Little Shop of Horrors - Skyler Fortgang

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Skyler Fortgang’s percussion setup for Little Shop of Horrors at The Livingston Theater Company at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

Read Skyler's write-up about the show, below the photos.

Skyler Fortgang’s percussion setup for Little Shop of Horrors at The Livingston Theater Company at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

"This setup for the percussion book is fairly non-traditional. With the limited space I had I basically put all of the 'big' instruments I didn’t own into a MainStage file. This included: timpani, vibraphone (played on a small two octave MIDI controller), xylophone, chimes, bell tree, castanets, sampled hand claps, and Vibraslap.

I built a custom MainStage layout that would accommodate the Alesis SamplePad Pro (had to make a special read/receive layout for this device) for my more percussive samples, the MIDI controller, and a foot switch for changing patches simultaneously."

Acoustic Equipment:

Pearl Primero Congas
LP Matador Bongos
Vic Firth Bell Kit
Pearl Mountable/Detachable Rock Tambourine
TreeWorks TRE35 Wind Chimes
Abel 6” Triangle - Powered by the Miller Machine
LP Double Sambago Bells
Zildjian K 20” Crash Ride
LP Chick-Ita Shaker
LP Soft Shake

Electronic Equipment:

Apple 13” MacBook Pro running MainStage 3
D-Link USB Hub (to house MIDI devices and Interface)
Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 USB Audio Interface (outputting to house and to monitor)
Radial D2 Pro DI Box (out to house)
M-Audio BX5 (personal monitor)
Oxygen v8 MIDI USB Keyboard
Alesis SamplePad Pro
ProLine Sustain Pedal (rigged to work as foot switch)

Sticks:

Vic Firth SD6 Swizzle Drumsticks
Innovative Percussion OS-5 Bell Mallets

Little Shop of Horrors - Regional - Skyler Fortgang
November 2016

Skyler Fortgang’s percussion setup for Little Shop of Horrors at The Livingston Theater Company at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

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."