Seaswell is written for 4 Snare Drummers. Each player
is assigned one bar on the screen and all read from the same screen
that is projected in the space. Player 1 is the left most bar and
positioned stage right, with Player 2 being the bar to the immediate
right on the score and stage left of Player 1, and so on. As a
variation, the players may also be placed around the audience so
long as they all have a common sight on the score.
The score follows these rules:
Players fade in and out dynamically alongside the opacity of the
bars:
- WHITE = silence
- FULL OPACITY = loudest possible playing
The bar colors define playing position on the drum:
- BLACK = center/most snare
- RED = edge, perpendicular to the snares (least snare, most
resonant)
Players are to BUZZ ROLL (multiple bounce roll) in tandem
with the animated gestures. These rolls can vary in speed, be played
open or closed, etc., but must stay as a defined BUZZ ROLL.
Single stroke rolls are NOT acceptable. Players should also
only use drumsticks and only the same pair throughout the
performance.
Some variation in playing location is okay as the piece goes on, so
long as it follows the rules above and the player commits to that
playing location from start to finish of that round of playing.
The most important piece in the performance is fading in from
nothing and out to nothing. If that fade starts or ends slightly out
of sync with your bar, that is okay! No need to start/end anything
abruptly.
It is desired that the drums used in performance be
very resonant and any dampening devices on the heads be
removed.
The fixed media is attached to the animations in the webpage. For
best results, use Google Chrome or Firefox.
There is a 20 second pause before the piece begins...