Orbital

for two drum sets and live electronic sound

Performed at Temple University’s Cybersounds Concert
November 6, 2023
Maria Marmarou, drum set
Adam Vidiksis, drum set

About

Orbital is a piece for two drum set players and electronics. Frequently, when two drummers are set in performance together, an adversarial relationship is expected—as in the famous “drum battle.” I sought to create a model that would encourage cooperation and coordination, but could still establish a shifting, fluid, and non-binary sense of leading and following, where a spectrum between the two roles could be more easily understood and navigated by the players. My solution was the metaphor of orbiting bodies. I imagine at any given point in the piece, the players are orbiting around each other, but they are given different—and shifting—masses, as therefore increase and decrease their gravitational force upon each other. The players are given a score that asks them to respond to composed musical gestures as well as guidelines for their orbital relationship, including mass, rotational speed, and distance. The live electronic processing further accentuates this relationship throughout the work. The structure of the piece emerges through the navigation of these states as the players whirl, spin, and revolve around each other in a joyous gravitational dance. —notes by the composer