PASIC 2019 Reflections

The Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC) just wrapped up in Indianapolis today! This was roughly my 15th trip to PASIC since 2002, and had a ton of great performances and clinics, as usual. Here are my personal highlights, which represent about 10% of what actually happened, because the schedule is just that packed with incredible events.

Raymond Curffs Timpani Clinic – Raymond is a European timpanist born in Holland, trained in several German schools and has held positions in several different European orchestras. He had a student from Curtis Institute with him, and they both played to show the contrast between American and European playing. I’m very excited to see how the various schools of American and European timpani continue to combine over the next few decades.

Jeremy Branson Orchestral Aux Clinic – Jeremy presented a ton of nuanced options for instruments in the orchestra. Some of my favorite takeaways:

• Add a base board to sleigh bells. Remove the bottom bell or attach strap pieces to a piece of wood if needed. This allows them to stand up so they don’t make noise when picking them up.
• Castanets ALWAYS means “So. Many. Castanets”. Double, triple, quadruple up with multiple castanets for a way more authentic sound.
• “Horse hoof sound” play on granite blocks with coconut shells. It sounds awesome, so much better than just rubber mallets.
• Guiro: Different grooves/scrapers for different sounds. Parts are less than half written, have to be finished by adding inflections from the rest of the ensemble.

Joe Petrasek Orchestral Phrasing Clinic – Joe is Principal Percussion at the Atlanta Symphony. He has a great approach to score study and inflection, which basically comes down to adding the missing markings into keyboard parts from the winds/strings and then learning how those players interpret the markings. He demonstrated this on glockenspiel, xylophone, and vibraphone, and finished by playing a Piazzola tango etuse in unison with his wife, a professional flautist, which was just incredible.

Expo floor – This year I found two incredible new things: A remake of the 1960s Galanti Vibraphonette by Malletshop and new custom mallets by Gordon Stout. I’ve been playing my original Vibraphonette in musical theatre pits for about 10 years and I cannot wait to upgrade to this new, much better 2.6 vibraphone. The bars and motor are so much better, and they added an option to include a pick up system for a Direct Line out. As for Gordon Stout’s mallets, they are just fabulous. One of his lines has rosewood cores, another has an underlayer of felt which plays in like a timpani mallet, and the third is made like Wave Wrap mallet, and has an incredible direct sound. There are numerous handle options, and the cedar handles have a flexibility halfway between birch and rattan, which feels great.

I had a great time this year and I’m looking forward to 2020 already!