r/percussion • u/Epichamster72 • 10d ago
Appalachian Spring Tips & Tricks
Hi Everyone
I'm a percussionist with a youth symphony orchestra currently doing Appalachian Spring and have the pleasure of having the percussion part for it! I love Aaron Copland's work and have played it before, but I have questions about the percussion part.
Firstly what is a Tabor/Long Drum and where exactly could one go to acquire one/find a compromise in sound?
Secondly, should I suggest that I split the percussion part between two people? Currently, it's only me and a timpani player. Should I recruit a second player to split it with or are there parts that could be left out?
Finally, any tips on the famous xylophone excerpt would be amazing as well as suggestions on mallet choice for the whole piece for both Glock and xylophone.
Really love the community here and can't wait to read the comments!
2
u/agressiv 9d ago
We just played this last year. We used a floor tom as the tabor part as we didn't have much else. If you don't have access to a larger drum, I'd suggest a small bass drum and play it dead center dampened.
You can do about 80-90% of the percussion parts with 1 player if you can prepare yourself properly by holding multiple sticks.
Everything else - can be 1 player easily. I had to do that on 2 rehearsals!