Every percussionist is faced with many challenges in their studies and their careers.  In this paper I hope to shed light on what kind of work goes into preparing, practising and performing a large solo percussion piece and share some of my personal experience with solo percussion music. This is done by choosing a piece from the repertoire and documenting what processes and methods are used from the time a piece has been chosen until it is ready for performance. The subject of this thesis is Rebonds b by Iannis Xenakis for solo percussion. The result is a blueprint that can be useful for young percussionists when they are faced with a large piece from the repertoire and guidelines for what to do when faced with challenges.

Every percussionist is faced with many challenges in their studies and their careers.  In this paper I hope to shed light on what kind of work goes into preparing, practising and performing a large solo percussion piece and share some of my personal experience with solo percussion music. This is done by choosing a piece from the repertoire and documenting what processes and methods are used from the time a piece has been chosen until it is ready for performance. The subject of this thesis is Rebonds b by Iannis Xenakis for solo percussion. The result is a blueprint that can be useful for young percussionists when they are faced with a large piece from the repertoire and guidelines for what to do when faced with challenges. / <p>Iannis Xenakis - Rebonds b</p><p>Keiko Abe - Wind Sketch</p><p>George Hamilton Green - Valse Brilliante (arr. Bob Becker)</p><p>Jaques Delecluse - Etude no. 29 for timpani</p><p>Jaques Delecluse - Etude no. 6 for snare drum</p><p>Jaques Delecluse - Test Claire</p><p>Mitchell Peters - Etude no. 3 from Hard Times</p><p>Hanz Kruger - Etude no. 45 for timpani</p>

abstract: Technological advancements in computers and audio software and hardware devices in the twenty-first century have led to the expansion of possibilities for music composition, including works for acoustic instruments and live electronics. Electroacoustic composition is rapidly and continually evolving, and much that has been written about compositional techniques for percussion and live electronics is becoming outdated. Live electronics include performer-triggered events, audio processing, electronic responses to various inputs, and electronic decision-making during live performances. These techniques can be employed in a variety of ways. This project sheds light on how modern composers of different musical and cultural backgrounds reimagine the use of percussion through the lens of new technologies. Through the commission, examination, and recording of three new works for solo percussion and live electronics, the author seeks to further explore and highlight electroacoustic compositional techniques for solo percussion. A specific compositional element to be included in these commissioned works is the activation or manipulation of the acoustic properties of percussion instruments by electronic components. The three artists who contributed works are percussionist-composer Jeremy Muller, composer and multimedia artist Jordan Munson, and composer, sound artist, and performer Garth Paine. The creativity demonstrated in their previous works made them desirable candidates for this project. Each of them approached their composition in different ways. In Hysteresis, Muller utilizes a loudspeaker underneath a vibraphone to expand the sound palette of the instrument with microtonal electronic sounds that match the instrument’s timbre. In Where Light Escapes You, Jordan Munson layers various electronic sounds with the vibraphone to create a slowly evolving texture that also incorporates a bass drum and the buzzing of snare drums. In Resonant Textures, Paine spatializes vibraphone, cymbal, and electronic sounds to create a meditative and immersive listening experience. Ultimately, each of the three composers implemented distinctive compositional and performance tools to create new works that provide a glimpse into the future of percussion music. / Dissertation/Thesis / Hysteresis recording / Where Light Escapes You recording / Resonant Textures recording / Doctoral Dissertation Music 2015

This study examines the compositional devices Eckhard Kopetzki used to create consonance and dissonance throughout his two works for solo percussion, Topf-Tanz and Canned Heat. By manipulating meter, ostinato, syncopation, polyrhythm, note values and overlapping figures, Kopetzki creates high levels of musical tension and release that shape phrase structure and large-scale form. After a discussion of rhythmic consonance and dissonance, and specific rhythmic devices, both works are considered in detail, illuminating the composer’s compositional language. Topf-Tanz is an exploration of contrasting ideas: the rhythmic and the lyrical, the call and the response, the loud and the soft. It is manifested first in the opposition of antecedent and consequent phrases and second in the overlapping of contrasting metric ideas, which creates prolonged rhythmic dissonance. Canned Heat, on the other hand, is composed through a process of continuing melodic variation. Throughout the piece, melodic motives are prolonged and abridged, creating both delay and acceleration to cadential figures. In contrast to these melodic ideas, each phrase is concluded with stark and syncopated rhythmic punctuations. Topf-Tanz and Canned Heat share Kopetzki’s creation of rhythmic consonance and dissonance. Most notably is the overlapping of contrasting metric ideas between the two hands, and highlighting this contrast through the use of two contrasting instrument families; skin and metal. On the large scale, both works progress from of a place of rhythmic consonance to one of dissonance.