How much detail do you expect, want, and ultimately get from composers in the percussion scores that you perform?

How much detail do you expect, want, and ultimately get from composers in the percussion scores that you perform?

Twelve percussionists respond.

Written By

NewMusicBox Staff

NEXUS
Bob BeckerBob Becker
“Why then do percussionists put up with, and sometimes masochistically embrace, the traumatic effort and expense involved with large instrument collections?…Why own ten different triangles, thirty different cymbals, eight different woodblocks?…”
Bill CahnBill Cahn
“I prefer to have as much information as possible…”
Robin EngelmanRobin Engelman
“Because no two percussion instruments are the same…the efficacy of a performance of percussion music is determined by the…instrument choices of the percussionist and rarely the composer…”
Russell HartenbergerRussell Hartenberger
“Composers often ask Nexus to improvise in portions of the compositions that they write for us. This can be liberating or it can create doubt.”
Garry KvistadGarry Kvistad
“There are many, many details of dynamic levels that could be specified because a FFF on a piccolo woodblock is very different than that of a large Tam-Tam.”

Amy Lynn BarberAmy Lynn Barber
…it can be a bit frustrating when composers get too detailed and specify the exact sizes of cymbals or gongs, or the manufacturer’s model number of sticks or mallets…
Heather BarringerHeather Barringer
“…I appreciate plenty of cues or even a condensed line of the score for chamber works when the interplay between players is dicey.”
Daniel DruckmanDaniel Druckman
“My advice to young composers who want to write better and more idiomatically for percussion is: spend some time at the library…”
Frank EpsteinFrank Epstein
“I like more rather than less detail, but not so much that it completely clutters the page.”
Joseph GramleyJoseph Gramley
“By the very nature of percussion instruments, no two multi-percussion set-ups are going to have the same sounds.”
Arthur JarvinenArthur Jarvinen
“…please just forget about those goofy pictures of the instruments that show up in the “symbols” library of your notation software…”
Allen OtteAllen Otte
“…if I’m convinced that some composer…has some clarity about my role, I’m quite happy to follow any level of specificity. Or lack of it…”