source file: mills2.txt Date: Fri, 9 Aug 1996 06:09:08 -0700 Subject: Re: partch'struments are for newband only From: Steve Curtin >I read the same thing in that post. It just reminds me of the Gamelan >Sekar Jaya performance I saw a month ago in Marin: at the end of the >concert, the players cordially invited the entire audience to come down and >bang on their gamelan instruments. Only request was that you not step over >them, out of respect for the spirit of the instruments. -rick >From my Gamelan days I remember doing this after a number of performances. I hope Sekar Jaya didn't use the verb "bang" when describing what one does with a Gamelan instrument. We always had to watch people like a hawk to make sure that they played the gong with the right end of the mallet to keep it from being damaged for instance. Gamelans lend themselves much better to playing by inexperienced music makers than do Partch's instruments- we still had to be careful and respectful of them. I do tend to put Partch in his own category- I can't think of a single other composer that built his own instruments, developed his own theory of music (albiet from many pre-existing sources) and then wrote a body of fascinating and compelling music using these instruments. Unfortunately my only exposure to his music is through records. I still remember Skip LaPlante's performance with his Kithara copy at an AFMM concert of a Partch piece a couple of years ago- it's the closest thing to a performance I've seen. Steve Curtin Ensoniq Corp Received: from ns.ezh.nl [137.174.112.59] by vbv40.ezh.nl with SMTP-OpenVMS via TCP/IP; Fri, 9 Aug 1996 18:55 +0200 Received: by ns.ezh.nl; (5.65v3.2/1.3/10May95) id AA04836; Fri, 9 Aug 1996 18:55:33 +0200 Received: from eartha.mills.edu by ns (smtpxd); id XA04837 Received: from by eartha.mills.edu via SMTP (940816.SGI.8.6.9/930416.SGI) for id JAA07550; Fri, 9 Aug 1996 09:55:26 -0700 Date: Fri, 9 Aug 1996 09:55:26 -0700 Message-Id: <199608091651.AA04177@eceserv0.ece.wisc.edu> Errors-To: madole@ella.mills.edu Reply-To: tuning@eartha.mills.edu Originator: tuning@eartha.mills.edu Sender: tuning@eartha.mills.edu