ReitteiiMunakata(2020/2022) for voice, trombone, 2 percussion players, guitar, and piano
Balance and amplification
Instrumentation Voice Voice with any register Meinl original spark shaker Trombone PlungerTrombonemute Percussion 1 Concert bass drum Floor tom Silk WhiskRecoTriangleDishpaperrackdrainerbeaterreco Percussion 2 Floor tom Dish rack drainer Triangle beater TexturedWhisk plastic sheet Metal stick Silk paper Guitar Acoustic guitar Meinl original spark shaker Plastic card Silk paper Piano Grand piano with 3 pedals Spring drum Disposition
While tteii (2020/2022) is an independent work, it is also possible to perform together with its sister-piece, Hitah, in the same program. Either they can be played attacca (with order tteii - Hitah) or placed separately in the same program (ex. tteii before the break and Hitah after the break).
The performance of tteii (2020/2022) should focus on the sound of the vocals and instruments themselves. While some objects might need amplification, the general sound should be kept ¨acoustic¨ as much as possible. If the ensemble is amplified, the amplification should be as discreet as possible only to support the balance of the ensemble. Thus, the loud speakers should not be placed right in front of the audience to take too much attention. All levels and adjustment should be made to balance with the vocal performer. tteii and Hitah
Piano with 3 pedals Trombone Guitar Percussion 1drumBass Floortom Voice 2
Percussion
Whispering / Speaking / Singing
(Dots on a line preceding a notehead) Repeat the indicated note indeterminately during the given duration (often marked with an arrow). As fast and many as possible but without loosing the clear articulation. Static and somewhat mechanical as if a damaged CD player keeps skipping back to the same place. A shaker from Meinl made of perforated sheet. Stir the shaker in circular motion. Quickly move away from the trombone mouthpiece and make dirty tongue click noise without the instrument. The sound should be dirty and slightly watery with saliva (¨ts ts ts ts…¨) rather than a very clean tongue click (¨t t t t…¨).
Note head Black note head (¨●¨) Normal playing with pitch Square note head (¨ ⬜ ¨) Air noise when exhaling (¨ex¨) and whistle/air tone when inhaling (¨in¨) Triangle note head (¨▷¨) Tongue ram (¨HT¨)
TheVoicevoice part can be performed by any singer / voice artist. Change octaves when necessary to suit the performer’s voice.
Meinl Original Spark Shaker
BellGurgle/Slide Detach the mouthpiece away and use the remaining of the instrument.
In general, the vocal performer has the central role, and the vocalisation produced by the other performers (instrumentalists) should be subtle and discrete with less attention most of the time.
Tongue click Plunger mute
Black note head (¨●¨) With voice Cross note head (¨x¨) Without voice.
Note head Black note head (¨●¨) With voice Square note head (¨ ⬜ ¨) With 1/2 air and 1/2 voice Cross note head (¨x¨) Without voice. But add a little voice depending on the dynamics and expression Story telling without words As default, the vocal part generally focus on the sound timbre and quality of vocal techniques and pronunciation. The voice is treated as an instrument that blends with the rest of the ensemble. There are sections in the piece in which the vocalist acts as a ¨story teller¨ without descriptive words. Avoid being theatrical, but give more expression and try to have direct contact with the audience as if you are telling a story.
General
Trombone Plunger mute
Trombone extended techniques
In this example, the changes must be discrete and not continuous/gradual. Change the sound timbre clearly but without effort. Perform very forceful air noise while making a hollow bubbling sound with saliva (¨Dentist gurgling noise¨). The sound should be a mixture of intense air blowing and watery saliva noise, as dirty and complex as possible.
All performers in tteii (2020/2022) perform whispering / speaking / singing throughout the piece.
Performance Notes
Whiskreco
PercussionConcert1 bass drum Floor tom Silk WhiskRecoTriangleDishpaperrackdrainerbeaterreco
with different sizes and the material qualities: It should not be too clumsy when picking up. Approximately A5 size. A Dish rack drainer made of flexible metal with a small paper tag (the product tag left hanging). In the air Hold the top of the drainer with l.h., and scrape (¨arpeggio¨) the drainer bars with a triangle beater in the air. Wave the entire drainer and let ring. Let the paper tag sizzle. In the air + Drop on resonance board After scraping the drainer with the triangle beater in the air (upper staff line), place the edge of the drainer on the indicated resonance board such as drum or wooden box (lower staff line). When dropping on a surface, a very determined and clear action is desired in order to transmit the resonance sharply and clearly. Let the paper tag sizzle. Wooden reco reco with teeth only partially carved (not the entire tube) as shown in the photo. Scrape The upper staff line indicates the left side and the lower the right side. The jagged line indicates ¨with the teeth¨ (scrape the teeth) and the smooth line ¨without the teeth¨ (scrape the smooth surface of the tube).
Very thin white wrapping tissue paper often used to wrap items in a department store. It should be unused, new, and crispy that the paper is totally silent when waving gently, and rattles loudly when waving hard. Loosely hold the silk paper and wave in the air. Organic and curvy motion. The paper part is graphically notated with different thickness of wavy lines indicating the general waving speed and the amount of waving Experiment¨effort¨.
Ex. WMF Flexi Whisk Profi Plus 32 cm
Concert bass drum Medium size concert bass drum placed horisontally on a stand. Floor tom 16 inch floor tom with a good resonance. Paper (silk paper) Drainer (Dish rack drainer) Reco
Hit In this example, the upper line is for reco reco and the lower for the drainer. Repeatedly hit the reco reco with the stick as ¨default¨. Whenever necessary, quickly scrape the drainer with the same stick and immediately go back to reco reco. The action must be as fast as possible. Metal whisk with open end. The metal brushes should be flexible and they hit each other when shaken. Preferably at least 32 cm in length or longer. 2 whisks can be of 2 different models or brands in order to create colourful sound timbre.
MetalTexturedWhiskTriangleDishpaperrackdrainerbeaterplasticsheetstick
PercussionFloor2 tom Silk
Drainer (Dish rack drainer) Whisk Very thin white wrapping tissue paper often used to wrap items in a department store. It should be unused, new, and crispy that the paper is totally silent when waving gently, and rattles loudly when waving hard. Loosely hold the silk paper and wave in the air. Organic and curvy motion. The paper part is graphically notated with different thickness of wavy lines indicating the general waving speed and the amount of waving Experiment¨effort¨. with different sizes and the material qualities: It should not be too clumsy when picking up. Approximately A5 size. A Dish rack drainer made of flexible metal with a small paper tag (the product tag left hanging). In the air Hold the top of the drainer with l.h., and scrape (¨arpeggio¨) the drainer bars with a triangle beater in the air. Wave the entire drainer and let ring. Let the paper tag sizzle. In the air + Drop on resonance board After scraping the drainer with the triangle beater in the air (upper staff line), place the edge of the drainer on the indicated resonance board such as drum or wooden box (lower staff line). When dropping on a surface, a very determined and clear action is desired in order to transmit the resonance sharply and clearly. Let the paper tag sizzle. Metal whisk with open end. The metal should be very flexible and the handle should be round (not flat). At least 32 cm in length or longer. 2 whisks can be of 2 different models or brands in order to create colourful sound timbre. Ex. WMF Flexi Whisk Profi Plus 32 cm Hold the handle of the whisk with one hand, and let the tip of the handle touch the floor tom skin. The whisk brushes should face Gatherupwards.thewhisk brushes silently with the other hand. Suddenly release the brushes and let them rattle. If the whisk brushes do not make too much sound, title or twist the brushes a little right before releasing in order to create irregular rattling directions. Improvise different ways of releasing and touching the brushes in order to create variety of complex rattling noise. Be creative expressive.
Floor tom 16 inch floor tom with a good resonance. Paper (silk paper)
Guitar extended techniques
Textured plastic sheet with metal stick Guitar
Plastic card
Hard plastic sheet with textured surface in the size of A3 paper or similar. Find a plastic sheet that creates high friction noise when scraped with a metal stick. Ex. Plastic A3 folder sold in stationary store
Very thin white wrapping tissue paper often used to wrap items in a department store. It should be unused, new, and crispy that the paper is totally silent when waving gently, and rattles loudly when waving hard. Loosely hold the silk paper and wave in the air. Organic and curvy motion. The paper part is graphically notated with different thickness of wavy lines indicating the general waving speed and the amount of waving Experiment¨effort¨. with different sizes and the material qualities: It should not be too clumsy when picking up. Approximately A5 size. A shaker from Meinl made of perforated sheet. Stir the shaker in circular motion.Hammer-onThetriangle
notehead indicates Hammer-on technique. Tap the indicated note percussively against the fingerboard with a finger. Expressive and dramatic. Use one or two fingers of the hand that is also holding the spark shaker (the other hand is holding the silk paper at this moment). Therefore, the spark shaker also rattles during the Hammer-on action. Make the transition to and from this technique as smooth and uninterrupted as possible.
Tamburo with right hand side like a kungfu chop. Always sul ponticello Percussive damping of all strings with palm. Body refers to the resonance body of the Blackguitar notehead = Hit with fingers or palm. Let it resonate. Cross notehead = ¨Unsucessful hit¨. Quasi light dead stroke. Just ¨tourch¨ the surface of the body. Hard plastic card like a library card. Scrape the 3 lowest strings with the card very slowly with as much pressure as possible while damping the strings with the other hand. Move very slow so that it is granular, not a continuous scraping. Keep the tention until the very end of the phrase.
Hammer-on (+ Spark shaker)
Tamburo Damping noise
Body
Metal stick A metal stick with sharp edges. Ex. Metal straw
Plastic sheet
Acoustic guitar (The score is transposed) Paper (silk paper)
Chromatic cluster
Note that the pedal actions do not necessary support any activated keys/strings. The pedaling itself is the sound and gesture.
(2 lines connecting 2 notes without diagonal fill in)
¨Right¨ pedal
SpringClusterreleasedrum
Prepare a soft blanket or pillow to put the spring drum on when it is not needed.
Pedal Sostenuto ¨middle¨ pedal The sostenuto pedal gives important resonance to all actions (or non-action) and should be observed exactly.
Bar 117 If the repeated pedal release actions are not suited, change to repeated pedaling down.
Percussive release of the pedal. Do not lift the foot upwards, but quickly slide away to the side and let the pedal snap upwards. If the pedal is not carried through from the previous phrase, silently press the pedal to prepare this action. Percussive pedaling down and up as fast as possible. Percussive pedaling down. Hold the pedal until the line ends.
The tiny sound of the piano mechanics and the finger movement, enhanced by the visual movement of the hands, should be ¨audible¨.
White key cluster (2 lines connecting 2 notes with diagonal fill in)
GrandPianopiano with 3 pedals.
The first part: Try to keep the tremolo (shaking in ppp) as static as possible. As the result, any unsteadiness and disturbance occur due to the other actions such as piano playing and pedaling are considered acceptable as the colourisation of physicality of the piece. In any case, the spring drum should be kept as the background and the piano foreground (even almost silent actions).
All percussive use of the right pedal should be observed exactly (indicated with arrows and sfz nuances).
Note head Black note head (¨●¨) Normal playing with pitch. Diamond note head (¨♢¨) Press the keys silently without letting the hammer touch the strings.
Key
The performer is often asked to press keys silently and keep the fingers until the release ¨con forza¨, notated with a comma and sfz. The action of finger releasing (comma) should be as rhythmical as possible. Violently and quickly remove the finger / hand from the key(s) upward.
A thin spring drum that is possible to make wawa effect with palm.
