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Ragtime - Craig Given

Craig Given's combined book setup for Ragtime at the National Academy for Singing and Dramatic Art (3rd Year Students Production) in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Craig Given's combined book setup for Ragtime at the National Academy for Singing and Dramatic Art (3rd Year Students Production) in Christchurch, New Zealand.Craig Given's combined book setup for Ragtime at the National Academy for Singing and Dramatic Art (3rd Year Students Production) in Christchurch, New Zealand.Craig Given's combined book setup for Ragtime at the National Academy for Singing and Dramatic Art (3rd Year Students Production) in Christchurch, New Zealand.Craig Given's combined book setup for Ragtime at the National Academy for Singing and Dramatic Art (3rd Year Students Production) in Christchurch, New Zealand.Craig Given's combined book setup for Ragtime at the National Academy for Singing and Dramatic Art (3rd Year Students Production) in Christchurch, New Zealand.

“This is a fantastic show set in America at the start of the 20th Century. It follows the intertwining stories of three families from three very different backgrounds. The story and characters are well supported by the music, with a wide range of styles throughout, including Ragtime!

The show was produced by the Christchurch NASDA Performing Arts College, which run a three year Bachelor Degree Programme in Musical Theatre. It was performed in a fairly small theatre and as such a reduced orchestra was required. The original Broadway orchestration calls for 26 musicians. We performed this with 5! A single reed player (covering many parts), upright bass, two upright pianos, and drums/percussion. The reduced orchestra and arrangements worked really well, driven by the piano parts.

I decided to take the two books (drum set and percussion) and combine as much as possible into a single book. What I ended up with was a drum set centric part with glockenspiel and lots of small percussion instruments (bells, blocks, triangles, whistles, etc) as needed to support the on-stage action and lyrics. Missing instruments were emulated when and where appropriate. For example, some timpani notes were played on toms.

A fun (but fairly dark) show with lots of contrast in the music (stylistically and dynamically) but with very few moments to stop and rest as the show is almost entirely sung thru with frequent time signature and tempo changes.”

Drums: Gretsch Catalina Club Jazz

  • 18" Bass Drum 
  • 14" Floor Tom
  • 12" Rack Tom
  • 14" Snare Drum

Cymbals:

  • Zildjian 13" Z Custom hi-hats
  • UFIP 8" Class Series Splash
  • Paiste 14" Signature Series Crash
  • Sabian 18" El Sabor Crash

Percussion:

  • Glockenspiel (custom built by Craig)
  • Cha-Cha Cowbell
  • LP Jam Block
  • Grover 4" Bronze Series Triangle with The Miller Machine
  • Grover 10" Silver/Bronze Combo Tambourine
  • Old Fire-Alarm Bell (used as a 'Trolley' bell)
  • Ratchet
  • Mark Tree
  • Temple Blocks 
  • Police Whistle
  • Siren Whistle
  • UFIP Tam-Tam
  • Zildjian Finger Cymbals (thin)
  • Brake Drum
  • Sand Paper Blocks

Ragtime - International - Craig Given
August 2016

Craig Given's combined book setup for Ragtime at the National Academy for Singing and Dramatic Art (3rd Year Students Production) in Christchurch, New Zealand.

"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."
"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."
"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."

Ron Grassi's drum set setup for Mean Girls at Archbishop Performing Arts, in Warminster, Pennsylvania.

"The main challenge that I found with this show was the very quick instrument and stick changes. Having a good pair of swizzle sticks is necessary to go from tambourine to timpani and sometimes rolls on the concert bass drum."
"The real impetus of this book is the timpani. It is definitely the driving force for the percussion inBack to the Future and it requires a big articulate sound and once again Yamaha with the Evans Orchestral White Opaque Heads just deliver."

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

Steve Jordan's drum solo from the title track of the album Casa Loco.
Robbie Ameen's drum solo from the track "Spring Fling".

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