As you start to read this article, I don't want your thoughts to be drawn to the finesse of a rudimentalist or the flash of a great jazz drummer. This, in a sense, is a great "show" of many hours of study and practice. These people have worked hard and accomplished a great thing. But what about the real show drummer . . . the one who plays the theatre pits, vaudeville acts, circuses and television? Where did he study? In all probability, most of his knowledge came from watching and listening to other drummers in places that were a little off the beaten path. Seeing a dancer kick up a heel . . . hearing a singer miss a beat . . . or even seeing a circus bear sit down when he was supposed to stand up. The drummer has to catch all the cues, plus remedy any mistakes that are made. So, from these experiences, he has learned. These drummers are not exactly percussionists, but they are musicians. They have heard and watched, and they have depth of thought and feeling for what they have seen. It is really tragic that the students of show drumming nowadays usually are not exposed to such places as vaudeville, burlesque, circus and show-type night clubs. These places were, and are, the training ground for great show drummers. However, let's face the problem at hand. A good show drummer must be able to anticipate a tempo change, catch cue after cue, in addition to musically backing the group he is working with. (Naturally, the conductor has something to say about this!) Also, to be a complete, well-rounded show drummer, a technical knowledge and functional application of all the mallet-keyboard instruments, timpani, and "traps" is a necessity. Furthermore, modern-day musical shows may require anything from auto horn and anvil, to washtubs, much after the fashion of the drummer's responsibilities in the pit during the days of the silent movies! Coping With Space Problems Now, let's get into problems of space. There are very few places where a show drummer has enough room to manipulate all his equipment. You may say that this sounds impossible, but have you ever thought of playing timpani seated on a kitchen chair, or having to play a chime part picking up each tube one at a time, or having to play a xylophone part with your back to the conductor watching him in a mirror? Every pit and stage has a personal problem for the drummer which, again, has to be remedied by the performer and the conductor. I find that in my particular work, a drum set consisting of a 22" bass drum, high hat, snare drum, two suspended cymbals, a floor tom-tom and a tom-tom mounted on my bass drum (with a reversible mounting that will allow me to turn this drum in any direction or angle) works best. A combination of wood block or cow bell holder attached to the bass drum is a necessity. In addition, I have a special rack that places a set of bells over my bass drum and traps when necessary. To buy something like this would be an impossibility, but with a little thought and imagination, this rack can easily be made out of conduit, a tubing used by commercial electricians. The cow bell and wood block should be carefully selected to produce just the sound that you have in mind. Also, the relative pitch of your bass drum, tom-toms, and especially snare drum (I recommend a metal shell-type) should be to your taste. This and all your other traps should sound the way you would like to hear them from the audience. You might ask one of your colleagues to go out into the audience area and listen to your equipment. His observations can be of great value in improving the percussions you evolve. If possible, the player himself should listen to his equipment from the vantage point of the audience. Also,
remember that there is a tambourine, and there is a tambourine.
Which means, of course, that you should always seek a better instrument or
stick that might give a better sound for a particular purpose. Show
drumming is the roughest style of them all, but after a fine performance,
whether a one-nighter or a one-year's stand, the satisfaction is one
of an award. Remember, you helped make it possible.
© 1985 by Harry J. Brabec. (Contact Barbara if you'd like permission to reprint this article.) A Note added by Barbara Brabec: Regrettably, the photo below is the only one I have of Harry sitting behind his famous drum set. The photo is not only faded, but badly cropped because I cut up the only photo I had like this and put it in a special memory box for Harry several years ago.
Harry Brabec (1927-2005) was a legendary drummer and musician whose multi-faceted 60-year professional career included playing in night clubs, big bands such as Wayne King and Chuck Foster, and show drumming at the Shubert Theatre in Chicago. He was also a member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (Principal Percussionist for several years), played Lyric Opera, Grant Park, the Melody Top tent theatre, and numerous other small orchestras and concert bands, including circus bands (a special love of his). His professional and personal life has been documented by his wife, Barbara. (Click link below.)
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