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, January 7th
Josh, Jan 7
- Warm ups: warming up our hands and wrists by stretching
- Build up the groove for I Had Some Help by playing only the snare, then adding the kick, then adding the hihat. Always count yourself in out loud “1 2 here I go” so you play in time
- Start the metronome at 95. Play the groove at this speed until you are comfortable. Increase the metronome to 100 and play the groove until you are comfortable here. Try to get up to 115 this week.
Myles, Jan 7
- Warm up: paradiddles. Play toms with the right hand and “walk” your right hand around the drums
- Weezer: My Name is Jonas – Practice the groove before the chorus on a loop
- Play a recording of the song. Try to keep time using only the hihat
Xylo next week! Here are you notes from last time
Xylophone
-G major technique: Great job! If you’re wanting to vary the way scales are practiced, try
incorporating dynamics or different rhythmic patterns (doubling each note, swinging the notes
going up and down)
-Reading at the keyboard: see image on anchor points and note acronyms on the staff
-Cirone Simple Steps: Awesome sight reading today! Continue working on your note recognition
on the staff
-Over the break, focus on Weezer: My Name is Jonas and G major technique
Finn, Jan 7
- Warmups (30sec each, counting aloud):
- Single Strokes
- Double Strokes
- 8 on a hand
- Visual Drummer: great job reading today!
- Ex. 7-9: play each one 4 times, one after another without stopping
- Ex. 10-12: practice these. Play the kick drum only and count out loud first
Next week we’ll play I Love Rock and Roll!
Francisco, Jan 7
- Warm ups: Add Stick Control #9-12 (4x each, 120 bpm)
- Challenge yourself with stick control by walking your right hand around the toms, playing at different dynamics, and not stopping between lines
- Superstition: practice the “bucket of fish” fill. Remember to go slow and read the grooves that are slightly different. Keep working on the new groove section (3rd page, second half
Noah, Jan 7
- Warm ups: Single, Double, and Triple paradiddles, 1 min per session, 75 bpm and use a metronome! We’ll work with a metronome more next week
- Late in the Evening: Work on keeping your torso upright and not rocking back and forth when playing with both feet
- Using a metronome, try to lock in the kick and hihat with the metronome click. This will help keep your hands steady
- Challenge yourself by adding kick and hihat downbeats on single and triple paradiddles
Saturday, January 18th
Great to see you again everyone! I’m back from England and had a great time subbing for the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Barbican. Click here to see some onstage concert footage! You’ll see me and Harriet Riley, the two percussionists on the show, following along with the actors on stage, and playing all kinds of instruments. I’m on bass drum, Roland SPD, vibraphone, and vibratone, while Harriet plays timpani, xylosynth, and trine.
Here’s this week’s notes:
Jack
Benny Greb Rhythmic Alphabet
–Practice four letter words (See the handout from today for two examples), try to come up with some of your own! 1) spell the word and write it out with enough space for the dots and dashes 2) add in the dots and dashes 3) play from your newly assembled word cheat sheet!
–Play the resulting words along with “In Too Deep”
Tragically Hip: 50 Mission Cap
–Learning the beat (Bass-Snare-Bass-Snare) and playing along with the song while I play piano
Xylophone
–Learning the musical alphabet (ABCDEFG)
–Visually identifying C on the keyboard
–Spelling “Dad” and “Egg” on the keyboard
Nova
Benny Greb’s Rhythmic Alphabet (in google drive):
–CODE and MOON
–Keep experimenting with two-letter words
Tommy Igoe’s Groove Essentials: Groove 1 SLOW
–Playing eight-bar phrases, add in fills in the eighth measure. For some inspiration, review Drumset Musician p27 (in google drive) to see examples of four-beat fills
–Do the same with the Variation A groove
Groove 1 FAST
–working up to speed on this one
Aleksander
Warmups (30 sec each) goal tempo 80bpm playing four notes per beat****:
–Single strokes (R L R L…)
–Double Strokes (R R L L….)
–Paradiddles (RLRR LRLL…)
–RLLR LRRL
–FLAMS*** pay close attention to the stroke setup: one hand high, one low. After the stroke, set up the opposite way
Drumset Musician p39, introducing sixteenth-notes
–Learn the different rhythms on this page (especially the three examples at the top of the page). Once you have the first three, can you think of how to play the others?
Drumset Musician p14 ex. 7-8 (2min ea.)
Lenny Kravitz: Are You Gonna Go My Way
–everything up until the chorus
–drill speaking that syncopated fill from before the chorus with only your voice and clicking the beat with your sticks, then apply that to the drums
Tracie
Warm-ups:
–Triplet ex. (85bpm)
–Rhythmic Alphabet
Groove Essentials: Groove 1 (find chart and backing track in the Freq. Used folder)
–Basic beat with “Chad Kroeger” drum fill in measure 8
Montell Fish: Don’t you Love Me
–drill the main groove for this song. You were getting it today! But let’s make sure it’s second-nature by next time
Jonah
Xylophone Warmup exercise (Eb maj) see video in google drive:
1) Scale, one octave, ascending and descending
2) arpeggio
3) Scale in broken thirds, one octave, ascending and descending
Reading exercises: please make sure to READ when we’re working on reading
Ear training:
–Identifying 3rds and 5ths
–Playing simple melodies back by ear
Jared
Warmups:
–Stick Control ex 14-23 (70bpm)
—-Play each exercise 4 times
Igoe’s Groove Essentials – Groove 1 slow (track 1)
–Alternate between the two groove variations, with fills (max. 4 beats long) to set them up
Cold Sweat by James Brown
–Learn the first two measures as the standard beat for this song
Mario
Warmups (1min/ea)
–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
Drumset Musician p27 (in google drive) – 8th-note Fills, ex. 4-6
–This week, focus on keeping the 8th-note
Mateo
Warmups (30 sec each):
–8 on a Hand
–Single Stroke Roll (RLRL…)
–Double Stroke Roll (RRLL…)
**Think more skin on the stick (but not squeezing)
**Let the stick bounce off the drum
**Remember to dribble the basketball
Drumset Musician p27, ex. 1-3 (in Freq. Used Res. google drive folder)
–Three times through the beat, play the fill, then end with a crash
–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
Tommy Igoe’s Groove Essentials, Groove 1 SLOW
–Find the chart and backing track for this in the Freq. Used Resources folder
–Practice playing the basic beat along with the song. Make sure to listen carefully to stay on pace
Queen: Another One Bites the Dust
–I’m unable to scan the chart for this today, but I will try to remember to do so when I’m back in on Tuesday or else next week!
–This week, we’re just working on the material from p. 1 (basic beat, bass drum on all four beats, and the “e+a4e” drum fill
Preferred Books for TCHRNAME Students
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COMING SOON
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