Wicked - Alex Stopa - The Miller Machine

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Alex Stopa's percussion setup for Wicked at The Smith Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

“Playing Wicked at The Smith Center in Las Vegas has been a blast!

Perhaps the biggest challenge with my setup was navigating such a wide variety of unconventional instruments. Kenny Hodges in Salt Lake City sent me photos of a rack system that he built in order to mount the very specific instruments (wand, shell chimes, Tibetan goat bell, trine, etc.) that the show demands. I designed a similar rack out of metal pipe (purchased from a local hardware store) and it allowed me to play these instruments quickly and efficiently without removing them from the rack.

A Lavalier Mic ensured that everything was picked up in the mix. I placed the chimes at the front of my setup just to try something different. It worked well and made some of the quick transitions a little smoother.

The percussion book is extremely well written, creative and challenging. Big thanks to Majestic Percussion and Sabian cymbals.”

Alex is a proud sponsor of Sabian Cymbals, and Majestic Concert Percussion.

Wicked - Regional - Alex Stopa
November 2014

Alex Stopa's percussion setup for Wicked at The Smith Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

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."