Hit Me…
As a percussionist, often you have to perform on an unusual instrument. Interesting "instruments" I've had to play over the years include: brake drums, trash cans, breaking bottles, thunder sheet, coffee cans, railroad spikes, pool tubing, anvil, air raid siren, water cooler bottles, taxi horns, klaxon horn, all types of whistles, the inside of a grand piano, prayer stones, temple bells, tubaphone, church bells, etc., etc.
Last week, I was at Tanglewood playing with the Boston Symphony. Amongst other instruments, I got the chance to play a very large hammer (hitting a wooden box) in Berg's "Three Pieces For Orchestra". Everyone was careful not to upset me...I wonder why?
Triangle Girls Gone Wild !
Aya Kaminaguchi is a wonderful young percussionist and was colleague of mine while I was on the Star Wars tour. I'm back in Boston, but Aya is still out on the road. She sent me a link to a wonderful blog about her triangle playing. Go to the link and be sure to sit through about 30 seconds of video footage. Then you'll see Aya on the big screen and hear the crowd go wild !
FWIW- Aya uses a Grover TR-9 Super-Overtone triangle.
Heavenly Sounds…
A high energy performer, multi-percussionist Mark Shelton utilizes a vast array of percussion sounds. Mark is very active in the "Percussion For Worship" movement. We had the pleasure of experiencing Mark's work last year at PASIC, where he "facilitated" one of the late night hand drum jam sessions. Mark had the room of 100+ percussionists rockin' late into the night! We're surprised the hotel management didn't shut us down..
In his arsenal, Mark uses a number of Grover products (check out the Grover Super-Overtone triangles in the photo). For more information about Mark and his varied activities go to: www.marksheltonmusic.com.
A Busy UK Percussionist
Grover Endorser, Dave Danford, has rapidly become established as one of the UK's leading percussionists, maintaining a busy schedule of solo recitals, orchestral concerto performances, studio recording sessions and master-classes. You can read more about Dave's activities on his blog: http://www.musolife.com/my-jam-packed-2009.html
Swiss Drumming Explained
The January issue of Percussive Notes includes an article on swiss drumming that was written by Grover team member Lee Caron. Lee works in our production department here at Grover Pro. Like many of our team members, Lee is a skilled percussionist and also a music educator. Check it out...
Lee Caron
Factory Visitors
We've started out 2010 with some distinguished visitors to the Grover Pro Percussion factory. On January 14th, Professor Scott Herring from the University of South Carolina came to Boston to visit us. While he was here, Scott picked out one of our new Bronze Pro Hammered Triangles. Scott had quite the day, squeezing in a visit to both Grover Pro and Zildjian!
The next day we welcomed a group of percussion students from the Sao Paulo State University in Brazil. This group of students form the percussion group PAIP and are on a multi city tour of the United States. Rumor has it that the group's director, Professor John Boudler, and Neil Grover were students together at Tanglewood back in the dark ages (mid 70's).
While at the Grover Pro factory the PIAP members went crazy picking out triangles, tambourines, mallets, woodblocks, snare drums, etc. It really created some havoc here at our headquarters, but everyone, including the Grover staff, enjoyed their visit immensely!
Hangin’ with C-3PO
I've recently returned from the "Star Wars In Concert" US tour. It was a fantastic experience. The presentation was rock concert meets symphony orchestra meets movie experience. We played music from all 6 Star Wars scores, synced to high resolution film clips shown on a huge LCD screen. The evening was narrated by Anthony Daniels, better known as C-3PO.
I was blown away by the huge crowds this event drew. In Texas Stadium we played to over 30,000! The pyrotechnics and the production values were stellar (no pun intended). Every show was a memorable experience for me.
Playing the snare drum parts to all the Star Wars music gave me the opportunity to "test drive" the new Grover G3 Orchestral Snare Drum. All I can tell you is that a few of the other percussionists are now interested getting one and the first time I used it the sound engineer noticed the improvement in articulation.
Now it's back to work at the office. We're gearing up for our exhibition at PASIC next week. I have been informed that I will receive the PAS Outstanding Supporter Award, one of only 3 awards presented. I'm deeply honored and thankful to my PAS colleagues.
Here are a few pics from the road...
Hoping the force is with you,
On Tour With Star Wars
I will be heading off tomorrow to join the U.S. tour of "Star Wars In Concert".
I'm joining the tour for two weeks and will be playing the following cities:
- Portland, OR - Oct 14 @Rose Garden Arena
- Salt Lake City - Oct 16 @Energysolutions Arena
- Denver - Oct 18 @Pepsi Center
- Tulsa - Oct 20 @BOK Center
- Oklahoma City - Oct 21 @Ford Center
- Dallas - Oct 23 @Texas Stadium
- Houston - Oct 25 @Toyota Center
- New Orleans - Oct 27 @New Orleans Arena
- Jacksonville, FL - Oct 29 @Jacksonville Arena
It turns out that I'll be primarily playing the snare drum part, so I will have a chance to "test drive" our new Grover G3 Concert Snare Drum. To learn more about the tour click: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BG9TCmw3uKA
If you'll be at any of the performances, please come down to the stage and ask for me. I'd be happy to meet with you and have a brief chat.
May the force be with you,
Naples Percussion Summit
I just returned from the Naples (FL) Philharmonic Percussion Summit. The event featured percussionists from the Naples, Florida, Orlando, Jacksonville, Atlanta and Syracuse Symphony Orchestras. I was invited to present a percussion accessories clinic and perform in the evening percussion ensemble concert. Groove master Zoro (pictured) was also a featured clinician and performed with the ensemble. All involved had a blast! The concert audience of over 1,000 was treated to everything from "Garbage Music" to "Marimba Master" arrangements to a new piece by former Pittsburgh Symphony timpanist Stan Leonard. The concert concluded with a spirited performance by Zoro accompanied by the ensemble. It was a memorable evening. You can read more about it here:
http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2009/sep/10/drummers-delight-zoro-and-his-fellow-percussionist/
If you're in the area be sure to catch next year's event. You won't be sorry!
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