John H. Beck (born February 16, 1933) is professor emeritus of percussion at the Eastman School of Music and was principal timpanist for the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra from 1962 to 2002. [1]
Beck was born on February 16, 1933, in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. Beck found a passion for music playing drum set in the local bars around town. [2] Aiming to be a jazz drummer in the footstep of artists like Gene Krupa, Beck began studying at Eastman under William Street in 1951. After earning his bachelor's degree in 1955, Beck served in the United States Marines as a timpanist for the President's Own. After his discharge in 1959, he taught for Eastman's preparatory program and later became the full professor of percussion in 1967 after Street's retirement. Notable students of Beck include drummer Steve Gadd, vibraphonist Joe Locke, and marimbist Leigh Howard Stevens.
Beck served as the president for the New York chapter of the Percussive Arts Society starting in 1976, later being elected the organization's vice president in 1982 and serving as its president from 1987 to 1990. With Beck as the host, the organization had the first annual Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC) at Eastman in 1976. [3]
Alongside his role as a teacher and performer, Beck has authored articles for the Grove Dictionary of American Music , World Book Encyclopedia , and The Instrumentalist , among others. Beck also edited the Encyclopedia of Percussion which is considered the standard reference book for the subject. [4] [5] In 2011, he released an autobiography titled Percussion Matters: Life at the Eastman School of Music. [6]
Timpani or kettledrums are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally made of copper. Thus timpani are an example of kettle drums, also known as vessel drums and semispherical drums, whose body is similar to a section of a sphere whose cut conforms the head. Most modern timpani are pedal timpani and can be tuned quickly and accurately to specific pitches by skilled players through the use of a movable foot-pedal. They are played by striking the head with a specialized drum stick called a timpani stick or timpani mallet. Timpani evolved from military drums to become a staple of the classical orchestra by the last third of the 18th century. Today, they are used in many types of ensembles, including concert bands, marching bands, orchestras, and even in some rock bands.
A drum roll is a technique used by percussionists to produce a sustained sound for the duration of a written note.
All drum figures are based upon three fundamental beats, technically called roll, single stroke, and flam...Sustentation is accomplished upon wind instruments by blowing into the instrument; it is accomplished upon the violin and the allied instruments by drawing the bow across the string; it is accomplished upon the drum and allied percussion instruments by the roll.
THE SNARE DRUM ROLL.
The roll consists of an even reiteration of beats sufficiently rapid to prohibit rhythmic analysis. To produce an impression of sustentation, these beats must be absolutely even both in power and in sequence. Uneven beats in a roll destroy the impression of sustentation. Evenness is then the primary quality to strive for in roll; speed is the secondary quality to strive for.
There are two possible ways of producing an absolutely even sequence: (1) hand alternation of single stroke and (2) hand alternation of double strokes...The snare drum roll is produced by hand alternation of double strokes.
The "open roll" is produced by [initially] slow hand alternation. Two strokes in each hand alternately are produced by wrist movement and each beat should follow its predecessor in clock-like precision.
In rudimental drumming, a form of percussion music, a drum rudiment is one of a number of relatively small patterns which form the foundation for more extended and complex drumming patterns. The term "drum rudiment" is most closely associated with various forms of field drumming, where the snare drum plays a prominent role. In this context "rudiment" means not only "basic", but also fundamental. This tradition of drumming originates in military drumming and it is a central component of martial music.
Leigh Howard Stevens is a marimba artist best known for developing, codifying, and promoting the Stevens technique or Musser-Stevens grip, a method of independent four-mallet marimba performance based on the Musser grip.
Mitchell Thomas Peters was a principal timpanist and percussionist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. He composed well-known pieces for the marimba such as "Yellow After the Rain" and "Sea Refractions"; it is said that these works were composed because Peters felt that there was a lack of musically interesting material that would introduce his students to four-mallet marimba techniques.
Antonio Buonomo is an Italian composer, solo percussionist and music educator.
Professor of percussion at the conservatories of "S.Pietro a Majella in Naples" of Naples and "S.Cecilia" of Rome, Antonio Buonomo's professional experience includes performing as timpani soloist in various orchestras and director of one of Europe's first all-percussion instrument groups.
His many compositions and transcriptions for percussion instruments have been published by the main houses of this sector and include teaching materials as well as music for plays and television documentaries. They have been performed for the occasion of prestigious avant-garde musical events, television and radio programs as well as in public concerts.
Bob Becker is an American percussionist and composer known primarily as a founding member of the Nexus percussion ensemble, as well as a performer in the Steve Reich and Musicians ensemble. He primarily performs as a keyboard percussionist, but is also skilled in tabla and concert snare drumming. As a composer, Becker employs a multicultural approach by mixing the style of western military drumming with North Indian Hindustani idioms, such as raga scale patterns and tabla drumming. This fusion of compositional practices is the main focus of works like Lahara and Mudra. There are also traces of influence from the music of minimalists like Steve Reich, which can be attributed to Becker's experience with that composer's music.
The Musician's Guide to Polyrhythms is a study guide by American author, drummer and percussionist Peter Magadini. Musician's Guide to Polyrhythms Vol. I was written in 1967 and published in 1968. Musician's Guide to Polyrhythms Vol. II was written in 1970 and published in 1971 and was a continuation of Vol. l. The first publisher published both volumes separately. These volumes have since been combined into one single volume called Polyrhythms: The Musicians Guide and is now published by Hal Leonard Publishing Corporation.
Daniel Glass is an American drummer, author, historian and educator. He is recognized in the drum industry as an authority on classic American drumming and the evolution of American Popular Music.
The Percussive Arts Society (PAS) is a non-profit organization for professional percussionists and percussion educators. It was founded in 1961 in the United States and has over 5,000 members in 40 American chapters, with another 28 chapters abroad. It is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. Since 1976, the organization hosts the annual Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC) which is the largest convention for drummers and percussionists in the world.
Stanley Sprenger Leonard is a timpanist, composer and educator who has been active in the percussion world for over seventy years. While Principal Timpanist of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra for 38 years (1956-1994), he performed internationally with the symphony in concerts, television productions, and recordings." The Christian Science Monitor claimed, "...his performance of the solo part establishes him as perhaps the finest timpanist in the country." As a solo artist, he premiered several major new works for solo timpani and orchestra with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. In a review of "Celebrations—An Overture for Timpani and Orchestra," the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said, "Leonard played it superbly, imparting a singing line to this most unvocal instrument." In 2010, he was inducted into the Percussive Arts Society Hall of Fame, where they summed up his musical contribution: "Leonard has left an indelible musical footprint for musicians, especially percussionists." He is currently resident timpanist, composer, was handbell director at Vanderbilt Presbyterian Church, Naples, Florida, and continues to compose and teach master classes.
William F. Ludwig was an American percussionist, drum-maker, and founder of Ludwig Drums. He helped to create the National Association of Rudimental Drummers and is a member of the Percussive Arts Society Hall of Fame.
John Wooton is an American percussionist, drummer, and professor of percussion. He is the director of percussion studies at the University of Southern Mississippi and has written two books on rudimental drumming.
Carl E. Gardner was an American percussionist, drum maker, and method book author.
The National Association of Rudimental Drummers is an organization created to encourage the study of rudimental drumming. NARD is responsible for the creation of the Standard 26 American Rudiments.
Joseph Burns Moore was a champion rudimental snare drummer, member of the Connecticut National Guard, instructional author, and founding member of the National Association of Rudimental Drummers.
Percussion Creativ is a non-profit organization founded as a network for German-speaking drummers and percussionists, based in Freiburg im Breisgau. Their goal is to promote the music for percussion instruments and their interpreters through exchange, and networking, regardless of stylistic orientation. The association currently has around 1,000 members who come mostly from Germany. Percussion Creativ is the only association of its kind based in the German-speaking area and is similar to the Percussive Arts Society in the United States.
Jay Wanamaker is a percussionist and the president and CEO of Roland Americas and formerly held executive positions at Fender and Guitar Center. He also worked for Yamaha, Alfred Publishing, and the University of Southern California, and was chair of the Percussive Arts Society rudimental committee that published the 40 PAS Drum rudiments. He has also published over 50 music books and instructional DVDs.
John Sterling "Jack" Pratt (1931–2020) was an American Army drum instructor at West Point as well as a celebrated rudimental book author. Pratt produced several volumes of rudimental solos and instructional materials and was also the founder of the International Association of Traditional Drummers (IATD), a member of the National Association of Rudimental Drummers (NARD), a member of the United States Association of Rudimental Drummers (USARD), and was inducted into the Percussive Arts Society (PAS) Hall of Fame and the World Drum Corps Hall of Fame.
Julia Hillbrick Gaines is an American percussionist and academic. As of 2021, she is the director of the School of Music at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri. Gaines has performed as a soloist worldwide and released her first album, Tiger Dance in 2017. She was on the International Board of Directors of the Percussive Arts Society, eventually serving as Secretary. Gaines has performed with the Missouri Symphony, the Oklahoma City Philharmonic, the Fox Valley Symphony, and the Green Bay Symphony Orchestra. She has served as Associate Editor for Percussive Notes, a scholarly journal of the Percussive Arts Society and is currently Associate Editor of the Keyboard Percussion section.