Unsnared Drum

Performer’s Guide

What is It?

  1. Album for snare drum from Nina Young, Han Lash, Amy Beth Kirsten, and Tonia Ko.

  2. Performance guides for curious musicians.

Our mission

Create a collection of pieces which highlight the snare drum’s breadth of sonic possibility and depth of expressivity.Rethink the snare drum, to ask whether the instrument could be bold, coy, suave, and elegant: in short, interesting. 

Navigation

The Album

About The Performer’s Guide

Nina C. Young: Heart.throb

Amy Beth Kirsten: Ghost in the Machine

Supporters

Tonia Ko: Negative Magic

Han Lash: Start

Who is This For?

🧠 For Curious People:

  • Get a glimpse into the collaborative process and how musicians learn and interpret new music.

  • Discover multi-modal learning concepts that link musical study, humanities research, and cognitive neurology.

  • Enjoy long-form nerd-out videos.

🎹 For Performers:

  • Learn how to leverage long-term collaboration to develop impactful new repertoire.

  • Understand what makes a great interpretation of a piece of music.

  • Create learning goals that support peak performance.

  • Enhance learning efficiency through analysis of character, style, and musical details.

  • Develop rich mental representations to reduce performance anxiety and hone intuition.

🥁 Specifically for Percussionists:

  • Gain insights into Amy, Tonia, Nina, and Han’s compositional styles to learn these pieces more quickly and effectively.

  • Get essential performance practice information from each of the composers.

  • Specific tips and tricks from me, including:

    • Recommended instruments, implements, and technology

    • A guide to setting up electronics for live performance

    • Practice tips and exercises developed from the repertoire

More specifically, percussionists will get:

  • Insight into Amy, Tonia, Nina, and Han’s compositional styles and how to use this to learn these pieces more quickly and effectively

  • Essential performance practice information from each of the composers

  • Tips and tricks from Mike, including:

    • Recommended instruments, implements, and technology

    • A guide to setting up electronics for live performance

    • Practice tips and exercises developed from the repertoire

The Performer’s Guide

    • What is a Performer’s Guide?

    • Style, Character, Details

    • Mental Representations and how we learn

    • How to Learn New Things

    • Interpreting and Learning Music

Nina C. Young

Heart.throb

Performance Video

Performer’s Guide

    • Drum: 5x14” Pearl Drums Masters Maple

    • Head: 14” Remo Diplomat Coated

    • Sticks: Vic Firth Swizzle Sticks, Wire Brush, Dreadlocks, Modern Jazz 2

    • Audio Interface: Motu 4 Pre

    • Contact Microphone: Cortado MKII

    • Amplifier: Dayton Audio DTA-1 Class T Digital Audio Amplifier, available at Parts Express

    • Transducer: Dayton Audio DAEX25 Sound Exciter, available at Parts Express

    • Software: Max MSP 8

    • CNMAT Externals

    • Learning with Style in Mind

    • Mike’s Commissioning Goals

    • What Makes a Great Interpretation of Heart.throb?

    • Engaging with and Troubleshooting Electronics

    • Section-by-section analysis and overview

    • Logistics

Amy Beth Kirsten:

Ghost in the Machine

Performance Video

Performer’s Guide

    • Drum: 5x14” Pearl Sensitone Aluminum

    • Head: 14” Remo Renaissance Diplomat

    • Triangle: 6” Black Swamp Artisan

    • Implements: Vic Firth m155, Gen 6, Rute, Clover 13" Bamboo Size 10.5 Knitting Needle

    • Structuring an Improvisation

    • Amy Beth Kirsten’s Style

    • What Makes a Great Interpretation of Ghost in the Machine?

    • Structure and Form

    • Instruments and Implements

    • Mastering the Triangle Buzz

    • Section by Section Outline

    • Pacing

    • Ending the Piece

    • Cheat Sheets

    • Oral Performance Practice

Tonia Ko

Negative Magic

Performance Video

Performer’s Guide

  • About Tonia

    Purchase the Score

    • Drum: 14x5" Pearl Sensitone Beaded Brass

    • Implements: Vic Firth Gen 7, Tim Genis General

    • Head: 14" Remo Coated Ambassador

    • What Can We Learn About Learning from Negative Magic

    • Not-So-Extended Techniques

    • Negative Magic Section Characterizations

    • What makes a Great Interpretation of Negative Magic?

    • Instruments and Implements

    • Tuning

    • Section-by-Section interpretative guide

Han Lash

Start

Performance Video

Performer’s Guide

    • Drum: 5x14” Pearl Philharmonic Maple

    • Head: 14” Remo Diplomat Renaissance

    • Sticks: Vic Firth Ted Atkatz Signature Sticks, Wire Brushes

    • Form, Color, Nuance

    • Inspirations and Style

    • What Makes a Great Interpretation of Start?

    • Instruments and Implements

    • Mutes and practice pads

    • Section-by-section interpretive guide and analysis

    • “Rhythmicity” and Color

    • Three-Step Practice Approach

    • Other Implements and Mental Representations

    • Cheat Sheets

    • One Level Up Thinking

Supporters

Thanks to these incredible companies for their help and support of this project

Credits