New article, this time retaking an issue related to tambourine, as asked by one of the followers of Percusize Me!
There are many excerpts requiring differents types of rolls depending on dynamics, musical context...Shake or finger roll: possibilities are allmost endless, and I´m showing you a few of the many options:
The first roll is the traditional shake one, suitable for the majority of the situations. My advice is to practice it very relaxed.
The second one is a variation producing a triplet feeling. You can get the effect using the movement you use when playing single alternating strokes on marimba.
For piano and light passages, the third roll is your best option. Believe or not, I´ve used it quite a few times.
The nightmare every percussionist fears is to play a piano roll and then making a crescendo: the way I´ve found to give the roll a very clear beggining and articulation is to use the previous technique, and then play the shake. As a result, we get a very clear initial articulation, pianissimo, and the we can do a nice crescendo.
The two handed version allows great volume and a busy roll, also permiting a clear beggining and ending.
Leaning the fingers against the head we can play very long rolls without fatigue, with a very articulate beggining and ending.
But, if we want a very long and piano roll (Shostakovich 2nd Cello Concerto comes to mind) using a riq technique is the best option.
Finally, finger rolls. We should be able to use all of them, depending on dynamics and character we are looking for.
These are just a few of the many possible options. You know I like tambourine, so more techniques will be shown in the near future.
Let me know your techniques and tricks, and I´ll be more than happy to include them in my arsenal.
…et in Arcadia ego.
© David Valdés
