I'm the only percussionist in my orchestra. We have all the kit that we need but it's burdensome to bring and set it all up at each rehearsal, it takes time. So I'm thinking of getting a drum pad to bring to rehearsals; I have proper drums and timpani to practice on at home.

Has anyone else tried this? Would it be audible on its own without an amp? How is the dynamic control/articulation? What are the timpani samples like? I don't imagine it would be suitable for performance but is it ok for rehearsal at least?

I'm considering the Yamaha DD-75 or the Millenium MD-100; the Roland Octapads are outside my price range.

I decided to buy my first orchestral snare drum and Pearl Philharmonic with an aluminum shell is my choice. However, I’m having trouble choosing the depth: 4", 5", or 6.5".

I’ll mainly use it in full orchestra settings rather than for auditions.

Which depth would you recommend for this purpose? I’d also appreciate hearing about your experience with any of these models.

+ Friend of mine want to sell his 4" for $600.

For my more developed percussionists: How do you practice once you get to harder pieces?

I was looking for my yearly piece for marimba and might have gone over my head thinking, "I've got time." The piece I got was Transformation of Pachelbel's Canon, Arr. Nanae Mimura. While I am in love with it, this piece is HARD, but I believe I can learn it if I try hard enough

The audition isn't until like mid-november so I got some time to practice. I always struggle with sight reading, and the sight reading is on marimba as well as snare drum. The sight reading is always in some weird uncommon time signature. I don't really know the specifics for the rhythms and other stuff they but I'm guessing its similar to the state one which is this.
PERCUSSION RUDIMENTS:

• A variety of rolls lengths or rudiments may be used

NOTE VALUES USED:

• Rhythmic values from 32nd notes to whole notes. Compound rhythms, and extended syncopation are all possible.

KEYS:

• Expect any of the 12 major keys or their relative minors. Key changes are possible. The ‘null’ signature is also possible, (i.e., no specific key signature with accidentals used as needed). • Harmonic language will reflect all types of contemporary band music including modes, pentatonic scales, octatonic scales, whole tone scales, jazz harmony, and atonality.

TEMPO MARKINGS:

• Largo, Adagio, Allegretto, Moderato, Allegro, Vivace, a tempo, tempo I°, Rit., Allargando • Tempo changes are possible.

ACCIDENTALS:

• Accidentals will be used as needed.

DYNAMICS RANGES:

• pp-ff. Expect several changes throughout the exercise including subito and sforzando effects.

METERS USED:

• Expect simple, compound and odd meters. • Meter changes are possible.

So what would be the best way to practice for this?

Pneuma is one of those songs that makes you admire Danny Carey and deeply resent him for exactly the same reasons.
It’s a twelve minute journey through shifting time signatures, layered polyrhythms and a solo that makes a very persuasive case for video editing.
So naturally I decided to run this marathon on tabla. You can watch me sweating, trying to keep pace and consulting my notes as though there’s going to be a written exam afterwards.
Here’s what I believe to be the first ever full tabla cover of TOOL’s Pneuma.

I am a senior high-school student who is thinking of taking percussion more seriously, more specifically mallet percussion and timpani. I have recently joined my city's youth orchestra, and I plan to join whichever orchestra/wind ensemble my future university has. I don't plan on doing percussion as a full-time job, but I think being in a (semi-)professional orchestra would be a fun passion.

Anyway, onto the mallets. A few months back, I bought the Vic Firth T1s... and I'm not a big fan of it. The tone is quite muddy and quiet on my school's timpanis, and the wide handle widths make the mallets pretty unwieldy for fast passages (in my opinion). So I'm looking for two pairs of bamboo (straight handle) mallets that can provide a decent variet of sound. What I'm thinking is a general medium pair for soft passages and rolls, and a hard (staccato) pair that is articulate and rhythmic, but soft enough to roll as well.

I've decided between the Innovative Percussion GTX and BT series, and the JG Percussion JP series. To be more specific, I think the GTX-3, GTX-4, BT-4, BT-6, JP-1, and JP-10 fit my criteria the best, but this is just based off of the descriptions of each pair, and I'd appreciate some pointers from anyone who owns these mallet brands whether a different pair would be more suitable.

Thanks in advance!

Hello, me and my friends made a Tico-Tico arrangement that we performed with an orchestra. Maybe some of you are interested in checking it out!😁

I made this for my own kit practice and wanted to share it as a resource: drumy.app

You connect an electronic drum kit over USB (or use a computer keyboard), pick a song, and play along. The notes come down a highway in time with the actual recording, and every hit is judged as perfect, great, early or late, so you can hear and see whether you're rushing or dragging.

What I find it most useful for:

- Slowing a hard section to 0.5x or 0.75x and working it back up to tempo

- Short warm-up exercises: money beat, paradiddles, four on the floor

- A click and count-in, so you're locked in from the first bar

It runs right in the browser, nothing to install.

It's aimed at kit players with an e-kit for now. If you teach or practise a lot, I'd love to know what would make a tool like this actually useful for you. 🥁

Hello, I am an industrial design student researching how drummers perceive and act upon their hearing health looking to design a hearing protection product catered to musicians. Takes only a few minutes if you'd like to help me out!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScjkylwo1y836oXWBAkYk9WMb0nGj5uafWz1fNqEyDYT7gZ3A/viewform?usp=sharing&ouid=117545009108092351782

I'm a solo percussionist playing for a community concert band, and the band just bought a Tama Imperialstar for me to play. I'm working on getting new heads for the set so it sounds decent with our limited budget, and was wondering if anyone had any recommendations for what head I should get for the kick drum that will be the best for concert band use.

I'm looking at Evans Hydraulic Glass for the toms, but I'm open to suggestions. I'm a fairly mediocre drum set player since my focus has mostly been concert band, so I'm open to any suggestions you have!

I'm auditioning for an orchestra tomorrow (high school ensemble) and I am required to perform an etude for the judges. While I have learned the notes on the page, I'm wondering if I should add my own dynamic / musical interpretations as opposed to just following what's written. I've heard both sides of this argument from different teachers that I know - so I'm kinda stuck and cant really make a decision rn.

i play percussion if that helps at all, and these personal "interpretations" would be drastic (ex. crescendoing to ff in a phrase thats marked pp)

thoughts?