TAMS Percussion Podcast

Welcome back to Episode 20 of the TAMS Percussion Podcast! Today, hosts Michael, Sky, Sui-Lin, and Taylor are joined with two outstanding individuals from the Cadets Drum and Bugle Corp, Mason Hicks and Braedon Baumgardner! We are thankful to have had the chance to sit down and talk about the world of marching (not just marching percussion) with these two and specifically The Cadets, the pros and cons of marching, fun pre show rituals and other fun memories, and even ways to make the marching activity a more enjoyable and safe place for all members of the community! 

"Mason's career in the marching arts began with his first year of drum corps at the age of 16. He marched with Jersey Surf in 2015 and 2016, then joined The Cadets in 2017, where he continued to march until 2021. Mason holds a degree in Music Education from Shenandoah University. While there was no marching ensemble at SU during his time there, Mason helped pave the way for the formation of a marching band immediately after his graduation. He formed an indoor winds group for a Conservatory-sanctioned project. In addition to directing and drill design, he also performed in the group. Currently, Mason spends his time as a drill designer in Northern Virginia, both designing shows and teaching visual technique to performers of all calibers." (https://cadets.org/mason-hicks) 

Braedon is a percussionist and educator from Hutchinson, Kansas who’s been a musician for roughly 15 years. Braedon has been apart of multiple performance groups including the Cadets Front Ensemble, and 2 concerto performance with the Kansas State University Wind Ensemble and the Indiana University Wind Ensemble. Braedon received his degree in Music Performance from Kansas State University in 2021, and is currently getting his masters degree at the Indiana Universities Jacob’s School of Music also in Percussion Performance. Braedon is also currently a technician at Center Grove High School.

If you've been listening to the podcast for a bit and enjoy what you hear, consider giving us a 5 star rating on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or wherever you hear us! It would mean a lot to us and your feedback helps us grow as a show and as a community! If you have any specific requests for topics you would want us to talk about or guests you would like to see on the show, send us a message on Instagram @tamspercpodcast or send us an email at [email protected]. 

Special thank you to Chance Morris for the fantastic music we use for our intro and outro to episodes and to Delaney for your constant support on Patreon. If you want to support us financially, consider joining our Patreon for fun moments, early access to episodes, and the show in video format! 

Welcome back to the TAMS Percussion Podcast! After an extended break from all parties we are BACK with new episodes. This episode features a podcast staple, the TAMS Jam, which is a more free form and open ended episode where Michael, Sky, Sui-Lin, and Taylor discuss events in the percussion world, what they've been up to, and other interesting things that have happened since the break. This episode was originally recorded in August, so there are moments where the creators are talking about events that have already passed by the time of the premiere of this episode. We are very excited to be back in action and have some larger plans in the future that you don't want to miss! 

If you enjoy the episodes that you're seeing here, consider leaving a 5 star rating on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you see this episode! Your support means a lot to us here on the show and we'd appreciate anything you're willing to help out with! For questions, comments, or requests for topics on the show, you can DM us on Instagram @tamspercpodcast or send us an email at [email protected]. Thank you to Chance Morris for the intro and outro music you hear every episode and to Delaney for supporting us on Patreon! We are currently reworking some perks and tiers on Patreon, so if you're interested in supporting us financially, consider checking it out! 

Hello and welcome back to the TAMS Percussion Podcast. After some time off to finish up a busy semester, we are back with some fantastic guests! In this episode, we are joined with two of the cohosts of the @Percussion Podcast, Dr. Karlyn Viña, and Dr. Ksenija Komljenović. We take time to discuss the perspective of female percussionists in the industry and talk about the experiences of these educators and how the modern percussion studio must be accepting of everyone. We are thankful for Karlyn and Ksenija sitting down at talking to us about these important issues in the community and we at TAMS hope that this may help you become a more informed ally!

Praised by the South Florida Classical Review for her "dazzling" and "incisive" performance, Dr. Karlyn Viña is a dynamic and creative percussionist based in Virginia. Dr. Viña is the newly appointed Assistant Professor of Percussion at Shenandoah Conservatory in Winchester, VA, and previously taught at Florida International University and New World School of the Arts in Miami, FL. During the summers, Karlyn serves as a percussion faculty member at Interlochen Arts Camp in Interlochen, MI. Karlyn maintains a busy schedule as an orchestral, chamber, and solo percussionist, and has a particular interest in works that incorporate theatrical elements. In addition to her teaching and performing, Karlyn can be heard as a co-host on the @Percussion Podcast and is proud to serve on the Percussive Arts Society's Education Committee. Karlyn earned her Doctorate of Musical Arts in Percussion Performance from the University of Miami as a fellow of the Henry Mancini Institute. Her dissertation focuses on the performance of works for theatrical percussion by Globokar, Kagel, and Smith. She also holds degrees in Percussion Performance and Music Education from The Boston Conservatory and the University of Maryland. Karlyn is proud to endorse Grover Pro Percussion, Marimba One, and Zildjian cymbals.

Dr. Ksenija Komljenović (Belgrade, Serbia), a prizewinner of the International Percussion Competition Luxembourg, is a percussionist, educator, and composer. Throughout her career, she has performed, taught, and studied across Europe, the United States, and Asia. Ksenija is the first woman from Serbia with a Doctor of Musical Arts in Percussion Degree. She holds the Assistant Professor of Percussion position at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. Ksenija serves as a producer and host on the At Percussion Podcast. She is on the organizational committees of the Tierras South Texas Percussion Competition and the SoundWaves Festival. Ksenija’s devotion to percussion is shaped by her advocacy for contemporary and chamber music, as well as intercultural collaboration. Her three chamber ensembles (PNEUMA, Vesna Piano/Percussion Duo, Balkan Percussion Duo) unite some of the finest young performers from across the world. Ksenija holds degrees from the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami, Illinois State University, and the Faculty of Music in Belgrade, Serbia. Her compositions and arrangements are published by Bachovich Music Publications. Ksenija is a Marimba One artist.

For the full bios of these fantastic artists, you can find them on their websites:

https://www.ksenijakomljenovic.com/

http://www.karlynvina.com/

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Welcome to Episode 17 of the TAMS Percussion Podcast! If you are new to this series, welcome and we hope that you are enjoying the series! Please consider checking out our socials on Facebook as TAMS Percussion Podcast and Instagram @tamspercpodcast.

In this episode, the co-hosts discuss what kinds of gear should be in your stick bag. There will be some honest opinions about some gear and what each level of student should have. This is ranged all the way from middle school or whenever your students are starting out all the way to a professional taking gigs and learning about the world around them. There is never a wrong time to start investing in your future as a percussionist or in any field. For most jobs, its expected that you show up with the proper gear, so why wouldn't you for music? Thanks for reading and listening and we hope you have a great day! 

Don't forget to support us on Patreon as well, shoutout to our patron Delaney! Thank you for supporting us since the beginning of the series, and if you want to see exclusive video versions of the show, get updates on new episodes and other perks, make sure you support us on Patreon!

Welcome to Episode 16 of the TAMS Percussion Podcast! If you are new to this series, welcome and we hope that you are enjoying the series! Please consider checking out our socials on Facebook as TAMS Percussion Podcast and Instagram @tamspercpodcast.

In this episode, the co-hosts discuss the ideas of beginning percussion, more specifically what should a beginning percussionist have for their day to day gear, how would you consider auditioning percussionists in middle school band, what band directors should be doing with their percussionists for warm-ups and other odd amounts of time, and many more interesting and thoughtful discussions. 

Don't forget to support us on Patreon as well, shoutout to our patron Ellie! Thank you for supporting us since the beginning of the series, and if you want to see exclusive video versions of the show, get updates on new episodes and other perks, make sure you support us on Patreon! 

Hello everyone, sorry for the bit of a delay in episodes lately, but we're back with Episode 15 with the one and only Josh Hartwell of the Rudimental Podcast!

Josh Hartwell is a percussionist, performer, and educator currently based in Houston, TX. He currently is the Director of Percussion for Goose Creek Memorial High School and it's feeder cluster in Baytown, TX while also maintaining a freelance performing career. Josh hosts "The Rudimental Podcast", a percussion-based podcast of conversations with performers and educators around the world. It is available on all major streaming platforms.

In this episode, Josh talks to us about his experiences in percussion in Las Vegas, Texas, and Louisiana, his life as a teacher, and a wonderful note about cake shakes! There were many wonderful takeaways that we on TAMS got about running a podcast from Josh and we are looking forward to using some of the lessons he taught us in our future endeavors!

If you're new here, let us introduce ourselves:

The TAMS Percussion Podcast is a percussion based podcast with co-hosts Michael Dolese, Alfred “Sky” Fajardo, Taylor Muñez, and Sui Lin Tam! We are four percussionists with four different backgrounds, wanting to share our perspective in the world of percussion performance and pedagogy. Each of us have a different background and have unique experiences in upbringing, playing style, concentrations, and career paths. We seek to unite all of our shared experiences into this one stop shop of information including interviews with our teachers, notable guests including Josh Jones and Keeghan Fountain, and even other members of the podcast community like Josh Hartwell. The TAMS Percussion Podcast is available on all major streaming platforms.

Don't forget to support us on Patreon for the video versions of this podcast and updates on who we have coming on in the future! We are also working on some merchandise, so be on the lookout for TAMS stickers, shirts, hoodies, and more to come!

Hello and welcome back to the TAMS Percussion Podcast. We are here with Episode 14: TAMS Jams 3. Join Michael, Sky, Sui-Lin, and Taylor as they answer questions from the fans via Instagram. If you want a question answered on the air, make sure to send it to us in the form of an email over at [email protected], or on Instagram @tamspercpodcast.

Questions that were asked today were from a few viewers.

@benhitsdrums asks "Hey TAMS, what is something you wish you knew as a high schooler going into the music world?"

@bhellertperc asks "What is your favorite large setup percussion solo?"

@jonah_frith asks "How do you approach teaching concepts vs. techniques, how often are classical percussionists recording themselves in 2022, and what is the future for percussion in 2022?"

Lots of great questions are answered and some very thoughtful discussions about teaching and performing are analyzed.

Shoutout to our Patron on Patreon Ellie!  

Join Sky and Sui-Lin as they interview non percussionist music education majors from VanderCook College of Music. These non percussion major students discuss how they practice when they are not percussionists, different tactics they use to interpret music, and many more interesting and engaging topics. The VanderFriends consist of two choral music education students who perform in the percussion ensemble 2 which is for non majors and one percussion major who helps teach percussion ensemble 2. Together, they talk about the differences between students who have some sort of instrumental background and those who do not and their ease or difficulty of picking up percussion instruments. Let's introduce the VanderFriends:

Marie Williams is a musician and future educator from Chicago, Illinois. While attending her college, VanderCook College of Music, she was exposed to various instruments including percussion. Her favorite percussion instrument is the marimba!

Delaney Davis is a senior vocalist at VanderCook College of Music. She is looking forward to student teaching this semester, and is also a big fan of musicals!

Taylor Muñoz is a senior percussionist from Fort Worth, Texas. Taylor is also a part of VanderCook's Performance Certificate Program. Taylor believes that being a music educator is about more than just music, and would like to inspire passion in her students and provide assistance to them in anything they do. 

If you enjoy the content on our podcast, please consider donating to us on Patreon or Paypal, the link for those is in our Instagram bio linktree.

Thank you to our current Patron, Ellie!

Joining Michael, Sky, and Sui-Lin on the podcast today is the Principal percussionist of the Kansas City Symphony, published author, teacher, performer, arranger? (more on that later in the episode) and overall great guy Josh Jones!

A native of Chicago, Illinois, Josh Jones started hitting things at age 2 and received his first drum set at age 3. Josh began his formal studies in percussion with the Percussion Scholarship Program under the direction of Chicago Symphony member Patricia Dash, and Chicago Lyric Opera member Douglas Waddell. He earned his Bachelor’s in Music from DePaul School of music and was the orchestra fellow of both the Detroit and Pittsburgh symphonies. In 2020, Josh joined the Kansas City Symphony as Principal Percussionist. Josh has been featured at Carnegie Hall, on radio and television, and has had two short documentaries made about his musical development and experience. He also authored a percussion method book series, “Spatial Studies for Hitting Things”, and writes musical and philosophical blogs on his website, drummojo.com. Josh really enjoys giving back to the community as well as mentoring young musicians and traveling.

In this episode of the show, we talk about Josh's time in the Percussion Scholarship Program, a program for young percussionists in Chicago that our very own Sui-Lin was a member of. We also discuss his career in other symphonies such as an apprentice in the Detroit Symphony, the principal percussionist in the Calgary Symphony, and the principal in the Kansas City Symphony. Also mentioned are some ideas about auditioning including how to overcome anxiety and what to bring, the documentary Josh was featured on in 2016, the books that Josh has been writing "Spatial Studies for Hitting Things", and many more interesting and engaging topics.

Still not sold on watching this episode? Here are a few wonderful quotes from our guest on the topic of auditioning: "Don't play it accurately, play it musically." "How do you play this to make YOU go... yeah"

Thank you to our supporters on Patreon:

Ellie

Thank you for your continued support!

If you want to join them, you can click the link in our Instagram bio @tamspercpodcast to find all of our resources, including different ways to watch the show and ways to donate to us. Thank you for reading this, and enjoy the episode!

Happy New Year everyone! Thank you for the continued support for the show! We are super excited to be delivering content to you right off the bat this year with a wonderful guest, Dana Dominguez! Dana Dominguez is a 23 year old percussionist from San Antonio, Texas. She attended John Paul Stevens High School, received her Bachelor’s degree in Music Performance from the University of Texas at Austin, and is currently working on her Master’s degree at Rice University in Houston, Texas. Dana has attended the Round Top Summer Music Festival in Round Top, Texas, the Texas Music Festival in Houston, Texas, and the Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival in Stellenbosch, South Africa. Dana was a finalist in the Duo category in the 2017 Great Plains Marimba Competition in Oklahoma City. She is currently the principal percussionist for the Bozeman Symphony Orchestra Bozeman, Montana. Most recently, Dana won the 2021 PASIC Mock Audition Competition in Indianapolis, Indiana. In her free time, Dana enjoys spending time with her family and running.

In this episode, we talk about Dana's life as an orchestral percussionist, the PASIC Mock Audition, her first marathon and how running relates to percussion, her upbringing in a musical family, and how to keep practicing excerpts interesting! It was wonderful to have her on the show, and if you have any questions for her you can find her on Instagram @she_practices_perc! 

Thank you to our first Patron on Patreon with the username Ellie! If you want to be cool like Ellie, you can donate to our Patreon and gain access to exclusive content including bloopers, the video version of the show, and advanced information on who will be coming on the show in the up and coming weeks! We also are in the process of creating some merchandise for you, so let us know what kind of things you would be interested in by sending us an email @tamspercussion.gmail, a DM on Instagram @tamspercpodcast, or send us a message on Facebook on our new Facebook account TAMS Percussion Podcast.