I was really looking forward to the schools workshops this week as I was working with percussionist Adam Clifford. I knew that the children would really enjoy listening to some percussion as there is something very immediate and powerful about the act of hitting a drum that children respond to positively.
Adam brought a range of instruments with him for the children to hear. These included: a snare drum, a suspended cymbal, a tambourine, a guiro (scraper), an old chain, a squeaky dog toy, some bells, two differently sized metal hoops, an old scrubbing brush, and a range of various sticks and beaters.
As an introduction he played the groups a short piece on snare drum called Hugh's Chilled Red by Alan Emslie. This piece covers a full specturm of possible snare drum sounds ranging from very quiet to extremely loud. The kids all really enjoyed the contrasts in the piece and there were some unexpected jumps from some kids at the louder moments - one girl at Dalry actually threw her sound diary into the air with fright at the first really loud roll! The piece was always followed by enthusiastic applause. Adam then explored the different sounds that were involved in the piece.
We then had an opportunity to listen to some more percussion sounds. These were improvised pieces and Adam carefully considered some very interesting sound worlds. There were giggles from the kids when they heard things like the dog toy or the chain being dropped on the floor. At Preston Street there was an audible gasp from the kids when Adam picked up a bass bow - as he drew this against the edge of the suspended cymbal, producing eery shrieks, many kids shivered or covered their ears. The range of sounds that the participants were exposed to in these short pieces was really exciting and they all loved it. We had a discussion about the difference between pitched and unpitched percussion, with Adam demonstrating that a xylophone could be played using four beaters to produce many notes at once.
We then played some short rhythmic games. Firstly, we sat in a circle and passed a clap around the circle. We tried to do this as quickly as possible. We then did the same thing but attempted to clap individually to a steady pulse. The group found this quite tricky. Adam discussed how important it is as a percussionist to be able to hold a steady beat and that this task can seem deceptively simple.
We then moved on to a more abstract idea. I asked the children to tell me a short story. I explained that this was to be quite brief and we would break it into 5 or 6 main parts. These parts would then be translated into percussive sounds by the group and Adam to tell a sound story. The stories for each group were really different:
Dalry, Group 1
I got up out of bed
I went to the toilet to brush my teeth
I heard my sister crying
I go and see her and she stops crying
I fell down the stairs and landed in the swimming pool
So I got the day off school.
Dalry, Group 2
It was a dark and scary night
I heard screaming
I looked round the corner and saw a shadow
It was a zombie and it bit Ross
Then the zombie's mum called the zombie in for dinner
I woke up. It was all a nightmare.
Preston Street, Group 1
The mangoes and the bananas had a fight
A steak and gammon joined in to marry each other
Then the coca cola exploded
Meanwhile the steak accidentally peels the banana
So the mango had revenge by eating the steak.
Preston Street, Group 2
Once upon a time in a great castle there lived a king and a queen called King James and Queen Mary.
Also there is a secret panel
In the secret panel there is a golden dragon
There is a prince called Prince Jaffyburg
The prince opened the secret panel and the dragon attacked him
The prince died.
As you can imagine, these wildly different stories brought out a range of percussive ideas and sounds from the groups. They all had great fun composing these short sound stories.
The final task of the day was to stand in a circle and attempt to clap at exactly the same time as each other. This is often used by arts workshop practictioners to focus attention in groups. I was keen to do this task for this reason (so they went back to class a little less exciteable) but also so that we could discuss how it feels in that mioment before the unison clap. When it worked successfully the group said that they had felt tense, nervous, had sore hands (from the last clap), excited, calm. I'm really interested in these moments between sounds; after we've listened to a piece of music or sound and we are digesting it, and before we listen to the next piece of music or sound and are anticipating it. I will explore music which explores this concept with the groups in the last session.
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