molly yeh

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life of a percussionist.



today percussionist friend michael and i made the trek to home depot to purchase our percussion instruments for this week's 
beyond the machine 
performances.

our shopping list was this:

2 4ft rebars
2 2ft rebars
2 1ft x 1ft slate tiles
a box of 1 inch nails
10 4 inch nails
2 12 in nails
a 1ft by 2ft sheet of aluminum
a water heater pan
and two metal mixing bowls

thinking, i can't wait to play this piece.


so, when the salesperson's reaction to our request for rebars was something to the effect of,
we don't use rebars in manhattan.
 go to jersey.

and when his reaction to our request for water heater pans was something to the effect of,
there are no houses in manhattan, 
therefore there is no need for people to buy water heaters,
and water heater pans.
go to jersey...

we panicked a little bit.
ok, a lot a bit,
because rehearsals start tomorrow,
and the first performance is thursday.

so we did what percussionists do,
and we ran around the store hitting things.


overtones,
we needed overtones.

and the hollow pipes they had weren't cutting it.

you should have seen the brotha's face when i told him we needed a 4ft solid bar of steel. 
"wha-what are you planning on doing with it?"
i was all, relax, i'm not going tanya harding on you. 


we ended up having to settle for some dinky sticks of steel until composer man shows up, hopefully with rebars at hand.
but, please pray for me that i won't have to go jersey midweek.

either way,
i'm super excited to play this piece.
it's by spencer topel,
a juilliard grad, 
who has incorporated some sweet electronix
and melodrama {is that why i was chosen to play it?}
 into his percussion duet.

and also our trip to home depot wasn't a complete failure because we did discover this sweet table:


it's made from the bottom of a cymbal stand and it is height adjustable.
it also comes with a drum key for show, how cute.
i must have this.


ok,
wish me luck in rehearsal tomorrow.
happy monday lovelies!


xoxo


yeh