Alvaro Domingo's setup for Matilda Jr. at the Nightingale-Bamford School in New York, New York.
Alvaro's writeup and gear list below photos.
"I have been the Nightingale-Bamford School’s resident drummer and percussionist for the past four years. Within those four years I’ve been very grateful to be invited back on several occasions after my first Musical Shrek which I played in 2018. Learning Matilda Jr. was a very rewarding process, from figuring out what setup would work, to having to transpose timpani pitches in-between rehearsals.
This was an amazing and fun book to get the opportunity to play. I took inspiration for the setup from Howard Joines', and Alec Wilmart’s, setups for this show.
With the space I had, I knew having an actual set of timpani would not be possible, so I opted to trigger them off of the Alesis Strike MultiPad. In addition to the timpani, all of the extra sound effects and other percussion were programmed into the MultiPad. Also due to space, I couldn’t do the really cool four tom setup I saw in both setups referenced above, so I got the job done with two toms.
Rehearsals started in December, but I came in mid January for the Dress Rehearsal, and a final rehearsal the day before the first performance. The show ran a very short two performances. We original planned to do three but as of writing this, New York was hit by a snow storm, so the last performance was cancelled.
This book was a real challenge to play choreography-wise, switching from drums to timpani. Also, because this was the Jr. version, the Music Director found it necessary to change the key of two of the songs, "School Song", and "The Smell Of Rebellion". This meant I had to transpose the timpani pitches, which I had never done before!
Overall, it was a great show to get to play and it’s one I will cherish forever."
Drums: Sound Percussion Labs Street Bop 3 Piece Kit - White Sparkle Finish
- 10” x 7” Rack Tom
- 13” x 13” Floor Tom
- 18” x 16” Bass Drum
Snare:
- 14” x 6.5” Drum Workshop Sea Glass Acrylic
Cymbals: (left to right)
- Zildjian 14” K Hi-Hats
- Zildjian 18” K Medium Dark Thin Crash
- Zildjian 12” K Splash
- Zildjian 20” K Ride
- Sabian 19” HHX Legacy Crash
Electronics:
- Alesis Strike Multipad
Percussion:
- Glockenspiel
- RythmTech Pro Tambourine w/Pro Mount
- Black Swamp Tambourine
- Miller Machine with Triangle
Sticks/Mallets:
- Vic Firth American Classic 7A Drumsticks
- Vic Firth Live Wires Brushes
- Innovative Percussion General Series GT3 Medium Timpani Mallets
- Vic Firth American Classic 5A Dual-Tones
- Grover Pro Hard Plastic Glockenspiel Mallets
Follow Alvaro.
Instagram: @nyc.drummer
YouTube: Alvaro Domingo
Matilda Jr. - Regional - Alvaro Domingo
February 2022
