http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtyF3BY1grw

If there is one personality trait that differentiates amazing players from mediocre players, it’s the ability to be coached. Not only to receive the coaching and input, but to do something about it. And not only to do something about it, but to do something about it willingly. And finally, not only to do something willingly, but to actively pursue that input and change.

I’m not an expert, but my experience makes me think that too often people allow their egos and their pride get in the way of bettering themselves. Why we do this I don’t know, but I do know that I’ve been guilty in the past. Think about this: has a teacher ever given you an instruction, and rather than implement it, you defend your old way? Has a conductor ever made a request that you scoffed at under your breath, despite his being in a better place to hear the overall sound? Have you ever been instructed to improve your technique, but avoided it because of the effort required?

Why?

I’ll give you one “out,” and that is this: you tried the new idea, instruction, or technique with all of your energy, and it still sounded worse. After fully implementing whatever change was suggested, you were still producing an inferior product. This is one thing. After all, we are all different, and different things work for different people. Why though, do we insist on defending ourselves during coaching sessions? Shouldn’t we give this new idea, regardless of its source, a fair shake?

One anecdote stands out to me above the rest. It was last fall, I was practicing, and I was focused. All of a sudden, there was a tap on my door. I look out, about to ream whatever freshman was interrupting my deep focus, only to find one of the best marimba players in the world standing at my door (and no, I’m not exaggerating).

The player says, “Shane, you got a minute.”
“Sure thing, what do you need” I ask, a little timidly.
“Come with me and be my ears.”

I followed him down the hall and into HIS practice room. He proceeds to play a solo that he was working on. I’m basically dumbfounded when he turns around and asks for open critique. “What?! Who am I to coach you,” I think, and I proceed to give him my feedback, positive and negative. He makes a few notes, thanks me sincerely, and sends me on my way.

The point I’m trying to make is that if this world renown player will accept my inferior coaching and feedback, then who is anyone to deny coaching from their instructor or from his or her peers in an effort to improve themselves? Unleashing your full potential means being coachable. Don’t ever let your ego get in the way of your growth.

When have you been coachable? Or uncoachable? How have you connected with seemingly uncoachable students?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXtdIbB-Bmo

9 Pro Musician Rules to follow
By Axel Clarke

1. Be friendly at gigs and auditions, not pushy or desperate

It is a tricky balancing act when you are making a first impression at a gig you would to love to have…or desperately need. You certainly do not want to leave the idea that you are ambivalent or not excited about a project to the people deciding whether you are the right fit or not. It is important to express enthusiasm and a sincere interest. However, that enthusiasm and the desire to make your intentions known can quickly careen into over-effusive praise for the group and acting like someone who really NEEDS the gig, as opposed to someone who really WANTS the gig. It is similar to the cliché “single guy at a bar” situation. The guy who is desperately scanning the room, quickly jumping between ladies to see who might be interested, hopelessly starting conversations that go nowhere…that guy tends to be alone at the end of the night even though he might be a real catch. No matter how bad you need the gig, do not beg for it. Only make statements that you believe in and, if they are met with indifference, leave it be. They may love your playing but are trying to keep a poker face until they can talk privately.

2. Always strive to do more than is expected or required

When auditioning for a group or artist, 90% of the time they will direct to you to their website or send you MP3s of the material they want you to learn for the audition. Usually, they will ask you to learn 3-4 tunes that they have picked specifically to see the range of your skills. I have found it is very effective to learn as many of the artist’s songs as possible. If they only send you a few songs, ask where you can find more of their material to see what else they do. Then take the time to learn as much of their catalog as possible. Having been on both sides of the audition process, nothing is more dispiriting than playing the same handful of songs over and over for hours on end. If you can come in and, when asked ‘What do you want to play?” say “I learned your whole album, whatever you like” it will score you major points before you have even played a note. The one caveat is to make sure you can learn those songs well. If you only have the time to learn the several required songs well it is better to do that than learn 15 songs poorly.

On actual gigs, learn the set list as close to the groups live performance style as you can. Ask for video of past shows or hunt some on-line. If they change/tweak songs from the recordings, it makes you look good if you already know those changes before the gig. Show up early and help load in and load out. If you can sing, offer to add backing vocals. If they play songs that have unique instrumentation that you can play (percussion/banjo/winds/whatever), bring that along and incorporate it. There is no harm in keeping it safe and playing exactly what they want, but any chance to make yourself distinctive or memorable is advantageous.

3. Find the zone between being flexible and being strong and know when to be one or the other

Every gig has a leader, whether it is stated or implied who that is. Your job is to play how they want you to play and that needs to be of paramount importance. If you are used to playing a specific song one way and they ask you to change, do not complain or state, “That’s not the way to play that!” Be as accommodating as possible, even if they are wrong. However, if you have an idea that could make a performance stronger, be secure enough to bring it forward, they might appreciate the contribution. If you find yourself in the unfortunate situation of playing a gig where the leader is riding you the whole show for errors/tones/tempos that you know are not really wrong then you need to calmly and politely disagree. Do not turn it into an argument or bring it up on stage. Wait until a break and respectfully explain your position. They may apologize; they may negate your opinion. Try to find what makes them happy, get through the gig, and decide if you are ever willing to work for them again.

4. Always give off a pleasant, confidant demeanor without being fake or arrogant

You would be amazed how far smiling and connecting with musicians you are sharing the stage with will take you. I used to be the “head down, do my job” type of player but I realized a few years ago that keeping my head up, smiling, and making eye contact with the other players gave me a more pleasant and confidant presentation. Talking on stage is not always possible (due to volume or distance) but those moments of lip reading or silent acknowledgment of a shared good time can help make you someone that people enjoy working with. If you are subbing, it is safe to assume that the other musicians will be nervous, to say the least. They will probably barrage you with questions/tips/information before the downbeat. Even if they are overwhelming you or making you nervous, the best response is to listen intently and reply with “No problem.” If you need some clarification, ask for it but try to keep it short. Too many questions reflect a lack of confidence. Do your best to make them comfortable in the situation and try to get as many of their requests in as possible. Do not be cocky or dismissive. That does not read as confidence, it reads as arrogance. Likewise, do not be over the top with the stage presence. Screaming “THIS IS SO AWESOME! I LOVE THIS GIG!!!” repeatedly on stage is a little fake…and creepy. Be yourself.

5. Act like you’ve been there before but not jaded

“Act like you’ve been there before” is a phrase that usually comes out of sports commentators mouths when some rookie scores a touchdown in a football game and starts into a elaborate, choreographed dance routine. When you get to a gig, even if it so far out of the league of your usual gigs, do not be a wide-eyed rookie. Do not look at the hall and say, “I’ve never seen this many seats in one place before!” Do not walk into the Green Room and exclaim “OH MY GOD! FREE SODA AND LUNCH MEAT! THIS IS AMAZING!” You can be appreciative but don’t act like you just walked off the bus in the big city. On the other extreme, do not act like a diva and complain or give off the “I’ve done bigger gigs” attitude. This can ruin the excitement of other players and cast you as the buzz-kill/jerk.

6. Avoid talking about yourself; get others to talk about themselves

Beyond your first playing-impression, you first personal- impression can be just as important in determining whether you get a gig or not. It is not an arrogant statement, but a simple truth that most people like to talk about themselves and enjoy having others express an interest in them. Even if you have a massive list of credits and accomplishments that you want to let people know to help you get the gig, don’t start every conversation with ‘ME, ME, ME…” Ask them about their lives, musical and otherwise. After sometime, most people (raging egomaniacs excepted) will feel inclined to return the gesture and ask you about your life. That is your opportunity to let people know how amazing you are!

7. Always keep your playing simple but know when to cut loose

We have all heard the mantra “Keep it simple stupid”, especially drummers. It is a good guideline to follow but like anything in music or art in general, not an empirical rule. The slavish devotion to this concept often creates paranoid players instead of sensitive players, musicians who miss an opportunity to contribute something to a song that might actually elevate the music and performance to a new level, because they are obsessively trying to keep it simple. Simple first is a better credo and trust your musical instincts to contribute to the music. The metal guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen (not the best guy to talk to about musical restraint) once said, “Less is More?! That’s not possible! It’s not true. Less is less! More is more!” Semantics aside, there is some truth to what he says. Perhaps we should simply say, “Less is more…most of the time.”

8. Have professional gear in perfect working order

This should go without saying but…let’s just say you would be surprised. Professional does not automatically equate to the most expensive of everything. Intermediate gear, well maintained and tuned, can sound just as good. I heard an anecdote about a great jazz sax player who was approached on a break by a patron who wanted to tell the player how amazing his sax sounded. The player pointed at his sax sitting in its stand on the stage and asked, “Well, how does it sound now?” The player makes the instrument sound good.

9. NEVER make excuses, complain or blame others

This can be one of the most difficult rules to follow. It requires you to swallow a lot of pride sometimes and question you career choices. It may even be more of a personal philosophy but I try (keyword: TRY) not to point the finger whenever possible, even if that finger needs to be pointed. If a mistake happens and I know it was my mistake I will freely own up to it. There might have been a problem with my gear, I might have gotten a bad cue, my monitor may have cut out, the singer might have jumped a lyric, the bass player might be dragging…the possibilities are endless but if I made a mistake then I made it. I should have made sure my gear was set, I should have known the cue was wrong, I should know the songs well enough to go without a monitor, etc. If there is a real person or element in a gig that is consistently causing you to make errors, you might want to bring it up. Just always do that after the gig and in a non-accusatory manner. Own up to your mistakes and never deflect from yourself. Players get a reputation as never being wrong…at least, in their own minds and it is always someone else’s fault. A great player who immediately starts throwing band mates under the bus when he/she messes up will not be working for long.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3d2C82VPBCY

Of course, there are many, many ideas, concepts, and skills one must grasp when approaching these three areas, but I want you to take 5 minutes today to figure out how you are differentiating yourself from the competition.

Depending on your genre and your role in music, this may be difficult, and if you want the easy way out, you’ll make an excuse about how being different would hurt you rather than benefit you, after all you’re an orchestral player. Unless you’ve scored a full-time gig with a symphony and you have no other artistic interests, then consider these questions.

At what am I an expert?
What skill set or knowledge makes me unique from all other players?
How am I making this skill valuable to my target ‘prospect’?

Your target prospect may be potential students. It may be other players. It may be conductors or audition panels. It could be the parents of potential students. It could be any number of other people. Whoever it is, they are the individuals who must see you and your skill, and see that something unique makes you a better fit for them.

Obviously, the fully-refined version of why you are uniquely valuable should be different from anyone else. However, I’ll help you get the juices flowing as you figure it out.

Teachers: Are you well-rounded? Are you far better at generating high-level players of a specific instrument than your competition (other teachers)? Do your students consistently get scholarships or win jobs? Or maybe, you’re unique because your students get better grades in OTHER ares of their scholastic endeavors? What is unique about YOUR teaching that means students and parents should choose you over the other guy?

Performers: What is your instrument focus? Guess what? That’s not good enough. There are 100s, if not 1000s of other players just as good as you at that instrument. Do you contribute in some artistic voice that is only your own? Do you have a technique that is unique to you? Do you show up on time and always buy beer for everyone after the gig? For performers, differentiation is tough, but you can guarantee the way you differentiate exceeds your technical ability.

I know that our readership probably includes people beyond these two roles, but this should give you a starting point to help you find your differentiation-factor. Focus on the 3 questions from earlier in the post, and that will help you in this exercise.

Cage: Percussion:1  

John Cage was many things in his lifetime: a composer, an author, a philosopher, an inventor, a poet, a pianist, an orator, a fundraiser (both for his own projects and for Merce Cunningham), a leading mycologist. Among his many inventions and innovations, he is credited with writing the first piece of electro-acoustic music (Imaginary Landscape No. 1), inventing the prepared piano, incorporating concepts of Zen Buddhism in music vis-à-vis chance operations and indeterminacy. He was uncompromising – spending the first 30 years of his career with almost no money, pursuing the artistic challenges and inspirations that were vital to his own visions of the future of music and art. It was thanks to this bull-headed refusal to conform or compromise that Cage was so innovative, and has left such a lasting influence on the creative world.

One of Cage’s earliest inventions, and perhaps (in our opinion!) his greatest, was the professional percussion ensemble. Edgard Varèse’s Ionisation was premiered in 1933, two years before Cage’s first percussion piece, but it was Cage who first assembled an ensemble of percussionists to tour and perform notated percussion music – Cage’s own works, the few works yet written, and new works that Cage solicited from composers both nationally and internationally.

In May 2012, in celebration of the 100th anniversary of John Cage’s birth, Third Coast Percussion will release an album of Cage’s percussion music on the record label dedicated to recording Cage’s complete works, Mode Records. In preparation for that album, which was recorded in June 2011, TCP was fortunate enough to gain access to Cage’s original manuscripts at the New York Library for the Performing Arts, and Cage’s personal correspondence at our alma mater –the Northwestern University Music Library, John Cage Collection.

For fans of John Cage, such as ourselves, this research was a complete and utter joy. Revelations ran from the anecdotally splendid (a list of the 13 Essential Rudiments published by the National Association of Rudimental Drummers had a note in John Cage’s hand: “See if you can teach these to that garbage collector; I couldn’t.” [emphasis is Cage’s]) to the profound. The quote below comes from an unmarked letter written in 1941, regarding Cage’s 1935 piece, Quartet:

I organized the composition on a rhythmic basis, indicating no instruments. Friends helped me perform it on kitchen utensils, pieces of wood, tire rims, brake drums, etc. I was unaware at the time that I was doing what many negro street musicians in New Orleans had done. I was sharing points of view of Schoenberg and hot jazz combined. I gave private performances of the results and everyone encouraged going ahead.

We wanted to share some of this information with a broader audience, which has led to this, the first in a series of blog entries dedicated to John Cage’s percussion music, and to his life and writings during this time period – roughly 1935 to 1943. Some of this may be of more interest to percussionists than it is to the general public (raise your hand if you think you might get giddy at the sight of the instrument check list Cage took on tour to Portland …I know I did). But fans of Cage’s music will hopefully find interest in a closer glimpse at some of Cage’s earliest work, both as a creator and as an advocate for new thoughts and new music.

Stay tuned: we’re planning to post these blog entries on a weekly basis. Next week’s post is dedicated to instrument selection in Cage’s percussion music – historical accuracy vs. contemporary innovation, including some very cool rarely-seen photos of Cage’s own percussion instruments.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHr4XQ9SEcg

There is a poll below. Please vote and let us know. If you are interested, please put some suggested books in the comments. One book I am very interested to read this summer is The Cello Suites: J. S. Bach, Pablo Casals, and the Search for a Baroque Masterpiece. There are also a couple of business/social media books I would like to read. We are posting this question to our community and we would love to get your feedback. It was great to interact with some of your last summer, but to really make this “work,” it would be great to get more people involved. Please vote and spread the word.

Preliminary auditions are tentatively scheduled for June 16, 18, 22, and 23, 2012, with the finals tentatively taking place September 24, 2012.

Audition Repertoire List

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QPWjVruIss

Chattr Section

Since 1979, Benjamin Zander has been the conductor of the Boston Philharmonic. He is known around the world as both a guest conductor and a speaker on leadership — and he’s been known to do both in a single performance. He uses music to help people open their minds and create joyful harmonies that bring out the best in themselves and their colleagues.

A leading interpreter of Mahler and Beethoven, Benjamin Zander is known for his charisma and unyielding energy — and for his brilliant pre-concert talks.

Sue Fox of the London Sunday Times says of Zander:

“Arguably the most accessible communicator about classical music since Leonard Bernstein, Zander moves audiences with his unbridled passion and enthusiasm.”

What are your thoughts about Zander’s ideas? Want more? Watch the full version of the video on the TED site.

The original article is posted in PDF form at the Innovative Percussion website found with other great articles in the education section. As one of our biggest supporters, we cannot thank IP enough. Please check out this page for more great resources.

The warm-up is over, and the ceremonial moving of pit equipment has been completed. It is time to rehearse with the entire ensemble. You, the instructor, must take advantage of your space! There are a few vantagepoints that will allow you to evaluate the music very effectively: in front of the pit, directly behind the pit and from the press box. In an ideal world, you would have enough staff members to place one person at each of these positions. If not, try to divide your time accordingly.

Standing In Front of the Pit
This is where much of your “cleaning” of the pit will happen. This is your chance to listen to the rhythmic clarity and consistency of interpretation from player to player. This is also a good time to check out the balance and blend within the pit. Is the xylophone over-balancing the vibraphone? Is the suspended cymbal drowning out the beautiful glockenspiel countermelody? This is the time to fix these issues. Since you’ve already warmed up with the metronome, you know the tendencies of your players. Besides their tendencies with rhythm and tempo, you also know their tendencies with balance, playing zones, consistency of sound, shaping and articulation. It will all show up here.

This is also a great time to check other important issues like vibe pedaling, dampening of various instruments, accessory technique and how well the pit “performs.” Essentially, these are all of the things that you would be looking at and listening to in a sectional rehearsal (pit alone.) The only thing you would do differently in a sectional is that you would spend more time listening to individuals play.

Standing Behind the Pit
If you stand on the front sideline directly behind the pit, you are in the ultimate “hot spot.” This is a great spot to check timing issues. From this position, you can watch the drum major and check the timing between the field musicians and the pit.

Your first task in this process is to watch the drum major and see how well they are holding the tempo. Try to have a metronome to your ear and watch the drum major’s pattern. Besides checking for tempo maintenance, you can also check for pattern clarity and check to see where the major’s “focus” is. What section are they watching on the field and trying to keep in time? The section to focus on will change from phrase to phrase. If the major feels like he or she is being pushed or pulled by the ensemble, have an instructor go to the back of the field with a metronome and speaker. This can be very revealing!
When the drum major is confident with their tasks, you can check the timing of the field percussion and winds. On the field, there are many situations that can affect their timing. Here are just a few common problems for the field musicians: slowing down during direction changes in the drill, the battery slowing down during rolls or difficult technical passages, slowing down going into halts, they may be inconsistent with tempo changes, retardandos or accelerandos, or their distance to the front sideline may affect their timing (if they are too close or too far.) During this process it is very important to make the pit aware of these tendencies. During a performance they will have to listen back and adjust to all of these “issues” coming from the field.

Standing In the Press Box
Standing in the press box or up in the bleachers will provide you with the best opportunity to address overall ensemble issues such as balance, blend, timing, and general effect. Before you head “up top,” spend some time directly behind the pit, as mentioned previously. This will help you to know the timing and tempo tendencies of the entire ensemble. From the press box, you will have a better view to see exactly what is causing these problems; particularly if they are drill related. Experiment with having the pit tacet during some reps. This will highlight the backfield problems and allow you to address them.
More importantly, as a pit instructor, this is your time to balance the front ensemble with the entire musical ensemble. You’ll find that there are certain instruments that often overbalance. Some of these include; suspended cymbals, tam tams, concert bass drums, xylophones and high metal sounds like crotales, glockenspiels and bell plates. These problems are usually easy fixes. Simply, bring the performer’s dynamic level down or experiment with a softer mallet to see if that takes off some of the “edge.” If this doesn’t do it, perhaps that part is simply too overbearing for the full ensemble score. If this is the case, you may have to “thin-out” or remove the part.

If parts are under-balanced and not cutting through, the solution may not be so simple. Again, you may try to bring the dynamic level up or experiment with different mallets. More often, under-balanced parts are a scoring problem. Perhaps the part is too fast. This means the part will have to be played low to the keyboard resulting in a low dynamic level. Perhaps the part is scored too thin. Can it be played in octaves, or voiced with four-mallets, or played in a different octave? Sometimes the part may just be “uncomfortable” to play. For example, a B major chord (B, D#, F#, B) sounds harmless enough, but simply doesn’t lie well under the hands. Uncomfortable parts can usually be fixed with very simple score edits or new stickings. Another very common problem is getting vibraphones and chimes to cut through. The solution to this may be very easy: be very generous with the pedal. Though leaving the pedal down for an entire phrase may sound awful to the performer, it will sound very full and lush to the audience. Even staccato chords can use a quick pedal to “open” up the sound. There are very few times when you don’t use the pedal.

Other important issues to address from the press box are “length of sound” and “tapering of sound.” There are several instruments in the pit who’s sustain has the ability to cover up or “mask” the sound of other instruments (in the pit or on the field.) Not only will this cause musical balance problems, but it may also prevent pit members from hearing what is happening on the field. This can cause serious ensemble problems. For example, if you strike a tam tam at forte, the sustain will last for several measures. To prevent the tam tam’s sustain from covering up other sounds, you can taper its sounds by running your fingers across the instrument. Essentially, this makes the instrument die out quicker. You may also want to determine exactly when you want to completely choke off the sound of the tam tam. This is the kind of detail that will lend clarity to your ensemble. Other instruments that fall into this category are suspended cymbals, concert bass drums, vibraphones and crotales.

James Ancona is the Percussion Caption Head for The Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps and has many years’ experience as an arranger and instructor for DCI corps, including the Boston Crusaders, the Crossmen, the Glassmen, Star of Indiana, and The Santa Clara Vanguard. Several of his percussion arrangements appear on Star of Indiana’s “Brass Theater” and “BLAST” compact discs. Ancona received his Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and his Master’s Degree in Performance from Indiana University where he was awarded the prestigious Performer’s Certificate. He is the Assistant Director of the Blue Hen Marching Band, Director of the Basketball Pep Band, and Co- Director of the Symphonic Band at the University of Delaware.

What ideas do you have to stay motivated and engaged in your creative lives as artists? Leave your thoughts below the post.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPR60WFHKXc

In honor of the upcoming Xenakis festival, enjoy Steven Schick’s performance os Psappha.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yge7GNl5p_k

Notes on a Collaboration: The Making of Steve Mackey’s It Is Time
By Adam Sliwinski

This article originally appeared in Avue Magazine, a new publication of Adams Percussion Instruments. They asked us to write about an artistically gratifying and interesting experience. I have been wanting for some time to document the creation of Steve Mackey’s fantastic percussion quartet It Is Time, one of the most satisfying artistic collaborations we’ve ever had. The series will run in four parts, where each member of So details the process of developing the unique sound world and techniques of this piece: first Eric, then Josh, Adam, and Jason.

Here is a link to the full video of It Is Time online, if you want to see what we’re talking about in action.

Part I

Time sits
Time stands
Time is time…

from Isaac Maliya’s, Time is Time

Several years ago So Percussion had the honor of commissioning Steven Mackey for a new percussion quartet. Steve – Professor of Composition and Chair of the Music Department at Princeton University – is one of the most omnivorous and brilliant composers in America today.

At our first meeting about the project, Steve explained over barbecue chicken that he wanted to try something different for Sō. He told us that although he admires works that demand uniformity of timbre and interpretation like Reich’s Drumming, Xenakis’ Pleiades, or Lang’s the so-called laws of nature, he was interested in doing something different for us.
His first question to each of us was “what instrument do you want to play?” It only makes sense to ask this of a percussionist, because if you are a violinist or a pianist, you’ve already answered it. But the world of a percussionist – even four percussionists who studied in the same program – is diverse, and we each provided our own answer: “drum set, steel drums, marimba, multiple percussion.”

During the course of the next year and a half, we worked closely with Steve to craft a new piece that highlights each of us as performers and interpreters. We found the end result to be astonishing in its innovation and conceptual power.

Over this series of four articles, we’ll dissect each movement through the eyes of the individual members of the group: Eric, Josh, Adam, and Jason. We’ll also talk about working with Steve to unlock the potential in each of these instruments.

This article focuses on Eric Beach and his one-man-band of sounds and timbres.

First, Steve’s own description of It Is Time:
“It Is Time marshals the virtuosity of the individual members of So ̄ Percussion to speed, slow, warp, celebrate and mourn our perceptions of time. Each of the four sections of the piece is a mini-concerto for one of the players. First Eric Beach leads the music in a multi-percussion set up composed of metronome with delay, pump organ, bells, china cymbal on hi-hat stand and a few other assorted toys. Josh Quillen follows on steel drums, Adam Sliwinski on marimba, and Jason Treuting on drumset.

It Is Time was inspired by my young son Jasper (now 30 months old). As an older father (now 664 months old) I felt, for the first time in my life, saddened by the immutability of time and the finite limits to how much of It I will be able to spend with my young family. It Is Time fantasizes that we might have agency with respect to time.”

Now Eric describes his process of working with Mackey:

Working with Steve on It Is Time was a big challenge for me, and it was really helpful that Steve was so cool about being collaborative. I really didn’t have a strong idea going into the project about what specific instrument(s) I wanted to play, and I was worried that he wouldn’t be inspired to do something wonderful if I didn’t already have an idea for him. But the discussion with Steve about what exactly to write for turned into an incredible conversation, and I think it inspired Steve in a different way than would have been possible otherwise.

I still have the list of instruments that I suggested to Steve. For each one I wrote a little description and recorded myself playing it for about a minute. He used almost all of them: glass bottle, china cymbal/hi hat, Estey child’s organ, frame drum, metronome, noah bells, and small bells. I also recorded a little concertina, some other drums, and a stack of poker chips – those three things were the only instruments I sent him that didn’t end up in the piece.

I was really excited about the way that Steve latched on to the metronome as a building block for creating elements of the piece. I had already bought one of those little analog metronomes – tick, tock – for a piece I wrote, because I liked the way it looked, and that it could be started by the performer carefully pushing the weight at just the right moment. When I first got it and took it out of the box, I was amazed at how cool the metronome sounded. I actually wound it up and just let it click for an hour while cooking dinner. The sound was fascinating, so I recorded it and sent it to Steve. I also told him about a Mauricio Kagel piece where the pianist places a metronome on a little stand that can turn on its side so that the metronome ticks unevenly. I had never actually heard the piece at the time (I found out later that it was a piece called ‘MM.51’), but it seemed like an interesting idea. I don’t know whether Steve had already been thinking specifically about ‘warping’ time before that conversation, but something about placing the metronome on its side seemed to strike a nerve. He even bought me an extra metronome so that I could take it apart and dissect the way that the sound was being created. Two big sections of the piece ended up grappling with this idea of defying the inevitability of the metronome.

Another great part of the collaboration was the China Cymbal/Hi-Hat. I came up with the idea for this instrument while I was studying in Freiburg, Germany and my professor assigned me to write a piece for only two metallic instruments. At the time I wanted to figure out a way to get the greatest number of different sounds from a single instrument, and I came up with the idea to put a china cymbal on a hi-hat stand with a mute underneath in place of a bottom cymbal. I wrote a long, slow “process” piece for this china cymbal and large almglocken. When I was recording the new cymbal-contraption for Steve, I realized that the proximity of the microphone to the cymbal made a huge difference in the sound – the bass frequencies were only audible if the microphone was right next to the cymbal. I imagined that it could be a functional instrument for big gong-type notes in the piece. I had no idea that Steve would take that instrument and utilize it for one of the fastest and most virtuosic sections! It was one of the best examples of how something new came out of the collaboration at every step, something we never would have achieved independently.

Other instruments yielded interesting moments, too: The frame drum sound turned out radically different with microphone placement, so using close microphones became an important part of the piece. Steve was fascinated by the way that the foot pedals of the Estey organ made the volume swell and fade in a rhythmic way, and that inspired a section of the piece where the organ pumps rhythmically while alternating with the china cymbal. The tuned wine bottle sound I sent him turned into a short gesture based on the Doppler effect – the acoustic phenomenon where a sound changes based on the perspective of the listener, such as the way a siren lowers in pitch as a fire truck goes by on the street.

The “musical saw” was the one complete instrument that Steve asked me to learn how to play from scratch. He toyed with the idea of a Theremin as well, but his first inspiration was the saw and I agreed to learn how to play it. I had never played saw before at all, and when I looked into getting some lessons they were a lot more expensive than I could afford. So I bought a cheap instrument and committed myself to practicing at least 10-15 minutes every day. At first I just tried to get any sound at all, then I started to find pitches, and then I tried playing along with whatever music I was listening to. I distinctly remember that one day I could suddenly play along with a bunch of Beatles songs. That’s when I realized that I was starting to get it. In fact I only had to learn a short melody for the piece, and I’m still far from qualifying as a professional musical saw player. But it was a great experience, and since then I’ve incorporated the instrument into several other projects.

A brief description of the instruments used in my setup:

Estey Organ: This is a bellows reed organ that used to be made by the Estey Organ company in Brattleboro, Vermont. The one I play in It Is Time is actually a children’s version – it’s a miniature that is only three octaves. Before electric keyboards, middle class families in the United States used to buy these organs to teach children music if they couldn’t afford a piano at home. When Sō got one through a project we did in Vermont, we became obsessed with the sound and have included it in all kinds of projects.

China Cymbal / Hi-Hat: This is a simple setup of a hi-hat made up of a china cymbal on top and a mute on the bottom – in this case, the mute is actually a smaller cymbal that I’ve wrapped in a few towels. When the pedal is down, the outer edge of the china cymbal still vibrates and the only way to completely dampen it is with your hand, so there are three playing positions: open, closed, and closed with hand dampening. Steve also asked me to tape a small coin to my pinky finger so that when I dampen the cymbal with my hand it provides an extra click. The cymbal is amplified with a microphone that is placed as close to the cymbal as possible.

Frame Drum: This is a standard frame drum mounted on a snare drum stand so that I can play it with one hand. It is also amplified with a microphone as close as possible to the drumhead, which brings out the huge range of overtones coming off of the head. We experimented with different frame drum skins and found that natural hide had a much richer sound. I play on the head and the rim, and also bend the pitch by pressing on the head.

Metronome: This is an analog Wittner metronome that I amplify with a contact microphone and run through a digital delay pedal. Steve figured out the exact delay setting to get a specific rhythm that much of the opening of the piece is based on. Also, later in the piece I put the metronome on a piece of wood that is set at a specific angle such that when the metronome swings back and forth it clicks in two uneven beats with a 2:3 relationship. So the meter that results is close to 5/16.

Noah Bells: These are simple copper bells that traditionally come from India or Pakistan. I found out about them for the first time while playing Toru Takemitsu’s beautiful piece From Me Flows What You Call Time. I only had two of them, and Steve wrote for them in a way that was very different from what I imagined.

Wine Bottle: This is a wine bottle filled with an amount of water that tunes the bottle to a specific pitch. One of the interesting things I discovered through this process is that the pitch created by the water in the bottle is different depending on whether the bottle is standing upright or turned on its side.

Small Bells: These are traditional celebration bells from India. They come on a string that includes many different sized bells, and I simply lay them out on a table so that they can be played from low to high.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9EAEvlLA2A

The members of the ASO are taking a proactive stance, however. They have created a petition so that their friends and supporters around the globe can voice how important the existence of this entity is for the community. Please consider signing the petition at change.org.

Riverside Community College – 97.088
Music City Mystique – 95.500
Pulse Percussion – 94.825

Here’s RCC performing their winning show, “The Gift.”

“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.”
― Ira Glass

Percussion World Championships Schedule

Friday, April 13th

Cintas Center at Xavier University
Independent A Semis
Independent Open Semis

Wright State University’s Nutter Center
Scholastic A Semis
Scholastic Open Semis

University of Dayton Arena
Scholastic World Semis
Independent World Semis
A Class Finals

Saturday, April 14th

University of Dayton Arena
Open Class Finals
World Class Finals

Here’s a video of last year’s World Class Champions, Music City Mystique 2011, performing Mantra. Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Awxzw3Ov0Vc

Concert 1, entitled “The Great Virtuosity – Solos” will feature some of our repertoires most virtuosic repertoire:

Toucher: Vinko Globokar
Andrew Furhman, Soloist

Domino V: Philippe Boivin
Matt Teodori, Soloist

Unchained Melody: David Lang
Doug Perkins, Soloist

Canaries: Elliott Carter
Improvisation
Perpetual Motion
Tony Edwards, Soloist

Dodecahedron: Edward J. Taylor
(marimba/vibraphone solo)
Todd Meehan, Soloist

Dance of the Octopus: Red Norvo
Adam Bedell, Soloist

Concert II: entitled “The Great Melange” is all about variety.

Thomas Burritt, Marimba:

III: Gingerly, very stable: Jennifer E. Stasack
From Six Elegies Dancing

IV: Sad Song: Robert Aldridge
From My Little Island

Fermo: Michael Burritt

III: Dance of Passion: Robert Aldridge
From My Little Island

IV: Finale: Gordon Stout
From Four Dances

Haven: Jonathan Kolm

The University of Texas Percussion Ensemble

Mallet Quartet: Steve Reich

Symphony for Percussion: Eric Ewazen
II

Lex: Michael Daugherty
Ertan Torgul, electric violin

Stonewave: Rolf Wallin
I
III

Concert III, entitled “The Great Masterworks” well, is all about the greats:

Nagoya Marimbas Steve Reich
MPDuo

Amores John Cage
line upon line

Ionisation Edgard Varèse
UT Percussion Ensemble

Pléïades Iannis Xenakis

I. Métaux
II. Claviers
III. Peaux
IV. Mélanges

MPDuo
line upon line
Timothy Briones

Visiting Festival Hill is an experience one never forgets. We hope if you are in the central Texas area you will consider attending a few of the concerts. Purchase Tickets now!