Diabelli Project 137 - Percussion Quartet

The Diabelli Project is about offering my weekly flash-composition sketches freely to all. Like Antonio Diabelli's theme, these sketches aren't great music. But perhaps (as in Diabelli's case) there's a Beethoven out there who can do great things with them.

This quartet grew out of the rhythmic pattern of alternating 4/4-3/4 and 4/4-5/8 measures. From there, I started the snare part and then decided to add some metallic instruments for contrast. Then came the toms for counterpoint for the snare, and finally the tambourine, with its cross between wood and metal sound. From there, who knows?

As always, you can use any or all of the posted Diabelli Project sketches as you wish for free. Just be sure to share the results. I'm always curious to see what direction someone else can take this material.

Diabelli Project 088 - Percussion Trio

The Diabelli Project is about offering my weekly flash-composition sketches freely to all. Like Antonio Diabelli's theme these sketches aren't great music. But perhaps as in Diabelli's case) there's a Beethoven out there who can do great things with them.

One of the purposes of doing these flash composition sketches is to tap into my creative subconscious. Having to write as much music as possible in 10 minutes without premeditation has really spurred my creativity -- and created some surprises.

This week's effort was another percussion trio -- my third in this series. When I wrote this, I wasn't consciously thinking of the other two fragments (see: Diabelli Project 055 and 075). But they do sort of fit together, especially when I look at the forces involved.

Trio	Player 1	Player 2	Player 3
055	5 Timbales	Tamborine, Wood Block	Cymbal, Gong
078	4 Tympani (F, C#, D, F)	Tamborine	Snare Drum
088	4 Tympani (F, D, E, F)	4 Timbales	Cymbal, Snare Drum

It's possible to have three players cover everything for all three sketches. Here's this week's entry:

(click on image to enlarge)

What happens next? That's up to you. As always, this sketch is offered freely for any and all to use. Just let me know of the results. And just for the record -- when I've completed the Diabelli Project, I'll be returning to this trio of trios and see if they're actually part of a much larger work. 

Diabelli Project 083 - Percussion Quartet

The ;Diabelli Project is about offering my weekly flash-composition sketches freely to all. Like Antonio Diabelli's theme these sketches aren't great music. But perhaps (as in Diabelli's case) there's a Beethoven out there who can do great things with them.

I've already dashed off two percussion trios in this flash composition series. (see Nos. 055 and 075). And I speculated that they might actually be part of a much larger work, rather than two separate pieces.

Although this is the first percussion quartet I've written as part of the Diabelli Project, there's a possibility that it, too, may be part of some larger percussion work along with the trios. After all -- I've only sketched out a few measures of each. Who's to say that more instruments don't come in later on. Maybe those trios aren't trios after all.... (click on images to enlarge)

I may return to these another time and see if they all fit together. But you may have other ideas. As with all the Diabelli Project sketches, this music is made available for any and all to use as they see fit. Just let me know of your results.



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Diabelli Project 075 - Percussion Trio

The Diabelli Project is about offering my weekly flash-composition sketches freely to all. Like Antonio Diabelli's theme these sketches aren't great music. But perhaps (as in Diabelli's case) there's a Beethoven out there who can do great things with them.

One good thing about writing percussion music -- most of the instruments only have a few tonal options, which makes the writing go faster. As you can see, I got quite far into this sketch before time ran out. I had written a percussion trio before as part of this series (see: Diabelli Project 055). In that sketch, one player had a tamborine. Another had timbales, but it could be part of a larger collection of drums that might include a snare drum. So potentially, this could be another part of the same piece. )(click on images to enlarge)

I might stitch the two sketches together, but you don't have to. What happens next? That's up to you. As with all the Diabelli Project sketches, I offer this freely to anyone who would like to use all or part of it. Just let me know the results!

Here's what the original looked like -- I think you'll agree it's much more readable in its current incarnation.