32 bpm

For 8 percussionists

50’00”

part 1: 320 beats, 10’00”
part 2: 256 beats, 10’00”
part 3: 194 beats, 10’00”
part 4: 128 beats, 10’00”
part 5: 64 beats, 10’00”

Instrumentation

Each percussionist plays on a similar set of 9 different instruments. The instruments vary in the duration of their resonance and the quality of their timbre. If possible, the duration of resonance should increase cumulatively. None of the instruments is intentionally muted after being hit.

The composition is played in a monorhythmic pulse of 32 beats a minute and in unison. There will be no polyrhythmic patterns or movements, no change of pulse, no out-of-sync playing. To keep the beat steady and in unison, all players are connected with a digital in-ear metronome system. The duration of the composition is 50 minutes.

The score

The order of instruments to be played is indeterminate but structured in the graphical score. The score consists of 1024 dots organized in a geometrical pattern of 32 rows with 32 dots in each row. The dots have 9 different sizes, each of which is assigned to one of the 9 different instruments. The smallest dot, with a 3 mm diameter, represents the instrument with the shortest resonance; the biggest dot, at 11 mm, represents the instrument with the longest.

Each musician draws a path through the score, so as to compose an individual order in which the instruments will be hit. They can choose any point in the score to start their navigation. Moving to the north or south, to the west or east, back and forth, is possible. It is not allowed to jump over dots or to make diagonal moves.

The path of each musician ends as soon as they have selected 320 dots. They then transcribe this order into a score to be played five times with increasing variation. In part one, each musician plays all the selected dots. In part two, 64 beats are deleted, and so forth until part 5, where only 64 beats remain. Each part is 10 minutes long.

The choice of instruments to be skipped is free. There is no intermission between the parts.

List of Instruments:

Mokusho
Wood block
Bongos
Reyong
Crotales
Triangle
Timpani
Gong
Tubular bells