Lindsay Kaul’s percussion setup for The Producers at The Players Theater in Port Macquarie in New South Wales, Australia.
"The Producers is up there with one of the more demanding shows to play. For this show at the age of 17, I am the Assistant Musical Director, and outdid my role as one. Due to a lack of players in a small theatre community in Regional NSW, Australia, I took up the parts of Keyboard, Harp, Oboe and Percussion. This was the first show using my own gear (except the Timpani) and it was incredibly rewarding to play non stop around the setup each night, despite how questionable the band as a whole sounds.
Between the drummer and myself, we took up approx. 4m of a 10m wide platform, which is a feat in itself. The platform is 3m above the stage, which allowed me to creatively mount the Bass Drum and Slapstick from the roof and position the other instruments to leave a small footprint.
I have tried to keep as much of the percussion book live so I still use live xylo and glock. Timpani are situated behind me which makes for some interesting pedalling and playing positions - sometimes playing piano at the same time. The auxiliary instruments are on the right hand side of the setup which allows me to pick up something or trigger a triangle whilst keeping the left hand going on the piano. The Miller Machines have out-done themselves this time, especially with how I have been playing the last few shows.
I have incorporated as much electronics as I can to ease the difficulty of covering three whole books. An iPad running the mobile version of QLab triggers some pre-recorded backing tracks for the Audition scenes, and a Roland SPD-SX triggers all of the harp glisses and chords, as well as chimes and vibraphone. The keyboard in front of me is used as a Midi Controller with MainStage. Many of the complicated xylophone runs which the show is known for among musicians are triggered through MainStage, as well as some Timpani hits on the bottom of a piano chord or triangle rolls with string tremolos!
It was a very fun but challenging experience to cover 1/6 of the orchestration. A video showcasing my performance can be found here. It is worth noting I am self-taught on piano and percussion, so technically my technique for both isn’t as perfect as it should be. Videos from the two shows I have been the MD for can also be found on that channel."
Gear:
- Ludwig Timpani (29", 26")
- Korogi 'Pit' Xylo
- Glockenspiel
- Bass Drum
- Pearl Synthetic Woodblocks (2) mounted on a Black Swamp MultiPlate
- Ratchet
- Cowbell
- Claves
- Miller Machine with Alan Abel 4" Triangle
- Miller Machine with Finger Cymbal
- Grover 7" Woodblock
- Castanets
- Bell Tree
- Mark Tree
- Grover 10" Tambourine
- Sleigh Bells
- Siren Whistle
- LP Mini Timbales
- Toca Bongos
- Slapstick
- Zildjian 17” Dark Crash Cymbal
Electronics:
- Roland SPD-SX Sampling Pad
- iPad running QLab
- MacBook Pro running MainStage
Mallets:
- Innovative Percussion Chris Lamb CL-X4 Xylophone Mallets
- Stagg Bass Drum Mallet
- Mike Balter 4R Medium Light Green Rubber Mallets
- Grover ChromaTone Timpani Mallets (General)
- Innovative Percussion IP-1M Timp/Stick Combo
- DragonFly Percussion Aluminium Triangle Beater
- Grover Plastic Bell/Xylo Mallets
The Producers - International - Lindsay Kaul
May 2016
