Percusize Me!: May 2013

After a looooooooooong time without writing (will explain why in a future article), I´m back to the office, retaking Percusize Me!, and willing to update it with the frequency I used to.

On May 17th and 18th, I played Verdi´s "Requiem" with the Ulster Orchestra. JoAnn Falletta was on the podium, and the choir was the union of the Belfast Philharmonic Choir and Codetta. Concerts took place at the Belfast Waterfront Hall and the Derry-Londonderry Millennium Forum.

I´m sure you all know the importance the bass drum part has in this piece... Well, my colleague Sam Staunton, in charge of playing it, hired the services of the "little boy" you can see here:

This bass drum was built by Empire Drums, legendary percussion company located in London. It closed down several years ago, and much of its material was purchased by Bell Percussion (in fact, I remember eBay auctions selling huge amounts of instuments when the company went out of business). This bass drum is now part of Bell´s backline, and it can be rented. You can see it HERE.

It measures nothing more and nothing less than 66" in diameter (around 1.70 meters). Taking into account that a 40" (1 meter) drum is considered "big", you can get an idea of the size of this instrument...

I couldn´t measure its depth (I normally don´t carry an imperial measuring tape arround...), but it´s fairly shallow. You can see it in the next photo.

In this other picture, I have used a Tom Gauger TG04 mallet as a reference. The stick is 15 3/4", so the depth of this drum is roughly 16". We shouldn´t be surprised by the shallowness compared to its diameter, as this is quite common with British bass drums ("gong drums" are quite popular in this country: fairly considerable diameter, shallow, single headed... Many orchestras still use this design nowadays, the London Symphony among others).

In the two following photos you can see the claws, tension rods and lugs controlling the counter-hoop. It´s pretty obvious they are not very practical, as you cannot access them from the front, and you need a key in order to manipulate them. You better like the sound Bell provides the drum with, as trying to change it is a pain in the ass.

With regard to the size of the head, well... you can get an idea! There´s no cow in the world with enough skin so as to make a natural head for this drum (we would need a diplodocus!). The head is synthetic, and was made on purpose by Remo. Even this maker had problems making a head this big... In the two following photos you can see a line crossing the head: that´s the point where two sheets of material were joined, as not even their biggest sheet was enough to cover such a big surface.

Now, compare the size of the stamps you can have on your Remo heads on your snare drums with the one on this... It´s almost the size of my hand!

The cradle is very solid (and heavy!), and the bars sustaining the drum are covered with cork.

It features two vent holes in two diametrically opposed points on the shell (next to the stickers advertising its new owners).

It also features a plaque honouring the builders of this instrument, but it´s a shame it doesn´t mention a date. Will try to get in touch with Bell and investigate the age of this bass drum.

Despite I used an oversized set of timpani (32", 32", 29" and 26", which is far for negligible in terms of size), they paled size-wise with respect to the "monster" I had next to me.

After that much information, the only thing left is to see it in action. This video was recorded during the first rehearsal by Phil O´Kane. The sound is not great, as a a domestic camera was used, but you can get a rough idea (although the ideal thing would be to feel its lows in person...).

By the way... Have you realized Sam, even when playing the tutta forza strokes, remains seated? This may remind you the "To sit, or not to sit? That is the question" article.

…et in Arcadia ego.

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Percusize Me! en español.

Sunday 26 May 2013

A king size bass drum.