Museum of Patterns
About:
for solo drumset
Duration: varies
Consortium commission led by Jason Treuting.
Score:
Download perusal score
Buy Score / Parts
for solo drumset
Duration: varies
Consortium commission led by Jason Treuting.
Score:
Download perusal score
Buy Score / Parts
Program Note:
The Museum of Patterns is an imaginary place that I began thinking about while walking around the very real, and very beautiful, Museum of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg, Florida. I began imagining a museum where, instead of portraits and paintings of landscapes on the walls, the whole museum was filled with paintings of different patterns.
My music has always been based somewhat on patterns. Usually they are rhythmic or melodic patterns that are slowly developed or are recontextualized by other patterns. I began wondering if I could make a piece of music that reflected my imaginary museum - a piece that was just patterns.
I held onto this idea until Jason Treuting and I started discussing working together. I first got to know Jason when I was a composition student at the So Percussion Summer Institute in 2014. After the festival I began working for So Percussion as Studio Manager, a position I held for three years before moving out of New York City. While working for So, Jason and I began having an ongoing conversation about composition. In his work as a composer, Jason gives enough instructions for the performer to know what to do, but leaves a considerable amount of room for them to make choices. I tend to be more controlling. In most of my work, the performer is told exactly what to do, when, how loud, and for how long.
When I started working on Museum of Patterns, I needed to figure out how I would organize the patterns and what a performance of the piece would look like. Taking a cue from Jason, I decided to leave some decisions up to the performer.
When a performer starts working on this piece they receive a packet that contains the written music, a set of rules, and a “Gallery Plan”. The Gallery Plan is a map of my imaginary museum. Each pattern “hangs” in a specific spot in one of the four Galleries. The rules dictate how the performer can and can’t move around the galleries (can skip over patterns, can’t cross their own path). Using all the information, the performer is free to create their own version of the piece - they can re-order the patterns, play the patterns for as long as they wish, at any tempo they wish.
I want to thank Jason for challenging conversation that I’m sure will continue indefinitely, and the percussionists who were a part of the consortium to make this piece a reality.
The Museum of Patterns is an imaginary place that I began thinking about while walking around the very real, and very beautiful, Museum of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg, Florida. I began imagining a museum where, instead of portraits and paintings of landscapes on the walls, the whole museum was filled with paintings of different patterns.
My music has always been based somewhat on patterns. Usually they are rhythmic or melodic patterns that are slowly developed or are recontextualized by other patterns. I began wondering if I could make a piece of music that reflected my imaginary museum - a piece that was just patterns.
I held onto this idea until Jason Treuting and I started discussing working together. I first got to know Jason when I was a composition student at the So Percussion Summer Institute in 2014. After the festival I began working for So Percussion as Studio Manager, a position I held for three years before moving out of New York City. While working for So, Jason and I began having an ongoing conversation about composition. In his work as a composer, Jason gives enough instructions for the performer to know what to do, but leaves a considerable amount of room for them to make choices. I tend to be more controlling. In most of my work, the performer is told exactly what to do, when, how loud, and for how long.
When I started working on Museum of Patterns, I needed to figure out how I would organize the patterns and what a performance of the piece would look like. Taking a cue from Jason, I decided to leave some decisions up to the performer.
When a performer starts working on this piece they receive a packet that contains the written music, a set of rules, and a “Gallery Plan”. The Gallery Plan is a map of my imaginary museum. Each pattern “hangs” in a specific spot in one of the four Galleries. The rules dictate how the performer can and can’t move around the galleries (can skip over patterns, can’t cross their own path). Using all the information, the performer is free to create their own version of the piece - they can re-order the patterns, play the patterns for as long as they wish, at any tempo they wish.
I want to thank Jason for challenging conversation that I’m sure will continue indefinitely, and the percussionists who were a part of the consortium to make this piece a reality.