I Got Isorhythm for crotales, cowbells, vibraphone and marimba
Nikolaos-Laonikos Psimikakis-Chalkokondylis
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Performance Instructions
The three accompanying instruments to the vibraphone (I.e. crotales, cowbells and marimba) divide their whole range into 2, 3 and 4 parts respectively. The players are then asked to play (according to the score) any note within the particular register they want, at the specified dynamic. The division of the range into registers may either be approximate (a low note must be lower than a high note, and that's it) or exact (you count the notes of the range and divide by 2, 3 or 4 respectively). In case there are not enough crotales or cowbells, or there is not enough space for a whole set of cowbells, at least 1 note per register must be used (for example, you could have 6 notes for the cowbells, with 2 cowbells for each register). The register divisions are always relative to the particular instrument's range (for example, the low register of the marimba will be lower than the low register of the crotales). The stems face the ''wrong” way, so as to make it easier to distinguish the register.
The crotales divide their range into two parts: high and low. The notes notated above the staff line are to the high-register notes, and the notes notated below are the low-register ones.
The cowbells divide their range into three parts: high, middle and low. The notes notated above the staff line are the high-register notes, the notes notated on the line (stems go downwards) are the middle-register notes, and the notes notated below the line are the low-register notes.
The marimba divides its register into four parts: high, middle-high, middle-low and low. The notes indicated in the first space from the top are the high-register notes, the notes in the second space from the top are the middle-high register notes, the notes in the third space are the middle-low register notes, and the notes in the bottom space are the low-register notes.
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In the example above, the notehead indicates what note (or notes) has to be played within the time interval (in seconds) indicated in the bracket above it. The bracket indicates how many seconds the interval within which the note in that register is to be played, and its ends are approximately where the interval begins and ends within the rest of the context. Thus, in the example above, the interval of 7 seconds within which a loud note of the higher register of the crotales must be played begins on the second beat of the first measure, and ends on the last beat of the second measure.
The notes played within the interval can be of any duration, as long as all the notes under the bracket are played within that interval. Furthermore, if there are any rests under the brackets, then there must be silence of at least the length of the rest before the note that the rest precedes.
This kind of notation appears in the crotales, cowbells and marimba.
For the crotales, notes to be bowed are marked “arco” (in the beginning) and have a small circle above them. Notes to be struck with metal mallets are marked “struck” (in the beginning), and have a small cross above them.
Notes on the vibraphone with an X on the stem are to be played as dead strokes. The definition of “dead stroking”/”dead sticking” by S. Adler 1 is:
[...] the player strikes the bar and then leaves the mallet on the instrument. This action gives a nonvibrant (muffled staccato) color [...]
Notes on the marimba that have a small box above them with a number mean that the player must play that amount of notes in the register indicates. Therefore, in the example below, the player, after finishing the tremolo on the high register, should play two loud notes on the middle-
1 Adler, Samuel. “The Study of Orchestration” (W. W. Norton & Company, Inc, New York, 3 rd edition, 2002), p.440
Vibraphone mallets are as follows:
The initial combination of mallets for the vibraphone is a hard and a soft mallet on the left hand, and a medium and a hard mallet on the left hand:
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