Before you buy, consider…
Picture it: you’ve been presented with the opportunity to buy some new percussion equipment but you aren’t sure where to start. What brands should you get? How much should you spend? What are crotales?
It’s a difficult situation. But I’ve got some tricks you can use to help figure it out!
1. How frequently is the instrument featured in repertoire you play?
Trick 1 is to start with the basics. Look at the repertoire you’re playing and figure out which percussion instruments are used most frequently. From there you can figure out which ones you’re missing most frequently. At this stage we aren’t concerned with brands or cost. We’re focused on the bare necessities of your ensemble.
The genre of repertoire you play is also a good clue. If you mainly play jazz, there usually isn’t going to be much call for tubular bells or a 5-octave marimba. Similarly, if you play classical music, maybe you’d be better off purchasing a gong/tam-tam instead of a drum kit.
2. What’s the nature of your group?
Trick 2 is logistics. Where do you usually play? Is your ensemble static or dynamic?
Imagine, for example, that you’re buying timpani for a community band which performs in a variety of venues (indoors and outdoors). You’ll need instruments capable of being moved easily and often, and which can stand that sort of treatment. Thus, you’re more likely to want timps that are light, robust, and can fit easily through most doorways.
Now conversely, imagine you’re buying timpani for a concert hall with an in-house professional orchestral. The instruments will rarely be moved long distances and you want drums which will speak well in the acoustics of the hall. As such, you can afford to invest in heavier instruments which may be more difficult to move because they’re more appropriate to the nature of the group playing them.
3. Where will the purchase help the most?
Lastly, trick 3 considers the current condition of your percussion collection.
When you’ve got a limited budget to spend on instruments and equipment it’s important to identify where the purchase will be most effective. In this case, whether it’s better to replace broken instruments, invest in repairing them, or expand your collection.
There’s no point in buying a fancy new set of tubular bells if your xylophone is languishing in a corner with its cord broken, bars knackered, and frame liable to collapse at the slightest breeze. In this case repairing or replacing the broken instrument is the most logical expense (and will often cost less than buying a new instrument outright). Doing so may mean that you continue to have a gap in your instrument capabilities. But this is where Trick 1 comes into effect again, helping us to assess which instruments are used more frequently and purchasing accordingly.
Well, that’s all for today. Take care and happy playing!
