From: drapeau@oglala.Stanford.EDU (George Drapeau)
Subject: Re: Percussion Techniques (was: Re: Original Corps Compositions)
Reply-To: drapeau@sioux.stanford.edu
Organization: Libraries and Information Resources, Stanford University
	<1992Aug28.183156.6559@beaver.cs.washington.edu>
	<1992Aug29.043813.596@vela.acs.oakland.edu> <urcat.715395984@mcl>
Date: 9 Sep 92 00:28:17

In article <urcat.715395984@mcl> urcat@mcl.ucsb.edu (Eilidh) writes:

   The accusation that "corps style ruins the 'real' percussionist" holds
   true sometimes even for pit/mallet players.  When I first came to UCSB
   my scholarship audition came before I'd toured VK '86 pit.  So as an
   incoming freshman a month after finals I met up with some stiff bias
   against corps style, which at the time was even more discouraging since
   I was hoping my studying at college would prepare me to eventually 
   audition for a drum line with a corps (my dream being to be one of the
   priveledged few girls on a top 12 corps snare line!  :)

I do believe that it's possible for drum corps to strip a mallet
percussionist's concert style away, but I found that it does not
necessarily have to be so.  I found examples of both types of players
("corps"-trained players and orchestral players) during my year in the
Vanguard (I don't mean to be crude in name dropping; I only mean to
provide a little background so I have some credibility here; please
excuse me).  Here are a couple of stories about my own experiences,
sort of at random.

I was in a pit (SCV, 1985) of eight players, five of whom had at least
some college-level training in percussion.  Of those five, three were
principally trained on instruments other than mallet keyboards (two
were tympanists, the other a drum set player who learned concert
techniques; in '86 he played snare on VK's line).

I found that the college-trained percussionists tended to retain their
concert technique very well for the most part.  When playing for a
drum corps, there are almost always some bastardizations of technique,
if for no other reason than that you are playing outside, but the
college-trained players took a concert approach toward the instruments
as much as possible.  I think that Dave Polk was the best
percussionist in the pit (he was Phantom's tympanist in '83 (love that
show, by the way), then a snare player for Sky Ryders in '84).  I
loved watching him play.  He knew each instrument in the pit and had
beautiful technique and showmanship for all the instruments.  The
moral of this story is that the players were able to retain their
concert training even while playing in a drum corps.  I think it was
because they were aware of concert technique and tried to use as much
of it as possible in the show.

The thing that gets me about some players on both sides (corps and
concert) is a snobbish attitude toward the other's activity.  The best
players in the SCV pit, though, seemed to be able to reconcile the
differences in technique between the two.

During my own studies in college, I ran into some folks who didn't
believe in drum corps, but for the most part, the percussionists in
the department were aware of drum corps and were able to accommodate
both styles of play.

The greatest difference I found between concert playing and drum corps
was the interpretation of dynamics.  When I auditioned for the
Vanguard, I played a marimba solo for Ralph Hardimon, the percussion
caption head at that time.  Much of the end of the piece was written
at fortissimo.  When I finished, Ralph said I had played fine, but
pointed out my fortissimo as a mezzo forte (I remember that he asked
me to play a section again for him; as I was playing, he said "that's
mezzo forte; let me hear forte.").  It took me aback for a minute
because I hadn't been used to playing a beautiful concert instrument
at high volume (my only experience with high volume playing was on
crappy marching keyboards in high school and college).  But, once I
got used to the idea of raising my notion of volume a couple of
notches, I was okay.  It was strange for a while.  I remember Ralph
sort of smiling at my response; he'd probably seen that look a billion
times before from college mallet players.

Some of the players had a terrible approach to the instrument, which
was only exacerbated by the high volume levels required.  The attitude
was sort of "play the shit out of the instrument."  I gotta tell ya,
sometimes that attitude is a lot of fun, :-) but the orchestral
players were still best able to balance the volume and technique.

   BTW, any other mallet players' opinions on four-mallet techniques
   in and out of corps?  VK '86, we used independently held mallets,
   i.e. pinky and 4th fingers around the outside mallets, and middle
   and index fingers working with the thumb for the inside ones.  At
   UCSB, it was insisted that we cross the mallets in our palms, the
   outside mallet between our index and middle fingers.

I think that I was of a dying generation; I was taught a traditional
four-mallet grip in high school ("scissors grip", cross grip, whatever
you wish) and my college teacher helped me refine my technique with
that grip (he himself was a studio player, and used the same
traditional grip).  Everybody else in the SCV pit, though, used the
Stevens grip (I was the oldest in the pit).  I don't see anything but
Stevens grip anymore.  I don't know if that's good or bad.  It's a
good thing if the players have proper training.  Otherwise, it's very
simple and non-intimidating to teach a young player a traditional
four-mallet grip, whereas the Stevens grip can be more frustrating for
a young player in the short term.  I see nothing wrong with teaching
young players a traditional grip early on, to get the feel for playing
four mallet pieces, then showing them Stevens later on.

I agree with Aaron Oppenheimer that it's worthwhile to learn both
grips if possible.  It's nice to have had instructors wise enough to
allow and encourage the players to use whatever technique desired to
get the job done.  I think that's the best approach: look at a
player's strengths and preferences and try to build on those.

Well, that's about it for my ramblings.

	George
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______________________________________________________________________________
George D. Drapeau			Internet: drapeau@sioux.stanford.edu
Libraries and Information Resources
Stanford University
Newsgroups: alt.drumcorps