Grit

Music by Brigid Burke
Performed by Brigid Burke (clarinet) and Wendy Couch (vibraphone and Indian drum)
Duration: 8:20

Grit

Grit was released on the CD On the Wings of a Butterfly in June 2005

Composer’s notes:

Bowed vibraphone opens Grit to create a timeless scene. The clarinet is aimed to mimic the attack of the Indian drum parts. Its musical context is based on improvisations and experimentation using frequency changes with these fragments of sound through computer manipulation of extreme contraction, expansion, panning and pitch modification. The Indian drum imitates the clarinet as if in conversation and is lyrically thick with the percussive sounds overlapping themselves to form complex rhythms. The Indian drum consists of a thick wooden shell in an hourglass shape and single calfskin head tensioned around the rim with thin rope. The drum is initially played with the fingers. Then various hand techniques and strokes are used to produce different timbres. As the volume and intensity of the piece increases, felt mallets and wooden sticks are introduced to increase the dynamic impact.

Created, performed and recorded for the Australia Asia Foundation’s Sonic Gallery in 2004
All sounds and texts copyright © 2004 by Brigid Burke