Bubblegum Eyes (2023) percussion quartet · 5 minutes · advanced
Bubblegum Eyes was written for Sandbox Percussion. It is also listed on the Texas UIL Prescribed Music List as a Grade 1 percussion ensemble.
You will be emailed a PDF file of the score within 24 hours of your purchase, which can be printed from any computer.
This recording is from a live performance at The University of Texas at Austin on February 10th, 2023.
- Player 1 - Vibraphone (3.0 octave, shared with Player 3)
- Player 2 - Glockenspiel (G5 - C8, with pedal if available)
- Player 3 - Bongos, congas, vibraphone (shared with Player 1)
- Player 4 - 4 Concert toms, kick drum
For the longest time, I held this glamorized idea of those character popsicles that you could get at ice cream trucks—the ones with gumballs for eyes.
In reality, they look pretty monstrous—most of them were disfigured, disturbing messes of color and eyes. They looked like the characters were sobbing, depraved caricatures of what they were supposed to be.
But the nostalgia of that "cool cartoon popsicle from when I was a kid" is still there.
I've spent a lot of time reflecting on my past recently. I try to focus on the good in the world, because I like to have hope.
Unfortunately, sometimes I've been a little over-eager in trying to see the good in things, so much so that I realize that they are distorted reflections of themselves.
I wish they weren't, though.
Bubblegum Eyes was written about nostalgia and trauma and regrets and wishes and imaginary homesickness and dreams and growth, all under the guise of misshapen cartoon popsicles.
Musically, this piece takes inspiration from bebop big band charts, asian exoticisms in impressionist music, dreamy lo-fi music, contemporary chamber percussion repertoire, and my own westernized reimaginings of traditional chinese folk songs. This piece also has strong influences from riff-heavy video game music and the modern chiptune scene.