Alec Wilmart's drum set setup for A Chorus Line at The 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle, Washington.
"This production used the original orchestrations for A Chorus Line. Being one of the first musicals written in a contemporary ‘rock’ style, there was little precedent for drum set notation in musical theater, and consequently, the drum part is in the same book as the percussion part. It has a mix of old style, ‘slash’ notation and complete detailed drum parts.
The Yamaha Oak Custom was a great kit for this show, tuned pretty much wide open with gel mutes to emulate that '70s ‘Dead Drum’ sound. It's a rock show, but there are several tunes in swing, funk, latin, 2-beat, and ballad styles as well. The 16" tom is only used in three spots in the show, but the first is a solo 16th note run from top to bottom in the opening number. Any standard drum kit will do for this show, but I really enjoyed the sound of this particular set due to the warmth and depth of the Oak Custom.
A Chorus Line is pretty straight-forward musically, but requires knowledge of several styles, as well as an ability to ‘groove’, and includes some well known classics such as "One", "Nothing" and "What I did for Love.”
Drums:
- Yamaha Oak Custom 22" Bass Drum
- Yamaha Oak Custom 10", 12", 14" Mounted Toms
- Yamaha Oak Custom 16" Floor Tom
- Yamaha Vintage Snare 14" x 6"
Cymbals:
- Sabian 8" B8 Pro Splash
- Sabian 14" AA Hi-Hats
- Sabian 8" AAX Splash
- Sabian 16" Hand Hammered Crash
- Zildjian 20" K Ride
- Paiste 18" Signature Crash
Percussion:
- Cowbell
- LP Red Jam Block
- Miller Machine with Triangle
A Chorus Line - Regional - Alec Wilmart
September 2014
