Uncovered: The Music of Simon and Garfunkel - Jamie Drake

2 min read

Jamie Drake's setup for Uncovered: The Music of Simon and Garfunkel as put on by Acting Up Stage Company in Toronto, Canada, at Koerner Hall.

"Uncovered is an annual event that takes the music of a 'pop' artist and reimagines it in a more musical theatre-y way, with the tunes sung by some of the best Canadian performers from Broadway, Stratford Festival, Shaw Festival etc.

I've been privileged to be part of these shows since the beginning, and in addition to playing, I assist the Musical Director Reza Jacobs with the arrangements and orchestrations. The band for this version consisted of piano, violin, bass, and percussion.

This year's show mostly switched between drum set and mallet percussion. I am a proud Yamaha guy but my Club Custom Kit was in another theatre, so the vintage Slingerlands came out for this one (and actually suited the arrangements really well). Other instruments included glockenspiel, vibes, tubular bells (thanks Yamaha Canada!), Mark Trees, crotales, chromatic bells from Steve Weiss, a trine, a single timbale (which sort of doubled as a repenique) and a table full of bottles and other sounds for a very cool arrangement of 'You Can Call Me Al'.

The bass drum is an old Leedy that I rescued from its past life as a coffee table (the previous owner had covered it in Seagrams ads - decided to leave them on there as it ads character, I think!).

And, of course, a Miller Machine and lots of great mallets from Innovative Percussion as well. And a whole mix of cymbals, including a gorgeous Dream Contact ride."

Uncovered: The Music of Simon and Garfunkel - International - Jamie Drake
December 2015

Jamie Drake's setup for Uncovered: The Music of Simon and Garfunkel as put on by Acting Up Stage Company in Toronto, Canada, at Koerner Hall.

Articles

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

More Setups

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."