The year was 1980 – many years ago. I was going through a tough time in my life. Tough times can feel incredibly overwhelming and exhausting. I was consoling myself by reading many books and assembling all the thoughts, as well as my own, into small red notebooks. After about a year, the notebooks were Read more

First, a little history about kettledrums or timpani. Expanding on this information would make a fasinating study for any percussionist or timpanist working on a paper relating to orchestration or music history.  Some Introductory Notes The few sentences that follow will hopefully encourage continued research on this topic: The modern timpani evolved in the 18th Read more

This information about Cloyd Duff was provided by Jim Atwood, when Cloyd was nominated to the Hall of Fame of the Percussive Arts Society. Cloyd was my teacher at the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music from 1962 until 1967, which was the last year he taught at Oberlin.   CLOYD DUFF Born: Sept. 26, 1915 Died: Read more

Imagine the world without music – no concerts to attend, no singing or whistling, no tapes or CDs, no music in movies, no marching bands, no dancing, no hymns, and no organ at baseball games! Without music our world would certainly be a bleak place. Music is perhaps the most abstract and sublime of all Read more

Werner Thärichen 1921 – 2008Konzert für Pauken und Orchester, Op.34Allegro Moderato Werner Thärichen, legendary timpanist of the Berlin Philharmonic, studied composition and conducting at the Hochschule für Musik in Berlin. He also learned the flute and piano and was a percussionist and timpanist with the orchestras of the Hamburg State Opera and the State Opera Read more

Music is a beautiful art form but for many musicians – a very difficult profession. The artist inside you often has to struggle to become a capitalist in order to survive. Where are you in this lifelong process? Interested? Committed? Frustrated? In Doubt? – Sorry! How are you going to survive your career in music as Read more