Every Cavaliers Front Ensemble 2024 Mallet Exercise

this was a ton of fun to make. the cavaliers have a great packet and that covers lots of fundamentals. i decided to make a video of cavies packet first, following the win of high percussion in 2023. what group do you think i should record next? i like how much attention this packet has toward interval control. there is also a whole section for normal drumming/battery exercises too. the exercises do a great job of covering the single independent technique, i particularly like the LORI (Left, Out, Right Inside) section of DVAI. as an educator i ask myself, does this packet cover the technique of the instrument? there were no exercises that explicitly addressed triple laterals, one handed rolls, pentatonic scales, rhythmic changes, poly-rhythms, diatonic chords, or a chord progressions. that is not to say these are a part of the fundamental taxonomy, but rather to imply the question, what are the essential techniques of the instrument? idk. what do you think? what does the cavies packet get right and what does it miss? anways. took me a while to make and if you read this far id really appreciate a like or comment. hope you enjoy.
0:00 $Location
1:20 DVAI
4:25 8-16
7:00 Broccoli
9:02 Fivelet Broccoli
11:22 Schwartman
14:39 7/8 Octaves
20:19 Green
23:35 Green Pyramid
24:35 Spacial Chromatic
26:20 Stick Control
27:36 Interval Control
33:57 One Handed Octaves

[@isaiahmumaw]

Schwartman almost broke him

[@nic-farris]

lol

[@ultra9349]

I can’t even fathom the skill of the stevens grip for this, like for traditional grip or to a slight extent burton Then again stevens is in a way fundamentally different because of the fulcrum actually being apparent where for traditional often times especially for 2 mallet passages with 4 grip the thumb is on inside

[@nic-farris]

0:00 $Location 1:20 DVAI 4:25 8-16 7:00 Broccoli 9:02 Fivelet Broccoli 11:22 Schwartman 14:39 7/8 Octaves 20:19 Green 23:35 Green Pyramid 24:35 Spacial Chromatic 26:20 Stick Control 27:36 Interval Control 33:57 One Handed Octaves

[@jackdoerges3875]

Love your vids Nic, this was great to drive home to after a long indoor rehearsal. Cavies packet is great for any beginning keyboard player, definitely covers a strong foundation for building to those more complex layers imo

[@henwill8]

I really like DVAI's different combinations of different mallet combinations for single independents, I think it would isolate the movement you want for alternating strokes very well. Schwartman at 200 is pretty crazy (even if it got a little funky by the end)

[@gavind3012]

Can’t wait to see those excerpts 👌

[@smoke_stacks]

I really appreciate how basic and fundamental most of the exercises are in the cavies packet. I think a lot of groups try to do too much with many of their exercises by layering multiple skill sets together in the most basic form of an exercise. Cavies keep in basic and then they can create a variation on an exercise to add another skill set on top of it.

[@smoke_stacks]

In Just about every exercise in the packet you don't really have to worry about playing a complicated note pattern while also trying to work on technique. This is in contrast to something like the bluecoats packet where I feel like a lot of exercises seem a little more complicated than needed. While there is Definitely still value in pushing through to learn something like movin on up, I think it makes it easier for people to focus on getting the notes rather than achieving a better technique

[@thomaswharton4078]

I miss 67 :(

[@henwill8]

I think at least rhythmic changes, chord progressions, triple Laterals, and one handed rolls (or just different types of rolls in general) should be in packets and considered fundamental as each one is used very often in drum corps playing

[@GH_percussion]

Nice Day, great vid. I think the Cavies packet has everything it needs. Some of what you said in the description about chords and scales should be basic knowledge that a player showing up to Cavies auditions (or even just their high school band) should know. More advanced techniques and rhythms, such as triple laterals, one handed rolls, and polyrhythms will be addressed if and when they appear in the show music. A lot of what the packet seems to be based of off is the philosophy of “if you can do the basics really well, than you can do anything want on the instrument.” Take all of this with a grain of salt, though. I’m just a dumb high schooler taught by a small portion of their staff.