Managing a Large Animal

More often than not orchestras and bands are referred to as well oiled machines, but I prefer to think of them as unpredictable animals with minds of their own. Because you truly have no idea what will happen, no matter how well prepared they are, anything can come flying around the corner and send you off track. That’s where the preparation comes in, to be able to handle the unruly curves that life brings. From the driver’s seat of a carriage to the throne behind a drum set to the stool behind the timpani: they all have one thing in common; the drivers, drummers, and percussionists around the world are all driving large unpredictable animals.

As a carriage driver my horse, Roxie, has taught me many lessons in such a short time about managing and more specifically micro-managing. In fact that it’s more important to simply manage rather than micro-manage. If I let Roxie go the way she has been trained and do what she knows how to do, with only small adjustments from me once in a while, she will be fine. But as soon as I begin micro-managing, constantly pulling on the lines in different directions, she immediately becomes confused often times stopping in her tracks until I give her a clear sense of direction.

I’ve experience this same scenario first hand playing in bands and even in orchestras. The last time I played timpani for the University of Utah Philharmonia we were performing Stravinksy’s The Rite of Spring and I was on the first timpani part. I was in the drivers seat of this gigantic orchestra, we had combined brass and strings with Utah State University, and I could feel the raw power of the beast in front of me. I knew that we had done our preparation in rehearsals but what would happen once we threw in unknown variables and double the amount of players? With a piece like The Rite of Spring, there really is no room for error. There’s so much going on all the time that you have to be spot on, especially as the timpani player, because everyone else is cueing off of your part. But very much like driving a draft horse through the city traffic, you have to know when to make small adjustments but be weary about too many constant changes, for fear of running into a bystander.

There’s also a level of mutual trust that must be achieved so that both the driver and the animal know that any situation that approaches will be handled appropriately. This process can be scary because until this mutual trust is earned there’s a series of moments that can be highly volatile. But once this trust is reached between both parties, the days get much easier and bonds begin to be formed.