11/30/07
With a group full of new faces, Baker University’s percussion ensemble will take the stage Saturday afternoon for its sole performance this semester.
Adjunct Instructor of Percussion Steve Riley said the show will start at 3:30 p.m. in McKibbin Recital Hall and will last a little less than an hour. It will consist of eight percussion pieces written since the 1930s.
Senior Christy Taylor said the concert should be a rewarding experience, although the material was sometimes frustrating.
“He’s picked a few pieces for us that have really pushed us to the limits, but we do what we can,” she said.
Riley said many of the pieces for the concert would be played on instruments that make a pitch, while others will consist of snare drums and cymbals.
“The pieces we will be playing will all be pieces that use different combinations of those instruments,” Riley said.
One of the things Riley said people would notice during the concert is the new instruments they’ve never seen before or have seen but have never watched anyone play. He also said some people may be thrown off because there will be a couple pieces without pitch.
“They don’t always have to have instruments in the ensemble or in the piece that produce pitch,” Riley said.
Riley said he’s learned from people’s comments after performances that most people aren’t aware of the kinds of sounds percussion instruments are able to produce.
“We’re capable of getting extremely quiet and paying at a very tender level, but it can also be very bombastic at the same time,” he said.
Taylor said the song she is most looking forward to performing is hardest to count because of its odd measure.
“It’s just four of us, and it’s really, really challenging for us to play,” she said.
Sophomore Rachael Moon said she is anxious to see how the show comes together in the end. She said the ensemble would run through dress rehearsal just once Saturday morning.
“I’m curious to see what all the running around the stage and moving instruments will be like,” Moon said.
Riley said this year’s ensemble consists mostly of music students whose primary instruments are not percussion.
“They’ve done very, very well based on the previous experience they’ve had with percussion up to this semester,” he said.
Taylor has been playing tenor saxophone for 11 years. Though she hasn’t had much background in percussion, she found her general music knowledge helpful.
“Percussion came a lot easier with all the musical background I had,” she said.
Taylor said one major difference she sees in performing in a percussion ensemble rather than a band, is that it’s harder to cover up a mistake.
“If one person is off, it can ruin a piece completely,” she said.
Moon, primarily an oboist, said learning the technique was a major obstacle before she started to get the hang of it. She said every instrument has its own technique and figuring it out is important.
“It’s different,” she said. “It’s not easier. It’s not harder.”
Riley said he appreciates the opportunity to work with young people in this experience, and that this has been one of the most rewarding semesters he has had at Baker.
“(The students’) openness and willingness to learn was really refreshing,” he said.
Moon said she enjoys the class not only because of the people in it, but because it’s not the typical class.
“It’s not calculus, it’s not biology,” she said. “It’s beating on loud instruments.”