10 minutes with… Robert Oetomo

The Benefits

Electronic Drums

DEAGAN GLOCKENSPIEL 107 YEARS OF HISTORY

The news from the world of percussion ROLAND Xmas Sale

by Optimum Percussion December 2015

the restoration of a

DEAGAN GLOCKENSPIEL

By Allan Watson

As we look back at this golden era of percussion invention

and manufacture there are a few specific instruments that

stand out as being remarkable. Instruments that, despite the

brilliance of modern engineering and manufacture, have not

been surpassed for tone quality. One of these is the famous

Deagan round top Glockenspiels and it's "brother" the

Deagan Parsifal bells.

After consulting with our friend and master instrument tuner

and builder, John Rechter of Mountain Marimbas, I decided

to " upgrade" this special set of bars to be portable "Parsifal

Bells" . The Deagan Parsifal bells were a special range of

instruments that featured tuned resonators under each bar.

Being in a portable, carry-able box, it was a masterpiece of

invention by Deagan. Each of the short resonators, none

longer than approximately 7cm, have different size openings

at the top. The smaller openings "trick" the resonator into

thinking that it is longer than it really is and allow the lower

notes to be resonated effectively.

Other decisions involved the bar finishing and plating type.

These were rusty bars and heavily pitted. How much metal

can be taken off without ruining the bar? Chrome or Nickel

plate? Shiny or satin finish? Together with John, I chose a

satin nickel plate and left a few pits in the bars here and

there. Retuning to A=442 brought the glockenspiel in line

with other modern keyboards and I boldly reasoned that

violins do tend to go a little sharp up the top.

John has done a marvellous job in replicating the Parsifal bells

frame, resonators and case. His research is impeccable and

he has restored a small piece of percussion history to be a

practical and beautiful sounding Glockenspiel that is a

pleasure to play.

Deagan "Roundtop Parsifal Bells" are the latest and greatest improvement in the way of

Orchestra bells. Deagan regular Parsifal bells have been on the market for some time,

and have met with phenomenal success everywhere, and since the incorporation of

Roundtop Bars with Parsifal Bells we believe that we can conscientiously offer to the

professional drummer a bell which is without a peer.

Deagan "Roundtop Parsifal Bells" are absolutely without over-tones or counter

harmonics, and when a bar is struck you hear nothing but the pure tone of the bell. No

jingling or disagreeable overtones.

Deagan "New Style Roundtop Parsifal Bells" can be had either mounted in case with

resonators or on floor rack with resonators, as illustrated herewith. The resonators over

which the bars are mounted are the latest style patented resonator, which add greatly

to the volume as well as sweetness of the tone of the bell.

-Parsifal bells are loud enough for the largest band (you simply cannot drown them out)

when played with ordinary hammers, and when played with soft hammers they are an

ideal accompaniment for songs, etc.

We claim for Deagan Parsifal Bells the following points of excellence:

The finest and purest tone of any bell in the world.

Absolute perfect tuning.

Finest possible workmanship, combined with most handsome appearance.

No reflected light, as with flat-top bars. Roundtop bars do not blind your eyes.

Easy to play.

Here is a copy of Deagan's fabulous advertisement

text for their great new instruments of 1908.

A few years ago I received one of those phone calls any

percussionist hopes one might get...."Hello. I have an old

Deagan Glockenspiel I am interested in selling. It was owned

by my dad who used to play a bit when he was younger".

After a fair few excited questions and an immediate car trip

through Sydney traffic , I had purchased a very, very rusty

Deagan model 1229 round top. This is considered one of

their best models, originally patented in 1908. This glock was

at "high pitch" where A=454 which is the best part of a

semitone sharp. Soon after this, the USA decided A= 440

was a more sensible option for instruments. More recently

A=442 has become the tuning standard for concert

percussion. The old case suspension felts were completely

moth eaten and the case was not at all practical, with the

chromatic bars getting further away from the diatonic bars as

the pitch gets higher. Glock makers were very good at

making the bars back in 1908 but frames and cases have

come quite a long way in the last 100 years.

In 1880 John Calhoun Deagan began making the first

orchestral glockenspiels that were designed for professional

orchestras and bands. John Deagan was in direct

competition with Ulysses Leedy and William F Ludwig's new

company and their combined inventive genius and

manufacturing and business excellence provided the world

with the first great orchestral percussion instruments. The

tuning and manufacturing concepts and materials used for

their Xylophones , Glockenspiels ( Orchestral Bells) ,

Marimbas and Tubular bells ( Chimes) , Timpani and a huge

variety of drums are largely still in use today by modern

percussion instrument manufacturers across the world. It

was a very exciting time during 1900--1920 as the birth of

percussion took place. The marvellous JC Deagan, Leedy

and Ludwig Corporations were inventing , patenting and

manufacturing new instruments at a rapid pace and the great

Vaudeville era and the beginnings of Jazz in the 1920's

provided huge demand - live music was king and drums and

percussion were more relevant and exciting than ever

before.

I was the proud owner of almost $1000 worth

of rusty, out of tune glock bars... no bargain

but the beginning of a restoration adventure.

How does this "new" 100 year old Deagan compare with the

great Glockenspiels of today? Yamaha took over the Deagan

brand in the 1970's and produces a lovely set of Deagan

Tubular Bells (Sydney Symphony owns these) as well as the

Deagan DC1590 glockenspiel. The lovely Deagan sparkle is

there in the Yamaha's sound but the old round tops have

much larger, heavier bars and the sound is therefore fuller

and stronger with the penalty of the heavier weight to carry.

Fall Creek marimba from the USA have also built beautiful

hand made glockenspiels (one also owned by the Sydney

Symphony) with bar dimensions more similar to the round

top. Adams from Holland spent many years working on their

new "Parsifal" bells series and have unapologetically followed

Deagan's leads in bar dimensions and other aspects, including

the name of course. Adams have produced a remarkable 3.3

octave instrument with full size steel resonators on an

excellent frame and I am fortunate to have this instrument

with us in the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra. This

Adams instrument is featuring right now in Tchaikovsky's

Sleeping Beauty Ballet with the Australian Ballet at the

Sydney Opera House. Adams also have just release a table

top F-d version in a good case. Comparing the Adams

instruments and the restored Deagan is not so clear. There

is a certain sound to the Deagan glock - warm and full and it

is a lovely magical sound that is unique but the Adams

instruments do have a little more resonance and a slightly

brighter sparkle in the attack.

It is great to know that you can now buy a new glockenspiel

that compares well to this famed Deagan model but I feel

very fortunate to have this wonderful 100 year old historic

beauty to enjoy and perform upon, and have enjoyed the

journey of it's restoration. After restoration

Before restoration

1908 to 2015 107 years of history

“passionately advocating the development of percussion music”

vi) What is your favourite percussion/drum book?

Progressive Steps to Syncopation for the Modern Drummer

by Ted Reed. It still amazes me (until now) with the infinite

number of variations you can do with just a single line from

this book.

vii) Who was your main instrumental teacher and

what was one of the best lessons they gave you?

I've had the privilege of having an all-star line-up of teachers,

and they were all my main instrumental teacher in the

different stages of my study life: Gary Wain (2006), Rick

Miller (2008), Daryl Pratt (2007-2010), Claire Edwardes

(2011), Jasmin Kolberg (2012-2014) and Professor Dennis

Kuhn (2012-2014). There are 3 underlying topics that all of

my teachers taught me at some point as a musician: 1. always

listen/be open minded; 2. always be yourself/stay true to

yourself and; 3. music is always about sound.

viii) A drum or percussion item that you cannot live

without?

I really REALLY love my 5.5-octave Marimba One marimba

with Premium Keyboard and Classic Resonators. But I also

love my modest and humble Pearl Export drum kit that I

occasionally let-loose on.

ix) Musical Idol?

Johann Sebastian Bach; the greatest and most complete

musician to have walked on earth.

x) Oddest musical instrument request you've

received?

I can't think of one to be honest, but something that I

remember very clearly was a request from a conductor

whilst playing a pair of crash cymbals; to play them

by twisting the pair of crash cymbals for a different sound

effect.

Indonesian-born Australian percussionist and composer Robert

Oetomo (b. 1988) is an active freelancer as a soloist, chamber

musician, composer and an educator. He has been invited as

special guest artist to perform and present masterclasses in

numerous festivals around the world including the 1st Qingdao

International Percussion Festival 2014 in China and the 9th

Tabasco International Marimba Festival 2015 in Mexico.

i) When and why did you start playing?

I started learning percussion when I was 18 in my first [and

only] year of the Bachelor of Music (Composition) degree at

the Tasmanian Conservatorium of Music. The

Conservatorium Orchestra was playing Shostakovich's

Symphony No. 9 and they didn't have enough percussionist.

So I was given a triangle and a triangle beater, and was told

to play the triangle part. I've never sweated so much in my

life before!

ii) What music did you last listen to?

Brahms' Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 73 with Christian

Thielemann and the Staatskapelle Dresden.

iii) What's in your stick bag?

As I mostly play marimba these days, I only have marimba

mallets in my stick bag which includes Nancy Zeltsman's,

Nanae Mimura's and Naoko Takada's signature series

marimba mallets by Encore Mallets, Inc.

iv) What is your favourite piece of work that you

have performed?

Impossible to answer with one piece of work but it'll have to

be Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring if I had to name one

amongst a few.

v) What's the last video you watched on Youtube?

My YouTube 'Watch History' tells me 'Ronni Kot Wenzell

playing "Over the Rainbow" [arranged by Max Seide Leth for

solo vibraphone]'

International Percussionist & Composer

Robert OETOMO

Electronic DRUM KITS

the benefits of

MIDI: You can also expand your sound palette and

recording capabilities by connecting your electronic drum set

to computers and software, external sound modules,

samplers and other electronic musical instruments via MIDI.

MIDI is the worldwide standard for connecting electronic

musical instruments and computers. All Roland V-Drums

models include a standard MIDI out connector that requires

a separate MIDI interface, and many also include USB for

simple connection to a computer with a single cable. Either

method allows you to utilize any number of software

applications including Roland’s DT-1 Drum Tutor and V-

Drums Friend Jam.

Familiar Playing Feel: You’ll experience a great acoustic

drum feel when playing Roland V-Drums, and all your

acoustic drumming techniques translate seamlessly to V-

Drums, from rim shots on the snare to grabbing a cymbal to

choke its sound. Even nuanced techniques such as buzz and

press rolls, brush play, hi-hat heel splashes, and more are

easily performed on virtually all Roland electronic

drum sets.

Quick Access to a Wide Variety of Sounds: Electronic

drum kits allow you to change the sound of your drum kit

with a touch of a button. Studio-quality acoustic kits, huge

arena rock kits, world and orchestral percussion, electronic

and techno kits, funky hip-hop kits, and more are all

immediately accessible. With hundreds of drum, percussion,

and effects sounds at your fingertips, an electronic kit will let

you play authentic sounds in wide variety of musical styles.

Volume Control: One of the main challenges with acoustic

drums, cymbals, and percussion is the extreme volume levels

these instruments can produce. An electronic drum kit’s

drum and cymbal pads make very little acoustic noise when

played, and the volume of the sounds can be easily

controlled with the volume knob. This makes electronic kits

a great choice for small stages, churches, or anywhere stage

volume may be a problem. At home, the sound can be

monitored with headphones making late night and apartment

drumming practical. And for recording enthusiasts, electronic

drums make it easy to achieve professional sounding tracks

by eliminating the need for multiple microphones.

Practicing, Play-along, and Built-In Recording: Roland

electronic drum sets include valuable practice, play-along and

recording tools. All models feature a built-in metronome

with adjustable tempo, and a mix-in jack for connecting to an

MP3 or CD player so you can jam with your favorite songs.

Some also include Roland’s Coach, a unique tool that helps

improve drumming skills with challenging exercises and drills,

providing feedback on your performance. With many models

you can explore different drumming styles by playing along

with onboard songs and musical patterns, or access MP3 and

WAV files with a USB thumb drive. Even record and play

back your drumming performances with easy-to-use

recording features, now a common built-in feature with

nearly every current model of Roland V-Drums. And for

the TD-30, TD-25, and TD-11 series V-Drums Kits, the

optional Roland Wireless Connect allows you to record or

just have fun jamming using the FREE apps Air

Recorder and V-Drums Friend Jam for iPhone.

Why Electronic Drums? At Optimum Percussion we sell many lovely acoustic drum kits and electronic drum kits, each one chosen to suit the players or schools individual needs and tastes. This is an article from Roland USA about the benefits of Electronic Drums. It outlines the excellent nature of the current technology and the practical application of the drum kits in peoples

lifestyles.

Optimum Percussion on the Roland TD25

This new Roland V-Drum set brings a new dimension

to the Roland range. With excellent response on the

all mesh pads and a brain that encourages quick and

easy manoeuvrability of settings, this drum kit is

perfect for live applications. The high quality in-built

sounds allow tuning, muffling, and variable

instrument options on each pad, all laid out in a

quick and easy format on the new TD25 brain. An

excellent Drum Kit with a great live drum feel!

Optimum Percussion

2016

EDUCATION CATALOGUE

out mid January 2016

by Optimum Percussion December 2015