SPIDERWAVE (2024) marimba quartet · 4 minutes · intermediate
SPIDERWAVE was written for Rubén Acuña González, Ethan Hall and Margo Parker as part of the Austin Percussion Collective, and premiered on June 5th, 2024 at Studio A in Austin, TX.
To purchase the score, send me an email at sebastian.zhang.music@gmail.com with the subject "SPIDERWAVE score".
I found a spider the other day outside. For some reason, I decided to wave at the spider.
It waved back.
Intrigued, I took a picture of the spider and ran it through iNaturalist, a citizen science platform that allows non-scientist people (like me!) to record scientifically useful data about wildlife. It can identify organisms using a picture.
It told me it was a jumping spider.
I thought that was funny. I figured it was wrong. The spider proceeded to jump three feet in the air onto me.
I have made quite a few friends while in college. They're pretty cool people.
They embrace my absurd stories about jumping spiders, and other eccentricities. They also embrace my music, in a wonderfully similar way.
When I had first started asking my friends to premiere my music, I didn't expect to see every single one of their faces light up with immediate excitement. Some even offered to play it, without me asking.
I recognize how fortunate I am to have friends who jump at the offer to play my music. I appreciate you all. The excitement in this piece reflects that.
This piece was written for you. Thank you.
Musically, SPIDERWAVE draws upon synthwave and the modern chiptune scene.
Sometimes when I write music, I involuntarily see imagery in my mind’s eye. This piece and its imagery strongly remind me of 1980s outrun aesthetics.