Into The Woods - Rex Lycan - The Miller Machine

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Triangle Arm

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Brown/Gold

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Rex Lycan’s setup for Into The Woods at the Old Town Temecula Theater in Temecula, California.

Rex's gear list and write-up below photos.

Rex Lycan’s setup for Into The Woods at the Old Town Temecula Theater in Temecula, California.

"There are a lot of rests but It's important that you still count. I used the keyboard for electronic drums, chimes, and timpani. If I ever did this show again I would put the ratchet closer to the bass drum and the keyboard and suspended cymbal closer to each other. There is hardly any timpani in this show so don't be afraid to use a sample pad or a keyboard.

At the end of the second act and at the end of 'Maybe They're Magic' there are tons of quick switches between snare drum and bells/xylophone. In order to achieve these difficult changes, I played the snare drum with bell/xylophone mallets so I could quickly switch over and play bells.

The Miller Machine helped a lot during 'Hello, Little Girl' when there are already a ton of fast switches between timpani mallets and brushes (trying to juggle a triangle beater in there would be near impossible).

For crotales, I played the bells with finger cymbals. The conductor said it sounded just like the real thing. In this show, percussion plays a lot of sound effects. Whenever a magic bean is thrown, for example, there's a xylophone gliss. Also, the concert bass drum is used for the footsteps of the giant in the second act.

This was a really fun show to play."

Gear list:

Ross 3.5 Octave Kelon Xylophone
Musser Bells
Pearl Piccolo Snare
Ludwig Maple Toms
Ludwig Concert Bass Drum
Latin Percussion Granite Blocks
Ratchet
Latin Percussion Cowbell
TreeWorks 6” Triangle with Miller Machine
Brake Drum (from my dads old truck)
Sandpaper Blocks with 3M Sandpaper
Bell Tree

Cymbals:

Zildjian A Custom 18” Crash (suspended)
Zildjian A Custom 12” Splash
Zildjian A Custom 6” Splash
Zildjian A Custom 14” Hi-Hats
Zildjian Thin Finger Cymbals

Electronics:

Roland Juno GI Mobile Synthesizer

Mallets:

Generic Snare Drum Sticks
Mike Balter 10B Xylo/Bell Mallets
Vic Firth M5 Rubber Mallets
Vic Firth M183 Marimba Mallets (for suspended cymbal)
Vic Firth HB Brushes
Innovative Percussion James Ross IP908 Brass Mallets
Double-sided Bell Mallets (plastic and rubber)
Vic Firth American Custom T3 Staccato Timpani Mallets
Travis Barker Double Sticks/Mallets
Janson Percussion Ludwig Payson Model Bass Drum Rollers

Into The Woods - Regional - Rex Lycan
March 2019

Rex Lycan’s setup for Into The Woods at the Old Town Temecula Theater in Temecula, California.

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."