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Instrumentation: 10 Percussionists (Marimba, Vibraphone, Crotales, Low Tom, Med Tom, Bass Drum, Hi-Hat, Synth, Prerecorded Electronics, Chains, Slinkies, Voice)
Duration: 6:00
About Coiled:
The sound of a slinky cascading down a flight of stairs is a childhood memory that lives rent free in my brain. When I recently heard my kids attempting that perfectly timed descent at our house, I was transported back to the same playful state. Listening to their delight as they discovered this decidedly old-school toy, I knew I needed a few slinkies of my own.
I immediately ordered a collection of metal coils and began experimenting in my studio.
Approaching this toy as a composer and percussionist brought both joy and frustration. The perfect cascade of an extra-long slinky was deeply satisfying. Moments later, the same slinky would stretch or knot, bringing my experiments to an abrupt halt. Two ideas emerged from this process: momentum and entanglement. What does it feel like to move freely, trusting one step to carry us into the next? And what happens when our intentions get entangled or purpose gets misplaced?
COILED, commissioned by the Furman Percussion Studio, explores these questions with plenty of playfulness. Four performers are featured using illuminated slinkies and “zip-zaps,” stretched slinkies attached to large drums that function like enormous spring drums. Their sounds range from delicate metallic pops to thunderous rumbles, giving this familiar toy many voices.
Spoken word material adds to the entanglement. The use of the human voice grew from my fascination with the overlap between percussive and vocal timbres. While brainstorming, I kept saying “coiled” to myself until the word became its own little instrument: two crisp consonants surrounding a round, elastic “oil.” I recorded myself exaggerating its pronunciation, then sliced and manipulated the recordings in Ableton to generate rhythmic and melodic material for the piece.
Interlocking crotale melodies and grooves propel the music forward, while the nuanced sounds of WTF Percussion’s amplified chains and coil bring playful textures to its relentless energy. What begins in mystery builds toward an explosive ending, its momentum undeniable, reminding us that even when entangled, we can find unison.
Instrumentation: 10 Percussionists (Marimba, Vibraphone, Crotales, Low Tom, Med Tom, Bass Drum, Hi-Hat, Synth, Prerecorded Electronics, Chains, Slinkies, Voice)
Duration: 6:00
About Coiled:
The sound of a slinky cascading down a flight of stairs is a childhood memory that lives rent free in my brain. When I recently heard my kids attempting that perfectly timed descent at our house, I was transported back to the same playful state. Listening to their delight as they discovered this decidedly old-school toy, I knew I needed a few slinkies of my own.
I immediately ordered a collection of metal coils and began experimenting in my studio.
Approaching this toy as a composer and percussionist brought both joy and frustration. The perfect cascade of an extra-long slinky was deeply satisfying. Moments later, the same slinky would stretch or knot, bringing my experiments to an abrupt halt. Two ideas emerged from this process: momentum and entanglement. What does it feel like to move freely, trusting one step to carry us into the next? And what happens when our intentions get entangled or purpose gets misplaced?
COILED, commissioned by the Furman Percussion Studio, explores these questions with plenty of playfulness. Four performers are featured using illuminated slinkies and “zip-zaps,” stretched slinkies attached to large drums that function like enormous spring drums. Their sounds range from delicate metallic pops to thunderous rumbles, giving this familiar toy many voices.
Spoken word material adds to the entanglement. The use of the human voice grew from my fascination with the overlap between percussive and vocal timbres. While brainstorming, I kept saying “coiled” to myself until the word became its own little instrument: two crisp consonants surrounding a round, elastic “oil.” I recorded myself exaggerating its pronunciation, then sliced and manipulated the recordings in Ableton to generate rhythmic and melodic material for the piece.
Interlocking crotale melodies and grooves propel the music forward, while the nuanced sounds of WTF Percussion’s amplified chains and coil bring playful textures to its relentless energy. What begins in mystery builds toward an explosive ending, its momentum undeniable, reminding us that even when entangled, we can find unison.