A Simple Machine (Solo Snare Drum)

A Simple Machine is a unique solo for snare drum, finger cymbal, and resonant metal that explores the process of creating and inventing at its core. By exploring the fundamental machines that we all use in daily life, Garner realized that musical ideas in their purest forms often function as these devices in the context of musical compositions. As such, you will find "simple machine" graphics—wheel, screw, lever, inclined plan—throughout the score

Genre: Solo Snare Drum | # of Players: 1
Series: N/A
Level: Advanced | Duration: 6:10

Instrumentation
Snare Drum
Finger Cymbal
Resonant "Ding" Sound

Program Notes
"A Simple Machine" was composed in 2017 during my studies with professors Casey Cangelosi and Eric Guinivan. As a culmination of my personal studies during that period of my musical development, I decided to tackle the toughest compositional challenge I could think of by writing a piece for solo unaccompanied snare drum. The piece added an additional instrument sound (referred to as a “ding”) before its 2018 premiere, and was revised during its republishing with C. Alan Publications in 2024.

Snare drum repertoire is a necessary evil in the world of percussion. As percussionists, a firm foundation in snare drum technique allows us far more tools to apply to other instruments we learn to play. Unfortunately, outside of a few very specific exceptions, the snare drum expert is lacking for repertoire with musical depth and conceptual creativity. This becomes especially true when you exclude pieces with accompaniment such as Bob Becker’s “Mudra.”

As a concept to motivate this composition, I decided to explore the process of creating and inventing at its core. By exploring the fundamental machines that we all use in daily life, I realized that musical ideas in their purest forms often function as these devices in the context of musical compositions.

Performed by Caleb Pickering