And now for something completely different…
Here is a playlist Andrea Centazzo’s World Percussion Christmas. All 10 tracks are arranged in different styles with different world percussion instruments. (I particularly like the rainy “O Holy Night” and the taiko-style arrangement of “The Little Drummer Boy.”) Enjoy!
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from Rudimental University!
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-lleu9Z7yitJ-ojd6jnMzL8eAZ5N-jsv
I got a CD of the University of Oklahoma Percussion Ensemble several years ago, and it is one of my favorite Christmas albums of all time. I believe it has a lot of mass appeal; it should be of interest to an audience of more than just percussionists. The all-percussion arrangements of different Christmas carols are excellent. Each arrangement is unique and original while always retaining a certain level of sophistication. The album strikes the perfect balance between interestingly energetic and calming background music.
I cannot find a site that currently sells the CD (please leave a note in the comments section if you know of one). However, OU Percussion Press has sound files of every track available on their website: http://oupercussionpress.squarespace.com/catalog/ Just scroll down about two-thirds of the way until you see a section entitled “The Christmas Series.” All of the tracks are listed in order. Even better, you can purchase the full score and parts on their site to perform with your group. (I have performed two of them with a high school group in the past, and they were a lot of fun!)
Here is the track list:
Once again, we are celebrating the holidays this week by featuring percussion arrangements of Christmas music. Today’s unique arrangement, entitled “The 12 Cups of Christmas,” features Catherine Hall and Joshua Webster of Kaboom Percussion.
All this week, we are featuring percussion arrangements of Christmas and holiday music. These two performances by the drum line and percussion ensembles at the University of North Texas are from a December 2016 concert. Enjoy music from “The Nutcracker” and “Frosty the Snowman.”
Many of you have time off from your normal schedule during this holiday season, and it’s a great time for practicing. If you need some material, there are quite a few exercises already posted on Rudimental University. This week, however, we’re going to take a break from the usual exercises and articles and just enjoy some percussion performances found on the Web. Today’s featured performance is the Belmont Percussion Ensemble’s unique twist on an arrangement of a Christmas classic entitled Patapan.
The original published version, which is a bit different from this recording, can be found on Row-Loff Percussion’s website: http://www.rowloff.com/search/description.html?item=08CS6