| Subject | Date Asked |
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| drum tracks | 10/20/2009 |
Q: I've been playing drums for over 40 yrs and have never used drum tracks. I'm being asked to set the ...
A: Bob, this is a very vague question so if I do not answer completely please send me more information. ...
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| Tuning Timpani | 10/10/2009 |
Q: I've noticed that most timpani have tuning gauges on them, but why is it still recommended to tune ...
A: Geoff, since Timpani are more of my forte, I believe I can answer this answer completely. 1. It is ...
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| Starting on mallet percussion | 10/10/2009 |
Q: I'm a drumset player, but recently I've been loving classical music, and I'm playing timpani in ...
A: It would be much easier in the long run (in my honest opinion) to start on a larger instrument such ...
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| Tuning my snare drum | 9/3/2009 |
Q: I have a pearl Custom Alloy SensiTone Steel snare drum with the stock 1-ply drum head for the bottom ...
A: Jake, here is a great website for tuning. ...
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| Marching Drum Line For Beginners | 8/6/2009 |
Q: I have a durm line and the age is from 7 years old to 16 years old All of my older drummers play ...
A: Butch, The best thing I can suggest is to email as many drum and bugle corps directors and see if ...
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| Jenco Vibraphone | 7/24/2009 |
Q: I'm in the process of cleaning one up. My questions are: 1. What cleaner can I use to clean up the ...
A: 1. Goo-gone. It's a simple cleaner that is not very abrasive. My opinion (and it is only my opinion) ...
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| Battery/Pit Warmups | 7/19/2009 |
Q: I'm captain of a very small percussion section, and I'd like to know if you have any advice on ...
A: Allen, Just write something easy, yet fun that will help stretch out each players hands the same ...
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| Timing Issues! | 7/13/2009 |
Q: Robards, I have an issue in my drumming that I would like to get fixed as fast as possible, and ...
A: playing with a metronome over time will help you more than anything else. I would play 30 minutes a ...
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| drums | 6/13/2009 |
Q: are westbury and CB percussion good quality brands
A: I have not heard of Westbury but CB percussion has some nice drums. They are generally a mid-level ...
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| electronics | 5/19/2009 |
Q: Hey, I asked this question to a different expert, but I received and e-mail stating that he was no ...
A: This was all "tv magic". Hypothetically, a notation program such as finale or sibelius accepts midi ...
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| reading matierals | 5/18/2009 |
Q: Hey, I am about to be a freshmen and I just made tenors for my high school drum line. I was wanted ...
A: Those are the two best books to buy in my opinion. There is a blue devil book called The Blue Devils ...
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| Snare drum | 3/10/2009 |
Q: My so just started drum lessons and I am looking to purchase my son a snare drum to practice on. I ...
A: Hey Veronica, sorry that I didn't get back to you sooner. I went to submit and it must have not gone ...
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| Bowed Vibraphone | 2/21/2009 |
Q: In my high school Symphonic Band, we are playing this piece called: "Shadows of Eternity". It's a ...
A: Aryien, you are precisely right, it is a bow from a violin. To perform this technique, apply rosin ...
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| Brass Snare Drum | 1/29/2009 |
Q: I just received a Nickle plated Brass TAMA 4in Snare Drum. I took the bottom snare head off since ...
A: CD, If the shell is not flat, brass, wood, or etc., there is a warping problem. With brass, however, ...
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| session drumming | 1/26/2009 |
Q: im looking into the field of session drumming what would be the best and first thing to do to start ...
A: Dave, first thing I would suggest is to pick up some method books for sight-reading study. One of ...
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| micing my drums with triggers | 1/25/2009 |
Q: What is the reason behind using a mic on a drum when you use triggers. Like both on a snare or a ...
A: Glenn, although I cannot tell you precisely why they do that, my guess is that they sometimes switch ...
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| through or out | 1/15/2009 |
Q: I've heard a lot of professional drummers say that they either play through the drums or out of the ...
A: I'm not really sure what they mean by out of the drum, but through the drum means to strike past the ...
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| drum corps | 12/27/2008 |
Q: I would like some information on drum corps. I am 14 and live in a suburb near Oklahoma City. ...
A: If you get accepted into SCV, you do NOT automatically move to California. Most drum corps sites ...
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| snares | 12/11/2008 |
Q: if my snare head is on right how do i make my snares touch the head because everything is on right i ...
A: Hey Chris, the obvious thing to look at is the snare mechanism. If you tighten the knob, the snares ...
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| groove drums | 11/29/2008 |
Q: i want to buy groove derum set at sam ash model gpv16blk-p 5 piece withcymbals and hardware reg 799 ...
A: For the money it is definitely worth it. I do not think it would be worth it for more than $500 but ...
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| Marching Snare Exercises | 11/28/2008 |
Q: I am planning to try out for the Concord Blue Devils in a few years, so I have been working on ...
A: Daniel, The best advice I can give you is to simply work on the basics and ram them until they are ...
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| ludwig snare | 11/7/2008 |
Q: I have a snare metal 14x5.5.the serial no is 462140; it as 10 logs and the rim under is coming out ...
A: Michael, try to find a local antique music store...that is your best bet on the snare. As far as the ...
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| Drumlines and Physical Science | 10/27/2008 |
Q: How do drumlines and physical science relate
A: Angel, this is a very loaded question. I will give you one scenario for you to study and let you ...
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| flam notation | 9/27/2008 |
Q: Is a flam tap always notated with an 8th note grace note? If I'm writing in the context of four ...
A: You can manually put the flams in using 2 different ways: 1. You can manually put it in through the ...
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| sticks and mallets | 9/12/2008 |
Q: I am shoping around for drum sticks and mallets for my 11 year old son - he is a 6th grader that ...
A: Peter, first, thank you for being a great father by taking an interest in your son's music...I teach ...
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| marimba mallets | 8/31/2008 |
Q: Currently at my high school I play Snare drums, Quads, Timpani, auxiliary percussion, and just about ...
A: A good starter set of Marimba mallets that you can buy are the Giff Howarth Series Marimba mallets ...
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| Pit set up | 8/26/2008 |
Q: What would be a good way to set up a pit that consists of 2 marimbas, 3 vibraphones, 2 xylophones, ...
A: From left to right, I would set it up this way in an arc: Vibe, Marimba, Xylo, Vibe, xylo, marimba, ...
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| 4 Mallet Solos | 8/12/2008 |
Q: Wow, I have so many questions, thanks again for your help! So, I have the standard four mallet ...
A: Heather, Sorry it took so long to respond, I have been doing band camps all week and it has been ...
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| Front Ensemble Warm-Ups | 8/11/2008 |
Q: I have a bit of a dilemma when it comes to warm-ups with my section. We have 6 people, four on ...
A: Heather, The best advice I can give you is to write parts for the timpanist and auxilary players. I ...
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| Marching Bass Drums | 8/8/2008 |
Q: My son's band director mentioned that he has seen two marching bass drums stacked on top of one ...
A: one of my best friend's has kinda instituted using this as a viable means of having multiple drums ...
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| Mallet Choice | 7/26/2008 |
Q: So I have one more question unrelated to my first one. I am in the Front Ensemble in my school's ...
A: Sorry for taking so long Heather, things have been bust here. The best set of mallets I have used ...
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| Instrument Clean-Up | 7/25/2008 |
Q: The mallet percussion instruments at my school are old, and really need a good clean up. We've ...
A: Heather, this is a very tricky question. The resonators help with the overtones produced by the ...
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| how to read music for the quad/quint drums | 7/11/2008 |
Q: I've played the drums in school band for the last 4 years. Now I'm going into high school & I want ...
A: As far as reading percussion music goes, it is not too difficult. The rhythms are the same as any ...
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| Battery Setup | 7/2/2008 |
Q: Do you have a good setup for: 5 snares 3 tenors 5 basses 4-5 cymbals More than one would be great. ...
A: for an arc, I would do the following patterns: B-bass, S-snare, T-tenors, C-cymbals ...
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| Battery Setup | 7/1/2008 |
Q: Do you have a good setup for: 5 snares 3 tenors 5 basses 4-5 cymbals More than one would be great. ...
A: To be honest, I am not quite sure what you mean as far as setups go. Do you mean for lot rehearsals? ...
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| Old military Band instruments | 6/5/2008 |
Q: I have inherited 6 different musical instruments which I would like to know if they are worth ...
A: I think you have inherited a small fortune as far as instruments go. I would NOT get the instruments ...
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| my dream | 6/4/2008 |
Q: my dream is to make the snare line. i prac any chance i get and i have tons of exercises what do u ...
A: The best thing for you to do is to practice with a metronome and a practice pad, moving your feet, ...
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| Timpani Dilemma | 6/4/2008 |
Q: Greetings, from Brooklyn NY,my name is Edward and I have a dilemma pertaining to buying Timpani. ...
A: Edward, BUY THEM! I can tell you that I have never actually played on fiberglass timpani, but from ...
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| Percussion Tech | 5/4/2008 |
Q: I wake up thinking about marching percussion(battery). I am very interested in becoming a high ...
A: the best advice I could give you is to just get your name out. Try teaching at as many different ...
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| Timpani Questions | 4/29/2008 |
Q: When I play timpani, I find that my rolls are uneven. How do I make them more even? Also, do you ...
A: To make sure that your rolls are even, you must check three things: 1. Make sure you are using the ...
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| chime tuning | 4/15/2008 |
Q: t sound great. maybe they need tuneing. how do they tune chimes? is it hard to do ? can i do it/
A: Unfortunately, I do not know how you would retune chimes. After a while, they simply get out of ...
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| mallets | 4/11/2008 |
Q: i've got some musser goodvibe mallets and i saw some other Goodvibe mallets from a long time ago ...
A: The best answer that I can give you is that, a long time ago, mallets were all handmade. Their ...
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| Recovering materials | 3/24/2008 |
Q: I have line of pearl championship marching drums. They were professionally recovered once in an ...
A: here is what I came up with for your question. I do not know where you could get the actual drum ...
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| yamaha sfz marching snare sound/ tune | 3/18/2008 |
Q: Hey there Justin, I really need help and a tutorial on how to get a Series Sfz Yamaha Marching Snare ...
A: For the Top head: Definitely do the star pattern, any other way will warp the rim. I use four ...
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| how do u avoid people? | 2/28/2008 |
Q: i play in a middle school drumline and im almost the best one around. and people keep telling me ...
A: You tell everyone who opposes you to grow up! Seriously, I've known some awesome female ...
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| Percussion Audition | 12/13/2007 |
Q: I am planning to major in music. I am in process of preparing for my audition. I want your ...
A: A good marimba piece for auditions that is not too hard is Rain Dance. Buy the portraits in rhythm ...
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| Percussion Audition | 12/7/2007 |
Q: I am planning to major in music. I am in process of preparing for my audition. I want your ...
A: Abigail, The best thing to do in your situation is to go online to the college of music at whatever ...
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| Marching tenors | 11/26/2007 |
Q: I currently march bass one in my high school's drumline and I am VERY interested in marching tenors ...
A: As far as tenor pads are concerned, the quadropad is the best pad in my opinion. It might be a ...
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| quad tuning | 11/8/2007 |
Q: I play a set of quads in a high school band and i need recommendations on how to tune a set that has ...
A: I truly believe the remo suades are the best. They are incredibly durable and they sound great at an ...
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| quad tuning | 11/7/2007 |
Q: I play a set of quads in a high school band and i need recommendations on how to tune a set that has ...
A: I spoke to a buddy of mine in the industry and he said the best way to tune your size drums is as ...
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| quad tuning | 11/7/2007 |
Q: I play a set of quads in a high school band and i need recommendations on how to tune a set that has ...
A: I personally have never tuned the drums to a certain pitch, especially for quads, but I have heard ...
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| Drumset to Marching band? | 10/31/2006 |
Q: I have been a drummer for 3 years now, and I am pretty good. How hard would it be to join a marching ...
A: It is not very easy at all to switch from drumset to marching drums. The technique involved would ...
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| Single Stroke roll | 10/12/2006 |
Q: Hey, I find that my single stroke roll keeps getting uneven and flamming alot. Especially when i ...
A: The best way to improve your single stroke roll is to simply play passages fast. What I have my kids ...
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| Playing traditional grip | 9/11/2006 |
Q: Even when playing fast singles is it still all wrist? Because i was watching some DCI videos and ...
A: Once you get to a certain speed, it is easier to let your fingers do all of the work...it is almost ...
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| Playing traditional grip | 9/10/2006 |
Q: Hey, I've joined the marching band this past summer and made it on snare. I can play traditional, ...
A: Joe, using your wrist is vital! From what you have said, you are playing 100% correct. To get more ...
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| gut wires on ffx snare | 7/9/2006 |
Q: Hey man i have just brought a new pearl ffx marching "camp"snare drum and i was just trying to find ...
A: To get a good snare sound, I usually tighten the snares to where they are 1/4 inch past the head, to ...
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| Marimbas | 6/28/2006 |
Q: A 2-parter: a) I am a music teacher who is going to purchase a marimba for my high school program. ...
A: sorry for the delay. As far as 4.3 versus 4.5 octave marimba, the difference is definitely not worth ...
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| Sheet music | 6/8/2006 |
Q: Are there any sites on the net you know of where there are free downloads of percussion music/scores ...
A: Honestly, do a search if you really want to find some music for free, but realize that people who ...
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| tips | 5/12/2006 |
Q: alright dude hows it going hope u have been well i was just wondering if u could give some tips ...
A: The only thing that will make you more consitent volume wise is to just practice tapping your feet ...
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| marching band drum and concert drum | 3/31/2006 |
Q: I want to buy my kid a snare drum. He already have one year of school band experience. I want to get ...
A: Sorry for taking so long to respond, my computer has been caput for some time and I just realized I ...
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| hello buddy
hows it going... | 3/13/2006 |
Q: hows it going i recently just bought a double bass pedal as u probably know coz i emailed u before ...
A: That's wierd. The only thing i can suggest is to take it back where you got it and have someone ...
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| double bass pedal | 3/9/2006 |
Q: I was just wondering on my double bass pedal the left pedal that goes next to the high hat keeps ...
A: Hey Gary, Wal-mart has some anti-slip stuff for furniture that you can use which would help keep the ...
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| Drum Techniques | 2/19/2006 |
Q: Robards, I have two questions. They are completely unrelated, but nevertheless they are two ...
A: sorry for the late reply, my email has been malfunctioning lately and i just got over a month's ...
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| Single Marching Tenor drums | 11/7/2005 |
Q: I'm looking for a pair of mallets for what weknow in the UK as a "tenor drum" (a single drum). We ...
A: http://www.vicfirth.com/products/corpsmaster_tenor.html Go there. I would get either the MT2 or the ...
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| marching snare | 9/11/2005 |
Q: I just put a newer bottom head on my pearl 14" marching snare. i tried putting the snares back on it ...
A: Brian, it sounds like you either have not tuned the snares or you are using the wrong head on the ...
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| Single Tenor drums | 7/11/2005 |
Q: Where can I find a decent single tenor drum and mallets for use in a show style drumline?
A: best place I can think of is to go onto www.columbuspercussion.com or maybe even ebay for the simgle ...
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| mallets and purchasing | 6/25/2005 |
Q: I am pitt captain in a high shcool band. I want to buy my own mallets. I was wondering which brand ...
A: I would suggest you buying the ensemble series of mallets from vic firth ...
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| tubular bells | 3/28/2005 |
Q: I am an amateur composer and would like to know if it is possible to cause a tubular bell to ...
A: my best answer to give you is that it is theoreticlaly possible, but you'll never know until you ...
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| choosing a concert snare drum | 3/13/2005 |
Q: I'm a student, 21, who does orchestral percussion as an 'extra', but I now seem to be doing a lot ...
A: Hey Dan, I would suggest using the Pearl Symphonic over the Yamaha for a few reasons. 1, Pearl only ...
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| traditional grip vs matched | 2/10/2005 |
Q: When I was a high school and college drummer (back in the 60's), the snare drum was still carried ...
A: I have asked myself this question many times. Most concert percussionists (including myself) play ...
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| Drums Inquiry | 1/17/2005 |
Q: Do you know where I can find out more about a drum that I just bought. It is a Slingerland 28" red ...
A: The only thing I can think of is to do a search on google. If that doesnt work out, try going to ...
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| about snare drumming competition | 1/11/2005 |
Q: basically i'm a drumset player, i read a lot of snare drunmming article and watch some clips from ...
A: Gita, I do not know of many snare drumming competitions. The biggest 2 that I know of are the ...
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| cheese its and flamadiddles | 10/22/2004 |
Q: what are the differences between a cheese it and a flamadiddle... and how you can better at playing ...
A: This is actually a pretty easy question... A cheese it is a flam and a two-stroke diddle on one note ...
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| Snare Sound | 9/20/2004 |
Q: Hey Justin, I have a pear ffx, 14/12 snare with Evans MX Gold standard for batter head and Evans MX7 ...
A: Hey Matt. First of all, good choice with the hardware....I really enjoy the Evans heads and with ...
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| quad drums | 9/4/2004 |
Q: What brand would you suggest for a eight grader for a set of quad drums? Also any hints for getting ...
A: sorry about taking so long to answer questions, I am running off of a generator since I have no ...
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| Marching snare drum heads | 8/28/2004 |
Q: What kind of drum head would you recomend for a high school marching snare line. We use Yamaha SFZ ...
A: after extensive use of both heads (the drum corps I taught were experimenting with both) I have come ...
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| Bass Drum mallets, Mahler's 3rd Symphony | 8/10/2004 |
Q: I am a student and my youth orchestra is performing Mahler 3 in London at the end of this Month. I ...
A: I must first mention that i have never played Mahler 3 (I dont believe I've ever heard of it before ...
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| Pit percussion | 6/24/2004 |
Q: My name is Megan and this is my 4th year in marching band. I have played pit percussion every year. ...
A: The best way to fix yourself is to simply use the correct technique. By using just regular wrist ...
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| Modern percussion notation | 5/19/2004 |
Q: I'm a rudimental drummer from way back. Recently I have become re-invovled with marching percussion ...
A: John, this is definitely the toughest question I've ever had and to be honest, the best answer I can ...
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| quad drums | 5/4/2004 |
Q: i'm 15 and im one of the lead drummers in the highschool, and i've been playing for 4 or 5 years, i ...
A: 8" or high drum should be at around an F, 10" should be an E, 12" should be a D, and the bottom 13" ...
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| Drumming | 4/10/2004 |
Q: I was watching a marching performance and was really interested in the Snare? drummers. When I ...
A: This is a fairly simple question. There are MANY different types of snare drums, depending on the ...
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| Drumline | 4/4/2004 |
Q: here's what i have, we started a drumline this year, well about 3 months ago. We went to the DAC ...
A: As far as this year goes, Just set the example of how they should be, call sectionals as much as ...
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| Sound of the drum | 2/19/2004 |
Q: I just recieved and put on Evans MX heads about 4 days ago. but my drum does not sound like a drum ...
A: Hey Matt, first things first, my e-mail is pitcap1@netscape.net. Second thing, You can tighten them ...
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| Drum heads | 2/8/2004 |
Q: I have been deciding whether or not I should get a new head. When I got my Pearl FFX it just came ...
A: Matt, I personally think that the clear heads are the most horrible thing for a marching ...
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| Pearl or Yamaha | 1/28/2004 |
Q: I am looking to order either a Pearl FFX marching snare or a Yamaha SFZ marching snare. Which one ...
A: Alright, I have used both Pearl and Yamaha Drums so I'll give you the best opinion I have. This ...
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| Getting started | 11/7/2003 |
Q: My son is 15 and plays trombone in his marching band. He also, would like to learn to play the ...
A: The first thing I would recommend would be to get a metronome. That is a universal tool since it ...
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