Chicago - Tim Sellars

Tim Sellars' setup for Chicago at the Court Theatre in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Tim's write-up and gear list below photos.

Tim:

"I really enjoyed tackling this classic show. It was great to play it with a 7 piece band consisting of drums, double bass, keyboards x2, clarinet, trumpet, and trombone.

I spent a lot of time before the first rehearsal figuring out the best possible set up for all the extra auxiliary percussion and glockenspiel. As I listened and played along with the Broadway recordings, I soon realized that the position of the temple blocks and triangle was going to be key. There were some fast numbers (eg 'Me and My Baby') with intricate patterns between the blocks and triangle with no time to move too far.

I enjoyed getting to play glockenspiel in combination with the drum kit and again the placement of this instrument was important. I had it set up to my right next to my music stand and in line with the conductor. The only instruments I didn’t need to play in this score were a tambourine and the pop gun. These ended up being played by two of the cast members in their respective scenes.

For the ‘clank’ sound I went with a car brake drum which you can see is placed over on my left side by my hi-hat. I ended up striking it carefully with the brass head glockenspiel mallet which allowed it to cut through at a decent volume.

This show was fast paced with limited time between numbers. Some favourites to play were 'We Both Reached for the Gun', 'Me and My Baby', and 'Cell Block Tango'.

Would happily play this one again!"

Drums: Taye RockPro

• 20" Bass Drum
• 14" Floor Tom
• 12" Rack Tom

Snare Drum

• Tama 14" SLP (Sound Lab Project) Vintage Poplar Maple

Cymbals

• Zildjian 21" K Constantinople Big Band Ride Cymbal
• Bosphorus 18" Traditional Series Paper Thin Crash
• Zildjian 17" Zildjian A Custom Crash 
• Bosphorus 14” Hammer Series Hi-Hats
• Zildjian 10” Zildjian A Splash

Heads

• Bass Drum: Remo Powerstroke 3 for both batter and resonant heads
• Snare Drum: Aquarian Texture Coated
• Toms: Remo Coated Emperor's for batter and Clear Ambassadors for resonant

Percussion

• Glockenspiel
• LP Castanet Machine
• Meinl Cowbell
• Ratchet
• Miller Machine with TreeWorks 5" Triangle
• Acme Siren Whistle
• Pearl High-Pitch Ash Tone Block (used as temple block)
• Pearl Med-Pitch Ash Tone Block (used as temple block)
• Pearl Lo-Pitch Ash Tone Block (used as temple block)
• Brake Drum (used for 'clank' sound)

Accessories

• Gibraltar Single Post Accessory Mount (2)
• Gibraltar Multi 4-Post Accessory Mount
• Gibraltar SC-Mat Medium Accessory Table

Electronics

• Shure 215 In-Ears

Sticks/Brushes/Mallets

• Vater Sugar Maple Sweet Ride Sticks
• Regal Tip Classic Brushes
• Mike Balter T1 Ultra Staccato Timpani Mallets
• Promark Dan Fyffe DFP640 Xylophone/Bell Mallets
• Brass Head Glockenspiel Mallets

Chicago - International - Tim Sellars
January 2018