Friday, January 24, 1997
MUSIC:
Show with the Kronos Quartet gives how-to instructions on
‘drumpet’ building from common itemsBy Vanessa VanderZanden
Daily Bruin Contributor
When most people look at a plastic spoon, a straw and a Slurpee
dome, all they see is a pile of junk. Musician Craig Woodson, on
the other hand, sees the makings of a "drumpet" Â and the
backbone of a 300-person orchestra.
"I make musical instruments, and I was messing around with some
stuff," Woodson says of his creation, the drumpet. "I’ve been
making individual parts of the drumpet before, and then the whole
thing just sort of visualized in my mind. It was a matter of
attaching the different parts together and that was the stroke of
luck, I guess."
This proved fortunate indeed for Woodson, who has been touring
the world with the Grammy Award winning Kronos Quartet for the past
two years. The performance, "Homemade Music from Around the World,"
makes its way to the Veteran’s Wadsworth Theater this Saturday. The
three part show combines a drumpet building section for school
children, a Kronos Quartet concert featuring instruments from
around the world, and school children playing their newly
constructed music makers with the four member group. Throughout the
presentation, Woodson alludes to the historical and cultural
backgrounds of the instrument being created.
"Each of these [instruments] are actually replicates of world
instruments," Woodson says. "They are anthropomorphic in a way and
thought of as people. So, you get labels like a drum head, guitar
neck and body, and so forth. These kinds of stories become relevant
to the audiences I’m talking to."
Woodson met David Harrington, violinist and founder of the
Kronos Quartet, through a mutual friend Woodson knew since his
college days at UCLA. Whipping out his box of homemade instruments,
he impressed the concert violinist with his dental floss coat
hanger violin skills.
Plans to work together on a project soon came to life with the
help of the Brooklyn Academy, which provided an interactive forum
with audiences. Since the Kronos Quartet has never been a strictly
classical group, choosing intriguing composers from all over the
world and all walks of life, the decision to conspire with Woodson
comes as no great shock.
"I’ve never met anybody as able to communicate the fun of making
everyday objects into instruments," Harrington explains. "Actually
making something and being able to play it right then is an amazing
opportunity to experience music."
Looking something like a rocket ship, the drumpet is enjoyed by
children and parents alike. Older members of the audience often
snatch the toy out of the little one’s hands in an attempt to join
the fun.
"Kids," Woodson says, "it’s your project. Let your parents play
it like an hour a day and then force them to give it back to
you."
During this third section, the Kronos Quartet combines their
sound with the children’s creations. Harrington describes the
result as echoing "the take-off of a 747." Three conductors take
the stage and lead the audience through a less complicated version
of Raymond Scott’s "Powerhouse." After a few practices, the crowd
of wild children with stick instruments produce a catchy tune that
sounds not unlike "Powerhouse." Woodson believes this is the
drumpet’s moment to triumph.
"I could play that instrument in a band as far as I’m
concerned," Woodson claims. "You give it to a musician, and they
can play it."
Though the middle portion of the concert rests entirely on the
quartet’s shoulders, they use a variety of instruments almost as
unusual as Woodson’s. The wind section consists of "bird roarers"
(whistles that must be twirled), rattles made of animal skin and
corn kernels, and the Apache Violin, a single stringed instrument
with a cactus stalk bow. These music makers of the Americas fit in
well with the less obtrusive modern models displayed in the cartoon
music of Raymond Scott and ancient Greek scales of Harry Partch,
just two of the several world composers sampled in the show. This
need to showcase the otherwise less familiar talents of gifted
composers fuels the music of the Kronos Quartet.
"The reason I started Kronos in 1973 was because I wanted to
play this piece I heard on the radio," explains Harrington. "It was
during the Vietnam war, and I was in Seattle. It was the middle of
the night and that piece scared the hell out of me, for one thing.
I’d never heard anything like it and I just had to play it."
That piece was a sharp, dark work entitled "Black Angels." By
1978, Harrington found the members he needed to record the work,
and the four have never looked back. Bringing in the works of
composers from all walks of the globe, the group has played
everything from the tango to Klezmer, touring on most every
continent. On a soon to be released album, "Ghost Opera," composed
by Tan Dun, the quartet delves once again into the world of
peculiar sounds.
"There are elements of Chinese traditional music and Bach,"
Harrington describes. "There’s one really great moment where Bach
and a Chinese folk song blend together. There’s even the sound of
dripping water and the dropping of a gong into it which almost
sounds like a human voice."
This maverick approach to music making strongly parallels the
history of Woodson. His instrument building career began with his
childhood task of repairing school drums, and continued right on
through to his ethnomusicology days at UCLA, where he received his
Ph.D. Eventually, after being a member of the 1950s electronic rock
group, The United States of America, he travelled to Ghana where he
built instruments for children in African schools. When he finally
returned to American soil, he went looking for a job with the L.A.
Philharmonic Education division of the Music Center on tour.
"I did an audition with a bunch of principals judging in the
back and the kids were all sitting down there in the front,
laughing," Woodson remembers. "I was thinking ‘Oh man, this is
terrible. Everyone thinks I’m funny.’ I ended up getting the
highest rating of anyone in the entire history of their
program."
From there, Woodson’s fate was sealed. Performing with the
National Symphony Orchestra and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, he
has plans to continue with his work well past his bookings with the
Kronos Quartet. For Woodson, instrument building is more than just
a way to turn a fast buck.
"When I build an instrument," Woodson says, "I feel like I’m
going through a process that’s been around for tens of thousands of
years that’s built into my genes as a human being."
MUSIC: The Kronos Quartet with Dr. Craig Woodson performs
Saturday at the Veterans Wadsworth Theater. Tickets are $25; $22,
for students. For more information, call 825-2101.
Joe Glick
Dr. Craig Woodson helps children create homemade instruments. He
will join the Kronos Quartet at the Wadsworth Theater Saturday in a
combination concert and instrument building workshop.