Shark Aack
for tuba and heavy metal band
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Shark Aack was commissioned by my dear friend Dr. Brendan Ige. It was composed during the summer of 2022, while I was preparing to defend my dissertation at Michigan State University and was composing my solo heavy metal tuba album e Human Element.
When Dr. Ige reached out to me about composing a piece for him in the heavy metal vein, I was immediately excited. I had wrien numerous pieces for him already, but I knew that this would be the most fun project so far. My mind was fully steeped in heavy metal music while I working on my other projects, and I was excited to create something new for him.
Dr. Ige asked for a piece that was extremely challenging and aggressive, one that would demand much from his already formidable level of technical skill. He also wanted something that captu red his particular favorite styles of the metal genre, and something that would fit with his forthcoming album theme of a “carnival of the animals.” What resulted was a piece rooted in the nu-metal style, one which he and I both grew up with and were huge fans of in the early 2000’s, but it is heavier, meaner, and more melodic than most of the nu-metal acts of that time. e piece also takes some inspiration from instrumental progressive metal act Russian Circles, using synthesized sounds and repetitive, driving guitar riffs.
e title Shark Aack references one of our oldest inside jokes and memories of our time studying together at the University of Michigan. One night, we found a lile plastic shark on the sidewalk while hanging out around Ann Arbor. We dubbed him “Sharko,” and carried him with us for the rest of the night, joking and poking it in each other’s faces and yelling “shark aack!” We lost Sharko that night, unfortunately, and we were never able to locate him again. In the following years, we would celebrate a great run of a piece or get pumped up for a performance by yelling “shark aack!” as an ode to Sharko.
is piece is dedicated to the Legend of Sharko and to Dr. Ige, both of whom inspire me to tackle life’s challenges each and every day.
Instrumentation
Solo Tuba
Heavy Metal Band* (Rhythm Guitar, Electric Bass, Clean Guitar, Lead Guitar, Drums)
*A backing track covering the heavy metal band parts is available from the publisher; the work is typically performed in a solo tuba & tape configuration.
Duration: 5 minutes
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Copyright © 2022 Evan Zegiel (ASCAP). All Rights Reserved. Published by Just a eory Press | www.justatheorypress.com First printing of this edition, May 2023
dedicated to Dr. Brendan Ige and the memory of Sharko
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