The way we do things.....

Here at Glenville State College, we host our very own state-of-the art percussion ensemble concert every spring. Being one of the people in it, I've decided to blog about the way we do things, and the way things work. It's a fairly complicated process.


The music:
First off, it may be a spring concert, but we actually start rehearsing music during the fall semester. This is when all of the ideas come out of people's heads as to what we should or could play. Our director goes every year to the Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC) and buys new standard literature. That leaves us the issue of coming up with popular music, and along with performing standard literature, we also want to please the audience. Since there aren't many arrangements of popular music for percussion ensemble on the market, we (mostly the director) put together our own arrangements. This gives us a way to customize to the group. On occasion, some students have arranged music well enough for it to be played at the concert. We do not announce selections before the concerts because that would extinguish the excitement of everything!

These arrangements are completed and brought to rehearsal for a run-through during the fall semester. Depending on how the music goes, we'll either toss it, keep it, or edit it some more. Not all of the arrangements we play through are performed at the concert. If the music is kept for editing, that process usually lasts a couple of weeks, and in the time we wait, we work on standard literature or other arrangements.

We generally have about 20 pieces on our concert repertoire. A few weeks before the concert, the director gives us 2 or 3 more pieces of music to work on. This keeps the remainder of the concert selections fresh because we rehearse quite a bit.

We play in a vast array of musical styles, including country, rock, Carribean/Central American, African, Taiko (japanese), jazz, movie soundtracks, Broadway tunes, and other types of music from the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, and today.

The stage crew:
The stage crew usually consists of students that volunteer to help out with set construction and other odds and ends we need taken care of before, during, and after concerts. They have been known to stay up well in to the early morning hours working on set construction and other things. The show wouldn't happen without the stage hands.

The performers:
I have participated in percussion ensemble since 2008. Percussion majors are required to be in percussion ensemble, and a few non-percussive music majors are selected. Maintaining a good academic standing overall is a must, because we are excused from classes on concert days. Besides our director, Mr. McKinney, only one other faculty member is a permanent member of the group: Mrs. McKinney. She is our pianist, and also takes care of wardrobe, among many other things (she is basically "the mom", too!). The main quality people must have is a willingness to work without complaining. Our players have to be insane enough to care less about staying up really late rehearsing and working on the set, while keeping up with other classes. We also have to be good at moving our instruments around quickly. Another quality people must have is good keyboard and sight-reading skills. This doesn't just pertain to piano, but also mallet keyboard instruments.

What do we consist of?

Glockenspiel (AKA Bells)



Vibraphone- we sometimes use 2

Marimba- we use 4 or 5 marimbas, with two people on each for most pieces


Tympani drums- one person to four drums


Conga and timbali drums- these are placed adjacent to one another, and one person usually handles both parts

Congas:
Timbali and cowbell:

Drum set-



Mallet Kat- an electronic "marimba" that is attached to a MIDI controller and can make all sorts of fabulous sounds. The bars are foam, and it is played with regular marimba mallets. For our ensemble, we set the MIDI patch for bass guitar. It gives us a nice bottom.

Chimes:


Percussion "kitchen"- this apparatus was built to hold a random selection of auxillary percussive instruments like finger cymbals, triangles, claves, tambourines, guiros, gongs, cow bells, vibraslaps, and shakers. This is also the area we keep the big gong, floor toms, and concert bass drum. Everything is attached to an apparatus made out of metal pipes that is about 6 feet tall from top to bottom and includes a table for extra instruments, sticks, and mallets. It is a percussionist's dream!

African drums- these include djembes, dun duns, and others

The set:
Our set construction begins at the end of February, with the majority of it finished after about a week. We rent scaffolding and build huge platforms that look like giant choir risers. Pianos and the director are on the bottom level, keyboard percussion on the middle, drums and percussion on the top, and extra stuff that we don't use the entire time is placed on a platform behind the entire thing. After that is built, carpet and drapes are stapled on within the following weeks to make everything black. Wires are ran for stand lights, and then we move all those fancy instruments to the auditorium to begin rehearsal in there. Backstage holds instruments we only use for one or two songs, extra mallets, pizza, and lighting and sound equipment.

About a week before the concert, a lighting and sound crew come in. These guys drive all the way from VA beach, and are fantastic at what they do, so we hire them back every year. They bring in a huge truck full of fancy equipment, we help unload it, then they get to work. The lighting is flown up on huge metal bars that are fastened together. All of this is suspended from the ceiling by chains. We use lights that move, LED, and laser lights, among many other neat lights. The lights are controlled by very advanced computer software. We also rent huge speakers, and the sound crew (which is the same people in the light crew) sets up mics and monitors, and we practice while they adjust and balance mics and what comes out of the monitors.

We also use a fog machine.

Rehearsal weekend:
This is a very tiresome weekend (worth it, though). We spend the entire day rehearsing, go on dinner break, and then rehearse some more. Most of this time rehearsing is used for the sound crew to make adjustments and the light crew to create exciting light shows. Our main cuisine for the weekend??? Pineapple and ham pizza, Coke, Mt. Dew, water, and CANDY!

The concerts:

We host 2 concerts on Tuesday and Wednesday of percussion week for public school groups during the day.

The main full-length concerts are Thursday and Friday in the evening. GSC students get in free on Thursday, and everyone pays admission for the Friday concert. Tickets go on sale a month before the concert, and this year (2009), we were sold out of Friday concerts after 2 weeks, and almost sold out of Thursday tickets. The concerts last about 2 hours. The first half includes music written especially for serious study of percussion, and the instruments are played on the front half of the stage. At intermission, we move all of the instruments behind the curtain and put it all back on the platforms. At the end of intermission, the house lights, along with the main stage lights go out, and at the first note of the second half, the curtain opens to display our fabulous light show, a huge billow of fog, and all of us in popular music mode.

Since the music usually includes part of a movie soundtrack, we have some of our stage-hands dress up and do a little acting. Last year (2008) was Indiana Jones, this year....well, if you go, you'll have to see for yourself.

After the Friday concert, we have a reception.

Saturday moring is what we call "strike day". This is when we take everything down, along with helping the light and sound crew load up their equipment. Carpets are rolled up and labeled, along with any trim that goes along the edges of the platform. Scaffolding leaves, then the stage is swept like nothing happened....

I play:
Marimba, MalletKat, Vibes, Xylophone, Percussion Kitchen....

It's a lot of work, but I wouldn't trade it for the world. There's nothing like the sound of the audience screaming as the curtain opens and fog drifts out as we begin performing!