Walkabout
General Info
Year of Published: 2025
Publisher: Tapspace Publications
Difficulty: Elementary
Duration: 00:03:15
Cost: $40.00
Instrumentation
Player 1: Glockenspiel
Player 2: Vibraphone
Player 3: Chimes
Player 4: Xylophone
Player 5: Marimba 1
Player 6: Marimba 2
Player 7: Timpani
Player 8: Bongos
Player 9: Congas
Player 10: Snare Drum & Cabasa
Player 11: Bass Drum
Player 12: Rain Stick & Claves & Suspended Cymbal
Player 13: Sizzle Cymbal & Tam Tam & Suspended Cymbal
Description
Walkabout by Chad Heiny is true to its name, as many of the performers “walk about” the ensemble, switching instruments throughout the piece. Heiny writes, “I wrote this piece as a means of exposing younger students to the concept of versatility, and I hope it gets them excited to learn all of the wonderful instruments in our percussion family.”
This 13-player work is split between pitched and unpitched instruments. A syncopated timpani groove and galloping bongos create the basic rhythmic energy at the beginning and persist through much of the piece. Occasional “drum breaks” provide small exposure moments for individuals, and occasionally very basic “over the barline” rhythms are encountered in the keyboard parts for added variety.
Special Performance Parts are crafted to remain on the music stand for a particular instrument, with callouts that make it easy for the different players to find their place in the music after switching instruments. For convenience, Practice Parts are also included which consolidate each individual player’s segments into a single part.
Recent Performance
Works for Percussion by this Composer
Solos
Chamber Ensemble
Bad Juju - Percussion Octet
Canon Fodder - Percussion Quartet
Coming of Age - Solo Marimba and Percussion Quartet
Elements - Marimba Duo
Epoch - Percussion Sextet
Graffiti - Percussion Sextet
Hydra - Percussion Octet
Lunation - Mallet Duo
Perched - Drumset & Multiple Percussion
Thundersnow
Two Preludes - Mallet Sextet
Undisclosed - Percussion Nonet
Wanderlust - Percussion Septet
Large Ensemble
Beacons of Light - 15 Players
Crossing the Threshold - 12 Players
Oneiric - 13 Players
Panthera Pardus - 12 Players
Treespeak - 13 Players
Tribe - 10 Players
Vesper - 10 Players
Walkabout - 13 Players