Metallic Spectra

performed by the UW Wind Ensemble Percussion Section- Aidan Gold, Verli Chen, Lynn Park, David Gaskey, Brendan Ryder, and David Norgaard, conducted by Timothy Salzman

Metallic Spectra explores the unusual and evocative soundscape of various metal percussion instruments- Tibetan singing bowls, tuned gongs, metal pipes, steel pan, and others. The piece begins with sudden, violent gestures atop waves of metallic sounds, interrupted by moments of stillness and the haunting and otherworldly cries of the bowed singing bowls. This landscape of sound eventually transforms into rhythmic patterns, spiraling and compressing the initial gestures into intricate lines passing between the instruments. The density increases until the rhythmic patterns themselves dissolve into chaotic, crashing metallic waves, sweeping away the sense of pulse and rhythmic motion. As the waves of sound subside, the music gradually coalesces to a single line, and suddenly, from the sea of metal, we hear pitch. All the instruments coalesce to this single, focused pitch, constantly crossfading colors until they fade away with an echo of the bowed singing bowl cries from the initial section.