A Percussionist's Notebook

We woke up this morning with no heat. The overnight low was 4° and stayed that way until a few hours ago when it reached a balmy 13°. Fortunately we have a neighbor who runs a retail HVAC business. After a half an hour and a few phone calls, he was able to diagnose the problem. It wasn't any help from the support people that he called. Their suggestion was to replace the mother board ($500). After a few more tests he called a supply store and found the part he was looking for. He returned within 25 minutes (keep in mind that we had snow for the last 2 days leaving so much ice on the streets that would make the NHL proud). After another 15 minutes he had it installed and there was heat! It wasn't the $500 mother board, it was a Thingamabob or What cha ma callit that cost $25. What ever Thank goodness for neighbors!!!!

The first part of the title is what is called a 'fool's errand', like a snipe hunt. A carpenter feigns frustration on a tool and tells his young apprentice to get him a 'Left handed screwdriver'.  There is no such thing but the apprentice runs around asking for one or looking for it until someone finally ques him in on the joke. The second part is the reply to a question that either requires a specialized tool such as a torque wrench or the more subjective concept of 'going by feel'. Both parts have one thing in common: the lack of experience. Percussion instruments get damaged or broken, that's just the way it is. But why they get damaged or broken is the important question. 1. Old or worn out This is simple enough. Either replace it or repair it. 2. Intentional/vandalism This requires monitoring, securing instruments when not in use or other ways of limiting access. 3. Misuse This is the responsibility of the Private teacher, Sectiona...

In 2012 the YS programed Carmina Burana for their final concert. The one instrument the section needed was a professional pair of castanets. Until then the only thing we had was a castanet machine that I made in the 70's that worked OK if the sound was covered up by the rest of the orchestra. However, this was a solo part and should be played with a pair of hand mounted castanets. Because time and money was short I had the percussionist use my Epstein's for the rehearsals and concerts. My embarrassing machine castanets After the concert I had time to think about making a set. I found a pair of 2 5/8" ebony (they were not ebony) online, using my Epstein's as a reference, I made handles and mounted them. I then started on a design to play them as a castanet machine.  The picture below is the set of castanets and machine that I made for the Canyon Winds Band last year. The sound of these castanets are NOT the quality of the professional level brands. Th...

The original light didn't work as well as I had hoped. The light fixture and mount were OK, but the connection to the battery pack was a failure. The ledge on the stand that they used would not accept the clip mount for the battery pack, and the 9volt connection seemed too confusing for them. I found a 3 cell battery pack online with an on/off switch. I connected the wire leads to an RCA plug and rewired the light with an RCA jack. Once the plug and jack were connected, the musician could just flip the switch. The width of the pack fit perfectly into a section of the music stand pencil holder with a rubber liner glued into it. The battery pack now sits at the top of the music stand close to the light.

Stanley Leonard celebrated his birthday by making a musical birthday card for himself I decided to wish him a happy birthday myself.

For the 2017 Christmas Concert the Canyon Winds Band programmed a piece for a wind machine. Purchasing one was not in the budget and renting one was nearly impossible. Fortunately the director has a background in construction, beginning in March of 2017 I began drawing designs and in June we started building. Using 2' x 4's, 3/4" plywood, furring strips, locking caster wheels, bearings and canvas sheeting we were finished in 4 weeks. Totaling up the materials and our labor, Doug (the director) figured it cost us $800-$900. That was OK because we were planning to rent it to other groups when they needed one. To date we have yet to rent it out but that's OK too, it was fun to build and it gave me experience working with a real carpenter. It definitely sounds like wind, when cranking slowly just a breeze, faster is more like a blizzard, top speed gets it to a Cat 4 hurricane! We named it MARIAH. ...

Wednesday October 9  Hi of 75°. Thursday morning October 10 Lo of 22° and snow. Friday morning 16°!!!!!! Saturday predicted Hi of 65°. And then you hear "Welcome to Colorado" Of course our garden (zucchini,  pumpkins and 1 tomato) is gone and many of our flowers have died. The saddest part is that our Datura is done for the year. For 10 years we had a Datura plant that had up to 15 blooms at a time, but it died out over last winter and we thought we would have to plant more seeds. However in the middle of June we saw some small plants starting. By September we had 7 plants with 4 of them producing blossoms. I have high hopes for next year!  10 year old Datura 2018

Slapsticks are always fun to make. Probably the most famous piece that calls for it is 'Sleigh Ride' by Leroy Anderson. This one I made for the YS, it's painted red with snowflake stickers. One of the more memorable performances took place at a high school where I did Percussion Sectionals. At the first slapstick entrance a percussionist walked up in front of the band and played. At the next entrance another percussionist walked up and played. This continued until the final entrance when there were 8 or 10 players in front of the band. This of coarse was without the director's knowledge. Fortunately he had a great sense of humor and the audience went crazy.

I love this time of year! The air is crisp, geese are flying south, and mallets are starting to change their color😏

Unfortunately this was a rush job. I was doing a sectional at a local high school on a Thursday and the band had a concert on the following Wednesday night. At the time I was still working at the bike shop full time, coaching for the YS, and had a larger number of private students. They actually had a marching machine that someone had made, but the blocks were made from 1X2 lumber each 8" long. They were strung by different lengths of rope making it look more like a wooden windchime. It was difficult to hold, made extraneous sounds when picked up, and sounded more like a 'rout' than 'marching'. Since time was critical, I chose to reuse the existing frame but removed the rope and blocks. 2X2 lumber cut in 4" lengths, drilled holes 1" down from the top through each block, a second hole 1/2" lower on the other sides. I then re-drilled matching holes on the length and width of the frame. Paracord was used to string and tension the blocks. The mach...