Rhythmic Expedition
General Info
Year of Published: 2025 Publisher: C. Alan Publications Difficulty: Elementary Duration: 00:02:40
Program Notes
Rhythmic Expedition is a flexible ensemble playable by at least four percussionists, but with the ability to expand to fifteen or more players. The four core parts are Keyboard 1 (any mallet instrument), Snare Drum, Bass Drum, and Timpani (only two drums needed). The keyboard part may be doubled on any other mallet instrument and the snare part can be doubled on a tenor drum or another snare. If desired, the bass drum part may be played on a muled floor tom. If expanding with the optional parts, note that all keyboard parts can be doubled on any mallet instrument. In place of temple blocks, five woodblocks of varying pitches may be used. The cabasa part can be played on or doubled with maracas. The tenor drum/tom part can be doubled to include both, or even played on a medium or large hand drum. This ensemble is meant to refine the skills of young percussionists by improving mallet percussion reading, providing a solid introduction to timpani, and reinforcing good technique and rhythm performance. To maximize the educational experience, each player can learn all the parts until proficiency is achieved. This ensures all students master technique on the instruments involved. The performance arrangement can be a simple concert arc. If multiple keyboard players are used, two rows can be created with all mallet instruments in the front row with timpani, bass drum, and snare drum in the back.
Performance Notes
Snare Drum
Player should use general concert snare sticks. During setup, the snare strainer throw-o lever should be positioned directly in front of the player. This ensures the best snare sound at dierent dynamic levels moving to the far edge of the snare head.
Bass Drum
Player should have a way to mule the bass drum, preferably with a towel draped from the top of the drum to make contact with the head. Playing area should be just below the center of the drumhead. Use a general medium bass drum mallet. Extra muling with staccato markings, like in m. 31, can be achieved with using more towel on the drumhead surface, or by using the player's free hand to mule the drum further.
Keyboards
These parts can be given to one or several players to play on any mallet instrument. If there are more players than mallet instruments , octave transposition on the same instrument can be used. If playing on glockenspiel, the player should not implement any rolls. For mallet choice, the player should select mallets that will allow notes to speak and be resonant without being too heavy on the attack. Playing area on mallet instruments should be directly in the middle of the bar (and over the resonators for xylophone, marimba and vibraphone). Stay away from the nodes, which is the part of the bar with strings, rails, screws, or pegs where it is attached to the instrument.
Timpani
This composition calls for a set of two timpani tuned to a fixed pitch for the duration of the piece: a 29" tuned to G and a 26" tuned to C. The player should use general medium timpani mallets such as Vic Firth T1 or equivalent. Rolls on timpani should be single-stroke only. Playing area for each drum is shown in Figure B. Timpani should be dampened with player's hand during any rests unless there is a tie extending into a rest, as in measure 79 and 87. If the player has not played timpani before, they are encouraged to visit the Percussion 101 section of the Vic Firth Education page to get a firm foundation of timpani grip and tuning.