Printed set (Score & Parts)
2 Flutes
Oboe(s)
Bassoon(s)
3 Clarinets in Bb
Bass Clarinet in Bb
2 Alto Saxes
Tenor Sax
Baritone Sax
3 Trumpets in Bb
2 French Horns
3 Trombones
Euphonium
Tuba
Percussion: (12 players preferred) *
Timpani (tuning, low-to-high : G, Bb, D, A)
Xylophone
Marimba
4 resonant, rattling piles of metal or other rattling metal objects,such as train rails with other metal leaned on top. Must have some resonance.
Vibraslap
"Clang" - a metal instrument, probably struck with a hammer, that creates a rich (ie, deep, not pingy) "clang" sound. Could be a metal pipe, or a brake drum with a bell plate on top, etc. Do not simply use a brake drum.
4 wooden objects, unpitched (something like temple blocks or wood blocks, or 4 wooden salad bowls)
4 metal mixing bowls, suspended or placed in a way that they are allowed to resonate, or, various gongs with unclear specific pitches (must be able to be dampened)
Whip (or other wooden, unpitched, bright sound with immediate decay and no ring)
4 cymbals : 1 Splash cymbal, 1 suspended crash cymbal, and 2 different-sized China-like cymbals (could be two pairs of stacked/nested cymbals)
4 tom-toms and 1 kevlar drum (or snare drum in place of kevlar drum)
Wind gong (or other large cymbal, rich in color, that speaks quickly and can be quickly choked, or, a thundersheet, shaken instead of struck)
Bass drum
* It is preferred that all percussion parts be assigned, even if it means "borrowing" players from other sections of the ensemble that may be otherwise "over-staffed." The exception is the trombone section, which must not be thinned.) If any percussion parts must be omitted, the marimba, wind gong, and whip parts should be the first cut.
Commissioned by Worthington Kilbourne High School (Don Nathan), McCracken Middle School (Chip De Stefano), Piedmont High School (Andrew Anderson), Willow Wood Junior High School (James Shaw), Memorial High School (Heath Miller), Langley High School (Andrew Gekoskie), William Mason High School (Robert Bass), and Conner Middle School (James Daughters)
The idea with Foundry was to make a piece that celebrates the fact that percussionists have this ability to make just about anything into an "instrument." Snare drums and bass drums are great, but why not write a whole piece featuring non-traditional percussion ? things like salad bowls and mixing bowls and piles of wood?
In some cases, I was specific about what instrument to play (timpani, xylophone, etc.). With many of the parts, though, I only described what sound I wanted (play a "clang" ? a metal instrument, probably struck with a hammer, that creates a rich "CLANG!" sound), and allowed the percussionist to be creative in finding the best "instrument" to make the sound I described.
It won't be surprising that Foundry, for concert band with "found percussion," much of it metallic, ends up sounding like a steel factory. The composer thanks the required 10?12 percussionists for allowing his ridiculous requests to continue. Clang.
Read this blog post about "Foundry," or this other post, with more "found percussion" photos, including a video of a "4 metals machine." (Scroll about half-way down that post for the part about "Foundry.")
(John Mackey)
