Percussion Tech Notebook
Transcript of Percussion Tech Notebook
T’keyah Daley
Percussion Tech Notebook
April 18th 2013
Sticking
Use alternate sticking Alternate between left and right hands
EX:
Sticking for Triplets
EX:
Flam
Like a grace note in percussion Closed Flam (tight flam) marching band Open Flam (farther apart) concert band Flat Flam (not good) both sticks strike at the same time Tiny grace note with a strong accent (good!) Both flams start to match timing or height (bad!)
EX:
Grips
Stevens Grip Burton’s Grip
-Sticks and independent -crossed
-Marimba players -Jazz vibraphonist-2/3 -2/4
- -Sturdier, mallet dampening
-
-Fluidity/internal changes
Timpani----plural Timpani
Biggest drum is 1 Smallest is 4 or 5 Generally 4 or 5 timpani set up American Style- Largest drum on the left German Style- Largest Drum on the right The pitch of each drum goes up a 5th
Drum 1 DA
Drum 2 FC
Drum 3 BbF
Drum 4 DA
*Store timpani with pedal in the middle or all the way up, to keep things in place.
Gauge- helps to know where the pitch is Tuning-tuning fork, pitch pipe Always tune up if possible
Sticks
There are a lot of timpani sticks Ball stick Cartwheel stick Specialty malletswooden stick, roller etc. General mallet Articulate mallets(staccato): smaller version of ball and cartwheel Soft Mallet-larger version of ball and cartwheel
Grips
German-similar to snare drum grip, palm down, fingers on stick French-thumbs is up, fingers off the stick American- thumbs up, fingers on the stick
*Sticks start and end up
Where to strike the timpani
Strike the timpani 1/3 from the edge
*Change the head once a year with active use, every 3-5 years with sporadic use.
Sticking
Do natural sticking unless moving doesn’t facilitate it Avoid cross sticking Choose a sticking, write it down and do it the same way every time.
Rolls
Play even 16th notes
Drumming heights
3inchestaps 9inchesAccents 12inches 16inchesFull out
Diddle=double
EX:
Marimba -Rosewood
-Paduk
-Synthetic
Xylophone
*Avoid the nail, don’t drum over it.
Composition tips
Marimba-double stops sound good, should be rolled for sustain Vibraphone-double stops are good Glockenspiel/bells- Good accents. Metal instruments sound good with metal instruments Wood instruments sound good with wood instruments Check pattern-when you take out the rolls or the diddles
Par-a-diddle
Accent the first beatEX:
Cleaning a Snare Drum
Lugs, lugnuts Rim, hoop Know how to clean and prep a lug casing Lugs should be finger tight, have equal tension on the head Hoop pulls the head over the shell stretching the plastic and pushes against the hoop and
the glue.
Suspended Cymbal
Dome/Bell=dry soundRoll Notation:
Crash Cymbals
Grab strap like a drum stick Off alignment, don’t bring them together, hold one still. A choke is not a hi hat Care and Maintenance-metal on metal is bad.
How to Write Better Pieces
Find a bass line Low marimba Chords
o Xylophoneo Vibraphoneo Marimbao Bells
Melodyo Bellso Xylophoneo Marimbao Vibraphone
Snare rollsBe Careful! Cross voicingUse if necessary Rhythm Tempo and Style Malletsbetween 4ths, 5ths and 6ths Non-melodic notation
o Just make an x Don’t repeat a lot of notes. Make them slower if you have to Stems Tutti rhythms, good. Don’t use ties on “boom, boom” instruments Good writing is one or two constants, then add your accents
Paradiddle diddle
More fun to play
EX:
Marching Snare
Free floating concepto Head rests on metal hoop
The shells are off limits on Tenor Drums
Kevlar Drum heado Has a lot of tension
Play the center of the drum Play towards the edge Do a roll zoning it out Ping shots
*Teach match grip
*Traditional grip=left hand
Why traditional grip?
-Drum core, indoor and college marching band uses it
Notation
Stems are always upEX: =shots = pings shots
Tenor Drums (Quads, Quints, and Sexes)
Heads are Double Ply Should all match and be in tune T it up, Drums 3 and 4
EX:
Notation
Sweeps or Scrapes Split rhythms on drums to make it funky Don’t hit the rims
Bass Drums
Rotate Play as a snare drum Hit drum in the center Muffling the drum with one hand, 4 fingers Rim guards, shreds and breaks without one Heads are muffled on inside
*they have heads with pre-muffling
Notation
5 is preferred, 6 is fine, and 4 is not so good.
Drum line Heights
3innothing 6instaccato 9in 12in Full Out
*Some people write shots like this:
Cymbals
High hats
Marching Band Percussion
Burton’s grip better for younger students Easier to control
Flam Accents
Drag-add a diddle after an accent Flam accents with drags=flam drag
o
Cheese-
Flam Fives
Ruff is like a flam but with a double strokeo
Triangle
A good triangle is going to cover a lot of overtones Take a triangle clip and clip it onto a high stand The beater should ring in your hand Sizes
o 4in (more delicate)o 6ino 8ino 10ino 12in
Fingers are used to muffle
Tambourine
Tambour means drum Thumb roll needs wax on the head Hit on the rim, towards the center Rolls can have a definite start or stop Can be hit with drum sticks Jingles made from silver or bronze
Can be reheaded