Lecture: 2/8/11

YOU WILL BE QUIZZED ON THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION!




Tom Collier – Percussion Ensemble 2/22/11, Meany Hall 7:30 p.m.

Percussion is probably the oldest known instrument.

It’s believed that the first percussion instruments were used in hunting.

Percussion is now entering its Golden Age.

Percussion is heard in almost every genre around the world.

Three major types/families of percussion instruments:

Membranophones – This type of drum has a skin or a membrane that is struck.  The material is stretched across a frame.  Plastic has replaced skin.

Metalophones – Made of metal: cymbals, gongs, triangles, vibraphone.

Idiophones – Made of wood: xylophone, marimba (largest of all mallet instruments), clave.

Types of repertoire that will be presented in the concert:

Avant garde/contemporary.

Gamelan style/eastern influence.

Jazz improvisation.

Marimba and electronics.

Example instruments:

Snare drum – A membranophone.  First used by Hadyn in a symphony, Drumroll Symphony.  The snare drum also played a roll in the military, where it was derived from.  Snare drummers would use different patterns to communicate to the soldiers in the field, amidst all of the war noises.

Sticking pattern – paradiddle, RLRR or LRLL

Rolls – RRLL or LLRR

Flam – A double strike on the drum when one strike occurs immediately after the other strike.

The aforementioned strokes were first used in the military, and eventually adapted by different styles from around the world.

The tightened strings underneath the snare give the drum its definitive sound.

Vibraphone - A metalophone.  Invented in the 1920s by an American drum company.  The company wanted to extend the range of the glockenspiel.  Lionel Hampton made the instrument popular in the 1930s.  Lewis Armstrong hired Lionel Hampton to play drums.  Lionel noticed the vibraphone in the recording studio at NBC and began to play it.  He picked up the instrument very quickly because it represented the piano.  The studio director said they use it for the famous NBC tune.

Improvisation exists in all musical cultures, however, it is most prominent in jazz.  You can even find improvisation in orchestral pieces, such as a concerto.

Example of improvisation - “Magic Fingers” by Frank Zappa

Different mallets produce different sounds: wood mallets, rubber mallets, yarn-wound mallets.