds, shrieks, and movingobjects.” There is much use of thenon-pitched instruments to createthis effect, along with vocal soundsfrom the ensemble such as groaningand moaning. After a slow begin-ning, the movement eventuallyachieves a tempo of quarter note =144, and mixed meters create a dis-jointed, unstable feeling. The pianoplays a dominant role, sometimesplaying chords and tone clusterswith some short, lyrical passages.

An exciting climax is achievedwhen all the players move to a freesection that lasts about ten sec-onds. Players are given suggestedrhythms but are allowed to playover the entire range of their in-struments. The strobe lights are ac-tivated at this point. At the signalof the conductor this abruptly stopsand the stage lights come on. Aftera silence there is a hauntingmelody played on vibraphone. Thisleads to a quick build-up to a finalclimax that ends the piece. On thelast note, the box of glass isdropped onto the stage.

This is not a novelty piece, but arather a serious work that is dra-matic and well-written. While it iscomplex, younger keyboard playerswill be able to handle it due to therepetitive nature of much of thematerial. Even the solo piano partcould be played by a strong high

school or college level student.—Tom Morgan

Heads Up! VMark Ford$30.00Innovative Percussion“Heads Up!” was commissioned bythe Ju Percussion Group from Tai-wan, who performed it at PASIC2003. As Ford describes in hisprefatory remarks: “Heads Up! is acompanion piece for my earlier com-position Head Talk (1987). Thisnew composition is an excursioninto the further possibilities of afive-member percussion ensemblewith only standard drum heads.The Heads Up! ensemble is re-quired to perform primarily on tim-pani heads (or bass drum heads)and frame drums as they movearound the stage.”

The percussion quintet is chal-lenged to perform this theatricalcomposition in such a whimsicalfashion as to evoke the unexpectedfrom the audience acquainted with“Head Talk.” Instead of the per-formers sitting, they stand andmove with careful choreographedmovements, with occasional kneel-ing performance instructions.

The drumheads and associatedequipment needed include five tim-pani or bass drum heads (gradu-ated in sizes from 20" to 32"diameter), three frame drums, onebottom (snare) head, one policewhistle, and one bass drum or tim-pani head with the plastic cut outso that the performer can make a“paper head” that is broken at theend of the composition.

Specific instructions are clearlyarticulated by Ford in the preface.“Heads Up!” is certain to capturethe whimsy of the mature percus-sion quintet. It is sophisticated, yetvery entertaining for both perform-ers and audience.

—Jim Lambert

PERCUSSION RECORDINGS

Irwin BazelonVarious performers, includingTimur Rulbinshteyn, Aliseo Rael,Jeff Means and William Klymus,percussion$16.00Albany RecordsThis CD serves as posthumous rec-ognition of the contributions of

Irwin Bazelon, credited with a cata-log of compositions that embracesnine symphonies and more than 60orchestral, chamber and instrumen-tal pieces, including a number ofinteresting works for percussion.The only percussion piece on thisCD is “Concatenations” (1976) forpercussion quartet and viola, com-missioned by Frank Epstein. Thedisc also includes “Junctures”(1979, for orchestra), “Sunday Si-lence” (1989, for solo piano) andSpirits of the Night (1976, for or-chestra).

“Concatenations” (ca. 17’) con-sists of an introduction (viola solo),Part I (percussion quartet), andPart II: Trio No. 1 (two percussion-ists and viola); Trio No. 2 (two per-cussionists and viola); and Trio No.3 (percussion quartet and viola).Percussionists utilize multi-percus-sion setups juxtaposing wood in-struments, metallophones andmembranophones. The composerstresses that percussionists are “so-loists in the true sense of theword—sometimes protagonists,other times antagonists.” The viola,here brilliantly played by JamesBurnham, serves as a lyrical ingre-dient, and links sections of thework; the percussion playing is ofthe highest caliber.

Percussionists will understand-ably be disappointed that this disccontains only one percussion work.Hearing it, however, should whettheir appetites to acquaint them-selves with other works thatBazelon has contributed to percus-sion repertoire.

—John R. Raush

Best Kept SecretMillikin University Percussion En-semble$10.00First Step RecordsBest Kept Secret includes “Phage”by Pat Muchmore, “Momentum” byWilliam Kraft, “Marimba Quartet”

by Matthew Briggs, “Evolution” byJeremy Brunk and “Eye Irascible”by Steve Riley. The Millikin Univer-sity Percussion Ensemble is di-rected by Brian Justison andperformed a showcase concert atPASIC 2003. The literature per-formed on this disc is very repre-sentative of how the percussionensemble medium has developedsince Kraft’s “Momentum” in 1967.Justison includes works from con-temporary publishers and compos-ers. In addition, a new work byJeremy Brunk explores the ex-tremes in tonality and timbre foundin percussion instruments. A key-board ensemble commanding ahigh-level of technical and musicalplaying is present as well.

The performances of these en-sembles is absolutely spectacular.The extreme contrasts against asensitive balancing of instrumentallayers draws the listener into theperformance, even though a fewprecision problems among attacksand releases are evident. Best KeptSecret will not be a secret for long.

—Lisa Rogers

DuoMichael Pagan and Doug Walter$16.25Dutch Music PartnersThis recording features the“Cadillac” of vibraphone and pianoduo performance by Doug Walterand Michael Pagan. Selections onthis disc are “Dear Old Stockholm”arranged by Pagan, “Ypres” byWalter, “Duo Etude” by Pagan,“Windows” by Chick Corea, “Adagiofrom Toccata in G, BWV 916” byJ.S. Bach, “Hopeless Romantic” byPagan, “Pavane” by Gabriel Faure,and “Theme and Variations” by PatPace. (Several of Pagan’s composi-tions and arrangements from thisCD are available from Dutch MusicPartners: “Dear Old Stockholm,”“Duo Etude,” “Hopeless Romantic”and “Theme and Variations.”)

There are really no words to de-scribe the magic of this duo’s en-semble precision. Also worthy ofnote is Walter’s seamless melodicsense and style. He draws you intoevery note you hear. Any of theseworks would be great additions toyour next recital or program. Duoshould be on everyone’s “must buy”list.

—Lisa Rogers


ExtractionHowe/Wooten/Chambers$16.98Tone Center RecordsDennis Chambers, in addition tobeing the sideman of choice formany of today’s top musical groups,always seems to have some inde-pendent recording projects that al-low him to open up and stretch hisvery funky wings. Extraction, a col-laboration between guitarist GregHowe (Michael Jackson, EnriqueIglesias), bassist Victor Wooton(The Flecktones), keyboardist GaryCook and Chambers, is a funk/fu-sion outing that combines the en-ergy and ensemble precision of theMahavishnu Orchestra with thelow-down greasy funk of Parlia-ment Funkadelic.

The title track opens with adrum solo by Chambers that defiesdescription (and transcription!). Itcontains a flurry of notes and “overthe barline” ideas that will makeyour jaw drop. “Crack It WideOpen” is a medium funk tune thatshows off Chambers’ solo chops sup-ported by unison band figures, andthe Latin-inspired “Contigo” is a fo-rum for his soloing over a sonmontuno bass/keyboard vamp. Theother tunes run the gamut fromlow-down funk (“Tease”) to theshifting-meter tune “Proto Cosmos,”which was a signature piece for fu-sion guitarist Allan Holdsworth.The funk jam “Lucky 7” features amelody in 7/4 time, while “Bird’sEye View” is a funky bass featurein which Chambers acts as both ac-companist and foil for Wooten.


Frames Without BordersYahoo Frame Drum Group (FDG)$15.00Yahoo Frame Drum GroupFrames Without Borders is a two-CD compilation containing 35works by frame drummers from theUSA, Israel, Iran, Italy, England,

Germany and Canada. The collec-tion features members of an on-lineInternet forum, the Yahoo FrameDrum Group (www.rhythmweb.com/FDG), which unites frame drum-mers from around the world. Ac-cording to the liner notes, therecording represents “the manystyles and levels of talent and skill,rather than ‘the best of ’,” so theemphasis is on the inclusion of theforum members’ work.

While all the tracks share an ob-vious common bond, each piecemanages to project individuality.Bodhrans, riqs, tars, bendirs,pandeiros and kanjiras are all fea-tured in pieces that draw from In-dian, Celtic, Moroccan, Iranian,Brazilian, Azerbaijan, and Saudimusical traditions. The use of tip-pers, tabla technique, harmonicsinging, as well as traditionalframe drum techniques can all beheard on the recording. Most of thetracks are solo frame drum pieces,although many feature singing and/or other instruments.

This excellent collection wouldinterest any frame drummer, drumcircle enthusiast, or the listenerlooking for some meditative music.


HemispheresThe University of North TexasWind Symphony$16.00Klavier Music ProductionsThis 13-track CD features the fol-lowing compositions: “Ra!” (2002)by David Dzubay; “Chamber Sym-phony” (2001) by Daniel McCarthy;“Spin Cycle” (2001) by ScottLindroth; “Prism Rhapsody II”(1996) by Keiko Abe; “Sunrise atAngel’s Gate” (2001) by PhillipSparke; and “Hemispheres” (2002)by Joseph Turrin.

Of primary importance for PNreaders is “Prism Rhapsody II” byKeiko Abe, performed by Abe andMark Ford at the University ofNorth Texas in April, 2003. (A DVD,Keiko and Carmana…Ra!, featur-ing “Prism Rhapsody II” is re-viewed elsewhere in this issue)“Prism Rhapsody II” was originallywritten for solo marimba and or-chestra; however, this recording re-flects Abe’s desire to “nurture themusical possibilities of the ma-rimba.” Through the duo-concertoarrangement of her earlier solo ma-rimba composition, both thevirtuosic skills of PAS Hall of Fame

member Abe and the comparablemarimba talents of Ford, Professorof Percussion at the University ofNorth Texas and current PAS Presi-dent, are highlighted. This uniquecomposition brings both Abe andFord, as well as the talented NorthTexas Wind Symphony performers,to a rarely-heard level of profes-sional balance and composite musi-cal conversation in theirperformance.

The remaining tracks on this CDare equally impressive; however,the presence of Abe and Ford to-gether on Abe’s original workmakes this CD well-worth themoney and will serve as a lastingtribute to two stunning stars in theconcert percussion world!

—Jim Lambert

In the GardenAdam Rudolph & Go:Organic Orch.feat. Yusef Lateef$20.00Meta Records/Yal RecordsPercussionist/leader Adam Rudolphand his Go:Organic Orchestra re-cently teamed up with legendaryjazz woodwind player Yusef Lateefto create this live, two-CD set. As across between M’Boom (the percus-sion ensemble led by Max Roach),The Art Ensemble of Chicago and acontemporary classical music cham-ber ensemble, the Go:Organic Or-chestra is an exciting take on thetraditional percussion ensemble. Itis actually a percussion/woodwindgroup that combines free-jazz im-provisation, world percussionrhythms and sounds, and pre-deter-mined musical passages to create“chance music with a soul.” The tenpieces range from rubato woodwindexplorations to pulsating African-inspired dance grooves, with plentyof room for avant-garde jazz soundsand improvisational approaches.

The liner notes mentionRudolph’s use of “cyclicverticalism”—polyrhythms com-bined with rhythmic cycles— andLateef ’s concept ofautophysiopsychic music, which hedefines as “music which comes fromone’s physical, mental, and spiri-tual self.” These approaches, com-bined with extensive use ofcollective improvisation, often re-sult in some very dense musicalpassages. The song “Trace Ele-ments,” for example, is an uptempofree-jazz romp. “Chaotic Attractors”is a fusion of African, South Ameri-

can and Middle Eastern dancegrooves, free jazz improvisation,and synchronized background fig-ures that builds in tempo and in-tensity to a climatic conclusion withdissonant woodwind clusters. Othersongs, such as “Nanna,” are show-case pieces for Rudolph and/orLateef. Based on a 63-beat cycle,“Amanita” is a study in triple meterthat features some very avant-garde soloing by Lateef.

The three-movement suite “For-mative Impulses” begins with amovement that evolves from aDebussy-inspired tone poem into afree-jazz odyssey by bass clarinetistBennie Maupin. The second move-ment is atmospheric program mu-sic, while the third movement is ashowcase for Lateef and Rudolph onhandrumset (multiple hand drumconfiguration). “Root Pressure” is afree-jazz work that eventually be-comes a chaotic African free-for-all,“Morphic Resonance” is a dark,mysterious free-music journey, and“Moisture Droplet” is a melancholypiece that evolves into an alto flutefeature with a gentle rhythmic per-cussion pulse and colors. Most ofthe other pieces feature the wood-winds more prominently than per-cussion.


SacumbaLuis Garay Percussion World$15.00Percumba RecordsThe Luis Garay Percussion World isan appropriate name for this per-cussion group led by Argentineanexpatriate percussionist LuisGaray. They have fused variousworld music traditions into 13catchy percussion ensemble tunesthat feature improvisation, preciseunison rhythmic passages, andsolid grooves. The tunes themselvesdefy exact categorization. “Afro-Chin” contains musical elements


Contact info for publishers whoseproducts are reviewed in thisissue.

PUBLISHERS

Albany Records915 BroadwayAlbany, NY 12207Tel: (518) 436-8814Fax: (518) 436-0643Web: www.albanyrecords.com

Alfonce Production1, rue Gilbert Morel63000 Clermont-FerrandFranceTel: +33 (0)4 73 14 28 80Fax: +33 (0)4 73 91 77 56E-mail: [email protected]: www.alfonce-production.com

Artega, LLCP.O. Box 390273Edina, MN 55439Web: www.artega.org

Berklee Press1140 Boylston StreetBoston, MA 02215Tele: (617) 747-2146Fax: (617) 747-2149Web: www.berkleepress.com

C. Alan PublicationsP.O. Box 29323Greenboro, NC 27429Tel: (336) 272-3920Fax: (336) 272-3988Web: www.c-alanpublications.com

Dutch Music PartnersPostbox 30146093 ZG HeythuysenThe NetherlandsTel:+31 (0) 475-491989Fax:+31 (0) 475-440936E-mail:[email protected]:www.dutchmusicpartners.com

First Step RecordsMillikin University1184 W. Main St.Decatur, IL 62522

Gérard Billaudotc/o Theodore Presser Co.588 North Gulph RoadKing of Prussia, PA 19406Tel: (800) 854-6764Fax: (888) 525-3636E-mail: [email protected]: www.presser.com

Hal Leonard Corporation7777 West Bluemound RoadP.O. Box 13819Milwaukee, WI 53213Tel: (414) 774-3630Fax: (414) 774-3259E-mail: [email protected]

HoneyRock396 Raystown RoadEverett, PA 15537Tel: (814) 652-9184E-mail: [email protected]: www.honeyrock.net

Innovative Percussion470 Metroplex Drive, Suite 214Nashville, TN 37211Tel: (615) 333-9388Web:www.innovativepercussion.com

Kendor Music, Inc.21 Grove StreetP.O. Box 278Delevan, NY 14042Tel: (716) 492-1254Fax: (716) 492-5124

Keyboard Percussion Publicationsc/o Marimba Productions Inc.P.O. Box 467Asbury Park, NJ 07712Tel: (732) 774-0011Fax: (732) 774-0033E-mail: [email protected]

Klavier Music ProductionsP.O. Box 810157Boca Raton, FL 33481-0157Web: www.klavier-records.com

Media Press, Inc.P.O. Box 3937Champaign, IL 61826Tel: (217) 359-0162fax: (614) 529-0085 *51

Meta Records2024 Glencoe AvenueVenice, CA 90291Tel: (310) 397-1316Fax: (310) 397-7116E-mail: [email protected]

Music And Games 4U13012 Flack StreetSilver Spring, MD 20906Tel: (301) 949-3735Cell: (301) 275-4675Fax: (301) 933-4459Web: www.musicandgames4u.com

Percumba Records1604 Gridley LaneSilver Spring, MD 20902Tel: (301) 649-5217Fax: (301) 649-5217E-mail: [email protected]: www.luisgaray.com

Per-Mus PublicationsP.O. Box 218333Columbus, OH 43221Tel: (614) 529-0085fax: (614) 529-0085 *51E-mail: [email protected]

Polskie Wydawnictwo Muzyczne SAc/o Theodore Presser Co.588 North Gulph RoadKing of Prussia, PA 19406Tel: (800) 854-6764Fax: (888) 525-3636E-mail: [email protected]: www.presser.com

Sanctuary Publishing45-53 Sinclair RoadLondon W14 ONSTel: +44 (0)20 7602 6351Web:www.sanctuarypublishing.com

Scarecrow Press, Inc.4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200Lanham, Maryland 20706Tel: (301) 549-3366Tel: (800) 462-6420Fax: (717) 794-3803Web: www.scarecrowpress.com

Southern Music CompanyPublishing Division1100 BroadwayP.O. Box 329San Antonio, TX 78292

Tone Center RecordsP.O. Box PNovato, CA 94948

University of North Texas Collegeof Music

c/o GIA Publications Inc.7404 South Mason Ave.Chicago, IL 60638Web:www.giamusic.com

Yahoo Frame Drum GroupWeb: www.rhythmweb.com/fdg

Yal RecordsP.O. Box 799Amherst, MA 01004Tel: (413) 259-1501Fax: (413) 259-1015 PN

from East Asia and Cuba, while“Marimba Azucar” is a bright ca-lypso number. The group’s penchantfor Afro-Cuban sounds is evident in“Tumba Coco,” a slinky Afro-Cubanguaguanco; “Afro 11/8,” a variationof the traditional Cuban bembe;“Martillo,” based on the traditionalbongo pattern and son clave; and“Timbalero,” a triple-meter tributeto timbale players. Brazil is alsorepresented by “Sambazo” (a siz-zling samba) and “Sacumba,” alumbering partido alto tune.“Dumbe,” an African djembe fea-ture, and “Percumba,” a lopingpentatonic triple meter marimba

tune, represent the African musicaltradition.

Garay sounds equally conver-sant on marimba, hand percussion,timbales and drums, due no doubtto his being a former timpanist forthe Cordoba Symphony Orchestra.The other members of the group arealso very good ensemble and soloplayers. All of the tunes onSacumba are “listener friendly” andwould appeal to anyone who leanstoward the “world music” category.


Solid LiquidDave Hagedorn$16.99ArtegraSolid Liquid has 12 tracks featur-ing Dave Hagedorn as a solo vibistand as a member of two differentjazz trios. Selections include“Pentandria” by Bob Rockwell,“Ugly Beauty” by Thelonious Monk,“C.O.D.” by Ornette Coleman,“Boogie Stop Shuffle” by CharlesMingus, “For Jan” by KennyWheeler, “Blue 12” by DavidHagedorn, “Consolation” by KennyWheeler, “Inner Urge” by JoeHenderson, “Touch Her Soft Lips

and Part” by William Walton, “Ma-trix” by Chick Corea, “Solid Liquid”by Chris Bates, and “Miss Nancy”by Arthur Blythe.

Hagedorn’s smooth and mesmer-izing sound is evident on all tracks.My two favorites are his two solotracks, “For Jan” and “Touch HerSoft Lips and Part.” However, allmusicians featured on the disc arespectacular and equally in stepwith Hagedorn.

—Lisa Rogers


SUSTAININGMEMBERS

BENEFACTORSAvedis Zildjian CompanyEvans ManufacturingLudwig/MusserRemo, Inc.Yamaha Corporation of

America

PATRONSMeinl USA L.C.Paiste America, Inc.Roland Corporation USSabian, Ltd.Shure, Inc.

SPONSORSCleveland State University–

Music DepartmentDEG Music Products, Inc.Innovative PercussionKaman Music CorporationLatin Percussion, Inc.Mike Balter MalletsMusicians InstitutePearl Corporation and Adams

Musical InstrumentsPro-Mark CorporationRegal Tip/CalatoVirginia Arts Festival

CORPORATE FRIENDSA Putnam MalletsACG PercussionAdams Musical InstrumentsAlfonce ProductionsAlfred Publishing

Company, Inc.Alternate Mode, Inc.American Drum

Manufacturing CompanyAmerican Drum of VirginiaAmsterdam Percussion

GroupAuralex AcousticsBands of AmericaBasix PercussionBatterie MusicBergerault–USABerklee College of MusicBeurskens MusicBirch Creek Music

Performance CenterBlack Swamp Percussion LLCBlue Man GroupBosphorus CymbalsBoston University–

School of MusicC Alan PublicationsCalifornia Percussion LLC

Camber PercussionCapital UniversityCarl Fischer LLCCLE DrumsClearsonic

Manufacturing, Inc.Cleveland Institute of MusicClevelander Drum CompanyCoe PercussionColumbus Pro PercussionCooperman CompanyCoyle Steel DrumsCraviotto Drum CompanyD Picking & CompanyDana B GoodsDePauw UniversityDigital Drum TechDouble D PercussionDown Beat MagazineDrop6 Media, Inc.Drum PRO Magazine/CDI

PublicationsDrum Workshop, Inc.DRUM! Magazine/Enter

Music Publishing, Inc.Drummers Collective, Inc.Drummers WorldDrums in the Wind/The

Woodwind & the BrasswindEarth ToneEncore MalletsEthos Percussion GroupExplorers PercussionFall Creek MarimbasFork’s Drum ClosetFrank EpsteinG and D MusicGP PercussionGrover Pro Percussion, Inc.Hal Leonard CorporationHohner, Inc./Sonor DrumsHoneyRock PublishingHQ PercussionHudson MusicHumes & Berg Mfg.

Company, Inc.HydroSteel LLCInaki Sebastian Mallets SLIndiana University–

School of MusicInterlochen Center for

the ArtsInterstate Music SupplyIstanbul ZilcilerJ R PublicationsJazzTimes, Inc.JB PublicationsJC’S Drum ShopJC’s Drummin Music Shop

Kendor Music, Inc.Key Poulan MusicKoSA CommunicationsLawrence UniversityLefima PercussionLone Star PercussionMalletJackMalletshop.comMalletWorks MusicMannette Steel Drums, Ltd.Mapex USAMarcat Machining Co LLCMarimba OneMarimba Productions, Inc.Media Press, Inc.Meredith Music PublicationsMom’s Music, Inc.Mountain RythymMRP Custom Drums/Light

Speed Bass Drum PedalsMusictime, Inc.Musikverlag ZimmermannNew York UniversityNoble & Cooley CompanyNorth Carolina School

of the ArtsNorthwestern UniversityOberlin College–

Conservatory of MusicOn the Wall Productions, Inc.Pan Press, Inc.Peabody Conservatory of

MusicPercussion Events RegistryCompanyPer-Mus Publications LLCPhill PublicationsPlanet MarimbaPremier Percussion USA, Inc.Professional Percussion

ProductsPustjens Percussion

ProductsRAWI Percussion PublicationsRebeats Vintage Drum

ProductsRevolution Drumkit MutesRhythm Fusion, Inc.Ross Mallet InstrumentsRowan UniversityRow-Loff ProductionsSalazar Fine TuningSam Ash Music StoresSamson TechnologiesSAR MusicSchulmerich BellsSibelius USA, Inc.SKB CorporationSmith Publications

Spanway ImportsStanley Leonard

Percussion MusicSteel Island/

Pan Caribe ToursSteelpan EuropeanSteve Weiss MusicStudio 4 MusicTap PublicationsTap Space PublicationsTaye Drums, Inc.Temple UniversityTempus DrumsThe Boston ConservatoryThe Hartt School

University of HartfordThe Juilliard SchoolThe Percussion SourceThree Up Enterprises

P-Bag, Inc.Tom Gauger ProductsTreeWorks ChimesTrinidad & Tobago

Instruments, Ltd.Trueline Drumsticks

CompanyUnited States Coast

Guard BandUniversal Percussion, Inc.University of Cincinnati

College Cons of MusicUniversity of Miami School

of MusicUniversity of Missouri–

Kansas CityUniversity of TorontoUPbeat Music CorpUS Navy Music ProgramUSAF Band of the WestVan Der Plas PercussionVanderbilt University–

Blair School of MusicVaonne InternationalVater Percussion, Inc.Vaughncraft PercussionVic Firth, Inc.Vintage DrummerWarner Bros.

Publications, Inc.Wernick Musical InstrumentsWestheimer CorporationWhole Music LearningWinkler DrumworksWinter Guard International


ADVERTISERSINDEX

Alternate Mode ................................. 27

American Drum of Virginia ................. 27

Avedis Zildjian

Company ............ Cover II, 65, 67, 69

Berklee College of Music ..................... 7

Coe Percussion ................................... 6

D. Picking & Co. ................................79

Drums and Percussion Magazine ....... 70

Duff School Masterclass at University of

Missouri–Kansas City ................... 55

Evans Drumheads ............................. 15

Fall Creek Marimbas ......................... 14

Frank Epstein ................................... 49

Grover Pro Percussion ...................... 71

Hydro Steel ...................................... 26

The Juilliard School ........................... 75

KoSA .................................... Over Cover

Latin Percussion, Inc. ....................... 77

Lawrence University

Conservatory of Music .................. 50

Ludwig Albert ................................... 60

Ludwig/Musser Industries ......... Cover IV

MalletJack ........................................ 17

Marimba One ..................................... 4

Marimba Productions, Inc. .................. 3

Modern Drummer ............................. 40

Not So Modern Drummer ................... 37

Oberlin Conservatory of Music ........... 31

The Percussion Source ....................... 5

Pro-Mark Corp. ................................ 25

Remo, Inc. ........................................ 42

Rhythm Fusion, Inc. ......................... 36

Rhythm Magazine ............................. 57

Sabian, Ltd. ............................ Cover III

Salazar Fine Tuning ........................... 45

Schulmerich Bells ............................. 73

Silver Creek Summer Music School &

Festival ........................................ 68

Steel Island ...................................... 36

TreeWorks Chimes ............................ 35

USAF Band of the West ..................... 37

Vic Firth, Inc. ........................ 39, 41, 43

Virginia Arts Festival ......................... 33

Warner Bros. ...................................... 9

The Woodwind and the Brasswind ...... 28

Yamaha Corporation of America,

Band & Orchestral Division ........... 21

Zimmermann Frankfurt ..................... 18

The Percussive ArtsSociety is pleased to

announce severalscholarships assisting

students to attendPASIC 2004.

Each scholarship winner willreceive the following

courtesy of PAS:One year of PAS membership

PASIC 2004 registrationTicket to the Hall of Fame

BanquetPASIC 2004 souvenir T-shirt

$500 toward the cost oftransportation/lodging

Winners will be notifiedin August 2004.

SCHOLARSHIPSAvedis Zildjian Co.

Cloyd DuffJames A. SewreyLudwig Industries

McMahon FoundationRemo, Inc.

Steve EttlesonThomas Siwe

Val and Venus EddyWilliam F. Ludwig, Jr.

Yamaha Corporation of America

STATE CHAPTERPASIC SCHOLARSHIPS

State Chapter PASIC Scholarshipsare currently available in Califor-nia, Illinois, New York and Texas.Additional scholarships may be

available. Contact your chapter forapplication information.

PASIC 2004 SCHOLARSHIP INFORMATION & APPLICATION

SEND APPLICATION TO:PASIC Scholarship Application,

Percussive Arts Society,701 NW Ferris Avenue

Lawton, OK 73507-5442Tel: 580.353-1455Fax: 580.353.1456

E-mail: [email protected]

DEADLINE:JUNE 15, 2004

Applicant’s Name _____________________________________________

Phone _______________________________________________________

Address _____________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

Name of Instructor ____________________________________________

Telephone ___________________________________________________

Name of School ______________________________________________

School Address _______________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Grade level _____________ Years studying percussion _____________

PAS Member # _________ (You must be a current member of PAS)

How many years have you been a PAS member? _________________

Have you ever received a PASIC scholarship? ____________________

If yes, when? _________________________________________________

Have you ever attended PASIC? ________________________________

If yes, when? _________________________________________________

Applicant’s signature __________________________________________

Date ________________________________________________________

❏ Include a separate sheet detailing awards, scholarships,etc., and dates received; Goals; Major instruments(instruments that you have or are seriously studying);and a Personal statement (optional).

❏ A four to five minute standard 1/2” VHS videotape of theapplicant’s performance with applicant’s name printed onthe spine enclosed

❏ One supporting letter of recommendation verifying ageand full-time student status enclosed

❏ Recent copy of grade transcriptions or latest grade cardenclosed

PASIC 2004 SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION


FROM THE PAS MUSEUM COLLECTION

PERCUSSIVE ARTS SOCIETY MUSEUM • 701 NW Ferris Avenue • Lawton, Oklahoma • Phone: (580) 353-1455 • MUSEUM HOURS: 8 a.m.–5 p.m. Monday–Friday, 1–4 p.m. Saturday, Sunday and holidays

THREE PAINTINGS BY MICHAEL CRADENDonated by Emil Richards

Michael Craden (1941–1982), is best remembered by percussionists as a member ofNexus, especially for his improvisations on drums and “toys” during the ensemble’sragtime performances. However, Craden’s real passion was graphic art, whichbrought him to the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles.

Through friendships with Emil Richards, Don and Rowena Preston, Paul Beaver,and later Harry Partch, Craden begin to synthesize his art with a passion for music.Exposed to Indian rhythms by New Delhi tabla and sitar musician Hari-Har Rao, hebegan to assimilate and process numerical patterns, mathematical ratios, microtonaltuning, and rhythm as inherently related to art before his move to Toronto, where hebecame acquainted with the members of Nexus.

PAS Hall of Fame member Emil Richards credits Craden as being “one of theforbearers of the free-form art movement of the early ’60s.” In remembering Craden,Richards wrote in 1996: “My favorite memory of him is that most of his artwork mademe laugh. There was such humor in his art. And there was nothing he couldn’t dorhythmically. In the Indian system, we never had to worry about quarter notes, eighthnotes, any of that. All we did was play these elaborate patterns of numbers. Hestarted to get into art with his rhythms, too, toward the end. He was a very talentedman.”

— Otice C. Sircy, PAS Museum Curator & Librarian, and Jim Strain, PAS HistorianBliss Conscious Vibe PlayerOil on canvas (c. 1964)22" x 32"2003-01-01

Stone Marimba PlayerInk wash on paper (c. 1968)28" x 22"2004-01-01

The First Mallet PlayerInk on paper (c. 1973)18" x 24"2003-01-02

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