Today’s post is by guest contributor Simon Boyar. Based out of New York, Simon is a world renowned percussion artist and the owner and founder of Boyar Music Studios in Westchester, NY. An accomplished solo artist, producer, composer/arranger, and educator, Boyar’s talent’s stretch across the music industry.
Listening Coordination
The ability to comfortably hear and respond to multiple voices/ideas during a musical performance: In music, listening skills are everything. We tend to work on them primarily from a personal perspective. However, once listening skills are on a solid path of development from the individual’s perspective we must then begin to consider listening coordination between players on a larger scale. This is something that is not often thoroughly examined. In today’s environment of excellent chamber music writing for percussion, listening coordination between players is possibly one of the most important skills to master. (more…)
Looking for a new instrument to add to your arsenal? How about the Bones? This video features James Yoshizawa in an advanced bones instructional video. James is a former student of mine and received his BM in Percussion Performance from the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music in 2009. Since graduation, he continues to work hard making a living in Southern California and plays regularly with the The Katisse Oddsemble.
If you are new to bones, here’s what Wikipedia has to say about the instrument: “The bones are a musical instrument (more specifically, a folk instrument) which, at the simplest, consists of a pair of animal bones, or pieces of wood or a similar material. Sections of large rib bones and lower leg bones are the most commonly used true bones, although wooden sticks shaped like the earlier true bones are now more often used. If metal spoons are used instead, as is common in the United States, this is called “playing the spoons”. The technique arrived in the U.S. via Irish immigrants, but has a history stretching back to ancient China, Egypt, Greece, and Rome.”
James has put together an excellent video and handout describing his approach to incorporating rudimental drumming as a means to strengthen his technique on the bones. I am extremely proud of James and I hope you take the time to check out this video.
This has been a busy week. PASIC 2014 is over and it was great to catch up with everyone. Above is a photo of my good friend Tom Burritt at the Innovative Percussion booth. I am also extremely excited to announce that I am joining the Yamaha Corporation of America as the Percussion Product Manager. I am looking forward to the possibilities this brings me and my family. At this point, I don’t know what this means for my blog, but I hope to continue posting regularly. Have a great week and Happy Thanksgiving.
Every year in November, the Percussive Arts Society hosts PASIC (Percussive Arts Society International Convention). PASIC is the largest percussion event in the world featuring over 120 concerts, clinics, master classes, labs, workshops, panels and presentations. This year, PASIC is in Indianapolis on November 19-22, 2014. (more…)
Steven Schick has always been an inspiration to me. He is an amazing percussionist, conductor and educator. When I was an undergrad, I will never forget a one week residency at the LA County Museum where he played three solo recitals, each with a different program, from memory! (more…)
PASIC 2014 is this week and I am excited to see old friends and meet new ones. If you are going to PASIC, please leave a comment below and maybe we can meet up. There are a lot of great articles this week. I hope these continue to inspire you. Please share your thoughts and articles below in the comments.
Question of the week: What clinic and/or concert are you looking forward to attending at PASIC? (more…)
We have all heard about the connections between music and mathematics, but did you ever think it would improve your sound on the snare drum? In this video, I talk about playing zones on the drumhead and angle on your drum sticks in relationship to the drum. Remember to think about the sound you are creating on every instrument you play. If you pay attention to your zones as well as your angles, you will dramatically improve your sound.
Today’s video features a piece for Boomwhacker Quintet. Composed in 2008 by Spencer Dorn, “Cylindrophonicities” for Boomwhackers was premiered by the CSULB Percussion Ensemble. (more…)
How many times have you stepped up to the marimba to work on a passage and it seems like you have never seen the music before even though you spent hours practicing the day before? Well guess what? This happens to everyone including me. It is frustrating and makes you want to throw your mallets across the room. If this sounds familiar, I want you to start incorporating block chords into your practice routine. (more…)
Last week I talked about podcasts. I listen to podcasts on a daily basis and below I have compiled a list of my podcasts. After checking out the list, please recommend your favorites. (more…)
