RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
It’s somewhat difficult for me to imagine an art form more arcane and esoteric than solo percussion music.
Not unlike number theory studies or rice grain painting, solo percussion music tends to engage a rather select audience and exists in a rarefied culture of its own – but I can’t help loving it just the same.
I began giving solo percussion concerts back in 1985. My first recital was in front of thirteen patient listeners on the floor of a tiny concrete basement performance space in New York’s East Village. At that time my instrumental set-up included glass bottles, metal pipes, and other found objects in addition to the usual drum gear. It was all about sounds and rhythms and pushing limits, but actual musical content and the listener’s enjoyment factor were both admittedly questionable!
A breakthrough came for me in 1989 when a combination of fatigue from carrying around all that gear and the gnawing feeling that my music desperately required more substance, led me to the idea of “exploratory solo pieces for single percussion instruments.” So, in 1994 I released Definite Pitch, a collection of works that focused on percussion instruments of “definite pitch” such as the marimba, xylophone, vibraphone and glockenspiel. The concept then, as it is now, was to extract a diverse range of sounds from a single instrument by employing non-traditional, “extended playing techniques” with sticks, mallets, bows, and hands, and to organize that sonic material into a music that was as sonically and rhythmically compelling as it was compositionally potent. With this approach, the soloist becomes a kind of miniature ensemble revealing gradations of sound, and making “call & response” and antiphonal textures possible.
My solo work has developed quite a bit over the years. This latest recording, Research (tiny useful secrets) focuses on pieces for drums and multiple instruments far more than on Definite Pitch, but it should be said that my music continues to reflect the interests of a guy from New Jersey who grew up listening to, studying, and loving progressive rock, all forms of jazz, and of course, rather abstract contemporary classical composition. It is therefore impossible for me to categorize these pieces, but I know that each one graphically exhibits a synthesis of the way I hear, think, and feel about music.
Nearly fifteen years after Definite Pitch my decision to “publish my current findings” comes with the realization that the stakes are even higher than before. More than ever, the very existence of creative music is justified purely by the act of doing. Exploring, discovering, applying and sharing highly personal, alternative artistic expression has become increasingly valuable in a world where pop culture rules – where musical and cultural homogenization have become the order of the day. I remain convinced that human beings have a genuine, innate need to push forward and explode the norm wherever possible and to strive for progress in order to survive and evolve. Thus, I offer these ten pieces of music, each dedicated to an individual who has provided me with so much inspiration to grow as an artist and as a person.
Twenty-three years after my first solo percussion performance, it remains a joy and a thrilling challenge to create this music. I hope that you feel much the same way while listening.
Gregg Bendian (2008)
