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Beauty and the Beast - Kevin McNaughton

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

"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
"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."
"The unique part of Groundhog Day was that the drummer had to play on stage, in a groundhog costume, wearing a giant groundhog head. Since I could barely see out of the head, it was impossible to read a chart (and there wasn’t a music stand), so it had to be memorized."
  • 4 min read
Paul Hansen's setup for Bruce at Seattle Rep in Seattle, Washington.
Patrick Lehosky's percussion setup for In the Heights at the CM Performing Arts Center in Oakdale, New York.
Jay Mack's setup for the National Tour of If/Then at the Paramount Theatre in Seattle, Washington.
Steve Gadd's drum solo from the track "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours". From the album Live Stuff (out of print) from the legendary 1970's New York based band Stuff.
Robbie Ameen's drum solo from the track "Spring Fling".

Gene Krupa's drum solo from "Gene's Blues" from the album Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich released November 1955.

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