Jaren Angud's percussion setup for Les Miserables at the Eisenhower Auditorium at Penn State University in University Park, Pennsylvania.

Les Miserables - Jaren Angud

May 26, 2024

Jaren Angud's percussion setup for Les Miserables at the Eisenhower Auditorium at Penn State University in University Park, Pennsylvania.

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

Jaren Angud's percussion setup for Les Miserables at the Eisenhower Auditorium at Penn State University in University Park, Pennsylvania.

"This is the version that was orchestrated for a separate percussionist and drum set player which I had found to be incredibly fun and musically satisfying. I had a blast playing this show! It was a real treat for me to use all real instruments that the orchestration called for instead of generated sound patches from an electronic multi-pad device.

Based on my location in the pit (house right) I positioned the instruments around me on three sides. The timpani were positioned to face the conductor. The keyboard instruments and small auxiliary instruments were adjacent to that (facing the house). The chimes and tam-tam were positioned opposite to the timpani. I was given a large video monitor for the two sides of my setup not facing the conductor so I would not have to strain myself to see the music, instruments, and conductor from my peripheral.

This setup worked for me and was fairly easy to navigate, not to mention I had quite a bit of room in the pit to stretch out. The triangle and finger cymbals, although scarcely utilized, were ergonomically positioned on my Meinl multi rack between the keyboard instruments and timpani and it made flying between bongos and triangle much easier. I did not have to pick up the triangle beater, then quietly set it down to play the bongos. Thank you Miller Machine for making my life so much easier!"