The original composition Bombasticism: Concerto for Four Percussion and Large Orchestra seeks to expand percussion ensemble literature, to the extent that the percussion quartet unites with the symphony orchestra in atypical fashion. This percussion quartet explores both expanded instrumentation as well as creates a homogenous new sound that suggests the importance of the percussion instrumentation collectively with wind and string instruments. Bombasticism diverges from traditional concerto by offering differing levels of soloist within the percussion quartet. The different levels of solo performance include; individual soloists in contrast to the percussion quartet, individual soloists layered within the percussion quartet in contrast to the orchestra, and the percussion quartet acting as a collective soloist in contrast to the full symphony orchestra. The percussion voice in Bombasticism shows wide variety not only as a rhythmic machine, but also plays an important melodic and harmonic role through the composition. Throughout the work, the percussion family contributes a complete array of sound to the composition in every aspect of musical language. Bombasticism is written in three movements. Each movement differs from the next in instrumentation, tempo, rhythmic intent, and pitch centers. The first movement, Skins, spotlight percussion instruments with drum heads. The timpani and roto-tom soloists will perform on pitched instruments, and the snare drum and bass drum soloists will perform on non-pitched instruments during the movement. Along with this instrumentation awareness, the primary compositional focus is rhythm. The second movement, Metal & Wood, utilizes percussion instruments that are made of metal or wood only. Pitched instruments include marimba, xylophone, glockenspiel, vibraphone, and chimes. Nonpitched instruments involved are woodblock, anvil, cymbals, and hi-hat. The primary focus of this movement is the exploration of various approaches to tonality. The third movement, Tutti Causatum, incorporates all the percussion instruments used in the first two movements. This movement is the most rhythmically active, as most of the movement is based on the groupings of two, three, and four sixteenth notes. Tutti Causatum is the final telling of how Bombasticism mingles all the timbres of the percussion family to create a balance and unity within the orchestra.

This research is for the purpose of constructing curriculums and solutions for beginner-level of percussion skill teaching. The researcher, in view of percussion learning difficulty, establishes "the national elementary school percussion teaching curriculums", containing percussion learning methods and key points in teaching. This research utilizes 12 fifth-graders from WuTang Elementary School in Pingdong County as study object. With tools such as class evaluation records, class activity records, teachers-students interaction records, to carries out complete observation records, which leads to a complete curriculum involving five mail subject units and 16 teaching units, over a total of eight weeks, 32 classes. Upon completion of this curriculum, 13 concrete methods were developed to improve problems with the fundamentals such as improper grasps of drum sticks, which may effectively address and solve beginners¡¦ learning-related problems; In order to improve teaching progress, the researcher also proposed that the learners become familiarized with the 16 percussion key points, such as the music melody etc..

Thesis (D.M.E.)--Indiana University, 1979. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [101]-111).

Thesis (D.M.A.)--University of Oklahoma, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 66-70).

No description available.

Territorios is a 15-minute composition for eight percussionists and prerecorded sounds on digital tape. The composer chose this particular instrumentation because of his conviction that percussion and electronic/digital instruments are the most powerful sources of fresh and innovative sound matter that have appeared during this century. This choice also allowed him to challenge the development of a new and consistent rhythmic syntax derived from the internal structure of percussion instruments, which in turn made it possible to establish solid ties between the sound itself and the musical syntax that rules its organization. / Since different tempi are often used simultaneously in Territorios, the performance of the piece requires a set of computer-generated click-tracks carrying individual pulse lines; hearing these pulses through headphones, the performers are able to play the piece in precise tempo.

Musicians are on stage not only to be heard but also to be seen. The visual aspects of music are a crucial part of the experience. Whether performers move too much or too little for a particular audience member, their gestures are often noticed. Some audiences may enjoy certain gestures while others may find them distracting. To study this topic in greater detail, I view my research through the lens of marimba performance. The marimba is a large instrument that can involve many movements to produce a sound. The way marimbists move while playing is noticed due to the nature of the instrument. When I interviewed ten professional marimbists in a 2011/2012 study, most participants discussed distracting gestures as a negative part of performance and said that they try to avoid extra gestures unless they relate to the music. The same participants were video recorded performing four excerpts from standard marimba repertoire by Gordon Stout, J.S. Bach, and Keiko Abe. The results of the analysis include: 1) gesture repetition in multiple takes of the same excerpt; 2) movement-areas of the body that I observed most in each participant; 3) a comparison of each participant to the others; and 4) results, patterns, and trends. This research also includes a discussion of literature in visual aspects of music performance, insight to why performers move the way that they do, an explanation of “sound producing” versus “ancillary gestures”, and a detailed discussion of my research study. Although this study will not lead to conclusions that can be applied to all marimbists, it will, however, provide an important contribution to physical gesture research in music performance by presenting patterns and trends from a comparative study of ten professional musicians.

Musicians are on stage not only to be heard but also to be seen. The visual aspects of music are a crucial part of the experience. Whether performers move too much or too little for a particular audience member, their gestures are often noticed. Some audiences may enjoy certain gestures while others may find them distracting. To study this topic in greater detail, I view my research through the lens of marimba performance. The marimba is a large instrument that can involve many movements to produce a sound. The way marimbists move while playing is noticed due to the nature of the instrument. When I interviewed ten professional marimbists in a 2011/2012 study, most participants discussed distracting gestures as a negative part of performance and said that they try to avoid extra gestures unless they relate to the music. The same participants were video recorded performing four excerpts from standard marimba repertoire by Gordon Stout, J.S. Bach, and Keiko Abe. The results of the analysis include: 1) gesture repetition in multiple takes of the same excerpt; 2) movement-areas of the body that I observed most in each participant; 3) a comparison of each participant to the others; and 4) results, patterns, and trends. This research also includes a discussion of literature in visual aspects of music performance, insight to why performers move the way that they do, an explanation of “sound producing” versus “ancillary gestures”, and a detailed discussion of my research study. Although this study will not lead to conclusions that can be applied to all marimbists, it will, however, provide an important contribution to physical gesture research in music performance by presenting patterns and trends from a comparative study of ten professional musicians.

Thesis (M.M.)--Baylor University, 2008. / Includes composer notes and performance instructions. Includes bibliographical references (p. 14).

Thesis (M.M.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1981. / Includes performance practice notes. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record.