The metronome. It introduces us to the concept of keeping time, helping us find stability within it. However, this time is essentially artificial, mechanical. It is planned out to land on certain parts of a second at a certain time. This of course is very helpful because a metronome can show you various combinations of those beats per minute and its use for this purpose is extremely important. But, when we take away the metronome, what do we rely on? What can we relate our time to? I think that, ultimately, time is felt. 120bpms feels a certain way and 121bpms feels a certain way. I think of time more like I do tuning. With tuning, usually the darker the sound I want, the tendency is to play it "flatter"; the brighter I want the sound, the "sharper" I'll play it. Similarly, if you were to tune a major chord, you cannot simply play every note in tune with themselves and put the 3 together. They have to be tuned in relation to each other. The spaces, intervals, between the notes can't be too large or the chord sounds too wide, and vice versa. I compare this way of tuning to my way of setting and keeping time. The space between notes is comprised of the appearance or disappearance of intervals and silence. With time, the space the silence takes up creates the tempo. How do you count 30bpm? A trick is to just think 60bpm and play every other beat. The downside is, you're still not playing 30bpm. You're playing 60bpm at 30bpm, so the character of the 30bpm ends up feeling like 60bpm. Unless you can feel that space between each quarter, you can't play the character of that tempo or any of its subdivisions. It's really obvious to hear with slow tempos, but not so obvious with fast ones. When you play 165bpm, yes it's fast but it's not hurried. It's slower than you think. Unless you can feel the quarter without the subdivisions, trying to make it to the next beat instead of landing on it, it will sound "notey", as if it's just played note to note individually, unconnected. Feel the bigger beat and don't use the subdivisions as a crutch. The idea is not to do away with subdivisions, but to make sure the subdivisions are taken from the desired tempo and not an extract of another one, put into an equation and processed to equal the desired tempo. The big beat is king. Now, when the beat is found, you have 3 main choices: play right on, ahead or behind (perfectly in tune, a little sharp, a little flat). The key to this is to have control and flexibility over these changes. You should know when you drag, rush or are "perfect" and a metronome is great for experimenting with that. After that, the choices, with individual notes within the beat, are their lengths. You can play the eighth note its full value, longer or shorter. This too can give allusions and characters within the time itself. My instructors at DePaul, Marc Damoulakis and Eric Millstein, gave me a perfect combination when it came to this way of thinking. With Eric, he always talked about the character of pieces, each having a certain sound, a certain groove and feel. Marc always talked about the lengths, colors and feel of the notes, having complete control and endless varieties of them (both of course had similar views on all topics). Put these two together and you get a more musical interpretation of not only the music itself, but time as a whole. So a march tempo with long but bright notes sounds more stately, but change the bright to dark and it sounds tyrannical. You could change the drum or the tempo to do either, but why bother when you can just use your hands? When in the orchestra, you have to be flexible. This takes a little time to get used, but the more music you listen to, the faster you'll figure it out. Notes before and after pauses or holds, long or short (but especially long), ritardandos and accelerandos are the ones that are most important to pick up as soon as possible. Each metric transition has common tendencies that almost every orchestra is sure to do. It's something you have to hear, feel, react to and not rush into or hesitate with. When in doubt, watch the concert master, or whomever is the main voice at the time, but when you can react without the aide of outside forces, then you are in the moment, and ultimately, on the stage, that's what you should be getting into anyway. Time is now, living moment to moment. Listening is important to your time. Playing with a human being means you have to be flexible, even when you are being rigid with the time. If you are playing a march and people begin to drag, it's better to play a darker (behind) version to try to get the tempo back instead of blazing away or staying in the center of beat (this is only if you are the only one with the rhythmic figure, otherwise do stick as close to the majority as possible without losing the desired time. I find the slight behind or ahead placement is good to stay with the group and not lose them or the time). Of course things like this cannot be mechanically calculated in the moment because it can change note to note. Your ears, your feel and your reflexes have to be open to change and adapt moment to moment, note to note, especially on pieces that come with these tendencies to rush or drag. So practice with a metronome, get acquainted with the time as often as possible, and when you're on stage throw it away. Mechanics have no place in the performance. No one wants to hear a string player's string crossings while they are playing a beautiful phrase. It would sound like someone saying, "I.......................love.........................................you." No one will say, "Oh the orchestra was dragging, but that snare drummer just kept going. Way to stay in time!" No, they would say, "He should've went with the orchestra or something." So of course, get the technique, get the stability of time within yourself, but when it's time to perform that particular piece on that particular night before or after a particular piece that you either play on or not, 60bpms might not sound like 60bpms that day. It might feel like 61bpms. What does the moment say it feels like, what does the moment say it sounds like, what's the time and tempo in that moment. As you practice, if you drag you will notice it because you will feel yourself slipping away from the moment, or if you rush you will feel yourself falling forward. You won't need to always depend on the recording's playback; you should be able to tell right then and there what happened to your time! When you're aware of those ideas and atmospheric changes, first in practice and then in performance, then you'll really be playing in time.
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"It's the sound that sets you free"- Man on Fire Ah the sound. Why is it that when we are on the audition stage it frightens us? For me, getting used to the initial sound breaking the silence was extremely hard. It's just me, my drum and the screen. I have to break the silence and play the excerpts. For some reason, my intrusion of that silence was scary. If you are like me, maybe this or something similar is relatable to you. So how do we get over this fear of sound? Not only that, but what sounds are we even making at that moment? Are we conscious of it or is our fear and apprehensiveness deciding that initial sound for us? Here's how I tried to counter this. I think there are three main facets of being comfortable with your sound: having control of it, accepting all aspects of it reacting to it both in positive and objective manners. First, the control. You must have maximum control of what you want to accomplish musically. If you can express what you want, then your technique is fine. However, if your soft playing is thinner than your loud playing, or vice versa, you have work to do. Usually, especially with soft playing, musicians tend to go too far south as far as playing way too soft to manage or maintain. This can be caused by not having enough weight to support the sound, either with air or actual weight support, making it sound thin and timid. Making sure that your sound has that bottom, that fullness, at all levels, and the opposite, having a manageable thin sound at all levels, and anything in between, I believe is crucial to being able to adapt to any hall and any situation. If the hall is really wet, you have to play shorter to be clearer, in most cases. You can do this by thinning the sound out, but you can also just play the full sound short, or have a complimentary mix of the two. The more options you have, the more adaptable you become, as long as you allow yourself to make those adjustments naturally, not forcefully. If you try to play soft or loud, you usually use more energy than you need, making the sound seem unnatural or forced. Next, full acceptance of what ever comes out. No sound is bad. All sounds are "good." The quicker you accept this, the easier it will be to be comfortable with the sounds you make. There are only appropriate and inappropriate sounds for the moment. Nothing is bad and all are good. Kenny Werner, author of Effortless Mastery, talks about making the "ugliest sound" sound like the most beautiful thing in the world. When you hear that "ugly" sound, it shouldn't make you cringe. Don't shy away from that sound because it's yours, you made it. Yes, it might not be appropriate for that moment, but it is yours. Enjoy that. The less you judge your sounds in a subjective fashion, the easier adjustments can be made to get to a desired result. If your practice is always in fear of a sound, you'll never fix the root of the "problem" and the "ugly" sound will continue to appear. Accept it, find why it is there and what causes it and embrace that knowledge. Then you'll be able to navigate around it. Finally, guiding the reactions to your sound. As previously stated, you cannot label your sounds as bad. Really, no sound is good or bad, they are just sounds. So reacting in a negative way only further hinders their being. I would rather react positively to all sounds rather than making the distinction between bad ones and good ones. Remember, there's only appropriate and inappropriate for the moment. This objective view will allow you to make more efficient changes with less stress on the outcome or the process towards that outcome. Also, reacting to the initial sound you make, and also anticipating it at the same time, dissolves the mystery of what is going to happen. If you know what sound you want, know that you can achieve that sound with little to no effort, extra or otherwise, and just allow yourself to do what you hear, you will always make the sound you desire. From there, just react to what that initial sound gives you. Yes, you may have calculated the amounts of air or stick heights for the excerpts, but that can never be set in stone. What if the hall renders that system unusable? You have to be ready and willing to do whatever needs to be done without a second thought, hence the reason for reacting to what comes, having the control and technique to change without thinking and not perceiving any sounds as bad, but in a positive, objective light. The pictures used were from the New York Film Academy student resource article about stage fright. While I have yet to tackle this topic, I do believe that this article makes very good suggestions and has great examples that you might find helpful. This of course is another aspect that effects our ability to perform, let alone create the sounds that we want. But, again, I think that thinking about the creation of those sounds in this way will lessen the stress and make it easier to perform in the long run. Drums are expensive. Personally, I've broken the bank more times than I'd prefer to count because of either necessity, or purely "I gotta have that." So, how do we manage our costs of what we need? I think the key to that is knowing what we actually need to get the jobs done. Generally, it depends on the music you intend on playing. If you know you only have enough money for a cheap drum set, then get the closest version you can to what you need. There are ways to make even the cheapest set sound great. Of course we want the $7,000 set, but if you can get the job done with a $300 set, why not get that one? Generally, go for function, not form. Things you can think about along these lines are: what do i need to accomplish this, what options are out there and how do they compare in quality and price? Specifically for classical musicians, we have a lot of instruments we need to be able to take auditions, like tambourines, cymbals, and snare drums. So how do we make those decisions on a tight budget? Well, here's how I went about it initially. My teachers told me what to buy and I bought it. Sound familiar? So that got me some mallets, a drum and luckily other things. Then, in college, people had things of their own and said that either it was good, or that everyone who was "serious" had it. Sound familiar? Finally, I had my own ideas about what I liked and what I thought worked and I now make my purchases more decisively. Not everyone makes it to this point soon enough, I think, and I would've saved thousands, literally, had I known what I know now. Here's some tips to save you the headache. First, generally to all musicians. Whenever you are getting an instrument, whether it's cheap or expensive, find one that works for you. It shouldn't be hard to play the instrument, but easy to do what you want, at least at that time. As you improve the instrument will either be even easier or show you it's limitations, then you can change. If the bass guitar is too big for your hands but is $5, you'd do better getting a smaller one that's $40 in the long run as to not create any problems in the future. If your hands grow later, then you can get the bigger one. So whatever you buy should be catered to you, not just cheap for the sake of saving money. Anything else you buy for the instrument after that should improve that ease of play and not hinder it. Yes it takes time to get used to things, but you shouldn't be straining to accomplish what you want. Second, to percussionists. Know how your body works and what items make it easy to move. If you have small hands, why buy sticks too big for them, unless they work perfectly. Everyone's body is different, and if you have a tall and skinny teacher that tells you to buy his sticks, but you're short and stubby, they may not work as well. Some sticks are very versatile and can be used by multiple people, but others are specially made for a certain person with certain tastes, hence specialty or signature sticks. Make sure the throw, rebound, weight/distribution of weight and size are to your liking before buying the sticks. Same goes for the drum set. If you are extremely tall, why buy a short set, unless that works perfectly for you. Again, we have different body types and tastes. If you like a small set then get a small set, just as long as it works for you. Otherwise, buy the set that is catered to your body. If you don't like over reaching, buy a set that eliminates that and vice versa. If the cymbals are hard to play loud with and you have to work really hard, it's better to get a cymbal that makes it easier to do that rather than always straining to play. Lastly, generally to orchestral percussionists. There are a lot of excerpts, but in reality, many can be played with similar materials. I've heard of musicians winning big orchestra auditions playing all the xylophone excerpts with one pair of mallets. Yes. One pair. So, if that's all you can afford, you can make that work. Generally, I think we need more glockenspiel options than xylophone options. With xylophone all we have to worry about is the wood. So, get hard, medium and soft in both plastic and rubber, all on rattan shafts, and that will get you through an audition on xylophone. Anything passed that has to do with different types of plastic, rattan differences and mallet head sizes, which you can make personally decide which combinations you like. Glockenspiel is a little different, as far as purchasing goes.. The main thing to consider is the two types of glocks that will be at auditions: wide bar and "regular". Usually, if you have smaller mallet heads, specifically plastic ones, they sound very ticky on a wide bar glock and won't help the bars ring, even though they may be fine on a regular glock. So, I would probably purchase mallets that can work well for both. So, get two pairs of metal (probably aluminum), hard plastic and medium plastic and one pair of soft plastic, all of which should be on rattan shafts. I feel birch shafts, on glock specifically and xylophone specifically, don't allow enough rebound off of the bars, making your strokes sound harsher in my mind. With marimba and vibraphone you have to consider the articulation and projection of your mallets. Usually you want as much sound and articulation as possible without getting too harsh. I feel that having medium, medium hard and hard mallets will be a great start. Deciding between birch and rattan shafts, I believe, is a personal preference here. I tend to think that rattan works better on vibraphone, for the same reasons I had for their use on glock. Marimba on the other hand I think either can be used. Personally I think birch mallets get more tone out of the bars because of the stiffer wood. It also makes movement more rigid and precise, not having to worry about the bending aspect of rattan. Again, this choice on marimba and vibraphone is a personal preference. Drumsticks are easier to buy. If you can play easily at all dynamic levels with the pair you have, all you need then is just one pair. You don't necessarily need to buy sticks to play loud and soft with. Snare drum is exactly the same. If you are required to bring your own snare to an audition buy one that works at all dynamics and helps you express what you want. I'd recommend a drum that is 14x5. Generally if you want more punch to the sound, metal is the way to go. For more warmth go for wood. Timpani mallets are more subjective as far as what shaft and core is more to your liking, but generally wood core mallets will be warmer and more articulate and I would definitely consider purchasing a hard, medium hard, medium and medium soft mallet, all with wooden cores. Accessories are fairly similar. Often now the orchestra will provide instruments for you to use, but depending on the level of audition, having your own equipment might be expected, or they may require you to use their cymbals or other instruments. In the cases where it's expected to bring your own Purchase a tambourine that can work at all dynamics and is very clean and clear in sound (probably something in chromium) and maybe a cheap tambourine for extremely soft things. Cymbals, if you want to purchase them, I think 17" is the way to go as far as size, but you want a pair that you both know will work on all levels and is "easy" to play with. Triangle? Exactly the same. Go for a instrument that makes it easy to play anything clearly on. I personally think brass triangles are warmer and therefore a little less clear when you play either loud or fast rhythms, so maybe don't start with a brass triangle. With beaters, two large, two medium large and two medium beaters will work great. Bass drum, you have a pair of articulate mallets (either shammy or wood), rollers, two medium hard and a nice soft mallet. Castanets haven't been on auditions lately, so if they were asked, more than likely they will provide them for your use at the audition. If not, you know what to do. Find a pair that works in all dynamic ranges, easy to roll with, literally, and is easy to play. Again, the audition may, or may not provide certain mallets, like for bass drum, and instruments, like tambourines and triangles. So don't be afraid to inquire about what will and will not be available to you. And of course, the bag. Find a bag that is easy to travel with, protects the equipment well and gives you easy access to the equipment in any various situations. For set players, a bag that you can hook to the floor tom is pretty nifty. For audition takers, a bag that you can easily take from instrument to instrument is a must. Well, that was a lot, but I wish that I had someone give me this kind of advice so that I wouldn't have wasted money, or thought less of my chances of a good performance because I didn't have the popular gear. If it works, use it and don't feel bad about what it looks like. Also understand that you have time to collect more and more things and to cultivate your own opinions and tastes, so don't feel rushed to buy everything all at once. I only have so many mallets because I'm a geek and I like different feels and colors of sound. I hope this helps you save a buck or two.
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September 2016
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