Urinetown - Christopher Roberts - The Miller Machine

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Christopher Roberts’ setup for Urinetown at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire.

Chris' write-up and gear list below photos.

Christopher Roberts’ setup for Urinetown at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire.

“Before having listened to the show, I always thought Urinetown wasn't a fun show to play. Boy, was I wrong!

After having received the music, I was glad to see it was only a single book and I'd be able to skip my usual first step of combining the percussion and drum books.

I began the usual process of listening to recordings, compiling an instrument list, and thinking about the potential layout ideas. This was when I was told the pit was literally a pit, no stairs, or elevators, and the only access were two ladders, one on either side. Realizing it may not be worth dropping a timpani down, I opted to go electric. After playing around with sounds in Apple MainStage, on my Roland TM-2 Trigger Module, and on my Roland HandSonic HPD-20 I decided on the ease/quality ratio of the HandSonic with a Roland PD-105 Dual Zone Mesh Pad. From there, I followed my usual prescription of percussion on the right, mallets on the left, and tweaked the rest as I delved into the score.

There isn't anything particularly challenging about the show. However, there are two primary sections that I needed to look at. One calls for keeping time with your feet while playing a quick arpeggio on the bells and the other is keeping the hi hat time while getting some syncopated tom hits.

As always, The Miller Machine has been essential in this set up. There's one band break in particular where The Miller Machine has been absolutely indispensable."

Drums: Yamaha Stage Custom (Natural Finish)

12"x8" Rack Tom
16"x15" Floor Tom
22"x17" Bass Drum

Snare: Yamaha Live Custom (Emerald Green Sunburst)

14"x5.5" Snare

Cymbals:

Zildjian 16" K Dark Custom Crash
Zildjian 20" K Dark Custom Ride
Wuhan 10" Splash
Zildjian 14" K Dark Custom Hi Hats
Sabian Solar 18" China Crash

Hardware:

Pearl DR-80 Drum Rack with PC-8 Rack Clamps
Pearl/Gibraltar Medium Weight Cymbal Arms
Gibraltar Multi Accessory Post
DW 5000 Single Bass Drum Pedal
Jacques Capelle Hi Hat Stand

Percussion:

CB Glockenspiel
Alan Abel 6” Symphonic Triangle mounted on a Miller Machine
Zildjian Heavy Finger Cymbal mounted on Miller Machine
LP Red Jam Block
TreeWorks Single Row Chimes

Electronics:

Roland HandSonic HPD-20 with Roland PD-105 Dual Zone Mesh Pad

Sticks/Mallets:

Vic Firth 7A Drum Sticks
Vic Firth SD6 (Swizzle B)
Vic Firth Heritage Brushes
Vic Firth M130 Orchestral Series Keyboard - Soft Plastic

Urinetown - Regional - Christopher Roberts
February 2017

Christopher Roberts’ setup for Urinetown at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire.

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

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."