David Valdés

A curiosity: on the anatomical and physical conditions required to play a drum

Dominio público.

A curiosity: on the anatomical and physical conditions to play a drum. As you already may know, I have a keen interest in everything related to the history and tradition of drums. Searching for information in the Biblioteca Virtual del Ministerio de Defensa (“Virtual Library of the Ministry of Defense”), I found a book entitled… Continue reading A curiosity: on the anatomical and physical conditions required to play a drum

The New Year’s concert, the “Österreichische locke” and tradition on snare drum

The New Year’s concert, the “Österreichische locke” and tradition on snare drum With the New Year´s Concert still fresh, today I´d like to write about something we all like: the snare drum “solo” preceding the traditional “Radetzky March”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhEGMSOIptw Here you have the snare drum part. Apart from some misprints here and there, which can… Continue reading The New Year’s concert, the “Österreichische locke” and tradition on snare drum

The Provençal drum

Tambor de Provenza fabricado por Alexandre Sauver Guerin (Marsella, s. XIX). © Philharmonie de Paris. Musée de la Musique

The Provençal drum. Today´s article deals with a traditional instrument that has made its way into the symphony orchestra. Common to different drumming traditions from several countries and around five centuries old, its name in French is very similar to the way that other completely different instruments are named in other nations, which has caused… Continue reading The Provençal drum

Various stickings for “Scheherezade”.

Various stickings for “Scheherezade” Sometime ago I showed you a one-handed way to play the third movement of “Scheherezade”. That article was “Snare drum technique. One-handed Scheherezade”. © Grover Pro Percussion After recording that video I tried a few stickings to play that excerpt. You can see the result here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lryhSytw26g These are the different… Continue reading Various stickings for “Scheherezade”.

Snare drum technique. One-handed “Scheherezade”

Snare drum technique. One-handed “Scheherezade” Some weeks ago I saw an interesting video by Tony Ames (principal percussion with the National Symphony Orchestra) on which he can be seen playing the famous snare drum excerpt from the third movement of “Scheherezade” (N. Rimsky-korsakov) using just one hand. You know that I always try anything that leads… Continue reading Snare drum technique. One-handed “Scheherezade”

Snare drum technique. The roll.

Snare drum technique. The roll The roll is, probably, the most characteristic and idiomatic of all of the snare drum techniques. Isolately played on a snare drum, a 64th-note lasts exactly the same as a whole note. Because percussionists do not have an air column or a bow allowing us to play long notes on a… Continue reading Snare drum technique. The roll.