Paul Blood
Junior Member
By the time I started at UNT, I believe Shawn was a high band director. His younger brother Todd, was at UNT the same time as me, and he was a great Latin percussionist.
The roots of drumming—Downfall of Paris
- Thread starter Push pull stroke
- Start date
By the time I started at UNT, I believe Shawn was a high band director. His younger brother Todd, was at UNT the same time as me, and he was a great Latin percussionist.
single-ply
Senior Member
I actually may be wrong. I might have had him when I took a history class in the summer. I just don't really remember. I had another guy who I can't remember his name, but he was pushing 70 when I had him. His claim to fame, and deservedly so, was he got in some trouble with the administration because he was shagging and then married a drop dead gorgeous grad student. We thought she was crazy for marrying him, but gave him the big thumbs up. She was stunning.
Push pull stroke
Platinum Member
LOL He must have retired. We just had Turrentine, Mayer-Martin, and an organ professor who also did music history.
single-ply
Senior Member
Those of us who weren't into medieval music history weren't complaining when she left. The half of a semester I had her was tough.
Push pull stroke
Platinum Member
I guess Shawn must have gotten sick of that, understandably. He was teaching lessons and gigging when I knew him. I don’t think he was too excited about teaching 4-mallet marimba to people whose focus was elsewhere, but we both made a good-faith effort. I hope he’s doing OK. This is not a good time for musicians.
Push pull stroke
Platinum Member
She was straight-up brutal. The worst was that I didn’t get to have her for Romantic, which at least has a lot of good orchestral rep. I had her for Medieval, the lamest snoozefest of a class ever. I was seriously afraid I wouldn’t graduate on time. That whole year , my senior year, just torpedoed my life on so many levels. I didn’t even want to be there that year. Everybody was surprised I even came back for that year. In hindsight, I’m really sorry I did. I’d have been better off just staying in NC, getting my remaining requirements at a state school, and maybe picking up an Ed degree or comp sci or geology degree too. Nothing went right that year.
single-ply
Senior Member
Larry Palmer? That organ department was a freak show when I was there. The percussion room was right next to his office when I was there and he and his students were always trying to get me to come to one of their 'hot tub' parties. Yikes!
single-ply
Senior Member
Sounds like a shitty year. Sorry. I avoided a lot of stress by putting my senior recital off a semester. I was living in Dallas anyway, so I just worked part time and prepared for the recital.
Push pull stroke
Platinum Member
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Yes, Dr. Palmer. Loved the dude, but still had to retake his Classical music history class. My head was NOT in the game for Medieval and Classical.
Push pull stroke
Platinum Member
Must have been nice. I was so stressed for my recital that I had to take a 25 mg beta blocker to get through it. I totally blew my junior recital, didn’t even TELL Doug about it until after it happened, and didn’t even manage to get it recorded. Which was a blessing. I might as well have been sightreading the 8-page Bach something that Doug assigned me.
single-ply
Senior Member
Yeah, he was nice enough. I don't remember him teaching history classes while I was there. Either he hadn't started doing that yet, or I just never had him.
Push pull stroke
Platinum Member
I just wonder about those pool parties....I assume no girls were invited LOL
single-ply
Senior Member
How did Doug not know about your Junior recital? Maybe he wasn't as involved with all aspects of the program as he was when I was there.
single-ply
Senior Member
Ha. Absolutely not! I wonder what went on....
Push pull stroke
Platinum Member
The studio was much bigger by then, and he was trying to hand off most teaching duties of undergrads to adjuncts. He was still pretty pissed about the whole thing. I’m lucky I even got credit for it. It was partially his fault for not staying on top of it, though.
single-ply
Senior Member
The whole music department was much smaller when I started there. I think I'm happy I went through when I did! A good memory of that place was a friend of mine named Steve Gancy. He was a clarinetist and composition major who did grunt work working for Kim Campbell, who was the building manager at the time, to run things. He had keys to everything. He and I and a couple of others would often get up on the roof late at night in the summer with a couple of six-packs and just watch the skyline and shoot the shit.
Push pull stroke
Platinum Member
I went up on the roof of the building ONCE, and got caught by SMU police, and written up in the weekly campus paper. LOL
My favorite memories are probably seeing the DSO play a few great concerts. When I was there, you could sit behind the orchestra in the choral terrace at the new hall, and almost read the music off their stands. It was a great way to really see them play. I went every week for 8 semesters, sometimes two or three times in 1 week. I learned a whole lot more about timpani playing from those concerts than from gruff old “silent Kal” Cherry in lessons. But I think that’s what he expected.
single-ply
Senior Member
I didn't go to concerts that often, but I went to watch a lot of rehearsals. When I got to play extra with them it was all at Fair Park. The Meyerson wasn't built yet. My best memory of the DSO was when I got to play extra on Mahler 3. I didn't have much to do, so I mostly got to sit, watch, and listen. The conductor for that one? None other than Kurt Masur. It was truly amazing. Gotta go pick up the daughter. See ya later.
Push pull stroke
Platinum Member
The orchestral percussion world is ridiculously small, and even the entire orchestral music world is small. The drumming world is a lot bigger, especially since Ringo and the Beatles appeared on Ed Sullivan in ‘64, but it’s still a pretty small group of folks at the level of working pros.