Today’s percussionists face diverse musical challenges. Understanding odd time signatures is an important step in the development of young players. Odd Duck is a charming piece written to introduce these younger players to the idea of odd meters—in this case 5/8—and how they can be broken down into groupings of 2 and 3.
The piece stays playful and light, allowing players to focus on becoming comfortable with the rhythms. Once the quartet has warmed up to these rhythms, the ultimate goal is to establish and maintain a natural flow to the performance. This will ensure that our duck will be odd but not clumsy!
This piece comes with a full, bound score and includes a CD-Rom containing an audio recording and all individual parts available for printing.
*All sounds used in this recording were generated from Virtual
Drumline software also by Tapspace.
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Odd Duck Reviews
John Baldwin
Reviewed in Percussive Notes July 2010
“This percussion quartet is scored for orchestra bells/xylophone, two marimbas (or one low-A instrument), and triangle/temple blocks. It is written in 5/8 (3+2 throughout) and marked “playfully” at eighth-note = 210. Each part consists mostly of eighth notes with some sixteenth notes and sixteenth triplets occurring. Phrasing and dynamics are carefully notated, as well as the occasional “staccato” phrase in the marimba parts. Part I switches rapidly between xylophone and bells; perhaps an additional player would be appropriate in some cases. All three keyboard percussion parts include double stops. The marimba parts include extensive ledger lines. The work alternates between tonal areas on E and B-flat, with a surprising final cadence on A!
The package includes a score plus a CD-ROM with parts and an MP3 recording. Recommended as a pedagogical and performance piece for developing percussion quartets of any age level.”
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Instrumentation
Glockenspiel, xylophone, one small marimba (4 octave), one 4.3 octave marimba (low A)*, temple blocks, triangle.
*NOTE: If needed, both marimba parts may be performed by sharing one 4.3 octave marimba (low A).
