Trappist-1: Percussion Quartet No. 1

The official video for my first Percussion Quartet is live on Facebook! Thanks to my friend Chase Banks and his wonderful team of percussionists for an excellent performance!

The piece itself is called Trappist-1, which refers to a Star System 29 light years from earth. It has 7 planets that all orbit their star closer than Mercury does to the sun. In order for this system to not collapse, the planets orbit each other in a very mathematical way, most of them orbiting their neighbor planet at a ratio of 3:2. In music, the 3:2 ratio is a Perfect 5th, and if you assign the outermost planet as C, then follow the ratios, you end up with a Cmaj9 chord - which is the basis of the piece. In addition, each planet was given a leitmotif, with each motif being proportional to the orbital period of the planet, using musical characteristics that match what we know about each planet. So, go check it out!

Interested in performing this piece? Score and Parts available here.