Research Catalog

Title

How to write for percussion : a comprehensive guide to percussion composition / Samuel Z. Solomon.

Author

Solomon, Samuel Z.

Publication

• New York, NY : Oxford University Press, 2016.
• ©2016

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

xviii, 288 pages : illustrations, music; 26 cm

Subject

• Composition (Music)
• Percussion instruments > Instruction and study

Note

• Includes index.

Contents

• Introduction. How this book is organized ; Instruments covered ; Working with percussionists ; Location specifics ; The value of not reading this book --
• General framework. A dysfunctional family. Comparison of family relationships -- The problem of pitch. The pitches of percussion ; The validations and limitations of novelty ; Three methods for indeterminately pitch instruments -- The written/improv divide. Expanding the color palette (to shrink the setup) ; The value of improvised and non-notated music -- Social composition. Write for people, not sounds ; Write what is wanted, not what to do ; Working with percussionists --
• General logistics. Instrument choice and management. Six stories, three sad and three happy ; Why use fewer instruments? ; How to consolidate ; Inexpensive instruments ; Exotic instruments ; Electronic percussion ; Multiple options for a specified instrument ; Instruments percussionists may not play ; Multiple percussionists ; Section setup ; Orchestra ; Wind ensemble ; Broadway pit ; Drum corps and marching bands ; Specialists ; Non-percussionists playing percussion ; Chairs and stands -- Issues of playability. Excessive polyphony ; How fast percussionists can play ; Unidiomatic writing : music that often requires memorization ; Dynamics ; Reaching the instruments ; Instruments with pedals ; Physical exertion and shaking ; Working with headphones or headset microphones --
• General notation. Basics of percussion parts and scores. Instrument list ; Instrument key ; Setup diagram ; Language ; Parts ; Cues ; Percussion in the conductor's score ; Dynamics -- Designing a notational system. Clefs ; Staves ; Noteheads ; Mixing determinately and indeterminately pitched instruments ; Key signatures ; What goes where on the staff ; The chicken or the egg? ; Unspecified instruments (indeterminate instrumentation) ; How much to notate ; Systems of notation for which there is no standard ; Return to a "normal" method of playing -- Note length, articulation, and phrasing. Note length chart ; Exact or inexact note-length indications ; Muting (muffling, dampening) ; Dead stroke ; Damper pedals ; Rolls -- Notations that are not recommended. Symbol notation ; Altered keyboard notation (timbre-staff) --
• Beaters. To indicate or not to indicate? ; Beater lingo ; Logistical beater issues ; Sticks ; Mallets ; Triangle beaters and Knitting needles ; Brushes ; Rute sticks ; Chime hammers (Tubular bell hammers) ; Superball mallet ; Beaters as instruments ; Hands ; Bows -- Keyboard percussion. Ranges and construction ; Writing for keyboard percussion ; Stacked instruments ; Multiple players ; Extended techniques ; Miscellaneous --
• Drums. Sticks on drums ; Mallets on drums ; Hands on drums ; Playing on the rim or shell ; Beating spot ; Mutes ; Pitch bending ; Drum size ; Two-headed drums ; Multiple drums in setups ; Idiomatic writing for drums ; Timpani ; Tom-toms ; Snare drum, Field drum, and Tenor drum ; Concert bass drum and Pedal bass drum ; Bongos and Congas ; Timbales ; Roto-toms ; Frame drums ; Tambourines ; Djembe and Doumbek ; Boobams ; Drumset --
• Metal. Cymbals ; Gongs ; Finger cymbals ; Cowbells and Almglocken ; Temple bowls and Mixing bowls ; Brake drums, Metal pipes, Anvils, and Bell plates ; Thundersheet ; Junk metal, Tin cans, and Pots and pans ; Ribbon crasher ; Spring coil ; Church bells ; Hand bells ; Steel drums ; Tambourines ; Sleighbells ; Metal wind chimes, Mark tree, and Bell tree ; Flexatone ; Extended techniques --
• Wood. Woodblocks, Templeblocks, and Log drum ; Wooden planks ; Wood drums, Wooden boxes, Cajón, and Mahler hammer ; Claves ; Castanets ; Rute ; Guiro ; Slapstick ; Ratchet ; Bamboo wind chimes -- Miscellaneous instruments. Bottles ; Cabasa ; Conch shell ; Crystal glasses ; Maracas and Shakers ; Rainstick ; Rice bowls and Flower pots ; Sandpaper blocks ; Sirens ; String drum and Cuica ; Stones and Prayer stones ; Thumb piano ; Vibraslap ; Wind chimes ; Whistles ; Wind machine --
• Appendix A. Repertoire analysis. Percussion ensemble. Edgard Varèse, Ionisation (1929-1931) ; John Cage, Constructions (1939-1942) ; Iannis Xenakis, Persephassa (1969) ; Steve Reich, Drumming (1970-1971) ; Steve Mackey, It is time (2010) ; John Luther Adams, Inuksuit (2009) ; Ryan Streber, Cold pastoral (2004) ; Nico Muhly, Ta & clap (2004) ; Adam Silverman, Naked and on fire (2011) ; Paul Lansky, Travel diary (2007) -- Orchestral. Béla Bartók ; Sergei Prokofiev ; Maurice Ravel ; Gustav Mahler ; Dmitri Shostakovich ; Leonard Bernstein ; Carl Nielsen ; Jean Sibelius ; Wind Ensemble -- Smaller mixed ensemble. John Adams, Chamber symphony (1992) ; Stephan Hartke, Meanwhile (2007) ; Jacob Druckman, Come round (1992) ; Charles Wuorinen, New York notes (1982) ; Pierre Boulez, Sur incises (1996/1998) -- Percussion solo : Drums. Michio Kitazume, Side by side (1991) ; Elliott Carter, Eight pieces for four timpani (1950/1966) ; Casey Cangelosi, Meditation no. 1 (2011) -- Percussion solo : Keyboards. Jacob Druckman, Reflections on the nature of water (1986) ; Paul Simon, Amulet (2008) ; Steve Mackey, See ya Thursday (1992) ; Steve Swallow/Gary Burton, I'm your pal and Hullo Bolinas ; Donald Martino, Soliloquy (2003) -- Percussion solo : Multi-percussion. Iannis Xenakis, Psappha (1975) ; David Lang, Anvil chorus (1991) ; Roger Reynolds, Watershed (1995) ; Four Pieces for the author's "Setup #1" ; Nico Muhly, It's about time (2004) ; Michael Early, Raingutter (2007) ; Marcos Balter, Descarga (2006) ; Judd Greenstein, We shall be turned (2006) -- Percussion concerto. James MacMillan, Veni veni Emmanuel (1992) ; Einojuhani Rautavaara, Incantations (2008) ; Steven Mackey, Micro-concerto (1999) -- Orchestrating native sounds --
• Appendix B. Sample setups -- Appendix C. Extended techniques. Return to a "normal" method of playing ; Manipulations of timbre ; Striking unusual parts of an instrument ; Unusual usage of beaters ; Dead stroke ; Beating spot ; Bowing ; Friction roll ; Scrape ; Prepared instruments ; Pitch bending ; Vibrato ; Adding mass ; Sympathetic resonance ; Clusters ; Harmonics -- Appendix D. Pitch specification -- Appendix E. Dynamics -- Appendix F. Register -- Appendix G. Beaters -- Appendix H. Percussion family tree. Pitch clarity chart ; Note length chart ; Register chart ; Sound production chart ; The percussion family tree.

Call Number

JMF 16-145

ISBN

• 9780199920341
• 0199920346
• 9780199920365
• 0199920362

LCCN

2015018562

OCLC

909112416

Author

Solomon, Samuel Z., author.

Title

How to write for percussion : a comprehensive guide to percussion composition / Samuel Z. Solomon.

Publisher

New York, NY : Oxford University Press, 2016.

Copyright Date

©2016

Edition

Second edition.

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Research Call Number

JMF 16-145