Beauty and the Beast - Kevin McNaughton

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Kevin McNaughton's combined book setup for the touring production of Beauty and the Beast.

Kevin's write-up snd gear list below photos.

Kevin McNaughton's combined book setup for the touring production of Beauty and the Beast.

"When I approach a show that other musicians have played, I always go back and listen to the recordings. In this case I had several to choose from: The original Broadway cast recording with John Redsecker on drums and Joe Passaro on percussion, London cast recording, Australian cast recording, German cast recording, and even previous tour recordings were all used for reference.

This tour travels with a self-contained orchestra and I’m the only percussionist which requires me to perform a combined drum set and percussion book. The keyboards help out and cover some of the mallet passages during the drum-set heavy sections. I also have the Yamaha DTX-MULTI 12 to supplement timpani, chimes, xylophone, etc.

I wanted to make sure, even though this was a traveling show with a smaller orchestra and a combined book, that the acoustical integrity of the show on my end wasn’t sacrificed (beyond synthesizing the timpani - yuck!).

I outfitted the batter sides of my drums with Evans Strata 1000 Heads (with G1 Clear Resonants) and couldn’t be happier with the sound and durability they provide on the road. I’m also traveling with a live gong for those few passages where I have time to use the real thing. From what I’ve heard, the mallet parts were originally performed on a MalletKAT. This touring production provides a glockenspiel, and other than that, the mallet sections are synthesized on the keyboards and the Yamaha DTX-MULTI 12.

The Miller Machine is a complete and total game changer! I’m able to execute that perfect ‘ding’ without having to balance a beater in my mouth. Amazing! I mount the Machine on my tom mount using LP hardware.

We all have our ways of getting the exact sounds we want out of our instruments; here are some little adjustments I’ve made.

I used the hi-hat to get a piatti sound in certain sections of the score. The Soultone Extreme Series hi-hats I’m using have a beautiful sound and unique timbre, but the sustain is a bit too long for my liking in this show. To fix that, I took a Moongel and placed it on the top-hat to eat up some of the overtones. Works like a charm.

I’m using the LP Cyclops Tambourine more out of convenience and ease of access than the sound it produces. A quick and easy fix for me was to use Gaffers Tape and mute some of the jingles.

I’ve always been happy with the sound of my older Yamaha Stage Custom kick drum. I’m using an Evans G1 Batter Head and the Evans Ported Resonant Head. I lined the interior shell with some egg crate to control the sound."

Drums: Yamaha Stage Custom

22" Bass Drum
16" Floor Tom
12" Small Tom

Snare:

DW 14" Performance Series Snare

Cymbals:

Soultone 22" Gospel Series Ride
Soultone 14" Extreme Series Hi-Hat
Soultone 17" Crash
Soultone 15" Crash
Soultone 10" Gospel Series Splash

Percussion:

TreeWorks Tre44 Studio Chime
Miller Machine with Triangle
Adams Glockenspiel
Meinl Small Wood Cajon Castanet
LP Sleigh Bells
LP Cyclops Tambourine
LP Rock Cowbell
LP Granite Blocks
Large Gong

Electronics:

Yamaha DTX-MULTI 12 Electronic Percussion Pad used for Timpani, Chimes, Glockenspiel, Xylophone, and Gong

Kevin is a proud endorser of Soultone Cymbals.

Beauty and the Beast - Tour - Kevin McNaughton
December 2015

Kevin McNaughton's combined book setup for the touring production of Beauty and the Beast.

Conducting a National Tour by Danny Taylor

"Conducting a National Tour is incredibly challenging, but so rewarding. Stepping on to the podium with a new orchestra every few weeks really keeps you on your toes. Every player responds differently so you are constantly adjusting to get the desired result. I would compare it to playing a multi-percussion piece where the instruments are constantly moving."

5 min read

Reporting from the Broadway Trenches by Jon Berger

"After a grueling four years at SUNY I still had one theory class left to finish. I was really depressed. A classmate of mine recommended me for a tour of a Broadway show. This completely changed the course of my life."

7 min read

Drumming for "Ain’t Too Proud" by Clayton Craddock

"When I first got the call to start working on Ain’t Too Proud - The Life And Times Of The Temptations, I was curious about which era the show was going to focus on. Their career began in the early 1960’s and they’re still releasing albums today."

7 min read

The Little Mermaid - Brian Kirk

"The timpani tunings are the real challenge of The Little Mermaid. Changing pitches must be done by feel, that was my biggest challenge. Memorizing the mallet parts was also very necessary."

2 min read

The Little Mermaid - Alec Wilmart

"As you can see in the pictures, I prefer to have as much 'stuff' right in front of me, as close as possible. Because there are so many instruments close in, I have mounted a music stand off of the tom mount.

2 min read

Kevin McNaughton's setup for the National Tour of Pretty Woman at the Old National Centre (formerly the Murat Theatre) in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Pretty Woman - Kevin McNaughton

"Different from the tour, the original Broadway production had acoustic drums, an acoustic set of timbales, and an acoustic tambourine - the tambourine is now programmed in the SPD-SX."