Scuttlebutt

Jim Casella

General Info

Year of Published: 2014
Publisher: Tapspace Publications
Difficulty: Intermediate
Duration: 00:04:30
Cost: Score and Parts - $45.00   |   Score Only - $0.00

Instrumentation

Player 1: Glockenspiel & Tam Tam
Player 2: Xylophone & Suspended Cymbal
Player 3: Triangle & Tambourine & Splash Cymbal & 3 Cowbells
Player 4: Hi Hat & ppCabasa]] & Temple Blocks
Player 5: Snare Drum
Player 6: 4 Concert Tom Toms
Player 7: Bass Drum
Player 8: Timpani

Program Notes

Scuttlebutt is Jim Casella‘s composition for percussion ensemble, marking his third in a series of groove-based pieces for intermediate and developing percussion ensembles. Like the other two pieces in the series, Technology and Stormbreak, Scuttlebutt utilizes fairly basic instrumentation found in most band rooms. It relies heavily on a half-time snare backbeat while exploring various syncopated rhythms and triplet figures in the style of electronic dance music.

The rhythmic textures are first built from scratch, one layer at a time, allowing the performers to naturally build their ensemble awareness and listening skills. As the piece progresses they are expanded to mini-features and conversational ideas that get thrown around the ensemble in a way that’s certain to keep the audience wondering what will happen next!

Catchy, singable, and designed from the ground up to be a crowd pleaser, Scuttlebutt is crafted to not only challenge young percussionists but also to motivate them to become masters of simple-yet-powerful rhythmic ideas.

Review

“Scuttlebutt” is a funky, half-time groove with a brief “disco”-style section to contrast both the opening and closing sections (ABA structurally). Targeted for younger percussion ensembles who enjoy the impact of this sort of repetitive, high-energy ensemble rhythm, the piece opens with a two-measure ostinato on cabasa, followed by similarly-layered rhythms on the rims of the tom-toms and snare drum—with rhythmic underpinning from the timpani bass line and the ever present concert bass drum entry (all imitating a massive drumset groove).

The xylophone and bell parts are the only keyboard percussion parts and are quite accessible to a second- or third-year percussion student. After an opening melodic statement, there are several solos from the tom-tom, the snare, and the tim- pani. The upbeat “disco” section follows (which is in the same meter as the opening half-time funk groove, but with a distinct double time feel). The keyboard percussionists are featured in this contrasting section. The Work returns to its opening half-time groove and concludes with a unified ensemble rhythm.

This piece would certainly be appealing to the younger high school or mature junior high percussion ensemble. Only two mallet keyboard technique is required, and all of the percussion instruments should be readily accessible to most public school percussion sections.

Recent Performances

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Works for Percussion by this Composer

Solo

Prime Ordinals - Multiple Percussion, Djembe

Solo with Ensemble

Meanwhile in a Parallel Universe - Marimba, Percussion Nonet

Small Ensemble

Altered Gates - 5 Players
Scuttlebutt - 8 Players

Medium Ensemble

Beyond The Clouds - 12 Players
Cyclone - 12 Players
Katraterra - 9 Players
Meanwhile in a Parallel Universe Redux - 9 Players
Technology (Casella) - 8 Players

Large Ensemble

Compound Autonomy - Percussion Ensemble (15)
Cop Drama - Percussion Ensemble (16)
Dystopia - Percussion Ensemble (15)
Joaquin on Sunshine - Percussion Ensemble (15-17)
Stormbreak - Percussion Ensemble, Wind Ensemble (optional)
Truth or Consequence - Percussion Ensemble (19)
Windows of the Maloca - Percussion Ensemble(14)