Setups
I have a lot of fun with setups, so I figured I'd devote a page on my website to some of my favorites and explain a little bit about the performance and the equipment that was used.
Dirty Dancing (North American Tour)
Dirty Dancing National Tour
Eisenhower Auditorium
State College, PA
March 22nd 2018
I based the setup for this show on Miles Lassi’s setup for the original tour. This tour of Dirty Dancing uses 8 musicians: 2 Keys, Guitar, Bass, Drums, Trumpet/Flugel, Reeds, and Percussion. Originally 6 of the 8 musicians were supposed to be visible in costume on large band platforms onstage but the the platforms were cut due to spacial constraints. The band now plays remotely offstage or in the pit when it’s available. Because the orchestra is meant to play a role in the show, many of us were worked into certain scenes and have onstage appearances during certain numbers. I play the Cajon, Bongos, and Djembe out onstage using wireless IEMs to hear our MD and the rest of the band. This is one of the most fantastic companies I’ve ever been lucky enough to work with. The tour runs until the beginning of July. You can find more information about where we’re headed at http://us.dirtydancingontour.com
The setup for this show is mostly hand percussion and consists of Three Congas, Bongos, Djembe, Cajon, Large Shaker, Small Shaker, LP One Shot Shaker, Egg Shaker, Guiro, Mounted Tambourine, Bell Tree, MarkTree, Triangle (on the Miller Machine) Small Cowbell, Large Cowbell, Castanets, Temple Blocks, Agogo Bell, Orchestra Bells, Vibraslap, Suspended Cymbal, and Foot Tambourine.
MAMMA MIA (Royal Caribbean)
Royal Caribbean International-Allure of the Seas
Amber Theatre
June 26th-Oct 16th 2016
The Drums are a standard Roland TD30KV electronic Drum Set. There is also a Roland BT-1 Bar Trigger used for the cross stick sound. We are using a third party module for all the drum sounds and bypassing the TD30 brain entirely. I believe the sound design team was trying to get the drums to sound as close to the original ABBA sound as possible.
The Hardware conists of a DW 2000 Kick Drum Pedal and a PDP 800 Series Hi Hat stand.
The Sticks I use are just a set of Vic Firth Signature Buddy Rich Sticks
The Orchestra pit on the Allure of the Seas uses Aviom personal mixers and I’m using a set of Sure SE215 in-ear monitors for the click track.
This is my first Broadway show at sea and I am having a fantastic time working with such an amazing cast and orchestra. This is the same full two and a half hour production you'd typically see on land with only a few differences. The orchestra on the Allure's production consists of five piece rhythm section: Piano/Conductor (MainStage Patches), Electric Bass (also coververing Fretless), Guitar 2 (covering Electric, 6-String Acoustic and 12-String Acoustic) Guitar 1 (Covering Electric and 6-String Acoustic) and Drums. The production is set to time code and cues are run on program call Q-Lab. All starts and vamps are triggered by a go button by the Music Director. The pit is fully covered and the conductor uses a video monitor to cue the cast. In addition to click there there are tracks that fill in the ensemble. In the original Broadway production the Mamma Mia orchestra consisted of 9 players. 4 Keyboard Books, 2 Guitars, Bass, Drums, and Percussion. Gary Tillman (Drums) and David Nyberg (Percussion) were on the original books. For our prodcution, we've dropped 4 books. Percussion and 3 of the Keyboard books are now on tracks. The cast is doing a phenomenal job. This production originally opened on the Quantum of the Seas in 2014 and transfered with a new cast to Allure of the Seas in 2015 when the Quantum relocated to Asia. I am only covering the book here for 4 months before I move on to another project but I am so happy to have had the opportunity to work on such a fantastic production. The Allure of the Seas is currently sailing out of Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. It's truly a magnificent ship. If you get the chance to cruise this summer, please check us out!
MARY POPPINS
The Mayo Performing Arts Center
Morristown, NJ
June 3rd-5th 2016
This is the combined 11pc orchestration for Mary Poppins with only one percussion book. I think the show was originally on broadway with an orchestra of 16. Dave Ratajczak (Drums) and Dan Haskins (Percussion) played the original books at the New Amsterdam Theatre in New York. Back in 2012, I was lucky enough to meet Dan and Dave and watch them play the books beefore the show closed; an experience I’ll never forget. For our production, I tried to use as many acoustic instruments as I possibly could. The theatre didn’t have the budget to rent percussion instruments, so with the exception of the timpani which the theatre already owned, every instrument had to be supplied by myself.
The drum kit is a 4pc Yamaha Stage Custom with the Snare being a 13x6 Brass Snare. The cymbals include a 12” Wuhan Splash, a 20” Zildjian K Ride, 14” Zildjian K Hats, and both a 16” and 18” Zildjian K Crash. There is also a 16” Sabian Crash Cymbal the model of which I don’t know that I use on the left side of the setup by the timpani.
The Drum Heads are Evans G2 Coated (Snare), G1 Coated (Toms Batter), and Yamaha Stock Heads (Resonant)
The Auxiliary percussion includes a 32”, 29”, and 26” Ludwig Kettle drums, a set of LP Aspire Bongos, a homemade slapstick, a Meinl Turbo Guiro, a Meinl Turbo Cabasa, a Pearl Tamborine, an Abel Triangle on the Miller Machine, two Lp Triangle (one large, one small) an LP Salsa Cowbell, 3 LP Jam Blocks (Red, Blue, Orange), an LP Woodblock, a Pearl Woodblock, a Zildjian Finger Cymbal, a Weiss Brand Ships Bell, a Weiss Brand Ratchet, a set of Treeworks TRE35 Windchimes, a Homemade Cuica (large tin can with bamboo dowel attached and played with wet towel), a 12” piccolo Snare used as a toy drum, and a Small Weiss brand Gong.
The Roland SPDSX was used to Trigger the following sounds: Concert Bass Drum, Bell Tree, Tam-Tam, and a D5 Crotale Note.
A MainStage Rig and Arturia Keyboard Controller was used to play the following instruments: Chimes (Tubular Bells), Crotales, and Glockenspiel.
In terms of sound equipment I used a PreSonus FireStudio Mobile, a Pair of GK Ultraphones, a small 2 Chanel Mixing Board as a Headphone Amplifier to use a headphone signal instead of a wedge monitor.
In Terms of Mallets I use Amy Putnam’s Timpani Mallets, Vic Firth Jazz Brushes, and SD6 Swizzles. I also use a miller machine triangle beater and Meinl Guiro Scraper.
ANALOG AND VINYL (World Premiere)
The Weston Playhouse Theatre Company
Weston, VT
June 27th-July 12th 2014
The Drums are a PDP Concept Maple Kit in a Red to Black Sparkle Fade. The Sizes are an 18x22 Kick, 8x10 and 9x12 Rack Toms, a 12x14 Floor Tom, and a 5.5x14 Snare. The Cymbals from left to right are a set of 14” Zildjian K Hi Hats, a 6” Zildjian ZilBel, an 18” Zildjian K Dark Crash, a 10” Zildjian A Custom Splash, an 8” Zildjian A Custom Splash, a 16” Zildjian K Dark Crash, and a 20” Zildjian K Ride. The auxiliary percussion includes a set of Treeworks Tre35 Windchimes, a mounted Pearl Tambourine, a Zildjian Finger Cymbal, a 6” Alan Able Triangle mounted on the Miller Machine, a 12” LP Drum Set Timbale, an LP Soft Shake, and an LP Caxixi.
The Hardware is a mix of DW, Yamaha, Gibraltar, and LP
The Sticks, Mallets and Brushes are all by Vic Firth and include a pair of the Signature Tony Royster Jr Stick., SD2 Boleros, Jazz Brushes and SD6 Swizzle Bs. The Rods are a set of Promark Rocket Rods. The Triangle beater is by Billy Miller.
The Heads are all Evans and include a set of Clear EC2s on the Toms, a Coated HD Dry Head on the Snare, and an EMAD2 Head on the Kick.
The Orchestra pit at Weston uses Aviom personal mixers and I’m using a set of Sure SE215 in-ear Monitors.
I’m so excited about this show. This is the first new musical I’ve ever had the chance to work on and I’m loving every minute of it. Paul Gordon wrote the music, lyrics, and book for the show and the world premier was directed by Michael Berresse starring Preston Sadleir, Sarah Stiles, and Beth Glover. The music is an indie pop/rock style and the pit is orchestrated for four players on guitar, bass, keyboard and drums. In the days leading up to the first show, I had the opportunity to work with Paul Gordon and our arranger, Aaron Jordoin, to help orchestrate the book. The team at the Weston Playhouse has been fantastic. This is a really great show! The production runs until July 12th and is hoping to continue on into New York.
CRAZY FOR YOU
Hammonton Youth Theatre-Hammonton High School PAC
Hammonton, New Jersey
August 21st-23rd
The Drums are a PDP Concept Maple Kit in a Red to Black Sparkle Fade. The Sizes are an 18x22 Kick, 8x10 and 9x12 Rack Toms, a 12x14 Floor Tom, and a 5.5x14 Snare. The Cymbals from left to right are a set of 14” Zildjian K Hi Hats, an 18” Zildjian K Dark Crash, a 10” Zildjian A Custom Splash, a 16” Zildjian K Dark Crash with Sizzle Chain, a 20” Zildjian K Ride, and an 18” Weiss Brand China. The auxiliary percussion includes an American Song Whistle, both a Blue and a Red LP Jam Block, a 6” Alan Able Triangle mounted on the Miller Machine, a mounted Pearl Tambourine, a Toca Castanet Machine, Meinl Turbo Cabasa, a homemade Set of Sand Blocks, a Weiss Brand Ratchet, an Acme Siren Whistle, a Police Whistle, and Old School Bell, a 2nd Smaller LP Triangle mounted bellow the traps table, and a set of Treeworks Tre35 Windchimes.
The Hardware is a mixture of DW, Gibraltar, LP, and Yamaha.
The Roland SPD-SX sampling pad was used for a few sound effects not covered by the sound engineer.
The Sticks are all Vic Firth including a pair of Jazz Brushes, SD4 Combo Sticks, and Swizzle Bs.
The Heads are all Evans and include G2 Coated heads on the Toms, a Coated HD Dry head on the Snare, and an EMAD2 on the Kick.
I could play Crazy for You every night for the rest of my life and it would never get old. I could not get enough of this music. The original orchestration calls for an ensemble of about 18-20 players. Our production could only afford 8. We were the busiest 8 players I’ve ever seen. Many of us were playing more than one book to fill in the holes that the other 10-12 absent players left behind. It was a challenge but one of the most fun productions I’ve ever worked on!
BLUE MOTION
Montclair State University-John J. Cali School of Music
Montclair, New Jersey
Junior Recital
May 2012
The instrumentation for this piece calls for two marimbas, one 4.3 octave and one 5 Octave, a vibraphone, a set of Hi Hats, a China Cymbal, Sizzle Cymbal, 2 Splash Cymbals, an egg shaker, a triangle, caxixi, and a kick drum.
The Mallet instruments used in our performance included a 3 Octave Musser Vibraphone, 4.3 Octave Musser Marimba, and a 5 Octave Marimba One Marimba. The cymbals used were Zildjian 13.25” Hybrid Hi Hats, Zildjian A Custom Fast Crash (with a homemade Sizzle Chain), an 8” A Custom Splash, a 10” A Custom Splash, and an 18" Steve Weiss Brand China Cymbal. The Kick Drum is a 17x22 Yamaha Stage Custom Kick. The auxiliary percussion includes two LP Egg Shakers and an LP Caxixi.
The hardware is predominantly Yamaha and Gibraltar. The Kick Pedal is DW.
The mallets are Musser M237 Good Vibes Mallets
"I actually discovered the Miller Machine while working on this piece. In the program notes, the composer suggests using a triangle machine rather than hitting the triangle with the side of a mallet. I had never heard of a triangle machine before but once I purchased the Miller Machine to use in this piece, I wound up using it in almost every show I've played since. Blue Motion was written by Stephen Whibley, who currently hold the position of principal percussionist with the BBC orchestra. I fell in love with this duet because it blended the elements of drum set and mallet percussion"
CAROUSEL
Montclair State University-Kasser Theatre
Montclair, New Jersey
October 2012
The Mallet Instruments include a 3 Octave Yamaha Vibraphone, 3.5 Octave Yamaha Xylophone, and 2.5 Octave Yamaha Orchestra Bells. The Timpani are Yamaha Concert Timpani 29” and 26” The Cymbals include a pair of Zildjian 13.25” Hybrid Hi Hats, a 20" Sabian HH Hand Hammered Suspended Cymbal, a pair of 20” Sabian Crash Cymbals (not pictured but situated in front of the Bells) and a 16” Sabian AA Crash (hidden behind the music stand) The drums were a custom Gretch drum set that belonged to the theatre. The set was all birch and included a 14x18" Kick and a 5.5x14” Snare. The auxiliary snare drum was a 5.5x14" Black Swamp Concert Snare Drum. The setup also included a 16x36 Pearl Concert Bass Drum (not pictured but situated behind and slightly to the left of the vibraphone) used only in the opening waltz. The auxiliary percussion included both a Red and a Blue LP Jam Block, a Black Swamp Tambourine with German Silver Jingles, a 6” Alan Able Triangle mounted on the Miller Machine, and an 8” LP Triangle mounted on a music stand.
The hardware is all Yamaha, DW, and Gibraltar.
Carousel was unique. It was the first and only show I’ve played completely isolated from the rest of the orchestra. Carousel was the largest orchestra Montclair had utilized for a musical theater production. There were about 40 of us and we could not all fit in the pit. As a result the ensemble was split up into three different places inside the theatre. The strings were in the open pit, the Brass and Woodwinds were off stage left behind a curtain, and I was alone in the recording studio. The opening waltz was orchestrated for a symphonic percussion section. For the first number three additional percussionist came in to accompany me. After the opening they all left and it was just me for the remainder of the show."
WILD PARTY (ANDREW LIPPA)
Montclair State University-L. Howard Fox Theatre
Montclair, New Jersey
May 2013
The Drums are a PDP Concept Maple Kit in a Red to Black Sparkle Fade. The Sizes are an 18x22 Kick, 8x10 and 9x12 Rack Toms, a 12x14 Floor Tom, and a 5.5x14 Snare. The Cymbals from left to right are a pair of 14'' Zildjian K Hats, an 18’’ Zildjian K Dark Thin Crash, an 8’’ A Custom Splash, a 10’’ A Custom Splash, a 6’’ Zildjian Zil-Bel, and a 20’’ Zildjian K Ride. The auxiliary percussion includes a Zildjian Finger cymbal mounted on the music stand, a pair of LP Bongos, a 6’’ Alan Able Triangle Mounted on the Miller Machine, two LP Jam Blocks (Blue and Red), a mounted Pearl Tambourine, a set of Treeworks Tre35 windchimes, and a 5.5x12 LP Drum Set Timbale. The Hardware is a mixture of DW, Yamaha, LP, and Gibraltar.
The Roland SPD-SX sampling pad was used to play all of the instruments that I did not have at the time or that could not fit in the booth. This included Timpani, Tam-Tam, Bulb Horn, and Duck Call.
The Sticks I used on this show were all Vic Firth and they included a pair of American Jazz AJ6s, Heritage Brushes, and Swizzle Bs.
The Heads are all Evans and include G1 Coated heads on the Toms, a Coated HD Dry head on the Snare, and an EMAD2 on the Kick. There are also Evans Synthetic heads on the bongos.
"WILD PARTY was the final show I played at Montclair. We did the version written by Andrew Lippa. The production took place in the black box theatre and space was very limited for the musicians. It made setting up quite challenging, especially for me. I programed larger instruments like the tam tam on the Roland pad to save a little bit of space. We just managed to fit everything in. Visibility with the conductor was limited and eventually we had to incorporate the monitors even though the band was all playing in the same corner of the theatre. This was the first production I used the Concept Drums on. I've been loving them ever since."
URINETOWN
The Eagle Theatre
Hammonton, New Jersey
June 2013
The Drums are a PDP Concept Maple Kit in a Red to Black Sparkle Fade. The Sizes are an 18x22 Kick, 8x10 and 9x12 Rack Toms, a 12x14 Floor Tom, and a 5.5x14 Snare. The Cymbals from left to right are a pair of 14'' Zildjian K Hats, an 18’’ Zildjian K Dark Thin Crash, a 10’’ A Custom Splash, A 6’’ Zildjian Zil-Bel, an 18’’ Steve Weiss Brand China Cymbal, and a 20’’ Zildjian K Ride. The auxiliary percussion includes a Steve Weiss Brand Ratchet mounted to the Hi Hat, a Zildjian finger cymbal mounted on the music stand, a Blue LP Jam Block, a 6’’ Alan Able Triangle Mounted on the Miller Machine, an LP Mambo Cowbell mounted on the Kick Drum, a pearl mounted tambourine, and a Black Swamp Headed Tambourine with German Silver Jingles mounted on a cymbals stand. There is also a pearl traps table on the right side and a set of Treeworks Tre35 Windchimes.
The Hardware is a mixture of DW, Gibraltar, LP, and Yamaha.
The Roland SPD-SX sampling pad was used to play all of the instruments that the theatre could not fit in the pit. This included Timpani, Orchestra Bells, and Crotales. The Sticks are all Vic Firth including a pair of Heritage Brushes, American Jazz AJ6 Sticks, and Swizzle Bs. The Heads are all Evans and include G1 Coated heads on the Toms, a Coated HD Dry head on the Snare, and an EMAD2 on the Kick.
"This was one of the most memorable musicals I’ve ever worked on. I really enjoyed the music as it incorporated a lot of concert percussion in with the drums. It was the first musical I had worked on after my undergraduate work and with out the resources of the music department. This gave me an opportunity to improvise with the instrumentation a little bit and made the setup a lot of fun. Hopefully someday I’ll get to chance play this show again using real concert equipment but I had a great time with this production just the same."
YOU'RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN
The Surflight Theatre
Beach Haven, New Jersey
August 2013
The Drums are a PDP Concept Maple Kit in a Red to Black Sparkle Fade. The Sizes are an 18x22 Kick, an 8x10 Tom, a 12x14 Floor Tom, and a 5.5x14 Snare. The Cymbals from top to bottom are an 18’’ Zildjian K Dark Thin Crash, a pair of 14’’ Zildjian K Hats, an 8’’ Zildjian A Custom Splash, a 16’’ Zildjian K Dark Thin Crash (above the ride but not pictured), and a 20’’ Zildjian K Ride. The auxiliary percussion includes both Blue and Red LP Jam Blocks, a Pearl Mounted Tambourine, an LP Mambo Cowbell mounted on the Kick, a smaller LP Cowbell mounted just above the 10’’ Tom, a 6’’ Alan Able Triangle mounted on the Miller Machine, a set of Treeworks Tre35 Windchimes, an LP Woodblock, homemade Sand Blocks, and an American Song Whistle. (Not Pictured but used in the show was an Acme Siren Whistle worn on a necklace)
The Hardware is a mixture of DW, Gibraltar, LP and Yamaha.
The electronics used in the show were a Roland SPD-SX Sampling Pad, an Aviom Personal Monitor, a Macbook running Apple’s MainStage Software, and an M-Audio USB Keyboard. There is also a set of Ultraphones and a Roc-n-Soc throne.
The Sticks are all Vic Firth and include Swizzle B, Heritage Brushes, and Peter Erskine Signature Sticks.
The Drum Heads are all Evans and include Coated G1s on the Toms, a Coated HD Dry Head on the Snare, and an EMAD2 Head on the Kick.
"This show will always be special to me. It was the first musical I ever played. For this particular production, we did the orchestration that incorporate the use of a MalletKat. I didn’t yet own a MalletKat so, I had to I had to improvise a little. I programed a lot of the quick changes into the SPDSX. (These were mostly more percussive things like, Crotales, Timpani, Duck Quack, etc.) For the remainder of the patches I decided to try MainStage with a Keyboard set up next to the drums. (I used this for patches like French Horn, Oboe, Vibraphone, Bells, and Chimes.) Using both the pad and MainStage together, I was able to come up with a way to work around the MalletKat. I ran the output from the Macbook into the SPD. That way my makeshift MalletKat was sent out to the sound engineer in one single feed. There's a video of Blanket and Me from this Production on the Media page. Take a look!
LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS
The Eagle Theatre
Hammonton, NJ
November 2013
The Drums I’m using are a PDP Concept Maple Kit. I have an 18”x 22'' kick drum, 8”x10”, 9”x12”, 12”x14” and 14”x16” toms, and a 5.5”x14” snare drum. The Cymbals from left to right are 14'' K Hi Hats, 18’' K Dark Crash, 8’' A Custom Splash, 10'’ A Custom Splash, 16’' A Custom Fast Crash and a 20’' K Ride. I have a 6’’ Alan Able Triangle on the Miller Machine, TreeWorks Tre35 Classic Chimes, LP Blue and Red Jam Blocks and an LP Ridge Rider Cowbell.
The Hardware is a mix of DW, Yamaha and Gibraltar. The Castanets, Bongos, and Bells were programmed on the Roland SPDSX.
The Sticks are all by Vic Firth. I’m using the SD4 Combo, SD6 Swizzle B, and a pair of the Heritage Brushes.
'This is one of my favorite shows. The pit is set up in the basement since the house of the theatre is too small to fit us comfortably. We are wired up into the house and have a video feed of the show sent back down to us. I programmed all of the bells, bongos, and castanets into the pad to save a little bit of space and to make some of the quick castanet to kit switches in ‘Mushnik and Son’ a little easier. I had a great time working with this awesome cast and crew. This is such a fun show to play."
FOOTLOOSE
The Eagle Theatre
Hammonton, NJ
Jan 17th-Feb 8th 2014
The Drums are a PDP Concept Maple Kit in a Red to Black Sparkle Fade. The Sizes are an 18x22 Kick, 7x8 and 8x10 Rack Toms, a 12x14 Floor Tom, and a 5.5x14 Snare. The Cymbals from left to right are a set of 14” Zildjian K Hi Hats, an 18” Zildjian K Dark Crash, a 10” Zildjian A Custom Splash, an 18” Steve Weiss Brand China, an 8” Zildjian A Custom Splash, a 20” Zildjian K Ride, and a 16” Zildjian K Dark Crash. The auxiliary percussion includes a set of Treeworks Tre35 Windchimes, a Pearl Tambourine, an LP Mambo Cowbell, two LP Jam Blocks (Blue and Red), a 12” LP Drum Set Timbale, and an LP Ridge Rider Cowbell, mounted to a pedal on the floor.
The Hardware is a mix of DW, Yamaha, Gibraltar, and LP
The electronics consist of a 4 Octave Arturia Keyboard Controller, a 2009 Macbook Pro running Apple’s MainStage Software, and a Roland SPD-SX Sampling Pad.
The Sticks are all Vic Firth and include a pair of SD4 Combos and Swizzle Bs.
The Heads are all Evans and include a set of Clear EC2s on the Toms, a Coated HD Dry Head on the Snare, and an EMAD2 Head on the Kick.
"For this show I combined the Drum Set and Percussion book. I used a similar setup with the electronics that I used for You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown when I needed a MalletKat. I programed the Timpani, Chimes, Bell Tree, Hand Claps, and Industrial Hits, on the SPD. For numbers like Learning to be Silent and Can you find it in your heart, I played all the mallet instruments through MainStage and sent it out through the Pad. I also used a foot pedal cowbell for the Act 1 Finale I’m Free."
SWEET CHARITY
The Broadway Bound Players
Delsea Regional High School Auditorium
Franklinville, New Jersey
August 2011
The Drums are a Yamaha Stage Custom Advantage in Fade Marina Green. The sizes are a 17x22 Kick, 9x10, 10x12, 12x14 Toms, and a 6.5x13 Yamaha Brass Snare Drum. The Cymbals from left to right are a pair of Zildjian 13.25'' K Custom Hybrid Hi Hats, 16’’ Zildjian A Custom Fast Crash, 6’’ Zildjian A Custom Splash, 10’’ Zildjian A Custom Splash, 16’’ Sabian AA Crash, 20’’ Zildjian A Custom Ping Ride. The Auxiliary percussion includes a Steve Weiss Brand Ratchet and an LP Cowbell Mounted bellow the Hi Hat Stand, a Pearl Tambourine LP Red Jam Block, a 6’’ Alan Able Triangle mounted on the Miller Machine, an old broken school bell used in place of an anvil, and an LP Mambo Cowbell Mounted on the kick drum. There is also an old set of Musser Orchestra Bells and Sand blocks off to the far right and a mounted Zildjian Finger Cymbal to the far left.
(Not in the picture, but used in the show was an Acme Siren Whistle, Police Whistle, a set of Treeworks Tre35 Windchimes, and a Steve Weiss Brand Pop Gun)
The Hardware is a mixture of Yamaha, Gibraltar, LP, and Pearl.
The drum heads are all Evans. An EMAD2 Head on the Kick, Clear EC2 STT heads on all the Toms, and a Coated HD Dry Head on the Snare Drum
The sticks are Vic Firth SD4 Combos.
"I had an amazing time playing this show. There is so much going on between the drums and percussion. Unfortunately the theatre company didn’t have enough money to hire a percussionist but the great thing about this show was the drums and percussion parts shared a book. It gave me a chance to add some of the percussion parts into certain sections of the show where the drums weren’t too busy. It is still the only show I’ve ever worked on where I needed a pop gun."
A CHORUS LINE
Montclair State University-Memorial Auditorium
Montclair, New Jersey
October 2011
The Mallet instruments used included a 3 Octave Musser Vibraphone, a 3.5 Octave Musser Xylophone, and a 2.5 Octave set of Deagan Orchestra Bells. The Chimes hanging on the cymbal stands are also Musser Chimes. The Timpani are Ludwig Professional Series Timpani in sizes 32”, 29”, and 26”. The Auxiliary percussion includes a set of LP Fiber Maracas, a small Meinl Turbo Cabasa mounted on the chime stand above the xylophone, 36’’ Concert Bass Drum mounted on a keyboard stand, an LP Compact Conga, a set of LP Bongos, an LP Ridge Rider Cowbell, a 6” Alan Able Triangle Mounted on the Miller Machine, and old broken school bell mounted on a cymbal stand used in place of an anvil, two LP Jam Blocks (Blue and Red), a pearl tambourine, and an LP Bell tree that sat a top a pearl traps table mounted to the rack.
The Mallets used include a Mike Balter Chime Mallet, A Putnam T5 Timpani Mallets, a Pair of Malletech OR39R Rattan Xylophone Mallets, a Pair of Malletech BB34 "Becker Blues” Xylophone/Bell mallets, a set of 4 Mike Balter Pro Vibe Series Birch 23BXL Medium Blue Cord Vibe Mallets, and a set of Promark FK2 Brass Bell Mallets.
The hardware is a Mixture of Yamaha, Gibraltar, and LP.
“There will never be a show like A Chorus Line. Never a dull moment. It was kind of up in the air for a little bit whether or not I could fit this setup in the pit comfortably with everyone else but in the end it worked out. I even managed the 32" Timpani for the Low Eb note in Music and the Mirror. This is a photo of our sitzprobe on the stage of the Theatre. I have more photos of this setup in the pit on the miscellaneous photos page as well. My absolute favorite part of this show was the Montage Part 4 where you're asked to gliss on the timpani while continuing to keep the rock tambourine going in the other hand. It was always somewhat of a little contest every show to see how well I could pull it off. I looked forward to that number every night. To be honest, I looked forward to the entire show every night. I was sad to see this one go, but it's left me with so many wonderful memories."