Codex

DRUM QUARTET ARCANA

CODEX is an ongoing series of drum quartet pieces that brings together my love for numerology, codes/ciphers, 1970s New Age aesthetics, and hi-hats. Throughout the first movement, The Essence Of, players “recite” time-stretched incantations on the hi-hats, approximating vocal formants by manipulating the cymbals’ timbres with the pedal and playing position. Other members of the quartet respond in turn with coded messages that generate slowly-evolving rhythmic material.

In the second movement, the text of a dialogue between the deity Hermes and his pupil is converted into binary digits, which determine the opening and closing of hi-hats and the tom patterns.

The second movement of Codex, A Dialogue was realized remotely by four different drummers in four different states during the Sō Percussion Summer Institute 2020. The first movement, The Essence Of was recorded at SōSI 2021.

Please send me an email to obtain a copy of the score and performance materials.