Saturday, August 2, 2008

The Poulenc PIece

I downloaded it off iTunes. Have any of you listened to it? It's like a million miles an hour! I'm sure I can get Finale to do it but Aaron, is this really a piece that a percussion ensemble would play??

4 comments:

m0joe said...

Ok, I'm finding the fun in this piece. When it says for 4 players, does that mean we write all of the indeterminate pitched percussion on one staff then (the way Alladin was done poorly)? I don't yet know how to change instruments mid-staff on Finale if so :(

Anonymous said...

It'd be a challenge to play at tempo but this piece is actually right up a percussion ensemble's alley (we like to show off fast hands). Between the two mallet players and timpani every note can definitely be covered. As for the non-pitched percussion, since it's only one player I just used one 5-line staff and made a legend at the beginning that says what each line and space is for. From C4 to A5 is 22 instruments; I'd wager that's plenty for one guy to cover :)

m0joe said...

Thanks for the info Aaron. What would be a reasonable number of instruments though? (yes, yes we are scoring in excess because it's for class but let's be somewhat realistic). I mean, at this tempo, you wouldn't really have the percussionist change 22 times in nearly as many measures would you?

Anonymous said...

Most likely not, I just mentioned the 22 lines and spaces to underscore that I would not see a need to notate on more than one staff. As long as there's a clear legend (and maybe a few different noteheads to draw the eye to what instrument to go to) I think one 5-line staff is ample. I myself am keeping the player busy with just 5 temple blocks, a sus cymbal and snare drum. Terry's advice was apt: resist the temptation to overwrite for the percussionist..we're lazy like that.