A Crunchy Sort of Oneness With the Infinite

Listen to the work here!
 
A Crunchy Sort of Oneness With the Infinite is a chamber work for seven multi-percussionists, utilizing the following instrumentation:
Solo Percussion: 8 Drums (2 Bongos (1 pair), 2 Congas, 3 Tom-Toms, Small B.D (muted)), 4 Woods (e. g. Wooden Planks), 4 Metals (e. g. Bell Plates), Flexatone, Marimba (Optional: used only in introductory material)
Percussion 1: Kevlar-Headed Marching Snare Drum, 3 Roto-Toms, Doumbek, Opera Gong, Spring Coil, Flexatone
Percussion 2: 6 Tin Cans, 2 Bongos (1 pair), 3 Chinese Tom-Toms, Ratchet, Rubber Chicken (Capable of producing high and low tones), Flexatone
Percussion 3: 2 Ride Cymbals, Hi-Hat, 4 Suspended Bass Drum Mallets (Played on the wooden shafts), Bucket of Wooden Pieces, Muted Marching Tenor Drums
Percussion 4: Placed on a Large Concert Bass Drum: 4 Claves, Triangle, Small Anvil; Placed on a 23” Timpano (tuned to G), Triangle, Tambourine, Crotales (C, G, Bb), Flexatone
Percussion 5: 5 Glass Bottles, Salad Bowl, 3 Whirrers (e. g. Electric Shavers or Beverage Frothers), Bucket of Broken Glass Pieces, Cajon
Percussion 6: Children’s Electronic Toy Piano, Patatap Website (On a laptop connected to the performance space’s speaker system), Bucket of Sand
The title of this piece is taken from a quote from writer and music critic Daniel Levin Becker’s 2022 book What’s Good: Notes on Rap and Language, which breaks down the history and evolution of hip-hop, as told through linguistic and grammatical constructions. Becker uses this phrase to describe the power of hip-hop lyricism to assimilate the precociously formal and braggadociously informal extremes of the English language. My own experience as a hip-hop fan is that this same phenomenon is also true of the genre’s sound world, capable of encompassing a myriad of subgenres without sacrificing the earnestness with which these various sounds are expressed. This piece is my maximalist love letter to hip-hop and drumming, as well as percussion ensemble literature, Carnatic music, the marching arts, and electroacoustic music – a 360 degree portrait of oneness with the infinitude of music I have come to love throughout my development as a composer. This work was commissioned by Jacob Thompson for his undergraduate senior recital at the University of North Texas.