New Sounds: With Third Coast Percussion
Published July 26, 2017 by Third Coast Percussion | Share this post! 
May 25, 2017
by John Shaefer
Members of Chicago-based quartet Third Coast Percussion, Robert Dillon and David Skidmore, present an exclusive preview of a rehearsal recording of major piece for percussion by Irish composer Donnacha Dennehy. It’s a large work for tuned drums, inspired by the traditional frame drum, the bodhran, and based on the overtone series. Players get to bend the pitches and venture into the world of microtonal music. Listen to these tom tom drums with surgical tubes attached for a player to exhale and alter the pitch of the drum by expanding the column of air inside in Dennehy’s piece, “Surface Tension.”
Also, hear Reich’s “Nagoya Marimbas” along with “Mallet Quartet,” from their brand new recording of music by Steve Reich. A fun aside: Third Coast Percussion has created a mobile app for users to interact with Steve Reich. Look for the app “Third Coast Percussion, the music of Steve Reich,” coming soon to an iPhone near you.
Plus, listen to a work from drummer/composer David T. Little for Third Coast Percussion, “Haunt of Last Nightfall,” which looks to a tragic 1981 massacre at El Mozote, El Salvador.