How it plays: Innovations in Percussion

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posted on 2025-03-17, 03:19 authored by HEATHER GAUNTHEATHER GAUNT, ANTHONY LYONSANTHONY LYONS

This exhibition and performance project shines a light on key innovations and experimentation in tuned percussion, focusing on Melbourne. It brings together a range of percussion instruments that have been created, composed for, and played by radical musicians, who have sought to change the way we can all hear, and play, music.

History

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NTRO Output Type

Curated Exhibition, Event or Festival

NTRO Output Category

Curated Exhibition, Event or Festival : Exhibition/event

Place

Melbourne, Australia

Venue

The Grainger Museum, University of Melbourne

NTRO Publisher

https://culturalcommons.edu.au/how-it-plays-innovations-in-percussion-online-exhibition/

Start Date

2019-05-08

End Date

2020-12-31

Medium

Exhibition research and curation, including creation of all exhibition texts for in-exhibition and online exhibition, commissioning and scripting of video content;

Research Statement

This exhibition project explored 150 years of innovative percussion practice in Australia, focussing on Melbourne contexts, including Percy Grainger’s ground-breaking experiments in ‘tuneful percussion’, the Australian Percussion Ensemble (APE), the Federation Bells projects, and the radical practice of the Speak Percussion. Research collaboration with Anthony Lyons focused on playable digital versions of heritage percussion instruments. The project created new knowledge in the breadth and depth of innovative percussion practice in Australia. Collaborative contributions from percussion experts included new compositional works and videoed interviews. Collaborative research included audio sampling of historic percussion instruments in the Grainger Museum Collection, to create a public interactive Digital Staff Bells Player used in the exhibition. Multiple student research outputs were included: an interactive display created by MSD students, and a soundscape written by FFAM student Kate Tempany, and conservation by Grimwade students. Over 5000 visitors engaged with the exhibition, including the virtual exhibition. The latter continues to be utilised by UoM students in curriculum. The exhibition was included in Melbourne Knowledge Week (11 May-17 May 2020). The research in on playable digitised heritage instruments continued post exhibition, with a Melbourne Engagement Grant-supported project, "Living Instruments", between Heather Gaunt (Grainger Museum), Anthony Lyons (FFAM) and the Melbourne e-Research group (Engineering), leading to the creation of a new website, and a showcase presentation in Melbourne Knowledge Week in 2021. The website continues to be used as a teaching and learning resource for the Grainger Museum academic programs.