Performance Issues Regarding Percussion and Strings - Part 2

The development of percussion as a major musical instrument is one of the most revolutionary and game changing events to happen in the history of concert music.  This development has had implications far beyond the percussion instruments themselves.  In this series, I am focusing on performance issues facing the combination of percussion and string instruments.

In Part 1, we focused on how strings and percussion produce sound in different ways.

Now for Part 2...

2. Volume is an issue that must be considered

This may seen like a no-brainier but I constantly find this issue presenting itself. Percussion instruments are naturally much louder than string instruments.  Drums and cymbals will easily crush a violin playing at their loudest and a general Fortissimo for a percussionist is usually louder than for strings.  With that understood it's important to first point out that percussionists must be sensitive to this.  When playing chamber music with strings the competent percussionist must adjust dynamics and select mallets accordingly. They must also adjust their expectations of balance.  Assuming the percussionist is competent and cooperative it is then the string player's job to try and project as much as possible where necessary.  It may require some more effort than previously required when playing with instruments other than percussion.  

Both instrumentalists should also keep in mind that the register each instrument occupies will directly effect how much projection is needed.  For example, if the instrumentation is scored for marimba and violin, and the marimba is playing harmony in the low register while the violin sails with high pitched melodies, the goal would be for the violin to be heard in a leadership role as clearly distinct from the marimba.  If the violin part is written in its lowest range playing counterpoint enmeshed with the low marimba, the goal would be to achieve balance.  The music will always determine the rules but register can play a role in what the listener latches on to. 

The selection of percussion instruments will always make a big difference here too.  Both players must play differently depending on the instrumentation.  Playing a work with drums, cymbals, and multi percussion can require different volume considerations than playing one with mallet keyboard instruments like the marimba, vibraphone, and xylophone. I will explore this topic in much greater detail in the next part of this series.

Although I am not a string player myself, as I pointed out in the beginning of this series I am a firm believer that the development of percussion as a major instrument will change the way other instruments play.  In the case of string players I do think a bigger sound with more range and volume must be developed in order to meet the demands of modern music with percussion.  I do not think it's unreasonable to make this request. With that said, it's the percussionist's job to play with a greater sense of depth and context.  The music should always dictate the required adjustments on both ends.    

3. Historical rhythmic starting points and perceptions of rhythm are different 

Regarding rhythm, "exact" is in many cases the starting point for the modern percussionist.  From the moment we begin to learn our instrument, we are taught to "keep the beat" and "play in time."  We take rhythms literally and we play them exactly.  

Obviously string players learn rhythm too.  However, I've always found that due to the influential older repertoire from the Classical and Romantic eras and the historical development of string instruments, string players may have a slightly different perception when it comes to rhythm.  Classical, Romantic, and Neoclassical repertoire will often expand and contract with the music.  So much of this important repertoire is historically relevant.  It is also extremely high quality music.  As a result, string players end up playing a lot of it.  Therefore, string players sometimes get used to there being a constant "push and pull" of rhythms in order to make the music they are playing more expressive. Additionally, sometimes modern music for strings contains the same characteristics because composers are influenced by the master works of the past.  The ultimate point I am making is that when it comes to rhythm, string players live in a different world than percussionists.  These are for historical reasons just as much a pedagogical.  

In many cases this is ultimately a good thing which I believe percussionists can learn from. However, a better balance must be achieved.  Much of the chamber music that has been written in the past 50 years that includes percussion requires a more exact rhythmic approach at least as a starting point.  String players must develop this style of playing and incorporate it into their palette.  Not being a percussionist is no excuse for not being able to understand and produce exact rhythms.  Producing exact rhythms does not make one robotic and unexpressive.  It creates a modern new foundation that when combined with the old way of doing things, makes for even more styles and musical choices for the performer.  

In the final part of this series I will discuss multi instrumentalists (percussionists) vs mono instrumentalists (strings) and body language.  I will also provide a suggested repertoire list for percussion and strings.