Happy Thanksgiving from the DrumChattr team! Today’s video features an interesting collaboration between Grammy nominated choir “Conspirare” and the University of Texas Percussion Group. Originally part of a PBS pledge special this concert was recorded and distributed world wide via the Harmoni Mundi label in May of 2009. Rumor has it that it may be re-aired in early December on many national PBS stations. Check your local listings. Click here for more collaborative videos from the DVD.
Triptych originally was scored for small string orchestra and in this version was adapted for percussion. What new or interesting combinations/collaborations have you been involved in? Leave your thoughts below in the comments.
Originally posted on DrumChattr on November 25, 2010.
Lately I have kept coming back to one particular thought about percussionists… Why don’t people know more about the music they are playing? As in, there have been so many instances where I’ve seen a person play a piece without knowing anything about the composer or how the piece was conceived. Maybe this is an issue with other instrumentalists too, but I wouldn’t really know it. All I know is that we, as percussionists, are trying to gain legitimacy and defeat the perpetual label of “just drummers,” and we can’t even say three words about who wrote the marimba piece we’re working on… even if the composer happened to win a Pulitzer Prize or is one of the leading performers and pedagogues in our field. (more…)
“Life has a rhythm, it’s constantly moving.” Too often most musicians living in the United States don’t think about the functional side of music. This video, by Bjorn Warning and Thomas Bonenkamp, features a documentary filmed during one month in Baro, Guinee Afrika. According to the video’s description, “The word for rhythm (used by the Malinke tribes) is ‘Foli’. It is a word that encompasses so much more than drumming, dancing or sound. It’s found in every part of daily life. In this film you not only hear and feel rhythm but you see it. It’s an extraordinary blend of image and sound that feeds the senses and reminds us all how essential it is.”
What is the purpose for developing extended, specialized techniques? In this episode we focus on four-mallet rolling utilizing the Stevens Grip, and explore how 4 different roll types can be used together to fool our listeners! (into thinking we are sustaining a note…)
Share with us how you apply extended techniques to musical expression in your own playing. Leave your comments below.
Today’s video features eight year old Andy Narell and the Steel Bandits on I’ve Got a Secret from February 28, 1963. While the game show portion of this video is humorous, it great to see Andy playing pans in 1963. Make sure you check out the end of the video! The group is featured playing a calypso on what are now know as “old pans.” There are not many videos of these instruments and it is great that they were featured on network television.
What are your thoughts on this video? Have you ever played an old pan or found one at a garage sale? Leave your comments below.
For more information on Andy Narell, visit his website. Andy’s recordings are some of the top steel drum recordings available.
Originally posted on DrumChattr on November 19, 2010 by Dave Gerhart.
Having a passion for pedagogy has taught me a lot over the years. One important idea that I’ve developed along the way has to do with perspective. I’ve found that a student can learn more quickly by focusing on general perspectives or guiding principles. These general ideas work to enable the student to apply and connect specific techniques to the aesthetics of musicality (phrasing/interpretation). Each post in this series will focus on a different “guiding principle”, a general concept or idea that can point artists in the right direction.
Guiding Principle #2: It’s Good for us to be Selfish.
Guiding Principle #1 focused on identifying and acknowledging the war going on inside of you between your “true self” and your “ego”. Spending time only with your “ego” results ultimately in misery while spending time with your “true self” produces personal fulfillment and artistic inspiration. So, you’ve read the first post in this series and you’ve acknowledged this struggle that every artist has and that’s the first step. Now, we need put in place some steps that will help us spend more time with our “true selves”.
This summer I spent some time with my family watching the very successful television series Friday Night Lights. In Episode #3, season 4, a character, portrayed in the show as an eclectic visual artist, was asked what the most important thing an artist has to do to become great. This is what he said: “You must be selfish. Your going to spend your life trying to express some quiet dark corner, deep deep inside you (your true self). You will put aside love, God, and life, in order to follow this craving. Screw everybody else and maybe you have a chance.”
Now, that is a bit hard core, and I get that. That said, I believe every artist has to come to grips with balancing their creative “true selves” with “love God, and life”. The problem is, as an artist, you already know full well that “your going to spend your life trying to express some quiet dark corner, deep deep inside you”. You know that this internal urge is relentless and simply can’t be denied. You also fear that denying it and trying to move forward without it will only lead to misery.
What then do we do? Should we “screw everybody else” as the above quote suggests? How do we handle the “love God, and life” part? Well, I am certainly not claiming that I know the answer to either question, but I do think we can focus on a few guiding principles that will help us manage both sides of the struggle. The key is spending time on a regular basis with our “true selves”.
Guiding Principle #2: It’s Good for us to be Selfish.
The very act of being selfish, if in the right context, actually helps us get in touch with our “true selves” Guiding Principle #1. Here are some tips I’ve found helpful.
1. Set time away EVERYDAY to be creative. A Pro is selfish about setting time aside.
2. Practice technique, but also practice being musically expressive. Technique is “ego” driven while the act of being musically expressive is “true self” driven.
3. Evaluate your practice time by asking the following question: “Was I expressively musical today?”
Also, during your daily creative time, deny your “ego” at all costs. Do not let “him” in. He wants to tear you down, tell you that you stink, and unfairly compare you to others, remember guiding principle #1? Your “ego” is a false representation of who you are so be selfish about denying “him”. In fact, he is jealous when you are selfish because “he” knows “he” is powerless when you connect to your “true self”.
Instead, selfishly spend time with your “true self”, allow inspiration in and that technique you have been working on will work, that bad habit you have been addressing will cease to exist. I know it doesn’t make sense but if it did, it wouldn’t be art. Somehow, accessing inspiration by spending time with our “true selves” has the power to apply ALL the technical issues that we have been painstakingly working on in the practice room. “It” bridges the gap between mechanical repetition in the practice room and the implementation of that work in performance. After all, Isn’t this process the main goal of learning to be a musician? Your “true self” is truly genius!
But what about “love, God, and life?” Well, I’ve found that experiencing inspiration EVERYDAY by connecting to my “true self” actually allows me to better experience “love, God, and life”. After connecting to my “true self” I feel invigorated to experience my whole life. I know it sounds crazy but it should come as no surprise, of course, because your “true self” is truly genius and capable of WAY more than your “ego”.
What are your general reactions to these ideas? How do you learn to apply technique to musical expression? Leave your comments below.
I must acknowledge Stephen Pressfield’s “The War of Art” in the refining of these ideas. This book is truly epic and you can purchase it here.
Originally posted on DrumChattr on November 18, 2010 by Thomas Burritt.
Many, many great things happened at PASIC and for my next few articles, I’d like to recap some of the things that I was able to attend. During PASIC preview week I hyped the new College Pedagogy Committee Mentoring Day which I was able to attend on Wednesday. It was a GREAT day and it would obviously be impossible for me to capture the entire day in a blog post, but I want to relay some of the points that I thought were critical, even if some SEEM obvious. I do want to make it clear that I cannot do the day, or any individual sessions, justice in this medium. What I address will only scratch the surface of the content covered.
Dr. Tim Lautzenheiser spoke twice about communication, and knocked it out of the park BOTH times. Some of my favorite points are listed below: (more…)
Hold on to your sticks! Scored for “seven sound sources” and written and premiered by Steven Schick, Bone Alphabet by Brian Ferneyhough is one of the most difficult percussion solos ever written. In this video, Brian Ferneyhough talks about the first couple of measures of Bone Alphabet.
Has anyone played Bone Alphabet? Leave your thoughts and comments below. (more…)
PASIC is over and we are excited about the interview we did with Gordon Stout on Saturday. Look for it in the podcast feed on iTunes or check it out on the site. Today’s video features Gordon conducting the Marimba Orchestra from the 2007 PAS Day of Percussion (Joel Smales, host). The orchestra is playing Bolero by Eustacio Rosales. This piece was transcribed by Clair Omar Musser and was featured at the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair as part of the 100-piece marimba orchestra concert.
Have you heard any other large marimba orchestra pieces? What is your favorite? Leave a comment below.
Originally posted on DrumChattr on November 14, 2010.
We are into Day 3 of 2010 PASIC and the convention is going great! Tonight’s evening concert features the Stanton Moore Trio. Before the concert, check out this video of the Stanton Moore Trio with Robert Walter (Hammond B-3) and Will Bernard (guitar). The trio performs “Squash Blossom” live at the KEXP (Seattle) studio. Recorded 5/15/10.
Are you planning on attending the concert at PASIC tonight? What is your favorite Stanton Moore Trio album? Let us know. Leave your thoughts in the comments.
Originally posted on DrumChattr on November 12, 2010.
