BR -I've thought about It. It's interesting, but simple. To have everything written for you ... It's not really creating. That's why I think symphony drummers are so limited. They 're limited to exactly what was played a hundred years before them by a thousand other drummers. And, you know, I think the original recording of Ravel's Bolero, probably whoever played percussion on that, will never have It played better than that. So, what do they do? They're simply following what was laid down in front and they play the same thing. So, there's no great challenge In being a classical drummer.
Sometimes I read things around here that make me do a double-take and wonder whether the person is being serious or facetious. I'm going to assume you are being serious and that - based on this post - you have very little experience interpreting charts in symphonic or other environments. That's alright, it's not for everyone. But I think you may have the wrong idea. I'm not going to get into questions about who is more "serious", because I don't think they're answerable, ultimately. But I can say something about my experience with chart reading and
interpretation.
On a general level, there is plenty of room for interpretation in classical music and musical theatre. In many cases the composers are dead, in fact, so it's left to conductors and musicians to try to milk the music out of what's on the page. There are dozens of recordings of
Bolero and no two sound precisely the same. There are dozens of versions of Beethoven's symphonies, but there are incredible variations in tempo, in rhythmic interpretation, dynamics, articulations, tuning, etc. In a musical theatre context, this happens even more than in symphonies and the composers are often still alive
and sometimes even involved with the production! Listen to a Broadway version of a show and compare it to a West End version of a show and you'll often here a marked difference. Same charts.
Looking at percussionists in particular: no two drummers/timpanists/snare drummers sound exactly alike. Some of it is in their technique and hands, but a greater amount of it is in their musical conception. For example, Vic Firth held the Boston Symphony timpani gig for so long not because he could regurgitate timpani parts better than anyone else, but because he could
interpret them in a unique and highly musical way. Snare drum is no different. Two players can play the same part and make it sound completely different based on how they interpret what's in front of them. I've played etudes along with a teacher of mine, and despite us both playing all the notes on the page "right" it doesn't sound the same. He's better at the orchestral stuff. That's his bag. In musical theatre it's no different. Having heard others play the same shows I've played, I can tell you that none of us interpret the charts in exactly the same way.
Here are some of the creative questions a reading percussionist might ask:
General Interpretation: Should I play all of this? What's the orchestra playing/what's going on on stage, and does my part work with that? Parts are omitted for all sorts of reasons.
Sound: should I use a dark sounding deep wood drum, or a bright shallow metal one? Low tuning, or high tuning? Tight snares, or loose? Which sticks should I use? What cymbals should I use - big ones, little ones, dark ones, bright ones? Tambourine with a head and brass jingles, or no head and tin jingles? (I'm not kidding) Small brass mallets on the glock, or hard plastic? Sticks or yarn mallets for that cymbal roll?
Rhythm and other inkish things: An orchestral snare drummer might ask: should I interpret rolls as closed or open? Shall I play drags or ruffs for grace notes? Shall I interpret a dotted-eighth/sixteenth rhythm strictly or closer to triplets, or as a double-dotted-eighth/32nd (some of this would be up to the conductor, too) Do I finish a roll with a button or just come off it cleanly? Shall I use a straight alternate sticking or something else? What about dynamics? The distance between
p and
f can be very big or very small. Do you play your crescendos as a steady climb up, or do you stay low and burst out of nowhere at the end? In musical theatre, we ask all these questions and then some: i.e. shall I add hihat to that section, or play it on the ride cymbal? Shall I use the toms for those shots, or the snare? Etc., etc., etc....
A timpanist would ask similar questions, though the issue of closed rolls wouldn't come up. But, they might decide to play rolls as a rhythmic subdivision (i.e, 16ths) rather than with no determinate subdivision. That's a huge thing and can change the entire feeling of a piece. They'd also decide which mallets to use and where to strike the drums for the right timbre. A good timpanist can give the effect of short and long (staccato/legato) notes without dampening the drums, simply by the way they strike them, and that can make all the difference. Of course, then there is the question of dampening - do you cut off all notes at their written length? Do you allow the timps to ring together? Do you shorten notes to less than their written length for rhythmic effect?
All these things sound simple on their own, but the combination of these creative decisions are what shape the sound of the piece. And they're what separate one percussionist from another and keep some working while others don't.
