Dave Hollinden
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Compositions:
Slender Beams of Solid Rhythm
  • multiple-percussion solo, duration: 14 minutes
  • composed in 1991
  • commissioned by Nick Petrella
  • premiered: Nick Petrella, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 1992
  • select performances:
    • Kwang Won Kim, Seoul Fine Arts Center, South Korea, 2002
    • Miho Takekawa, Kunitachi College of Music, Toyko, Japan, 1997
    • Northwest Percussion Festival, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, 1994
    • Encuentros de Percusion, Spain, 1992
Listen to Excerpt:
Recording:
  • Slender Beams of Solid Rhythm appears on the CD Slender Beams by Dave Hollinden and Andrew Spencer.
View the Score:
Instrumentation:
  (see notes on setup)

Four graduated tom toms, small bass drum, log drum, two wood blocks, two temple blocks, three cowbells, brake drum, bell plate, metal pipe, tambourine, guiro, crash cymbal, opera gong, maracas

About the piece:

Slender Beams is structured as follows:

  • opening solo on one tom tom (Intensley Focused)
  • multiple percussion section (Ritualistic, Mischievous)
  • tom toms only, in spatial notation (Remote)
  • extended maraca solo (Intensely Focused, Moody, Driving and Energetic)
  • multiple percussion section (Ritualistic)
  • closing solo on tom toms (Intensely Focused)
Purchase Information:

Available from:

Notes on the Set Up:

Take care to make your setup as compact as possible. The four tom-toms should be right next to each other. Rather than leave space between the toms for the cowbells, raise the cowbells a bit and position them slightly over the top of the toms. The brake drum, bell plate, pipe, tambourine, and guiro should be as close together as possible on a small table next to the highest tom. Similarly, the log drum, wood blocks and temple blocks should be as close together as possible on a small table next to the lowest tom. Curve the whole setup in an arc so that you can reach the lowest and highest instruments simultaneously, such as when you need to play the guiro and log drum together in the first Ritualistic section (page 3, line 6). Place the bass drum to the left of the log drum, and place the cymbal and opera gong within reach as desired. (Although I recommend small tables, there may be stands that work just as well.)