Dear Bob, It was great to talk to you the other day, and have the opportunity to hang out with you while here in Banff. Thanks again for your willingness to answer some questions for my doctoral dissertation and larger project to collect anecdotes and interviews from various important senior/accomplished percussionists in our field. Your… Read more »
Bob Becker: Articles and Interviews
Bob’s interview with Gene Koshinski (re two-mallet performance)
My name is Gene Koshinski, Professor of Percussion at University of Minnesota Duluth. I am currently finishing a document as my final step to completing my doctoral degree at The Hartt School in Hartford, CT. The title of my paper is: “From West Africa, through Vaudeville, to the Concert Hall: The Evolution of Two-Mallet Keyboard… Read more »
Panel Discussion at PASIC, 2008
For those of you who did not make it to PASIC 08, or for those who did and could not attend this event on Friday, the world panel discussion: “Early Pioneers of World Music in the Field of Western Percussion” with John Bergamo, Emil Richards, and me can be viewed in a six-part posting on… Read more »
Answers to questions about Rain Tree, by Toru Takemitsu
Last year (2008), percussionist Dan Heagney sent an email to NEXUS with a question about the lighting effects in Rain Tree, by Toru Takemitsu. Here is his question and my response. DH: I was hoping you could help me with Takemitsu’s Rain Tree. I’m getting ready for a performance of the piece, but am having… Read more »
Answers to questions about “minimalist music” and Steve Reich
Nancy Uscher is currently Provost of the California Institute of the Arts. The following correspondence involved questions from her daughter, Alessandra Barrett, now a student at CalArts, regarding the term “minimalist music” and my association with the composer Steve Reich. December 1, 2008 Dear Bob: I think I mentioned that Alessandra (my daughter) had decided… Read more »
Bob’s interview with Shannon Wood
The following excerpt is from an interview with Shannon Wood, originally published in the Artist Insight section of the July, 2005 issue of Mallet Shop Quarterly. MSQ: Two names come to mind when one thinks of virtuoso xylophone playing: the late George Hamilton Green and Bob Becker. Bob has raised the bar of xylophone soloing… Read more »
Bob’s interview with Lindsay Haughton
Hi Bob, Following are the questions I’d like you to answer. You may take your time – the paper isn’t due until December 11th, 2007. As a percussionist, you often play music and musical instruments from around the world. What are your thoughts on performing music that is not part of your culture? This is… Read more »
Bob’s interview with Jonathan Latta
I really want to thank you for doing this with me. As you will see from my questioning I tried to take a perspective of the “Bob the Performer” and “Bob the Composer” and combine the two. If you find that you answer one question in a previous answer and want to omit a question… Read more »
Bob’s interview with Leigh Howard Stevens
The following interview was conducted at the request of the Percussive Arts Society, and appeared in the August, 1996 issue of Percussive Notes. LHS: Let’s get this important question out of the way in the very beginning. Everybody who knows anything about xylophone knows you are not only the greatest living xylophonist, but also the… Read more »
Some Thoughts and Information Concerning Cymbals
Percussionists who perform in symphony orchestras form a relationship with their instruments that is esoteric, often arcane, and little understood by other musicians and the general public. Although most people have seen and heard cymbals, gongs and bells, for example, very few have had the experience of listening to one of them intimately and intently… Read more »
Peak Performance
The following short article was written in response to a request from the Sabian cymbal company. The questions were: “How do you deliver a peak performance? How do you prepare for a concert?” An edited version of the article, along with answers to the same questions by Vic Firth, Evelyn Glennie, Ney Rosauro, John Wooton… Read more »
About Playing The Xylophone (lecture delivered at PASIC 1995)
I have to say, it’s becoming more and more difficult for me to think of things to say about playing the xylophone these days. Even though it’s an instrument that I still play fairly regularly on NEXUS concerts, it’s not something that I spend much time with outside of that context. It’s interesting to me… Read more »
The Paradoxes of Percussion
In 1989 I was approached with the prospect of editing an issue of the Bristish publication Contemporary Music Review about contemporary percussion. At the time, I thought it would be very interesting to give percussion performers a forum in which to present some of their feelings about the professional situations into which they are drawn… Read more »
