Hot Tubs

Brian Mason

General Info

Year of Published: 2021 Publisher: Tapspace Publications Difficulty: Advanced Duration: 00:02:45 Cost: $14.00

Instrumentation

Timpani

Description

Brian Mason chose the title Hot Tubs in reference to “tubs” as a slang word for timpani, picked up as a freshman in college. The word “hot” references the nature of most of the piece: powerful, bombastic, and rhythmically charged. Some moments in the work provide a reprise, taking a more melodic and sensitive approach. Dampening is precisely indicated throughout, leading to a range of textures from the overlapping (or shortened) sounds of the drums. This work is a well-rounded technical showcase for developed players!

Review

“Hot Tubs” is an engaging timpani solo that takes advantage of the deep timbre and virtuosic textures capable on timpani. While this piece was written to be “bombastic” and unapologetically edgy, it also manages to incorporate a few moments of lyricism as a counterpoint to the powerful sections that begin and end the work. While there are a few technical challenges, they are practically laid out at the ends of phrases and lay well for American system players. A small amount of tuning is required, but it is mostly stepwise motion and caters to the tuneful resonance of the lower drums.

Pedagogically and musically, this solo has a lot to offer. At just under three minutes, it would work well as a test piece for evaluating a variety of techniques learned when studying timpani: legato and staccato playing, tuning, rolls, ornaments, and depending on the drums chosen, articulation in the lower register; the piece calls for pitches F2, B-flat2, E-flat3, and A-flat3. For the performer, the limited thematic development and brevity make it well suited for a studio recital, jury, or as a solo for an advanced high school player.

As a note, for any educators looking to expand their collection of solo repertoire, this piece can also be found in volume three of The Blue Book collection of solos written by alumni from the University of Kentucky. Kudos to Brian Mason and Tapspace for this welcome addition to the repertoire.

Works for Percussion by this Composer

Solo

Hot Tubs - Timpani

Ensemble

Dopplegänger - Percussion Octet
Fiesta en la Playa - Percussion Ensemble, Electric Bass, Alto Saxophone
Novia Bonita - Percussion Ensemble, Electric Bass, Trumpet
Sketches of the Orient - Percussion 12
Rochambeaux - Percussion 11
Roswell, 1947 - Percussion 11
Two Face - Percussion 12