wolfram (2025) percussion trio · 4 minutes · advanced-
wolfram was written for the 2025 Sō Percussion Summer Institute, and premiered on July 26th, 2025 in Lee Hall at Princeton University.
It is on the following state repretoire lists:
- Florida FBA Music List · Grade 6 · Percussion Trio
You will be emailed a PDF file of the score within 24 hours of your purchase, which can be printed from any computer.
Player 1 Snare Drum Large Heavy Triangle Small Metal Mixing Bowl (placed upside-down) Low Trash Stack (China Cymbal stacked on Rock Crash Cymbal) Flexatone
Thin Metal Rods Drum Sticks
Player 2 Snare Drum (with Snare Wires on top) Low Resonant Metal High Resonant Metal Opera Gong (placed upside-down, with tambourine jingles inside; may be doubled for balance purposes) Opera Gong (placed on snare drum, sometimes hanging from stand) Medium Metal Mixing Bowl (placed upside-down)
Thin Metal Rods Drum Sticks
Player 3 Snare Drum (with Splash Cymbal on top) Kick Drum Hi-Hat Xiaobo (Chinese Hand Cymbal) Non-Resonant Metal (such as a metal paint can) Glass Bottle
1/2" Acrylic Rods
wolfram is another name for the element tungsten, which is one of the heaviest metals that people normally encounter in everyday life. It is most notably used in light bulb filaments.
When I was younger, I had an obsession with the periodic table, to the extent that I would go to the website www.periodictable.com everyday. This website was the documentation of Theodore Gray's element collection, and I found much youthful wonder in the fascinating descriptions of each element in everyday objects.
For me, chemistry is exciting in the same way music is exciting: there is so much depth to every little detail. Every pot and pan I pick up is a sound source that I can play with and explore, much like how everything in the universe is made out of something fascinating.
wolfram takes musical inspiration from breakcore grooves and circuit-bent distorted toys, such as the speak-and-spell. The distortion effects on the instrument are similar to the harsh timbres and sampled screaming often found in breakcore. The instrumentation intentionally uses as much metal as possible, to mimic electronic distortion effects.