Multiple percussion duo scored for 5.0 octave marimba, 2 sets of bongos, 2 congas, 2 toms, 1 concert bass drum, and 2 splash cymbals. Both performers have identical set-ups and work “as one” by complementing each other with complex hocketed music played on marimba (shared: one player on each side) and multiple percussion.
Sō Percussion creates adventurous compositions with new, unconventional instruments. Performing “Music for Wood and Strings” by Bryce Dessner of The National, the quartet plays custom-made dulcimer-like instruments that combine the sound of an electric guitar with the percussionist’s toolkit to create a hypnotic effect. (From Ted.com)
This video features the live performance from PASIC 2012 (November 3, 2012). The session was called “Steel Band Literature: Standards, New Directions, Styles and Sources” and was directed Tony McCutchen (Jacksonville State University), Dave Gerhart (CSU, Long Beach) and C. J. Menge (Inside Out Steel Band). The performance featured over 60 faculty members from the US performing new literature for steel band.
Performed by Quey Percussion Duo (Gene Koshinski and Tim Broscious) with the University of Minnesota Duluth Graduate Percussion Ensemble (Jordan Holley, Jody Morgan, Doug Quance, and Michael Taylor)
Program Notes Circuit Breaker, scored for percussion sextet, functions as a concertino for percussion duo with percussion quartet accompaniment. While there is no set program, the impetus for the piece came from images of robots dancing. Initially, I was intrigued by a video of twenty synchronized “Noa” robots dancing in perfect unison, but the aesthetic of the music did not seem to fit the visual image. This posed the question, “What kind of music would a robot dance to?” This question conjured up a variety of ideas and sounds from mechanical and industrial to unusual and whimsical. Circuit Breaker takes the listener through a series of musical scenes that offer a response to this abstract question. (more…)
