In July, while I was in St. John’s, Newfoundland participating in Sound Symposium, I was interviewed by Ken Shorley for his Canadian Percussionists. You can see the interview here: All of Ken’s interviews with Canadian Percussionists can be viewed here:
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Happy Holidays from all of us here at NEXUS
At last we have received some snow at the Toronto office, so it feels more like the December holiday season! If you follow us on Instagram (@nexuspercussion) you will be familiar with the NEXUS office dog, who – as you can see – settles easily into “cozy winter” mode. All the NEXUS members are off… Read more »
A Cuckoo Question
Another instrument inquiry from my email basket: Question: “I’m curious as to how Humperdinck wrote the part [for cuckoo in his opera, ‘Hänsel und Gretel’] calling for this specific instrument, and having it in the percussion part? Was this a common instrument in Germany at the time? Or, [was it] having to do with silent… Read more »
The Bass Drum – Is it Turkish or Scottish?
A few weeks ago I received a question about my essay titled, “Orchestral percussion in the twenty-first century” in “The Cambridge Companion to Percussion” edited by Russell Hartenberger. Question: Are the bass drum descriptions of Turkish/Scottisch [bass drums] reversed on page 23 [of the Cambridge Companion]? My Response: This is an interesting question basically about… Read more »
Surviving Steel Pans – A Saga (Part 2)
In 1993 two major composers – Michael Colgrass and Bruce Mather – began work on commissions for NEXUS. Mather, an intimate friend of Robin Engelman, had already composed two quartet pieces for us: Clos de Vougeot (recorded on the LP Changes in 1982) and Clos d’Audignac (recorded on the CD Rune in 1997). The new… Read more »
Making of The Cambridge Companion to Percussion
Percussive Notes recently published my article about the making of The Cambridge Companion to Percussion.
Homemade Castanet Machines
A few months ago I received the following in an email: Question: I would like to make a castanet machine. I want to use it at schools (children 10-12 years) Can you tell me how to make it, like you did? My Response: I made my first castanet machine when I was in high school…. Read more »
Moondog, Reich, Rhythm, Physics, Acoustics – and “This World”!
I think we should just call November 30 to December 4 “NEXUS Week” and be done with it! Here in Toronto NEXUS will be deeply involved in a symposium under the auspices of the Jackman Humanities Institute called “Reich, Rhythm, and Repetition: Patterns in Music, Speech, and Science”, being held at the University of Toronto… Read more »
Surviving Steel Pans – A Saga (Part 1)
In 1989 Carnegie Hall announced a series of commissions to celebrate the hall’s 100th anniversary season in 1990/91. A former member of our management team, Costa Pilavachi, recommended NEXUS be the featured soloists in a new piece by Toru Takemitsu, to be premiered with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Seiji Ozawa. A concerto by Takemitsu… Read more »
Colin Currie’s Visit to ROC Drummers
On November 2, 2016 we were surprised and delighted when Colin Currie, one of the world’s foremost percussion soloists, entered into the ROC Drummers’ rehearsal space at the David F. Gantt Community Center in Rochester, NY. Colin was in town for two performances as the featured soloist with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra in Jennifer… Read more »
Chimalong
We designed the Chimalong® to help children develop creativity at an early age. When our two daughters were young, I found little on the market that would inspire them to learn music, so I decided to create a metallophone from musically tuned Woodstock Chime tubes, and the Chimalong was born. Little did we know that… Read more »
Dance of the Octopus and Red Norvo
In January, 1989 NEXUS recorded a new CD for the Canadian Broadcasting Company’s Musica Viva label. CBC no longer distributes our Dance of the Octopus CD, which is unfortunate because it includes a lot of wonderful repertoire not available anywhere else. A truly great harpist, Judy Loman, joined us for two works by Bill Cahn:… Read more »
The (Art?) of Hanging Gongs
Further to emailed inquiries on the subjects of percussion performance and instruments, one recent inquiry was seeking advice about support structures for gongs. This topic is right up my alley. I’ve always had a fascination with pitched gongs and unpitched tam-tams, probably inspired by John Wyre, a colleague in NEXUS until his passing in 2006…. Read more »
A Question about Teaching Beginners
As mentioned in previous blog postings, I regularly receive emails containing questions about percussion instruments, performance and pedagogy. One such question was emailed to me recently. Question: How would you start a beginning mallet student? What exercises and books that you would use to have the player develop a feel for the instrument? How would… Read more »
Happy Birthday to our dear friend Steve Reich!
We have had an extraordinary and exciting two years celebrating Steve Reich in a multitude of ways. This past season, in celebration of Steve’s 80th, Russell has been coaching “Music For 18 Musicians” in various parts of the world, we performed with Steve in his iconic “Drumming”and “Clapping Music” here in Toronto and in Soundstreams… Read more »
