“Firefish – Music of Blake Tyson” review

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Blake Tyson has released his new CD “Firefish” on iTunes. He has also provided the digital book for the CD free for everyone to download so you can read about each of the compositions and the story behind them.

I have been a fan of Blake Tyson ever since I heard the piece “A cricket sang and set the sun”. I contacted him directly to purchase the sheet music and was thrilled to received a personalized note with the music. When I heard about his new project on Kickstarter I knew that I wanted to help fund that project.

Firefish has 10 tracks which are a mix of solo marimba and mallet ensemble music. The tracks are:

1. Cloud Forest

2. Not far from here

3. Moonrise – I. The Moon Holds My Heart

4. Moonrise – II. The First Time I Saw the Moon

5. Firefish

6. Inside the Shining Stone

7. A Ceiling Full Of Starts

8. A Cricket Sang and Set the Sun

9. Vagabond of Light

10. Not Far From Here for Solo Marimba

I was already a huge fan of “A cricket sang and set the sun” and if you want to see Blake performing that piece you can take a listen here:

A Cricket sang and set the sun

My favorite piece new composition on this CD is “Not far from here”. Folks who read this blog know that I am partial to “pretty” marimba music and this composition fits that bill perfectly. There is a time and a place for Velocities, and Merlin and other pieces with a lot of notes in them (and I love them too), but sometimes we all should stop and listen to some relaxing music that is audience accessible, sounds great and makes you slowly exhale when listening to it. This piece does that for me. Both the percussion ensemble and marimba solo of this piece are on the CD and ironically I do prefer the ensemble version. I didn’t see the ensemble version on Steve Weiss but the solo version is available there today.

Another thing to note about this CD, is that many of the parts are performed on the new MJB Marimba from Malletech. Getting the lowest octave right on a 5-octave marimba is something that I believe will take another couple of decades to perfect considering how many decades marimba manufacturers have been working on the the problem so far. Having said that, the low end of this marimba is really something to listen too. It pushes the whole marimba sound forward similar to what the Basso Bravo resonators did for Marimba One. This sound can really rattle cheap internal laptop speakers, so be sure to listen to this CD on a nice set of speakers. I also believe this has a lot to do with the recording and mixing skills of John Parks IV. This CD really sounds amazing not only from the low end of the marimba but the bells and crotales on the high end. For those not familiar with John Parks, he was features on PATV episode 74. You can debate with him if Haydn was a “complete hack” or not. 🙂

For more information about Blake Tyson, please visit his website, Facebook page, YouTube channel, or contact him via Twitter.

Joe Millea’s Solo Commission Project

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Joe Millea is organizing a marimba solo commission project in order to encourage more marimba solos to be written. The requirements are that it be a piece for 5-octave marimbas and be 5-12 minutes in length. Compositions can be submitted electronically (PDF, Finale, Sibelius) directly to Joe at jmillea@asu.edu.

The winning composition will be premiered in London in 2014 at the Royal College of Music.

Joe is an huge advocate of new marimba music and most recently has been one of the members of the “Long Distance” commission written by Steven Snowden. Joe’s YouTube channel has some of his performances and they are a real treat to listen to. Joe has a performance of “Fernando’s Waltz” by Paul Smadbeck which was premiered at the Marimba 2010 International Festival and Conference as well as Nanae Mimura’s arrangement of Daniel Levitan’s Marimba Quartet.

For more information feel free to contact visit Joe’s website or at the marimba commission project site for more information.

 

Italy Percussive Arts Society Competition 2013

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Antonio Santangelo sent me this note to share about the Italy Percussive Arts Society competition. Please visit http://www.italypas.it for more information. The application is due this Friday so be sure to apply quickly!

If you want to look just at the required marimba repertoire list it is linked here.

For Teachers and Students of Percussion Instruments, Drumset and Composition

The ITALY Percussive Arts Society organizes from 24th to 29th September 2013 the 11th edition of Italy Percussion Competition for Marimba, Vibraphone, Timpani, Snare Drum, Drum Set and Composition in Montesilvano (PE-Italy).

Attention please: Application deadline : 31st May 2013

Guest artists for Juries, Masterclasses & Concerts:
David Friedman, Casey Cangelosi, Marta Klimasara, Kai Stensgaard, Carlo Willems, Wulff Bernhard, Marian Rapczewski, Ignacio Ceballos Martin, Gabriele Bianchi, Rick Latham, Sergio Bellotti, Dejan Tamše.

Rules, Repertoire list, Application form… www.italypas.it

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact me.

Thank you so much!
Antonio Santangelo
Artistic Director & President Italy Percussive Arts Society

World Premiere if Christopher Theofanidis’ Concerto for Marimba and Wind Sinfonietta

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This evening April 30, 2013 William Moersch will be premiering Christopher Theofanidis‘ Concerto for Marimba and Wind Sinfonietta at 7:30pm Central time. It will be at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus.

This concert will be streamed at the following URL: http://bands.illinois.edu/content/media

I am thrilled to hear this live over the Internet without having to drive down to go see it. I hope everyone takes advantage of this opportunity to hear a new marimba world premiere!

For more information there is a Facebook event page.

Blake Tyson’s “Firefish – The Music of Blake Tyson” Kickstarter project

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Blake Tyson is doing a Kickstarter project to help fund his new CD “Firefish – The Music of Blake Tyson“. I have always been a fan of Blake’s compositions and am very happy to be a backer of this Kickstarter project for his new CD. You have 28 more days to donate and he is only 22% funded on this project so far. Please share the word and donate to this project!

Zeltsman Marimba Festival 2013 in Arcata, CA June 30 – July 13

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The following press release is from Nicole Riggs of Marimba One.

 

For Immediate Release

Arcata, CA

February 26, 2013

Coming to Arcata June 30 – July 13, 2013 are dozens of the world’s top players of the marimba, a large wooden percussion instrument with resonators, resembling a giant xylophone. They will perform eight marimba concerts at HSU and at the Arcata Playhouse during the two-week festival.

The marimbists are appearing at the Zeltsman Marimba Festival but they are also coming to the workshop in the redwoods of what is arguably the premier builder of marimbas, Marimba One, and its founder-owner Ron Samuels.

For more than 25 years, Samuels and his staff have been handcrafting the finest instruments, combining refined listening that understands sound with scientifically precise engineering skills.

That’s why more than 500 symphonies, music schools and universities in every corner of the globe–from Carnegie Hall in New York to Beijing Central Conservatory in China–turn to Marimba One as they seek superior sound, guaranteed durability and top-notch service for their concert marimbas.

It all starts outside the little villages of Central America. There the Marimba One team led by Samuels, who has both a trained ear from playing classical piano and a reverence for so-called ‘tone woods,’ hand-inspects and selects for shipping each piece of rosewood.

Once the wood reaches the Marimba One manufacturing facility in Arcata, it is air-dried, then kiln-dried and molded into the various bar profiles that the master craftsmen use to build marimbas.

Next, Marimba One’s master tuner grades the wood for sound, constantly looking for any flaws in the wood and listening to its resonance so that he can maximize its musical qualities.

The customer then enters the picture since he or she chooses the “voicing” for their keyboard. Based on this description of how they want their marimba to sound, Marimba One selects the bars that best match their description. Samuels knows artists are looking for a darker sound that is louder and warmer.

“We’re always thinking about sound quality and how to bring out the clearest and most musical voice in each piece of wood,” says Samuels. The audiences at the ZMF in Arcata will hear the marimbists creating the sound they crave.