Percussion Player To Conductor

How many percussion players in a brass band have gone on to be Conductors in a brass band.
As myself i do not know of any who have.
We have got all instumentalists from Soprano Players to Bass players who have gone on to be a conductor but percussion players ive not heard of any.

 

Is there a particular reason why you want to know??? Just curious.

I don't know the answer but can't say it's anything I have ever thought about to be honest

 

Paul Lovat- Cooper conducted Royal Buckley Band in the Welsh area...

 

Me... but only as the last step in a convoluted journey from trumpet - cornet- tenor horn - euph - bari - percussion - conductor

 

Yes, I can think of one or two but they had also played brass in the past as well as percussion.

 

Many years ago when I was at Rogerstone I can remember David Griffiths (Dyke, Cory) conducting us for a short time.

 

Me.

I started percussion at age 6. Joined my first brass band at age 15 and have been conducting brass bands from age 20.

I don't play a brass instrument but my wife (Aardvark) does. And my dad plays tuba.

 

Most drummers I know would rather be wagging two sticks!

 

Honesty compelles me to admitt to this crime unfortunately.

 

My first ever contest with Uckfield Band was on percussion - my last was as conductor.

And of course, both myself and Mr Lancaster guested on percussion with Alder Valley Brass

 

West Ham were in the world cup? really? Who beat you in the charity shield last time you were in it btw?

 

Wow, that was quick - I only added that to my signature last year!!

 

John Anderson conducted Grimethorpe for a bit and did brassed off with them. He was a percussionist!

 

I've done it. But I do play brass as well.

As Mr Bale pointed out, arguably the world's top orchestral conductor is a percussionist!

I am surprised it isn't more common. I found that playing percussion really helped my ear for balance and scoring etc. - you have to blend with everyone from the basses to the soprano at various times, and the volume you have to play at can vary wildly from venue to venue. All good things for a conductor to pick up on.

It's also useful as a percussionist to be able to read three different copies on three different stands all at once, while watching the conductor, running between instruments and changing sticks. Score-reading is a doddle afterwards. :biggrin:

 

I've done it, but like many others I also play brass, well started on brass, then moved to perc. I am a much better perc. player than a brass player to be fair. But that fact that i'm mulit-faceted certainly helps with the conducting side tho!

 

Are not all conductors ex-percussionists?......if you can't play an instrument you are given two sticks and a drum, if you can't even manage that they take one stick away and you're the conductor.............

 

Some good points made by Morghoven. A good percussionist spends most of his time listening to brass players, and indeed in that role spends more time than any other player listening to his colleagues, simply by virtue of the fact he spends a lot of time counting bars rest or sitting out the usual raft of "tacit for percussion" scores.

The percussionists principle role especially when playing kit, is to keep time, this function should of course stand a percussionist in good stead when stepping up to the podium as conductor. Sadly, keeping a steady tempo is not a popular pastime for brass band players generally! As a percussion player I am very aware of this shortcoming in brass bands and i think great benifit could be derived from many more skin bashers passing on their experience on the podium.

Another advantage percussion players tend to have is that they quite often have far more experience outside the brass band world in various other musical groups and various types of music. As a result they often have a broader knowledge of how different aspects of the brass band repertoire should be played.

Lastly, as we sit at the back, we are the only players in the band who can speak fluent "tuba". Conductors normally have to make do with communicating with tuba players via smoke signals. They may occasionally send out a brave librarian "missionary" armed with plenty of glass beads and a bible, but as we all know he could easily be found weeks later in the store cupboard with his head mounted on an old cymbal stand.

 

- and you would be listening & learning about all the finer details of brass playing that's covered ... alternative valve and slide positions, production techniques etc.