Residency Drums Up Interest in Compositions for Percussions

Sandeep Das, Shane Shanahan and Mark Suter take cues from Joseph Gramley, right.

In musical compositions, percussion often plays second fiddle to, well, everything. But during a series of workshops that were part of a recent residency at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), four members of the Silk Road Ensemble unmasked percussion’s alter ego: instruments laden with complex musicality that can stand on their own.

“Most people think that percussion is only meant for accompaniment and is something you can do without,” said tabla player Sandeep Das. Joseph Gramley, who with Das, Shane Shanahan and Mark Suter participated in the workshops, noted another misconception: Percussion music is always static and loud. “I hope that each of us, in our unique way, dispelled these notions with our work at RISD,” Gramley said. Each of the four arrived at the residency with an idea for a percussion composition rooted in the historic Silk Road. Gramley’s, for instance, was inspired by the Ryoan-ji Temple’s Zen garden. In his piece, composed in three rhythmic cycles of 13, 7 and 31, no one ever plays in unison. Das’ composition was grounded in a previous RISD workshop that featured a statue of Shiva, the Hindu god who created the universe with the sound of his drums.

Collaborative improvisation helped expand the pieces further. By week’s end, a free “works-in-progress” concert was presented at nearby Brown University.

Throughout the residency, held from January 22 through February 3, the quartet showcased the Ensemble’s method of developing musical ideas. “Joe, Shane and I learned music through western notation,” said Suter, “and Sandeep learned through verbal or non-written formats. We taught our pieces to each other using a combination of the two. After being with the Ensemble for many years, communication has transcended these two types of notation, merging into something more whole so that no matter your background, trading ideas is possible.”

The Ford Motor Company, a Global Corporate Partner to the Silk Road Project, supported the residency.