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, Nov 5th
Aleksander
Warmups (30 sec each) ***at metronome=120:
–Single strokes (R L R L…)
–Double Strokes (R R L L….)
–Paradiddles (RLRR LRLL…)
–Basic Beat level 3.5
—-Make sure that when two instruments play together they land precisely at the same time
Drumset Musician p12 ex. 8-15 a)
ACDC: Back in Black–everything up until 2:49
–Bridge section
Josh
20241105
See new visual drums page in Google Drive
ACDC: Back in Black
–We need to review the guitar solo (ca. 2-2:30)
–Use Visual Drumming ex. 24 (in personal folder) to help you prepare for the Bridge!
Myles
Drumset Musician p81 ex. 9-12**
NEW SONG Weezer: My Name is Jonas
–Drill the intro and main groove on p.1
–Today, we muddled our way through the WHOLE SONG. It’s not super complicated, but we’ll continue to work on the details each week
Xylophone:
–Review of C Major scale
–***Simple Steps to Keyboard Percussion “Step Six” p. 12-13 (in google drive). Use “Step 5” exercises to help you find the notes
Finn
Warmups (30sec each):
–Single Strokes
–Double Strokes
–8 on a hand
–This week, practice putting a count (“1+2+3+4+) overtop of the Singles and Doubles.
NEW SONG*** White Stripes: seven Nation Army
–Going through this song’s “procedure”: sit out for bass–>bass drum on the beats–>add snares on 2 and 4–>crashes on one w/ bass drum–>BBlvl1 on crash–>back to crashes on one
–Next week, we’ll learn the variation in the basic beat during the chorus
Robbie
Warmups:
–Gminor and Bb Major arpeggios (G-Bb-D-G; Bb-D-F-Bb)
Canticum:
–Second melody is slower. Make sure to READ the notes, and not just try to rely on your memory
Halloween:
–Good work. Not too slow! Make sure to READ the variations in the snare drum part
Third Planet:
–“I don’t have a pen” rhythm at the end: be consistent
Francisco
Warmups (30sec/ea.):
–8 on a hand (80bpm***)
–Singles (sixteenths at 145bpm**)
–doubles (16ths at 100**)
–Paradiddles (16ths at 100**)
Stevie Wonder: Superstition–up until the middle of page 2 (big fill)
–Drills: R-L-K triplet rolls
—-Floor tom, Snare, kick, repeated
—-hi-tom, med-tom, snare, as written in the fill
–See video in google drive for fill demonstration
Noah
Warmups (1min each per practice session):
–Triplet Exercise (1mm RH, 2mm LH) @ 95bpm
–Sixteenth-note Exercise 75bpm
–Rhythm Exercise (60bpm)
***Next week we’re doing paradiddles
NEW SONG*** Paul Simon: Late in the Evening
–Watch legendary drummer, Steve Gadd, explain this legendary groove here
–This week, get the hands and feet really solid (see handout). Next week, we’ll orchestrate it on the drums like in the chart
Saturday, February 1st
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
–Using this alphabet, create three-letter words
–Count and play the words in steady rhythm
Xylophone
–Learning the musical alphabet (ABCDEFG)
–Visually identifying C on the keyboard
–Spelling “Dad” and “Egg” on the keyboard
Nova
Warmups:
–See Google Drive (or handout if we were able to print it) with the C Major, G Major, and F Major scale warmups
Cirone Book: “Step 7” ex. 1-2
–Good work!
–Please make sure to use hand-to-hand sticking (except when indicated otherwise)
–Careful to keep the 3/4-metre examples in time
–ex. 3-4 this week***
Ear training: pitch matching
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…)
–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
–Add in everything until the bottom of p. 2. Today, we learned the chorus, but the rest of it is similar to the previous material we learned in verse 1
Jonah
==Xylophone==
Warmups: see Xylophone Warmup Sheet in the Google Drive
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 (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
–Practice the various sections of the song as found on worksheet
–Polish off for next week
Koel
Warmups (1min each):
–Triplet Ex. 125bpm
–Ride pattern exercise with sixteenth exercise on the cymbal (goal tempo 90)
Tommy Igoe’s Groove Essentials: Groove 11 SLOW (track twenty-one)
–Good work on the variations. Tidy these up this week and we’ll begin with some fills next week
Duke of Edinburgh
–Koel logs the hours
–Smart goal: measurable, achievable, and in a timely manner (end of school year)
–SMART GOALS: 1) triplet exercise up to 140bpm 2)sixteenth-note exercise up to 110bpm 3) Master six new grooves from the Tommy Igoe Groove Essentials book (2x rock, one funk, one r&b/hiphop, one jazz, one world) 4) Learn one new song
Tracie
Warm-ups:
–Triplet ex. (85bpm, 1min)
–Rhythmic Alphabet: make up your own four-letter words (x3), and write them out on the handout
Groove Essentials: Groove 1 (find chart and backing track in the Freq. Used folder)
–Basic beat with “Chad Kroeger” drum fill in measure 8
–This week, continue to learn and drill Variation A
Montell Fish: Don’t you Love Me
–see handout
–drill the main groove
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
We also played along with I Love Rock ‘n Roll (Joan Jett) and We Will Rock You (Queen)
–Developing the audiation (inner voice) and adjusting (listening and matching) these songs
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):
–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. 4-6**
–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
–Drill Variation A this week
Queen: Another One Bites the Dust
–Make sure to follow the chart and deploy the fill at the right time
–Print the chart in your google drive folder (please bookmark for future use)
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