View source for …the tiny rooms of starvation and madness. (2018)

…the tiny rooms of starvation and madness. (2018) for 

Published by Kreating SounD
Total duration: 16:20

9 movements

==Instrumentation==
8 percussionists, each with: 1 snare drum, 4 glockenspiel bars (any pitches), 4 triangles, 3 bell tree bells, 1 crotale, 1 plastic bottle, 1 bass bow, 1 audio playback device, whistling, and a variety of implements.<br/>
Additionally 4 of the percussionists each require: 1 Japanese rin, 1 Musser 2-step fiberglass mallet, 1 threaded metal rod (all-thread).

==Notes==
…the tiny rooms of starvation and madness. This beautiful phrase comes from the poem, “You Tell Me What It Means” by Charles Bukowski and his book, “The flash of lightning behind the mountain.” The theme of, and actual phrase, tiny rooms, appears throughout the writing of Bukowski over his lifetime – a literal memory as well as a metaphor of Bukowski’s personal experience and his views of society, economic systems, cultural norms, human limitations, et cetera. I had been wrestling for months with how to structure and subsequently notate the various ideas, or sound worlds, within this composition, and when I came across this phrase I immediately knew that it would be the composition’s title.

In addition to being greatly impacted by Bukowski’s writing, I am also fascinated by the solo percussion work “Fragments II” by the percussionist, Jean-Charles François. I had not fully absorbed (maybe accepted is the better term…) François’ approach to structure and organization in “Fragments II” until I came across the phrase by Bukowski. The collision of these two ideas (fragments, rooms) or turns of phrase (sound, words) finally made sense in terms of structure and organization. So, this work is a series of tiny rooms (RE: Bukowski) or fragments (RE: François) – in more classical terms, vignettes, movements, or scenes – unrelated at the micro level yet inextricably bound on the macro level of composition; each fragment or room is stark and discrete. Any number of the rooms may be used, or not, in any performance and the order of the rooms is variable.

It was composed between May and September of 2018 for the Youngstown State University Percussion Ensemble and it’s director, Dr. Glenn Schaft.

==Performances==
November 13, 2018; Youngstown State University, Ford Theater, World Premier, Performers: Youngstown State University Percussion Ensemble, conducted by Ron Coulter

==Recordings==
Outsider In : chamber works for percussion https://roncoulter.bandcamp.com/album/outsider-in-chamber-works-for-percussion