TSB IV - Lecture Demos
Tarcísio Braga - Development of a New Drum Kit Part for Mestre Radamés by Hermeto Pascoal
Braga examines Hermeto Pascoal’s Mestre Radamés as a case study in Brazilian drum kit performance, comparing three existing scores and integrating timbral details from the original recording. Drawing on interviews with Marcio Bahia, the presentation introduces a new synthesized drum kit part and situates the work within Brazil’s orchestration-based drum kit tradition, addressing a gap in scholarly documentation of Brazilian drum kit practice.
Joseph Chang - Elements of Adventure: Transitioning from an Arranger to a Composer
Joseph Change reflects on the author’s transition from arranger to composer through adapting video game music for percussion, beginning with large-scale reorchestrations during the COVID-19 lockdown and evolving into chamber works under Project VGM Live. It examines technical and artistic challenges in translating non-percussion scores to percussion, including instrumentation limits and the use of AI in recent multimedia projects, culminating in the original large-scale composition Elements of Adventure, which synthesizes video game idioms into a newly composed percussion suite.
Brydone Charlton - Translating Arabic Rhythms for Drumset: Interpretation, Themes, and Variations
Brydon Charlton proposes a practical framework for adapting pan-Arabic rhythms to the drum set, focusing on translating hand drum patterns through interpretation, orchestration, and contextual understanding. Drawing on lessons, performances, interviews, and live demonstrations, it explores how to capture the character of Arabic grooves and integrate non-Western musical traditions into drum set performance without prescribing a fixed practice.
Ben Reimer - Performing the Music of Nicole Lizée
This lecture offers a performer’s perspective on how Nicole Lizée has reshaped Canadian contemporary music and elevated percussion through nearly two decades of close collaboration. It highlights her integration of technology, glitch aesthetics, and recontextualized media, illustrated with audio-visual examples and insider discussion of the techniques, creative process, and unique moments that emerged from long-term composer–performer partnership.
Michael Schutz - Has the Xylophone been Unfairly Typecast? Exploring the Relationship Between Acoustic Properties and Communicative Possibilities
The xylophone is ubiquitous in “novelty” music, where it is often used to convey everything from light-hearted humour (cartoon sound effects) to happy emotions (e.g. ragtime music). This presentation investigates why the xylophone is strongly associated with humor and lightness but rarely used to convey sadness, asking whether this stems from cultural typecasting or from the instrument’s acoustic design. Drawing on music cognition, linguistics, acoustics, and performance examples, it examines how the xylophone’s structural constraints and affordances have shaped its repertoire, offering insights relevant to performers, composers, and future creative directions.
Rebecca Simpson-Litke - Carrying the Condition of the Dance: An Exploration of Latin Social Dance-Music Rhythms
Rebecca Simpson-Litke examines how Latin dance musics “carry the condition of the dance,” drawing on Book of Salsa: A Chronicle of Urban Music from the Caribbean to New York City to frame the inseparability of music and movement. Through live demonstration, audience participation, and choreomusical analysis, it compares salsa, cha cha chá, bachata, and merengue by linking their polyrhythmic percussion structures to dancers’ physical rhythms and explores how bands sequence these styles to shape energy and flow across an entire dance evening.
Maggie Koreen & Caroline Bucher - It’s all Noise: Managing Hyperacusis Outside of a Solo Environment
Koreen and Bucher explore the challenges of performing percussion with hyperacusis and how accessibility can be thoughtfully integrated into ensemble repertoire. Centered on The Game of the Century by Connor Shafran, the work theatrically reenacts the 1956 chess match between Donald Byrne and Bobby Fischer, using controlled dynamics, rhythmic tension, and staging to create an engaging, audience-friendly performance while remaining physically manageable for sensitive performers.