Explorations 27 (japanese marimba repertoire vol. 1)

by Payton MacDonald's Explorations

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1.	Tanaka Two Movements 1 06:32	info	buy track
2.	Tanaka Two Movements 2 08:31	info	buy track
3.	Ishii Marimbastuck 08:00	info	buy track
4.	Ishii Hiten Seido III 14:20	info	buy track

about

This recording features four extended improvisations on classic solo marimba repertoire by Maki Ishii and Toshimitsu Tanaka. I've been performing these pieces in a non-improvised fashion for over 20 years. As part of my practicing I often find myself improvising on them, using the composer's tonal, rhythmic, and textural vocabulary. It's a great practice technique I learned directly from Keiko Abe, who commissioned these pieces.

As I've come into my own as a creative marimba artist I realized it would be far more interesting to record my improvisations rather than the notated version of the piece. There are already a zillion good recordings of these pieces out there. Why add another? But what I'm doing here is more personal because of the improvisations.

This was an arduous recording to make what with weeks of practicing these pieces again (without improvisation), lots of analysis, and then doing multiple takes of them until I found something I liked (e.g., the first movement of the Tanaka required five takes to get right . . .), but I think what's here works well. These were done in single, full takes.

If you're familiar with the pieces you'll notice that at times I play exactly what's written. Other times I deviate just slightly from the written material and still other moments I'm creating spontaneously, but in all cases I try to maintain the fundamental grammar and vocabulary established by the composer.

credits

released June 6, 2021

Original compositions by Toshimitsu Tanaka and Maki Ishii.
Realizations by Payton MacDonald
-Recording, mixing, mastering, graphic design by Payton MacDonald
-Artwork by Katsushika Hokusai, with permission via Creative Commons.

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Payton MacDonald's Explorations Wayne, New Jersey

Explorations is Payton MacDonald's series where he explores every possible avenue of sonic expression, mostly centered around marimba, with electronics, collaborations and solo recordings. Good headphones are recommended.

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