the snare drum seems like it could be the most boring instrument on earth. regardless, you still have to sound as musical as any violinist or oboist or trumpeter.

in today's video, i'm showing you 7 ways you can express phrasing and musicality on the snare drum.

last week, duncan patton, my former colleague at the met opera, demonstrated how to build a basic legato stroke on timpani. today he’s back to show you the other 8 stroke types you should learn to build a complete sound pallet.

in high school i found an old PAS article on building a legato timpani stroke that changed my life. i didn’t know it at the time, but the author would turn out to be my colleague in the met orchestra, duncan patton. here’s duncan's guide to building a legato stroke, 22 years later.

how do we actually show musicality? i mean… it’s a snare drum.

in august of 2014 i sat down at the beach house of jacques delécluse with him, his wife danielle, and his daughter florence. florence was interpreting.

there are two main reasons to justify any decision when it comes to gear or setup. those are efficiency and accuracy.