Percussion

Contents:

General information about percussion:

The orchestra has many instruments in the percussion section; almost any instrument could be included in today’s orchestra. All the instruments are split into either tuned or untuned sections, they could be split into what they are made out of or how you play them, but in this case we’ll stick with tuned or untuned. Tuned instruments include xylophone, tubular bells and timpani etc and all read notated music just like any other instrument. Untuned instruments include gongs, snare and bass drums etc and read music differently; a common way is to have one instrument per position on the stave (see ‘Notation’).

With the amount of instruments available to the composer it wouldn’t be practical or in some cases possible to expect one player to do it all. When writing for percussion it’s important to remember how many players you decide to use and also the layout of the instruments that you have chosen to use. If you’re only using one or two instruments then it may be possible to use only one player, as long as the instruments aren’t being played at the same time.

When producing a score, the amount of staves you use for the percussion section all depends on the amount of players you will be using, e.g. if you want two players use two staves named ‘Percussion I’ and ‘Percussion II’. This not only specifies the amount of players you need but it also lets you see clearly who’s playing what and when.

The layout is very important as well, try and image all the instruments that you will be using and where they might be laid out on stage. You don’t need to specify a layout in your score, you can, but the percussionists will usually set out the instruments to suit themselves. Remember that if there’s a switch in instruments the performer can’t always run from one side of the stage to the other within two seconds to start playing on the next instrument. If you’ve planned all this while writing there shouldn’t be a problem, make sure they have enough time for instrument changes as well a placing down sticks and picking up new ones etc. Back to top

Notation has still not generalised (this is mostly related to untuned percussion); there are many different variations on how to notate for percussion. One simple and useful rule to follow is to label your instruments as you use them on the stave. If you want the percussionist to play a section with the xylophone for example, the say so above the score, write ‘xylophone’ above the section. It can also be useful for percussionists to know what they are playing next, so you could write for example, ‘go to snare drum’ above the section they have just played to make sure they are ready for the next section. Try and make the parts as clear as possible. If you want the players to do something, make sure they do buy telling them everything in the score and parts. There will be more on notation in the ‘Tuned’ and ‘Untuned’ pages. Back to top