Christopher Hull is a percussionist and ethnomusicologist whose work focuses on tensions between tradition and innovation in contemporary music. As a passionate performer of solo, chamber, and orchestral percussion, he seeks to ground his work in his classical training while simultaneously transcending the conventions of the conservatory. With classical percussion degrees from Wilfrid Laurier University and University of Alaska Fairbanks, a performing arts certificate from the Arts Institute of Indonesia Denpasar, and his current studies in ethnomusicology at the University of Toronto, Christopher’s genre-defying work exhibits a world of experience.
As an orchestral percussionist, he frequently works with the National Academy Orchestra of Canada, the Hamilton and Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestras, and Sinfonia Ancaster. He has appeared as a chamber musician and soloist in festivals such as Open Ears, International Gamelan Festival Munich, Young Artists Niagara, and Sacred Rhythm Jakarta, and can be heard playing drums, vibraphone, and synthesizer on commercial recordings by Call Me Moon and Treephones. He is also Associate Artistic Director of Toronto-based Evergreen Club Contemporary Gamelan, commissioning and premiering new works for Sundanese degung, and director of the University of Toronto’s Balinese gamelan ensemble, Dharma Santi.
Get to know Chris…Beyond the Bio!
Hobbies: Reading, cycling, and synthesizers
Musical influences: Jojo Mayer, Benny Greb, David Garibaldi, Gary Burton, Tony Miceli, Steve Reich, Glenn Gould, Bill Evans, I Dewa Made
Favourite food: Noodles
Least favourite food: Quiche
Favourite music: R&B, hip-hop, funk; Western modernism and minimalism; Balinese gender wayang; Sundanese degung; Orchestral; beatsce Favourite song:!
Favourite movie: The Departed
Favouirite movie music: Old modern romantic soundtracks (eg. Spellbound)
Favourite musical theatre/opera: West Side Story/Turandot
Best quote from your teacher: “When we perform, we smile. If we make a mistake while performing, we smile bigger.” -Dewa Suparta
Favourite quote: “I’m a man who leaves nothing to chance.” -Maestro Boris Brott
Favourite book: Dance, Dance, Dance by Haruki Murakami
Best thing about teaching at ABC: The lovely students
Latest Homework from CHRIS
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Tuesday, February 11
Lila
Warmups:
–8 on a Hand
–Single strokes
–Double strokes
–Paradiddles
Review of grip: good. Keep skin contact with stick
Basic Beat Level 3** same as level 2, but BD plays all four beats (1, 2, 3, 4)
Step 1) Count “1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + ”
Step 2) Play the Hihat with your Right Hand (RH) on all the counts
Step 3) Add in the Bass Drum with your Right Foot (RF) on “1”, “2”, “3”, and “4”
Step 4) Add in the Snare Drum with your Left Hand (LH) on “2” and “4”
Visual Drumset Method: exercises 8-9**
–Aim for four repetitions of each exercise without hiccups or hesitations
Fruit Salad Game
–Create three of your own fruit salads using the four fruit-rhythms (in your notebook)
–Please write them out in your notebook
–use four fruits (repetition allowed) for each “salad”
–When playing them, use single-strokes/hand-to-hand sticking (R-L-R-L-…) always
Queen: We Will Rock You
Josh
Warm-ups:
–Hand and foot coordination (see handout): playing steady beats on the bass drum, play singles, doubles, and paradiddles with your hands on the snare drum. There should be two snare notes (ti-ti; eighth notes) to every bass drum note (ta; quarter notes)
Groove Essentials Rock Groove 5
–Play the VD ex. 10 beat for this one!
–Let’s work on getting some fills together for it
The Beatles: Ticket To Ride
–Two main beats for this song: “I ate a cho-co-late” and Visual Drummer #5 (p. 15)
–This week, play these beats along with the song, listening carefully to stay in time with the song
–Next week, we’ll begin learning the variation on the beat later in the song
Myles
Drumset Musician p83 Twelve Bar Blues playalong
–We used this as a way to learn drum fills
–Next week let’s learn about the 12 bar blues as a form
==Xylophone==
Warmups (***F Major):
–Scale, one octave, ascending and descending, saying the note names as you play them (F-G-A-Bb-C-D-E-f)
–Arpeggio (F-A-C-f-C-A-F)
–Broken thirds (F-A G-Bb A-C…), ascending and descending
Cirone Book: “Step Six” ex. 5-8
Eartraining: identifying thirds and fifths
Tones and I: Dreaming
–See Worksheet in your personal google drive folder
Finn
Warmups (30sec each, counting aloud):
–Single Strokes
–Double Strokes
–8 on a hand
Joan Jett: I Love Rock and Roll
–begins with “watermelon watermelon” on the snare
–Play the main beat (1+2 3+4)
Fruit Salad game
–Four fruits: pear, apple, blueberry, watermelon
–Each fruit has a rhythm. Experiment mixing up to four fruits together to create your own rhythms!
Visual Drummer: p16 ex. 7-12
–Try to play these without any extra bass drum notes!
Nickelback: How You Remind Me
–Use the webplayer for the Visual Drummer book to help you get the right tempo. Play along with the ex. 2 backing track, and adjust the speed in the bottom left corner of the webplayer to adjust. Gradually build up to our goal tempo (160).
Francisco
Warmups:
–Stick Control first page ex. 14-18 (4x each, 120bpm goal tempo)
–Play eighths ca. 120-160 bpm (gradually building up the speed) using accents on the beats to help with the push-pull strokes
Tommy Igoe Groove Essentials book: Groove 1 FAST
–To give your hand a rest, switch to playing quarters on the ride BUT be clever about when to use this strategy
–Practice incorporating the pushes (w/ a crash) into these grooves
Noah
Warmups (1min each per practice session):
–Paradiddle combo exercise with bass drum on quarter notes
Paul Simon: Late in the Evening
–Use a metronome (I use the Tempo app by Frozen Ape) to help you lock the sixteenth-note
Mozambique pattern into the grid
–Practice the four fills you know from this song (a) on their own (b) in the context of the groove every fourth bar
–I’ve uploaded photos with stickings to your google drive folder
Aviva
Warmups (1min ea) letting the stick rebound naturally from the surface
–Single strokes (LRLR…)
–Double Strokes (LLRR…)
–Paradiddles (LRLL RLRR…)
Drumset Musician p11, ex. 1-7 b) **
–Continue to use “long-form” counting (“1+2+3+4+”) even though you’re not playing all those notes
Igoe Groove Essentials Groove 1 Slow (backing track and chart in Frequently Used Resources folder)
–This week, play Ex. 4 or 5 (or bonus: switch between them) as your main groove for this exercise
–Add in the drum fills we learned (on the handout) at the end of four-bar phrases
–We’ll get to Variation A next week
Saturday, Febrary 8th
Jack
Warmups:
–Tragically Hip: 50 Mission Cap
–AJR: Bang!
Joan Jett: I Love Rock ‘n Roll
–Good work listening and following along with this song
–Next time, let’s try getting creative and filling in some of the natural gaps in the song
Benny Greb Rhythmic Alphabet
–Learn to play the SENTENCE we created this week all in one shot
–Be sure to count aloud while you play these rhythms
Aleksander
Warmups (30 sec each) goal tempo 80bpm playing four notes per beat:
–Singles, Doubles, and Paradiddles (four counts each for 1min)
–Flams, flam triplets
Drumset Musician: Sixteenth Note Ride Patterns (in your gdrive folder)
–Drill ex. 1-4, 2 min each
Lenny Kravitz: Are You Gonna Go My Way up until Chorus 2
–Page 2, second line, last measure: use the written sticking (flam, flam, LRLR R) to help coordinate your bass drum. Practice this measure along 2min before each runthrough
–p2, line 6, last measure: drill this 2min each time, making the bass drum land tidily on the “3 +”
Jonah
==Xylophone==
Warmups: see Xylophone Warmup Sheet in the Google Drive PLEASE PRINT
–This week, add in Bb Major and D Major
Reading exercises: please make sure to READ when we’re working on reading
Ear training:
–Identifying 3rds, 5ths, and 2nds
–Playing simple melodies back by ear
Bruno Mars: Locked out of Heaven CHORD CHART EXERCISE
–Learn the chords from the chord chart in your google drive folder
–Then, practice playing along to the Verse section in the song playing the correct chords
–We’ll take turns playing the melody and chords together with this lead sheet
==Drums==
Warmups:
–Paradiddle combo exercise with bass drum playing quarters. Accent the beginning of each paradiddle
NEW SONG Paul Simon: Late in the Evening
–You can find the chart for this song in your google drive personal folder
–This week we learned the main beat. Continue getting it clean and up to speed
Jared
Warmups:
–Stick Control ex 14-23 (90bpm***)
—-Play each exercise 4 times
Igoe’s Groove Essentials – Groove 1 slow (track 1)
–Same assignment, but now move the RH to the ride and put LF hihat “chick” on a) “2” and “4” (b) “1 2 3 4” and (c) “1+2+3+4+”
Funk Groove Eleven SLOW
Mario
Warmups (1min/ea) with Metronome at 100bpm (two notes per beat)
–8 on a hand
–Single Stroke Roll (R L R L…)
–Double Stroke Roll (R R L L…)
–Imagine the playing surface is a hot burner on the stove…get the stick down and up fast or you might get burned! Really quick contact–jump off the drum (piston/full strokes)
MGMT: Kid
–Building consistency will be key for this song. Play with your metronome (goal tempo ca. 126) to help develop this
Queen: Rock you
–Filling in the empty “4”
Joan Jett: Rock ‘n Roll
–Watermelon-watermelon fill off the top
–“apple pineapple” fill before chorus
Drumset Musician p27 (in google drive) – 8th-note Fills, ex. 9-12
–This week, focus on keeping the 8th-note steady through your fills
Mateo
Warmups (30 sec each) **pulling your thumb back:
–8 on a Hand
–Single Stroke Roll (RLRL…)
–Double Stroke Roll (RRLL…)
Drumset Musician p27, ex. 7-9**
–Aim to keep the flow of the eighth-note pulse STEADY
–try looping these exercises, so that the crash after the fill becomes beat 1 of the beat again
–count aloud!
Tommy Igoe’s Groove Essentials, Groove 1 SLOW
–Drill Variation A this week, making it fit tidily along with the recording
NEW SONG Audioslave: Like a Stone
–This week, work on playing the main groove (same as exercise 3 from Drumset musician)
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