Ah Too (BMI) by Dan Senn
"Ah Too" has a duration of about twelve minutes and is for the following instruments: 1 vibraphone with glockenspiel (hard sticks), 2 marimbas each with a set of temple blocks (hard sticks), 2 trap sets each containing a snare drum, tom-tom (snareless snare), cowbell, bass drum with foot pedal and hi-hat.
"Ah Too" may be performed with brief pauses between sections, or with the sections separated by other pieces (i.e., it may be used to frame the beginning, middle, and end of a concert). In either case, the tempo must never shift within the piece giving the impression of a continuous, anatomic flow.
"Ah Too" requires a conductor and may be played by as few as five percussonists. If more than one performer is put on a percussion part, the bass drum foot pedals may be replaced by hand held mallets (hard sticks), and the hi-hat replaced by a suspended cymbal played with soft sticks (give special care to dampening the instrument). Whatever the arrangement, a visible and audible symmetry must be clearly apparent. For example, it would not be acceptable to use a single player on the "Percussion 1" part and several on the "Percussion 2" part.
A single five line staff is used to indicate the trap set notation. The bass drum part is given in the lowest space; the tom-tom on the second lowest space; the snare drum on the third lowest space; rim-shots are given on the center line; the hi-hat edge on the top space; the hi-hat crown on the top line; and the cowbell on the space directly above the staff.
Conditions for suspended notes are the following: the hi-hats should remain closed unless indicated; if the hi-hats are replaced by suspended cymbals, they should be allowed to ring for the duration of the note before being dampened unless otherwise indicated; the glockenspiel should not be dampened unless otherwise indicated; and, the vibraphones should be performed with the pedal up (motor off throughout) unless otherwise indicated.
"Ah Too" is in three sections, I. "Touch", II. "Touching", and III. "Touched", and refers to a level of composer involvement with the piece at the interpretive stage - that is, after the statistical and algorithmic aspects of the piece were performed. The piece is statistically related to "Ah ONE" for two vibraphones and amplified bass violin or 'cello.
Score Examples
Section I: page 1, page 2, page 3, page 4, page 5, page 15, HEAR MIDI vs of Section I Section II: page 16, page 17, page 18, page 19, page 20, page 29, HEAR MIDI vs of Section II Section III: page 30, page 31, page 32, page 33, page 42, HEAR MIDI vs of Section III
©1990 Dan Senn
PURCHASE