It's the pits

A moment that changed what I thought about myself as a percussionist came after finishing both my undergrad and Masters. I had up to that point a clear idea of who I was, a keyboard specialist. Sure I could play snare drum and timpani and the requisite accessory instruments, but I was going to be a concert marimbist. Then, someone asked me to play drum set for a cabaret show. Their drummer backed out. The show was in a few days. I had never sat down to play drum set in my life. I said yes. 

There was no drum part. They sent me copies of piano sheet music for all the tunes. I made a playlist and didn't stop listening to it every waking moment for the next few days. I began writing down the groove for each tune on the sheet music. Marking hits. Changes of style. I found a really cheap drum set being sold, bought hi-hats and a crash. The next day was rehearsal.

I didn't know what to expect when I sat down to begin the rehearsal. The first tune we did was "A Wild, Wild Party" from Andrew Lippa's The Wild Party. The piano player counted us off and I felt myself focus unlike anything I had ever in life. I heard the piano, I heard the singers, I heard the drum set. It was as if the soundtrack played in my head and my hands and feet went along for the ride. It was one of those moments where you finish and find yourself trying to remember what just happened. I looked up at the piano player, she wasn't looking at me like "what did you just do?!" I looked at the director, he launched into comments to the singers, nothing ever coming my way. I whispered to the pianist, "hey, was that ok?" "Yeah! That was great!" Next chart.

That's how the whole evening went. Soundtrack buzzing in my head. Feet and hands moving. No comments. Next chart. Next chart. Next chart.

The director came up to me afterward and was thanking me so much for stepping in at the last minute. I asked, "everything was alright?" "Yes, of course, why do you ask?" "oh, well, I just haven't done anything like this before."

Thinking about it for the next few days, I got by because I may not have been a set player, but I could listen, I could play musically. But it was at this moment that I realized I needed to work on this. I had fun, but I wanted--needed--to be better. I started taking shows where I would play set instead of only percussion. Now, years later, I still have so much fun any time I sit down behind the set for a new show. I have a blast playing musicals, period. And I've been happy to play many (and many more since I could market myself on set, too). 

The past couple years have been especially fun: Into the Woods, Cabaret, The Addams Family, Big River, The Rocky Horror Show, Shrek. In the future I will actually post these things as they happen. But I do want to share some setup photos. 

Big River is the most straight-forward show I have ever played. Easy setup. Country ballads and boom-chick. That's about it.

This is the second time I've done Into the Woods and my setup is very different this time around because of the space. Timpani, chimes, and witch's rap drums are being triggered from my laptop with a little M-Audio keyboard. I didn't need to drag down my MalletKAT for this show since there is so little I needed to trigger. I also created a nice giant's footsteps sound effect since I'm not being miked and the bass drum alone wasn't really the oomph they wanted.

One view of The Addams Family setup. I triggered finger snaps samples from my iPad at first. After the second rehearsal, they wanted me to cover a couple other sound effects so I loaded sounds I developed on a Yamaha DTX-Multi 12 and got rid of the iPad.

Another view of Addams. There was a lot of timpani and chimes in this show, so I used the MalletKAT.

Pretty straight-forward setup for Cabaret. This show has been one I always wanted to play. The book is not the most fun, challenging, or intriguing thing in the world, but I LOVE the show. It was one of the most satisfying experiences I've had playing for a musical. 

Audience view for Cabaret. The band was on top of a 12' platform. I also had this big, lighted, steel sign hanging just a couple feet over my head the whole time.

Overview shot of Shrek.I had no room to use any acoustic keyboard instruments for this show. Very disappointing. I love the ability to use electronics if necessary, but nothing beats the sound of acoustic instruments. So bells, xylophone, vibraphone, chimes, and timpani all went on the MalletKAT. This was actually the first show I ever used a KAT! I could not have been happier with the results (except for getting to go all acoustic), it really is a wonderful product.