History of Percussion

West Coast Group composers John Cage, Henry Cowell, and Lou Harrison wrote some of the earliest works for percussion ensemble. They were also all queer men, suggesting that there was a possibly a connection between their queer sexualities and their engagement with the percussion ensemble in the 1930s and early 1940s. Part I of this essay explores the relationship between queer sexuality and percussion by examining the various ways in which the composers’ queer lives intersected with the creation of the percussion ensemble. This discussion results in a deeper understanding of the queer sensibility that informed the development of the percussion ensemble, including interactions with modern dance, Asian influences, and collaborative working methods. An analysis of Cage and Harrison’s Double Music brings together the various discussions presented in relation to queerness and the percussion ensemble. In Part II, a detailed look at the influence modern dance exerted upon the West Coast percussion ensemble will further demonstrate one critical queer influence on early percussion works. An important musical device used in dance music was the ostinato; the use of the ostinato in early percussion ensemble repertoire reveals the ensemble’s codependence on early modern dance. Analysis of percussion works by Beyer, Cage, Cowell, Harrison, Humphrey, and Strang, will show how percussion developed alongside modern dance in four distinct stages; particular focus on usage of the ostinato will show how dance tangibly impacted the repertoire.
“Cage, Cowell, Harrison, and Queer Influences on the Percussion Ensemble, 1932 - 1943” by William Solomon, University of Hartford, Hartt School, Doctor of Musical Arts in Percussion Performance, 2016.


This paper investigates the influence of alla turca style in music by W.A. Mozart and F. J. Haydn in the 18th and early 19th centuries. It begins by tracing the origin of the style back to the Ottoman janissaries and their formation in 1329, discussing the first encounters between Europeans and janissaries, and following that influence into European classical music hundreds of years later. The paper will look at various musical examples, specifically examining orchestration, instrumentation and texture.The result is educational, striking impacts and surprising moments in some of the best-loved works in western classical music.

Percussion theatre is a relatively new term that can be effectively used to discuss a body of musical repertoire for percussion that employ theatrical techniques.  A generic approach of percussion theatre may include the specialised use of lighting, props, costume, space, and in some cases multimedia.  At the focal point of this thesis are the techniques of acting, vocalisation and gesture.  It discusses how the skill set of the percussionist can be expanded to better suit the broader performance demands required by compositions.  Percussionists who perform percussion theatre repertoire would greatly benefit from interdisciplinary study to develop the theatrical skills specific to this genre.

Stylistic trends in European, American and Australian compositions of this genre are explored in detail. Furthermore, this thesis includes a discussion of a series of written interviews with key exponents of this body of musical work in Australia.  Central to this discussion are both, the technical demands of the performer, and the factors that need to be considered when composers engage with the above theatrical techniques.  Finally, significant factors leading to the success of the compositions on the performing circuit are also considered with a view to discover how to promote and further develop this nascent form of performance art.

A lo largo de la historia del repertorio para percusión hubo un fuerte crecimiento técnico acompañado por la creación de nuevos instrumentos pertenecientes a este área. Esto determinó la conformación de un nuevo profesional volviéndolo un músico multitarea:  un músico que no estudia un único instrumento musical y al cual no se le pide una sola forma de tocar estos instrumentos. El repertorio que refleja mejor este concepto es lo de la multipercusión. A pesar que sea un repertorio joven -en el 1919 se presenta la Histoire du Soldat de Igor Stravinsky, primera composición para multipercusión en ámbito orquestal, y solo en el 1959 Karlheinz Stockhausen compone Zyklus que resulta ser la primera obra para multipercusión sola- las problemáticas que lo han caracterizado siempre fueron varias: una notación constantemente diferente según la obra, la organización espacial de los instrumentos que componen el conjunto pedido por el compositor, la orquestación (elección y/o construcción de instrumentos musicales), el desarrollo de competencias peculiares comúnmente no pertenecientes a los planes de estudios académicos.

Los propósitos esta investigación son: 1) dar un panorama claro de como nació y se desarrolló históricamente el concepto de multipercusión; 2) escoger e interpretar obras donde sean fuertemente marcadas las problemáticas descritas con especial y peculiar atención a obras que presenten el conocimiento de habilidades particulares; 3) escribir los métodos de estudios utilizados y ejercicios técnicos para la resolución de las problemáticas encontradas; 4) plantear una reflexión sobre lo que se puede considerar multipercusión e intentar responder a la pregunta ¿se puede considerar la multipercusión un instrumento musical mutable?

Los resultados obtenidos hasta ahora se centran principalmente en el aspecto histórico de la evolución practica del concepto de multipercusión y en la selección, estudio e interpretación de composiciones donde la idea de un desarrollo de habilidades singulares sea bien marcado.

In un'epoca segnata da un'estrema volontà di rottura dei linguaggi artistici tradizionali e dalla contestuale esplorazione di nuove modalità espressive - si pensi all'atonalismo espressionista o al metodo dodecafonico - l'opera di Bartók segue una strada divergente, trasformando sistematicamente elementi e stilemi popolari in forme universali. In questa prospettiva, la «Sonata per due pianoforti e percussioni» si mostra come uno dei più alti esempi di quella incredibile dote creativa che unisce la tradizione con l'innovazione e l'originalità. Di quest'opera il presente volume presenta una specifica e puntuale analisi musicologica. La scelta dell'organico è già di per sé una dichiarazione musicale: il pianoforte, strumento classico e romantico per eccellenza, viene accostato alle «neonate» percussioni, le quali gradualmente si affermeranno come una delle famiglie strumentali più indagate dai compositori del XX sec. Componendo per due pianoforti e per un set percussivo che comprende una quindi quindicina di strumenti, Bartók amplifica enormemente il potenziale timbrico, dinamico ed espressivo dell'opera offrendo un'inedita varietà di soluzioni musicali.

Bu araştırmanın amacı; hız ve hareket fetişizmi üzerinden, çeşitli sanat akımlarının, nasıl bir yol izledikleri; zamanın koşullarına göre ne tür bir zorunlulukla, ya da tam tersi bir istekle bu hamleyi benimsedikleri, çok detaya girilmeden kısaca anlatılmaya çalışılmıştır.

Fütürizm Manifestosu üzerinden toparlanmaya çalışılan hız, şiddet ve gürültü estetiği, Intonarumori (gürültü makineleri) dağarcığı göz önünde bulundurularak müzikteki yansımalarından kısaca bahsedilmeye çalışılmıştır. Tez süreci boyunca başta George Antheil olmak üzere, Terry Riley, La Monte Young, Steve Reich ve Philip Glass gibi bestecilerin başlıca yapıtları incelenerek birbirleriyle ve icra pratikleriyle bağları irdelenmeye çalışılmıştır.

Son derece daraltılmış; yalınkat bir malzemeden çoğaltılarak “Az çoktur ve şeytan ayrıntıda gizlidir” sözüyle bağlamlanan mekanik tekrara dayalı tasarımsal ve performatif öğeler, Phase-Shifting Process algısıyla Minimalizm bağlamında derinleştirilmeye çalışılmıştır.

Bu bestecilerin önünü açmaları ve başka kültürlerin müziklerine daha derinlikli birer perspektifle yaklaşmaları açısından Henry Cowell ve 20. yy müziğinin en önemli fikir adamlarından biri olan John Cage’in bağlama dair başat görüşleri nakledilmiştir.
Çalışmanın özellikle perküsyon icracılarına, pratiklerini zihinselleştirmede destek olması amaçlanmıştır.

Anahtar Kelimeler: Motorik, Repetitif, Döngüsellik, Zihin-Kas Kordinasyonu, Bağımsız Hareket Ergonomisi, Post-Modernizm

Introducing the tympanon, the most popular hand-drum in the ancient Greek world, with a brief historical cross-examination of this rumbling percussion in parallel cultural contexts, bringing forward its variation with the Latin tympanum and the modern tambourine.

https://www.worldhistory.org/Tympanon/

Das Buch bietet eine detaillierte Auseinandersetzung mit Perkussionisten profaner und sakraler Mizhavu-Trommeln aus dem südindischen Kerala. Spezifische Talas (Rhythmen) sowie eigene rhythmisch-musikalische Phrasen in der Sanskrit-Dramenform Kutiyattam begleiten die Performance der Darstellerinnen und Darsteller. Sie werden auch eingesetzt, um Emotionen spezifischer Charaktere aus den Nationalepen Ramayana und Mahabharata zu kommunizieren und dienen zur Unterhaltung des Publikums bei Passagen ohne Darstellerinnen und Darsteller. Die Autorin beschreibt die Perkussionisten des Kerala Kalamandalam in ihrem sozialen und performativen Kontext und gibt einen Überblick über die Evolution und Praxis südindischer Rhythmik. Dem Buch beigegeben ist eine Audio-CD mit ausgewählten Hörbeispielen.
Reihe: Musikethnologie/Ethnomusicology Bd. 8, 2013, 336 S., 29.90 EUR, 29.90 CHF, br., ISBN 978-3-643-50501-9

This study focuses on elements of design and execution in Minimalism, notwithstanding the perceptiveness and receptiveness in trends such as Phase-Shifting Process; thus mostly experienced as a mechanical repetition-sort of a multiplication of a very restricted, limited, sometimes even monotonous material. This material and supportive arguments also serve to pedagogical aims to a great extend-while percussion playing is mostly regarded as a mechanical idiom-at least in initial levels, repertoires as such might be handled as bridging tools, especially in introducing contemporary music and respective techniques. Thus, this study aims to be an introductory contribution to performance practices as a byproduct, whereas its limited volume regarding the theoretical scope should only be seen as a very brief survey to the idioms subject to be elaborated.

The marimba is the (“traditional”) instrument par excellence in the Mexican state of Chiapas. Its current practices nowadays may range between participative and presentative performances, while its repertoire drifts between popular genres, such as música ranchera and bolero, along with contemporary music and jazz. Its roots and representativeness are such that it would give the impression of being omnipresent in the soundscape of the state. Nonetheless, there are two different kinds of marimba in Chiapas: on the one hand, the marimba doble –chromatic–, which is widely visible and, no doubt, the cultural symbol of the state; and, on the other hand, the marimba sencilla –diatonic–, whose status and visibility are almost non-existent. Whereas the marimba doble has found a niche within ethnomusicology research, the marimba sencilla has been utterly ignored, having been at times even considered to be extinct in the state. Notwithstanding, it continues to be not only present inside the state, but also an essential part of the identity of several social groups. This research focuses on such diatonic marimba tradition. Based on the information gathered during several research stays in the area, it attempts to offer a general scope of the dissemination and functioning, as well as of the various sociocultural interrelations of this musical tradition in the state of Chiapas. At the same time, being the first scientific research that is focused exclusively on this musical tradition, it aims to offer some groundwork for the development of future research which grant access to a deeper understanding of this musical tradition.

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La marimba es el instrumento (“tradicional”) por excelencia en el estado mexicano de Chiapas. Sus prácticas actuales pueden oscilar entre performances participativos y presentacionales, al tiempo que su repertorio navega entre géneros populares, como música ranchera y bolero, y la música contemporánea, así como el jazz. Su arraigo y representatividad son tales que diera la impresión de ser omnipresente en el paisaje sonoro chiapaneco. En Chiapas existen, sin embargo, dos tipos de marimba: por un lado, la marimba doble –cromática–, la cual goza de una amplia visibilidad y es sin duda el símbolo cultural del estado. Y por el otro la marimba sencilla –diatónica–; esta última con un status y una visibilidad casi nulos. Si bien, la marimba doble ha encontrado un lugar en la investigación etnomusicológica, la marimba sencilla ha sido ignorada por completo, siendo en ocasiones considerada extinta en este estado. Sin embargo, esta sigue, no solo estando presente en el estado, sino que también sigue siendo una parte primordial de la identidad de diversos grupos sociales. El siguiente trabajo se encuentra enfocado a esta tradición marimbística diatónica. Basado en la información recabada durante diversas estancias de investigación en la zona, se busca dar una visión general de la diseminación y el funcionamiento, así como de las diversas interrelaciones socioculturales de esta tradición musical en el estado de Chiapas. Al mismo tiempo, al ser este el primer estudio científico enfocado exclusivamente a esta tradición musical, se busca sentar las bases para el desarrollo de futuras investigaciones que nos permitan acceder a un entendimiento profundo de esta tradición musical.

After over 25 years studying rumba, I have established that, while books may include scores with patterns for every instrument, I have never found one containing the transcription of what is played on the drum we call quinto since, being improvised, it is always different. It is true that these patterns form the genre’s various styles (yambú, guaguancó, columbia, batarumba, rumba´e cajón and guarapachangueo), but I believe that, to find what most characterises it, one has to look to the music of the quinto, since it is this music that contains and provides us with the language of rumba.
This book’s novelty is, therefore, to be found in the scoring of quinto solos (as well as cajón solos) by such important groups as Los Muñequitos de Matanzas, Afrocuba de Matanzas or Los Papines. Playing the famous solos of real artists (like Ángel "Pelladito", Victoriano Espinosa "El Tití", Jesús Alfonso or Ricardo Abreu "Papín") is probably the most exciting route to the soul of rumba.
www.percusioncubana.com