Tilt - Lucas Garner [DIGITAL SET]

Tilt is a dynamic percussion octet that features a stereophonic setup of two percussion quartets “tilting” the musical ideas between sides of the stage. All eight players play (and share) both pitched and non-pitched instruments.

Genre: Percussion Ensemble | # of Players: 8
Level: Intermediate | Duration: 6:20

Instrumentation
Score (8.5"x11" spiral bound)

Player 1: Marimba [4.5-octave], Triangle
Player 2: Marimba (shared with Player 1), Impact Drum (shared with player 6), Suspended Cymbal, Sizzle Cymbal, Bongos, Glockenspiel
Player 3: Marimba (shared with Player 1), Vibraphone
Player 4: 2 Wood Blocks, Bongos, Vibraphone (shared with player 3), Snare Drum
Player 5: Marimba [5.0-octave], Triangle
Player 6: Marimba (shared with player 5), Impact Drum (shared with player 2), Suspended Cymbal, Rainstick, Bongos, Crotales
Player 7: Marimba (shared with player 5), Vibraphone
Player 8: 2 Wood Blocks, Bongos, Vibraphone

SHARED INSTRUMENTS
Full Ensemble
Bongos (single set)
Suspended Cymbal
Impact Drum

Quartet 1 (Players 1-4)
Marimba [4.5-octave]
Vibraphone [3.0-octave]

Quartet 2 (Players 5-8)
Marimba [5.0-octave]
Vibraphone [3.0-octave]

Program Notes

Tilt was originally commissioned by Colby Burris and the Walker Valley High School Percussion Ensemble in 2014. The piece featured a stereophonic setup of two percussion quartets “tilting” the musical ideas between sides of the stage. The piece existed only in the Walker Valley High School music library for a decade until my undergraduate classmate and new director of Walker Valley’s program Isaac Beaty suggested that he wanted to program the piece in 2024.

Isaac and I looked at the music together and I decided I could make the piece a much better representation of the original ideas with my current musical language. This revision of the piece was done throughout the year of 2025 and features drastically expanded colors, harmonies, and emotional communication. It also features an entirely new ending, making it a functionally new piece in my catalog of work. I’ll always view this piece fondly as a uniquely youthful musical offering and my first ever professional commission as a composer.

– L.G.