Long Beach Symphony Set-Up

Long Beach Symphony Set-Up

From the Ground Up: Building a Long Beach Symphony POPS! Concert. Long Beach Symphony POPS! concerts are fantastic orchestra dinner picnics featuring 300 dinner tables of 10. Groups are encouraged to bring picnics and favorite libations or to arrange for catering at their tables before and during the performance. This is unlike any other concert that I play and I make a cameo in this video 2:34....
Percussion Paints Pictures

Percussion Paints Pictures

Over the past 17 years, I have been a member of the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra Percussion Ensemble. During this time, we have performed over 400 shows for the 2nd and 3rd graders in the Long Beach Unified School District. The LBSO commissioned Lynda Sue Marks  to write the show entitled Percussion Paints Pictures. The current ensemble is Lynda Sue Marks and Gary Long (percussion) with Jamieson Price. This show is one of the highlights of my year. Watching the 2nd and 3rd grade kids reaction to the music is priceless and I can’t wait for my kids to see the show...
Snare Drum Warm-Up Part 2

Snare Drum Warm-Up Part 2

In September, I shared my updated snare drum warm-up. It was my hope to start the conversation about creating a unified warm-up that hit all the basic building blocks on snare drum in a 10-15 minutes. I would love to hear if anyone has been using it and if it has worked. I found over the past 6 months, that it has helped me focus and prepare for my practice session along with getting me warm. I also feel that while I enjoy using the warm-up I needed a metronome to keep me honest and continue to push me. So, I decided to program my metronome with the different lines so I...
Long Beach Symphony Kids Concerts

Long Beach Symphony Kids Concerts

On January 22 and 23, 2014, I was fortunate to perform the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra’s Symphony Concerts for Young People at the Terrace Theater. The program, entitled “An English Exhibition,” included: Star Spangled Banner, Trumpet Voluntary, Pomp and Circumstance No. 1, Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, Mars (from “The Planets.”). I am always grateful to play with the LBSO and I especially enjoy playing for all of the 5th Graders from the Long Beach Unified School District. Thanks Lynda Sue Marks and the staff of the LBSO for...
How Effectively Do You Use YouTube?

How Effectively Do You Use YouTube?

We all know that YouTube is a valuable source for any musician. According to YouTube’s statistics, 72 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute. We all know that there are a lot of bad videos included in this number, but there are also many videos that are educational and worth watching. So how do you use YouTube? Chris Robley wrote a blog post on the D.I.Y. Musician Blog (a service brought to us by CD Baby) detailing the “Top 5 Tips for Effective Music Video Promotion on YouTube.” Some of the top tips included: 1. Add links at the top of the...
Digital CD release/marketing/distribution

Digital CD release/marketing/distributio...

On September 12, Tom Burritt and I sat down for a somewhat impromptu google+ hang out to talk about digital/CD recordings and their marketing and distribution. Take a listen to hear about how to get your recordings into iTunes, Amazon, and Google Play. And, a few other services you may not have heard about. After watching please leave your ideas/thoughts below the post. —– Originally posted on DrumChattr.com on September 13, 2012. The photo in this post is used under the Creative Commons License: Attribution – NonCommercial – No Derivs 2.0...
John Luther Adam’s Inuksuit Resource Guide

John Luther Adam’s Inuksuit Resour...

“…to act in the capacity of the human” John Luther Adams is one of the 21st Century’s most important composers. He has written a lot of extraordinary music for chamber ensembles, orchestras, solo instruments and specifically percussion ensembles. Most of his music draws inspiration from the outdoors, especially the landscapes of his home in Alaska where he has lived since 1978. Inuksuit (2009) was premiered at the Banff Centre in the Canadian Rockies of Alberta and received it’s US premiere on the campus of Furman University in South Carolina. I am fortunate...
Video Playlist of Inuksuit

Video Playlist of Inuksuit

I have created a playlist of the videos from the West Coast premiere of John Luther Adams’ Inuksuit from what has been posted on YouTube. If there are any videos I have left out, please let me know and I will add them.
Genesis Hand Pan

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...
New Video of “Continuous Line of Evenness”

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...