In memoriam David Searcy.

Sadly, I´m writing again mourning a loss. David Searcy has passed away on August, 2nd.

David was timpanist for the orchestra of Teatro alla Scala in Milan (before that, he played for the Bergen Philharmonic), a magnificent musician, and an excellent person. He was also a faculty member at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where I got master classes from him.

His knowledge of the operatic repertoire was enormous, and his ideas on editing notes were a major influence on me.

Rest in peace.

…et in Arcadia ego.

© David Valdés

Teddy Brown, a xylophone virtuoso.

As a percussionist, I always thought George Hamilton Green was the paradigm of the xylophonists, the virtuoso par excellence. His book is the Bible of the instrument, containing concepts I have incorporated to my playing (keeping wrists very low, using the edge on the accidental bars...). He was a prolific composer, a magnificent player and a successful teacher.

© Meredith Music

Apart from George Hamilton Green, my "xylophonistic radar" engaged George Lawrence Stone, Bob Becker, and few others. Recently, and thanks to the magic of the Internet, I have discovered a fantastic player: Teddy Brown.

Abraham Himmelbrand (that was his real name) was a man of rotund appearance, multi-instrumentalist, with an extraordinary musical talent, who played xylophone extraordinarily well.

A few videos:

See the ease on his playing, the use of the edge on the accidentals (magnificent that lateral shot), how low he keeps his wrists, those one handed scales.. A true virtuoso!

On this last video, he makes difficult things look easy, so confident... This song is quite cheesy, but makes me want to sing "walking in a winter wonderland".

Apart from being a terrific xylophone player, he was an amazing snare drummer. See his left hand on 0:25 onwards!

Here he is playing both instruments:

Teddy Brown: a natural talent and, sadly, not known among percussionists. Maybe, it was his premature death at 46, together with the fact that he left no legacy in the form of a book (something George Hamilton Green did) that condemned this player to oblivion.

…et in Arcadia ego.

© David Valdés

Tambourine technique II.

After some months away from the blog, I´m back again. As you already know, I have a passion for the sea and navigation. This months I´ve been studying and preparing my exam for becoming the Spanish equivalent to the RYA Yachtmaster Ocean, and I have passed 100% of the subjects I was enrolled in: Metereology, Oceanography, English and Radiocommunications.

Now that I have more time, I can write on the blog again... There we go!

Sometime ago, Ronny Lauten, follower of this blog, read my previous article "Tambourine Technique". As I wrote about a technique suitable for piano passages, Mr. Lauten got in touch with me, wanting to know my approach to loud ones.

Well, when I play forte, I use the same technique. When you want to play intrincate and loud passages, everything explained on that previous article is of application. Re-read it, as it has very detailed information. The only difference beween piano and forte is the velocity of attack. As my students already know, I always relate dynamics and velocity of attack: More speed always means more volume, less speed implies less volume.

On this video, you can see and hear that technique on loud passages:

This technique is very useful for things like "Capriccio Spagnol", "Carmen", "España"... It has many applications and, as it happens with its piano counterpart, it allows for the instrument to be played high, keeping the visual factor.

Many percussionists use the knee technique for these situations. Personally, (not neglecting any other way of playing, as different situations can be better resolved with certain technique instead of other), I prefer to unify criteria and play everything as simple and natural as possible. If I can play an excerpt this way, I prefer it over the knee version, as I can stay seated (read "To sit or not to seat? That is the question") and keep the instrument high.

As you can see, this technique can be used with many passages.

But... What if we need to play agile passages  with very generous dynamics ("Trepak" comes to mind)?  For this, I use a very similar technique. Our thumb may not be enough for dynamics above forte (quite logical as it´s only one finger), so I use a group of muscles located on the base of the palm named thenar and hypothenar prominences. It will be the red marked part the one replacing our thumb, allowing to play louder:

© ASSH

This technique is very similar, but presents slight differences.

Our fingers strike exactly the same: they hit the tambourine in the same way we already know.

© David Valdés

The difference is in the way we hit with the palm. Contrary to the way we used the thumb, which striked the instrument, it is the tambourine which produces the stroke: the right hand stays still (very important), being the tambourine with a left hand twist the one producing the stroke:

© David Valdés

Obviously, it´s crucial for both types of stroke to be as similar as possible, resulting in a homogeneous sound. The "work load" is for the fingers, and the "extra strokes" are assignated to the base of the palm.

On the following video, you can see the different movements:

I encourage you to practice these techniques for their extraordinary versatility.

These are just a few of the many possibilities the tambourine has to offer. In future articles, I´ll write some more about different techniques for this instrument.

…et in Arcadia ego.

© David Valdés

To sit or not to sit? That is the question.

Today, I´ll write about something that may make no sense out of Spain, but I´ve been asked about it quite a few times: In the orchestra, should I stand up or sit down when playing?

In Spain, the usual procedure is to stand up for playing cymbals, bass drum, triangle, tambourine, xylo... In my particular case, I have never asked myself why, but as it was what I always have seen, I simply stood up for playing.

It was not until I moved to London that I started questioning this method. The first work I played with the orchestra at the Royal Academy of Music was Strauss´ "A Hero´s Life", and I was in charge of tam-tam, cymbals and triangle. When I stood up to play my first entrance, the whole section looked at me and made funny faces. As soon as I finished, the principal asked me: "Why are you standing up?" Very secure of myself, I told him all that stuff about the visual thing, the theatrical component, that a concert is also seen, apart from listened to... He smiled and told me to do whatever I fancied but, in the UK, that was quite extravagant.

Few days after I attended my first concerts, and I realized that the whole section was sitting down.

I asked my teacher, and his explanations convinced me.

There´s no other member of the orchestra (except for the conductor) standing up for playing. When a player stands up, is calling attention to himself, announcing in a very visual way to the audience that he is about to do something: "Hey, look at me, I´m standing up so you can see I´m about to hit something!"

Standing up, you are calling an unnecessary attention to yourself and to the entrance you are about to play, which shouldn´t have it: No other player makes such a pompous announcement. The important thing is Music, not your next entrance, so boldy announced when you stand up. When you do so, you also take the risk of making extraneous noises (cracking floors, noisy chairs...).

You can keep the visual aspect keeping your instrument high, showing it to the audience (the old saying "if you can´t see it, you can´t hear it" is still valid), but not taking the theatrical aspect so far that it gets over-important.

Since my London days, I play sitting down. There are very few occasions when I stand up. This way, I do not call attention to my next entrance, and give the importance to the Music, not to me, the chap who is standing up, distracting the audience, calling for attention, focussing the interest, and making the members of the audience say "look, look... He´s standing up, something´s about to happen!"

As you can see on the first video, I play cymbals (both clashed and suspended) sitting down on a high stool, right at hip height: This way, my height is almost the same standing and sitting, not calling attention to myself.

You already knnow the following video from the post "Tambourine Technique", but it illustrates very well my purpose: I´m playing sitting down, but maintain the visual aspect keeping the tambourine high.

Same thing with bass drum... There´s no need for standing up. I can play everything while sitting down, no extraneous moves...

I can assure you none of the section principals nor conductors I have played with, have ever complained about me sitting down while playing. Try it: Sit down, don´t call attention to yourself, keep things nice and easy, no complicated stuff... As they say, KISS! (keep it simple, stupid!).

Jesus told Lazarus to "stand up and walk!". I tell you to "sit down and play!"

…et in Arcadia ego.

© David Valdés

Mostlymarimba.

I can´t deny it: many of you know how much I admire Leigh Howard Stevens, his work, the way he makes music, his sense of humor... Having said that, I have to admit his presence on the cyberspace was frankly poor, as his website was not updated for a vey long time (years, maybe).

Today, I was very pleasantly surprised when I discovered Malletech has renovated its website, which looks like this:

© Malletech

It has many new sections, and much more developed than before. Thre´s a meticulous description of all instruments manufactured by Malletech, including its new vibraphone. Yes, ladies and gentlemen... What everybody was anxiously waiting for (at least me!) is now a reality: Malletech does make vibraphones!

© Malletech

There´s a section devoted to their mallets, arranged by series or instrument, all their music catalogue and recordings, artists, events and news... Everything related to Malletech, Resonator Records, Kp3..., has a presence on the new site.

The best thing is the new educational section, which includes videos and articles, and carries on with the formative side of my favourite section from the older site: "For Marimba Geeks".

© Malletech

Because this new site has been on line for only a few days, it still has some things that need to get fixed, but I´m sure they will be improved soon.

After so much time neglecting their web presence, it seems that, at last, Malletech has pulled up its socks, and I have received their decision with joy... They even have a YouTube channel and a FaceBook account!

YouTube

Facebook

I´m really looking forward for the new site to be full of new content.

…et in Arcadia ego.

© David Valdés

In memoriam Joe Morello.

On March 12th, Joe Morello has passed away.

This fantastic musician (who even played as a violin soloist with the Boston Symphony) was the drummer for the fabulous "Dave Brubeck Quartet".

His book "Master Studies" and "Master Studies II" are a cornerstone for me and, together with the late Jim Chapin, he is one of my major influences. My snare drum playing owes very much to him.

© Modern Drummer

Sadly, having had some heart trouble, he died yesterday aged 82.

As a homage, I suggest the following video, in which he plays one of the mythical themes by the "Dave Brubeck Quartet": "Take Five". Please observe the wonderful music, the splendid production and the superb sound (apart from the extraordinary musicians, perhaps those Neumann U67 are part of the equation).

Rest in peace.

…et in Arcadia ego.

© David Valdés

New things coming from old ones.

There´s nothing new under the sun and, whatever we think is something new, chances it has been invented and developed by someone else before we did are very possible. Today, I´d like to write about a percusive gadget that has deep roots into the past.

First is first, so let me introduce you the original concept:

Photo courtesy of Maciej Kazinsky

Have a look at the bottom of the bowl of this pair of baroque timpani.You can see a device shaped like a trumpet bell: it´s a "Schalltrichter" ("schall" means sound, and "trichter" means funnel).

This device was common in German timpani for a long period (between 1600 and 1800). Drums with this piece are very rare outside Germany, so we can think this constructive element is very characteristic from this country.

It was mentioned in old treatises: "Musicus autodidactos" (J.P. Eisel - 1738), "Die Pauken und Trommeln" (G. Fechner - 1862), and the older ones can be found in a pair of timpani kept at the Bayerische Nationalmuseum, dated in 1620. 

Its function was to create a saussenden Nachklang (resonant reverberance ) by means of the funnel moving back and forth, enriching a sound that, otherwise, would be quite anodyne (Fechner dixit)*.

As time passed, the "Schalltrichter" fell in disuse.

You can see more photos and read a very interesting article in The Well-Tempered Timpani.

Don´t you thik its desing is very similar to those found on subwoofers and loud speakers?

Three years ago (I don´t know if they even know what a "Schalltrichter" is), a company started selling a gadget coming form that organologic tradition, a device which gives rise to many opinions among drummers: the "Kickport".

© Kickport

As you can see, it´s kind of a funnel which goes on the resonant head of the bass drum:

© Kickport

Acording to the manufacturer, it gives "more lows, more tone, better definition and more punch", apart from slightly dampening the resonant head. Does it work? Opinions vary: there´s people that, after trying it, they hear a huge improvement, and there´s people who hears nothing at all. As always, we can find confronted opinions: some think it´s very useful and its creators have hit the jackpot, while others think it´s a bluff coming from someone with a very cunning commercial vision.

The thing is that it seems to have had some sucess, and their creators have milked the idea: Why just the bass drum when the set includes more drums? As bold as brass, they extended the concept to toms and snare drum:

© Kickport

I haven´t tried it, so I cannot give my opinion. If I ever have the chance to try it, I´ll write about it trying to explain my thoughts on it.

The very interesting thing, and what made me write about this new toy, is the similarity I´ve found between the "Kickport" and "Schalltrichter" present in German timpani. We tend to think we are very modern and cool, but this idea has been working since 1600.

As I said at the beginning, there´s nothing new under the sun... Very new looking ideas are 400 years old. The eternal return hits again, and the "Schallrichter" gets reincarnated in the "Kickport".  

* The information on the two paragraphs before the asterisk comes from an article by Ben Harms titled "The world of historical timpani", written for "Early Music America" for its summer 2008 edition.

…et in Arcadia ego.

© David Valdés