Genesis Hand Pan

Over the past couple of months, I have been fortunate enough to play a new instrument called the Genesis Hand Pan (aka Hang Drum). A friend of mine, David Beery, has starting making these instruments and they are absolutely beautiful instrument. Below is a video from the IronWorks Percussion Duo Concert on March 1, 2012. For more information on the Genesis Hand Pan, please visit Dave’s Island Instruments.

New Video of “Continuous Line of E...

It has been a busy month and I haven’t been writing much on my blog! I hope to change that in the coming month. I wanted to share the first video of my new timpani solo “Continuous Line of Evenness.” This is from my Faculty Artist Series Concert on November 1, 2011. Please leave your feedback below. Visit Bachovich Music Publications for the sheet music to this and other timpani solos. The photo in this post is courtesy of Yamaha Percussion...

Samba de los Changitos

I just got the recording back from UT Austin and I am very happy about the performances of my tunes with the UT Steel Band. Check out the recordings of Samba de los Changitos and PanSon. Thanks again Tom Burritt and David Saad! Samba de los Changitos will be published this Spring. PanSon is available from Bachovich Music Publications. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. ...

2 Mallet Double Sticking Considerations

The semester is in full swing and have been continuing to teaching marimba fundamentals to my students at CSU, Long Beach. One concept I talked about was 2 mallet double sticking considerations, so I thought I would list my ideas here and see if anyone in our community had any additional thoughts. 2 Mallet Double Sticking Considerations: 1) When executing a double sticking, use your dominant hand whenever possible. We strive for evenness between the hands, but you are always going to have more control of your dominate hand. 2) Do your double sticking on the smallest...

Three Things

The other day during one of my college percussion lessons, I mentioned to a student that with all of the things we need to learn as percussionists, I think there are three things that we should always be working on. I know it is naive to believe that these are the only things to be working on, but if you can continue to improve these areas, you will become more “marketable” as a musician. Student performers tend to think about the next thing they need to prepare for an audition, a rehearsal or performance. We all get stuck in this train of thought, especially...

Website Updates and Content

I have been busy working on updating my website the past couple of weeks. Some of the changes include: 1) Concert Program Archive On the Calendar page, I will be posting all of the programs of the my past concerts. Feel free to check out the programs and let me know if you have any questions about the repertoire. 2) Listening, Reading, Practicing IN the right sidebar, I have listed what I have been listening to, what I have been practicing, and what I have been reading. All of these listings include links. I am really excited about my new site and I am working on...

IronWorks Percussion Duo Concert

The IronWorks Percussion Duo will be presenting a Faculty Artist Series Concert on Thursday, March 1, 2012 at the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music at CSU, Long Beach. The duo will perform a diverse percussion program including: Go – Robert McClure Red Tree, Yellow Sky – Bill Ryan Ollin – Tizoc Ceballos (BCCM Alumnus) Two Duets – Randall Bauer Crash – Terry Longshore A Feast of Thunder – Sherwood Shaffer Circle Takes the Square – Axel Clarke & Dave Gerhart Tickets are $10 & $7 and are available at the door. For more...

UT, Austin Residency

It has been a busy couple of weeks! Last week, I was in Austin at the University of Texas. While in Austin, I worked with the UT Steel Drum Band and Percussion studio. During the residency, the UT Steel Drum Band premiered a new piece I wrote called Samba de los Changitos. (I will post the audio and/or video when it becomes available). I would like to thank Dr. Thomas Burritt for bringing me to UT Austin and David Saad, director of the UT Steel Drum Band! I would also like to thank my sponsors Yamaha Percussion Instruments, Zildjian Cymbals, Innovative Percussion, and...

The Working Percussionist

For the past 13 years, I have been a lecturer at the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music @ CSU, Long Beach, and every semester my students ask me what it takes to succeed as a working percussionist. Now that it is February and the semester is up and running, I thought I would include some of those thoughts here. I strongly believe we need to create our own opportunities in order to “succeed” as a working musician. Sure, some of us are going to win a Symphony audition or be at the right place at the right time, but more likely, you are going to have to work hard,...

Technology and Its Use by Percussion Edu...

Over the summer, Dr. Tracy Wiggins (UNC Pembroke) asked me to contribute to an article he was writing for The Percussive Notes journal. After waiting 6 months, it has finally been released in the January 2012 issue. The article features an interview with three other percussion professors, including Norman Weinberg (University of Arizona), John W. Parks IV (The Florida State), and Thomas Burritt (University of Texas, Austin). I was honored to be a part of the article. Thank you Tracy! Technology Article For more information about the Percussive Arts Society, please visit...