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Soundscapes
Description
Accomplished educator and performer Kyle H. Peters presents Soundscapes - a colorful, musically-diverse set of 18 etudes for solo marimba. These etudes are designed to help marimba players build 4-mallet technique, musicality, and reading skills, with a wide range of difficulty levels covered throughout. All pieces (except Petrichor) are playable on a 4.3-octave instrument.
Etude titles are provided to help players imagine their own “soundscapes,” or, in the words of the author, “the combination of sounds formed from specific environments.” These solos work well as individual concert pieces, but may optionally be combined (in any number or order) into a multi-movement recital work titled “Soundscapes.” Crafted with musical and technical development in mind, this book is a valuable addition to any teacher’s or performer’s library!
Soundscapes contains the following etudes:
• Stroll | Med-Easy | 1’50”
• Lilacs | Med-Easy | 1’00”
• Nimbus | Med-Easy | 2’00”
• Butterfly | Medium | 2’00”
• Folk Song | Medium | 1’50”
• Soundtrack 1234 | Medium | 2’00”
• Breeze | Medium | 1’50”
• Downpour | Medium | 2’30”
• Memories | Medium | 2’20”
• The Seer | Medium | 2’20”
• Good News | Medium | 1’40”
• Petrichor | Medium | 2’20”
• Highland Park | Med-Advanced | 3’15”
• Moonlight | Med-Advanced | 3’40”
• Expedition | Med-Advanced | 2’00”
• Lullaby | Med-Advanced | 3’40”
• Alarm Clock | Med-Advanced | 1’30”
• The Cape | Med-Advanced | 2’25”
Soundscapes ships as a fully-bound book with a sleek color cover design and includes reference recordings in downloadable format, with performance videos available online.
Instrumentation
Marimba — 4.3 octave (low A)*
*Petrichor requires a 5-octave marimba
Reviews
The movements progress in difficulty throughout the collection, and specific techniques are prevalent in each; however, this is not a method book or even a technical manual. Instead, these pieces can stand alone as well-constructed works.
Each piece contains a descriptive title that is meant to help inform the feeling of the piece to the performer. For example, the etude “Butterfly” utilizes triple lateral strokes in the left hand that mimic the butterfly’s wings, while the right hand plays a simple melody. This is reversed later in the piece with the right hand performing the triple laterals. Other descriptive titles include “Stroll,” “Good News,” “Lullaby,” and “Downpour.”
This collection would be great in any teacher’s library and would allow them to give their students strong musical pieces that can work specific technical aspects. It would also give students the opportunity to perform a multi-movement work that they can program themselves with any of the movements. Kyle Peters has given educators a wonderful resource and piece of music with which to help further students’ technical, as well as musical, abilities through the study of quality music.
—Josh Armstrong
Percussive Notes
Vol. 61, No. 1, February 2023
Description
Accomplished educator and performer Kyle H. Peters presents Soundscapes - a colorful, musically-diverse set of 18 etudes for solo marimba. These etudes are designed to help marimba players build 4-mallet technique, musicality, and reading skills, with a wide range of difficulty levels covered throughout. All pieces (except Petrichor) are playable on a 4.3-octave instrument.
Etude titles are provided to help players imagine their own “soundscapes,” or, in the words of the author, “the combination of sounds formed from specific environments.” These solos work well as individual concert pieces, but may optionally be combined (in any number or order) into a multi-movement recital work titled “Soundscapes.” Crafted with musical and technical development in mind, this book is a valuable addition to any teacher’s or performer’s library!
Soundscapes contains the following etudes:
• Stroll | Med-Easy | 1’50”
• Lilacs | Med-Easy | 1’00”
• Nimbus | Med-Easy | 2’00”
• Butterfly | Medium | 2’00”
• Folk Song | Medium | 1’50”
• Soundtrack 1234 | Medium | 2’00”
• Breeze | Medium | 1’50”
• Downpour | Medium | 2’30”
• Memories | Medium | 2’20”
• The Seer | Medium | 2’20”
• Good News | Medium | 1’40”
• Petrichor | Medium | 2’20”
• Highland Park | Med-Advanced | 3’15”
• Moonlight | Med-Advanced | 3’40”
• Expedition | Med-Advanced | 2’00”
• Lullaby | Med-Advanced | 3’40”
• Alarm Clock | Med-Advanced | 1’30”
• The Cape | Med-Advanced | 2’25”
Soundscapes ships as a fully-bound book with a sleek color cover design and includes reference recordings in downloadable format, with performance videos available online.
Instrumentation
Marimba — 4.3 octave (low A)*
*Petrichor requires a 5-octave marimba
Reviews
The movements progress in difficulty throughout the collection, and specific techniques are prevalent in each; however, this is not a method book or even a technical manual. Instead, these pieces can stand alone as well-constructed works.
Each piece contains a descriptive title that is meant to help inform the feeling of the piece to the performer. For example, the etude “Butterfly” utilizes triple lateral strokes in the left hand that mimic the butterfly’s wings, while the right hand plays a simple melody. This is reversed later in the piece with the right hand performing the triple laterals. Other descriptive titles include “Stroll,” “Good News,” “Lullaby,” and “Downpour.”
This collection would be great in any teacher’s library and would allow them to give their students strong musical pieces that can work specific technical aspects. It would also give students the opportunity to perform a multi-movement work that they can program themselves with any of the movements. Kyle Peters has given educators a wonderful resource and piece of music with which to help further students’ technical, as well as musical, abilities through the study of quality music.
—Josh Armstrong
Percussive Notes
Vol. 61, No. 1, February 2023
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