Percussion Requirements
Percussion Auditions, 2011-2012 Season
Please note: although these requirements are very specific and seem rigid, they are just very clear suggestions. Feel free to email us at office@youthorchestrasfresno.org to discuss any questions you may have. If we have enough interest from less-experienced or younger players, we may be able to create a new group. So please get in touch!
Audition Material
- Students auditioning as percussionists are requested to prepare audition material for all of these instruments: snare drum, timpani, and mallets.
- We are posting one excerpt for each of those instruments. Musicians are welcome to prepare a piece of their own choosing instead. (If you choose to do that, please bring a copy of the music for the adjudicators.) Links to three excerpts can be found below. If you scroll all the way down you can access last year's audition excerpts. You might want to learn some of those also, though they are not required.
- Sight-reading may be included during the live audition.
Audition Music: Try to prepare all three excerpts. Click the brownish text to download files for printing and learning!
- Mallets: Colas Breugnon Overture by Dmitri Kabalevsky, Rehearsal #9- #12
- Snare Drum: Symphony No. 10 by Dmitri Shostakovich, rehearsal #98 to the end of Movement 2
- Timpani: Beethoven Symphony No. 7, Measures 1-43
Audition Day (Saturday September 3, morning, percussion studio)
- Students will be auditioning in front of a committee consisting of 3 – 4 members.
- Instruments such as timpani, snare drum, xylophone, and marimba will be provided.
- Sticks/mallets will NOT be provided. Students must bring their own sticks/mallets. If students are not able to provide their own sticks/mallets, arrangements can be made by contacting the Youth Orchestras of Fresno. Email office@youthorchestrasfresno.org.
Sticks/Mallets
The following provides a basic overview of equipment needed for a percussionist. These are only suggestions. It is NOT mandatory for students to purchase any of the following. However, students should at least own a pair of concert snare drumsticks, timpani mallets, marimba mallets, and xylophone mallets
Drumsticks
- *Vic Firth American Custom SD1 Drumsticks – General
Timpani Mallets
- *Vic Firth American Custom Timpani T1 – General
- Innovative General Series GT3 Medium Timpani Mallets
Xylophone Mallets
- *Malletech Bob Becker BB34 medium rattan xylo/bell mallets “Becker Blues”
Marimba Mallets
- *Balter ProVibe Series Rattan 23R Medium Blue Cord
- Malletech Concerto Series CN14 medium to medium hard birch marimba mallets
- Malletech Eric Sammut ES12 soft to medium hard birch marimba mallets
* Indicates recommended sticks/mallets.
From previous pages:
For fun, here are the excerpts we used last year. Feel free to learn these too. They will not be required, but you might enjoy knowing them.
- Mallets:
- Siegfried’s Rhine Journey by Richard Wagner: May play on bells or marimba
- Hoe-Down from Rodeo by Aaron Copland: May play on xylophone or marimba. Begin at rehearsal number 21 and play to the end:
- Danse Macabre by Camille Saint-Saens: May play on xylophone or marimba. Begin at the 5th bar of rehearsal letter B. Play to rehearsal letter C.
- Snare Drum:
- Festive Overture by Dimitri Shostakovich: Begin at rehearsal number 25. Play to the downbeat of rehearsal number 26.
- Capriccio Espagnol - III. Alborada by Nicolas Rimsky-Korsakov: Start at the beginning. Play to the downbeat of rehearsal letter H.
- Lieutenant Kije Symphonic Suite - I. The Birth of Kije by Sergei Prokofiev: Begin at rehearsal number 1. Play to rehearsal number 3.
- Timpani: From Mitchell Peters' Fundamental Method for Timpani
- Etude No. 12
- Etude No. 13
- Etude No. 15
Audition Day
- Students will be auditioning in front of a committee consisting of 3 – 4 members.
- Instruments such as timpani, snare drum, xylophone, and marimba will be provided.
- Sticks/mallets will NOT be provided. Students must bring their own sticks/mallets. If students are not able to provide their own sticks/mallets, arrangements can be made by contacting the Youth Orchestras of Fresno. Email office@youthorchestrasfresno.org.
Sticks/Mallets
The following provides a basic overview of equipment needed for a percussionist. These are only suggestions. It is NOT mandatory for students to purchase any of the following. However, students should at least own a pair of concert snare drumsticks, timpani mallets, marimba mallets, and xylophone mallets
Drumsticks
- *Vic Firth American Custom SD1 Drumsticks – General
Timpani Mallets
- *Vic Firth American Custom Timpani T1 – General
- Innovative General Series GT3 Medium Timpani Mallets
Xylophone Mallets
- *Malletech Bob Becker BB34 medium rattan xylo/bell mallets “Becker Blues”
Marimba Mallets
- *Balter ProVibe Series Rattan 23R Medium Blue Cord
- Malletech Concerto Series CN14 medium to medium hard birch marimba mallets
- Malletech Eric Sammut ES12 soft to medium hard birch marimba mallets
* Indicates recommended sticks/mallets.