This is Carlos Vazquez, IMS’s band teacher. He teaches every instrument in the band, including 18 percussion family instruments.
That’s the hardest thing this amazing teacher has to do. There are many parts of the band. Wind and percussion are some of them, too.
The wind instruments include saxophone, flute, trombone, trumpet, clarinet, baritone, and bass clarinet.
In the percussion family, there are snare drums, ride cymbals, crash cymbals, timpani, xylophone, bass drum, piano, marimba, vibraphone, bells, bell kit, drum pad, tambourine, sleigh bells, and vibraslap.
According to Vazquez, “There should usually be 6-7 percussionists at most. This year there are 17.”
Also last year there were 17.
A lot of students wonder what is the most popular percussion instrument. However, according to Vazquez, the most popular percussion instrument is nothing.
“There are no favorites but a lot of students like the snare drum but all of them play all the percussion instruments, “ Vazquez said.
You may also be wondering who the best percussionist he has had in the band in IMS was.
”It is Martin Cruz but he plays the saxophone, but still, he’s a good drum set player,” Vazques said. “He also is not my student. But someone who is a good percussionist is Arnav Parfallow. He is a freshman at JFK Memorial High School.”
Timpani, Snare Drum, and Drums are Mr. Vazquez’s favorite instruments. “Symphony 8″ by David Masonlaka was the hardest song he has played.
How does Mr. Vazquez manage all the students in one room?
Mr. Vaqzuez stated, “It feels a bit crazy and also it feels overwhelming, but I can handle it!”
One of the most percussion-based songs is “Machine Age” by “Bernatos. Some pieces the band plays are Cisco KSFY 2, Cisco KSFY 3, Molar 2, Molar 3, Beethoven 5, Beethoven 7, and Moonstar Red Wheel.
“[In] 7-8 grade advanced band I have 17 percussionists,” Vaquez said. A lot of students also wonder how many percussion instruments are there.
“There are a lot of African percussion instruments, Eastern Asian percussion instruments, Latin percussion instruments, hundreds of percussion instruments, Base drum, timpani, crash, cymbal, triangle, Woodlock,” Vazquez said.
Some advice for beginner percussionists is to choose another instrument.
“I only need 4-6 [percussionists]. There are too many percussionists so we don’t want more.”
