Instructional Video: Orchestral Bass Drum

[@LUISCARON]

ESTO ES GENIAL ,MUCHAS GRACIAS POR COMPARTIR TU CONOCIMIENTO ,SALUDOS DESDE EL SUR DE CHILE

[@RobMaciak]

¡Muchas gracias, y muy feliz de saber que disfrutaste! ¡Te saludo desde Canadá, cerca de las Montañas Rocosas! :)

[@scott.ordway.composer]

Hi Rob - thanks for the video! Question from a composer here: what size bass drum are you using here? Is there a clear way to distinguish in the score between this kind and the VERY large size that is sometimes used in orchestral performance?

[@RobMaciak]

Hi Scott! Sorry for the delay in responding to you. This drum is 28 inches in diameter, which is definitely on the small side for orchestral bass drums. This is part of the reason why I put technologically advanced heads on it, so that it "sounds larger than it is." If you wanted a larger one, you could always specify a preferred diameter in the score (larger common diameters are 32", 36" and 40"). You can also request that the bass drum be suspended within a frame with elastic cord (which increases resonance), as opposed to just mounted on a stand. The player would likely strive to accommodate the request in the score, but sometimes the request cannot be completely accommodated; percussionists almost always have to borrow large bass drums from organisations. I live in a city of 1.4 million people and I'm the only percussionist who owns an orchestral bass drum, and as aforementioned, it is a relatively small one. Sometimes, borrowing a large drum from a school or a community orchestra is possible, but can be difficult during peak performance seasons (Christmas and Spring), when those organisations want the instruments for rehearsal and performance purposes. I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any more questions. I'm excited to subscribe to your channel and check out your content! Thank you for writing! 🙂

[@nathanaeltsen8957]

Thanks for the great instructions! I wonder how do you tune the bass drum?

[@RobMaciak]

Hi Nathanael, thanks so much for the suggestion! I made a video and dedicated it to you! It starts right from putting the bass drum back together and then goes into tuning, and it is also time indexed so that you can jump ahead! Here it is: kzbin.info/www/bejne/onfMioxpqLSYbKc